The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-09-07
SHIPPING IS VITAL
! FACTOR TO BRITAIN
United Kingdoms Sugar Supply
Dependent On Running Gaunt-
let Of Hun Submarines

"The supply of sugar for the United
Kingdom continues TO be dependent GU
the facilities for shipping from over
seas sources, as well as on the success
OF otherwise of sugar cargoes running
the gauntlet of the U-boats, - says the
International Sugar journal of London
in it's July Issue, just received in this
country. : gj8 ..pts|
"a, 900 Tons Sunk Recently
1.-the latter have had their successes
Gently given out by member of the
government that we had lost within re.
cent months 10000 tons Of sugar
through enemy action. ". 10. -,
"Cuba has to all appearance been
our main source Of supply, as scarcity
of shipping has tended to make the
transport Of Javan sugar from the East
Q matter Of difficulty. It is better
policy to send ships the shorter voyage
to the West Indies than the longer one
to Java; 80 sugar from the latter conn.
try is necessarily held up till the ship
ping shortage Is rendered less pressing.
"However, there is sufficient sugar
coming into the country TO enable the
consumer to get his rations. Some dis.
tricts inevitably get better supplied
than others, and the papers contain at
intervals complaints as to the shortage.
But the average consumer has realized
by now that things cannot be normal
during the war, and he takes things
philosophieally. He is resentful of any
attempt at profteering, but then sugar
is not one Of the items of food that
comes within the profteer's range Of
operations.
Supply for Preserving Short
Newspaper complaint has centered
of late on the fact that there was in.
sufficient provision made by the au.
thorities for the supplying of raw mn.
terial Gn sugar. for domestic jam max.
ing and fruit preserving. The Royal
Commission cannot plead that they
have been taken by surprise. The need
was voiced as far back as last winter.
They have made at the eleventh hour q
serious effort to supply preserving 81.
gar to those domestic jam makers who
grow their own fruit; but they have
never understo God from the Nfirst how
much jam is habitually made at home
and how greatly home made jam is pre-,
ferred TO that made by the manufac.
tuners. As a result, when they did in.
Vite applications for preserving sugar
about the middle of June, they were
overwhelmed with requests, and out of
some 100000 they received could only
deal with half million, and these got
only seyenty-fve per cent of the sugar
they asked for. II. E--|t -
1.-THE sugar was distributed to the
applicants through the ordinary whole.
sale and retail channels, the dealers
buying 1t at ffty,three shillings nine
pence per hundred weight, and the
grocers retailing it byrspecial arrange
ment to the local applicants at six and
half pence, or in some eases seven
pence per pound. There are no means
OF knowing what proportion, If any. IT
this half million are fraudulent claim.
ants who do not grow fruit; but anne
effort was made to eliminate this class
by sending the sugar mainly TO rural
districts. Assuming the bulk OF he
mum Der were genuine growers of fruit.
we have only 10 add the possibly
larGer number of households who make
their own Jam from fruit purchased
elsewhere 70 get some idea of the ex.
font to which domestic fruit prescr> ing
holds sway in British households 1"