The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-10-18
Continued from page ID

to retailers to ten days supply. The
retailers in turn have limited their
sales.
Confectioners have been particu-
larly hard hit by shortage. Until re-
Gently they were operating twenty
four hours a day. Now they are
working eight hours, and with cur
tailed forces.
Packers also are feeling the effects
Of the shortage. Ordinarily the
cheapest grades Of sugar ere used
by them. Recently a packer bought
an entire carload of the highest
price table sugar on the market--the
only available then-and broke open
the packages to use 1t in mince meat.
company's Big Profits.
DENVER, Colo, Oct. 1s.-Chargfng
| that low prices paid to producers, and
child labor employed by foreigners
have driven nearly all farmers except
the foreign element out Of the Colo
| RADIO beet sugar industry, an appeal
from growers to Herbert Hoover to fix
the price paid to farmers for sugar
beets, is today on its way to Washing
ton.
The letter, signed by Thomas Park,
president of the Fort Morgan Farmers
union; ]. NJ. Collins, president of the
state farmers union, and ]. A. Hicks,
president of the Rocky Mountain States
Sugar Beet Growers association de-
clares that terrible tragedy is being
enacted here"
1--WE are sure that you are totally un-
| aware of it, or some effort would have
been advanced: but now that you
know we feel that some effort will be
made by you" says the letter.
Taking the Great Western Sugar
company, which handles the bulk Of
the crop Of this section, as an example,
the appeal gives production figures to
show that sugar companies make net
profit of s226.40 for each acre of beets,
while the farmer averages 81 profit per
acre.
The huge Liberty loan purchases Of
the Great Western and other sugar
companies are commended, and the let
| ter adds:
eve are only human and we feel
that same surging impulse to support
our country in her time of need Can
not you make it possible for us to
come more closely into possession of
what we would deem a more equitable
| dustry, that we may also purchase Lib
erty bonds and share in the supreme
glory Of responding to our country's
CALI"
| Warning that Thomas B. Stearns
! food controller for Colorado, is now
building beet sugar factory, the farm.
ers point out that his interests are d.
rectly opposite those Of the farmer
Il IL l. 4
| to investigate the situation to secure
his data from unbiased sources.
The Great Western Sugar company
in addition to its regular quarterly d.
vidend of one and three quarters per
cent on common stock, has declared
three extra dividends of ten per cent
each amounting to s4,5OO,00O. already
| this year.
. RELIEF in December.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 1s.-Forecast-
ing no relief before December for the
sugar shortage in the east, the food
administration. today renewed it's ap-
peals for economy and asked the pub
| lie not to pay cent more than it has
been paying.
! Herbert Hoover will try to reach re-
| tailers who advance their price on
sugar by cutting off their supplies
| through the license control already in
effect over refiners The refiners can
not advance the price to the retailers.
! The sugar costs the retailer no more
today, Therefore, according to Hoov-
er, the retailer should not take advant-
age of the shortage to boost prices.
| The food control law, however, gives
Hoover no more direct control over re-
tail prices.
| Immediate reduction in the public's
consumption of candy and sweet
/ drinks until the Hawaiian and western
| beet sugar crops come into the east
ern markets, was requested by Hoover
The refiners' price should enable re-
| tailers today to sell sugar around nine
cents per pound" said Hoover. THE
present shortage is due to the failure OF
! the American public generally to re-
duce consumption and to unusually
large exports to France, which is IN
grave need Of sugar"
Review Of Situation,
| NEW YORK, Oct 1S.-From now
until the middle Of November at least,
America will have to go exceedingly
slow on sugar consumption.
oeNeTdl OIL New 1OTk great reHn-
cries are shut down today or running
only part time. Scores of cities all
over the country felt the pinch in
soaring prices for the staple and for
the first time in Americas food his
tory grocers and retailers began put
ting restrictions on its sale.
A nation wide survey of the sugar
situation, conducted by the United
Press today revealed this situation:
New York: Sugar selling retail for
twelve cents pound and with dealers
/ in many cases dispeSing of it only to
regular customers and then only
pound or so at time. and provided
other purchases amounting to at least
dollar were made.
Chicago: Wholesalers limiting sup
plies to retailers and prices going high
er; confectioners forced to reduce out