The Washington herald., 1918-01-12
WORLD'SSUGAR
BOWL KNOCKED
OYER BY WAR
President Babst. of Ameri.
can Sugar Refining Co.,
Explains Shortage.

No one ever dreamed that sugar.
which the world produces In billicns
Of pounds yearly. could become 20
scarce that folks would be asked BY
the sovernment and the sugar re-
hners to use IT sparingly. But the
war, which has brought about many
extraordinary conditions. also upset
the worlds sugar bowl
Today, everybody 10 interested In
sugar. The housewife IL eager to
know when sugar viii be more plen-
tifui And from a different point of
view, the business man 10 following
the sugar situation. interested In the
success Of the plan adopted as an
emergency war measure by the gov
srnments of the United States and the
allies to regulate and control supply.
demand and price.
These facts lend particular impor-
tanee to the following interview with
Earl D. Bahst. head Of the American
sugar Refining Company and one or
the three United states members Of
the International sugar Committee.
Not 50 many years ago II wasn't
Bahst's position to discuss their busi-
ness with, the public But Mr.. Babt
II Of the new school of Big business
managers who believes the public is
entitled to know all about It
Mere sugar Sees.
In the interview Mr.. Bahst covered
every phase Of the sugar situation
First. he spoke of the prospects of the
immediate future, which most con-
eerns the housewife. Said he:
sugar will soon be more plentiful.
with the new crop Of sugar cane be-
ing harvested in Cuba and Porto Rice.
Everything is favorable to q sufficient
supply for our needs. but not enough
to use sugar extravagantly or waste
fully. There must be no overbuyins
or boarding."
And what about the price?" he was
asked.
Ordinarily the so-calIed law Of sup
ply and demand is a most important
factor in regulating the price Of sugar
as of every other commodity. But this
law has been more or less. IL not en-
tirely, suspended as the result of thu
control Of the sugar situation by the
act Of six governments, including our
svn.
''All during the war sugar in the
United States has been lower in price,
taking the average yearly price. than
anywhere else in the world Today,
comparing sugar on the basis of ca
lsric food value, it Is one of the
cheapest foods.
Sugar Prices To Drop.
After the new supplies are received
from Cuba and refined. and prices are
lowered under the proposals of theI
Food Administration, sugar viii be
one Of the cheapest, IL not the cheap
est. foods to 60 on the American ia
BILE"
Mr.. Babst agrees with Mr.. Hoover
that IL the allied nations had not en-
tered into joint agreement to conserve
the available sugar supply, the price
to the consumer would have scared
Said he in explanation:
The facts are these: Europe's pro-
duction Of sugar was not only greatly
eurtailed when the opposing armies
swaFmed over the sugar beet fields OF
northern France and Belgium, but
England and other foreign countries
were forced to turn to other sources
for sugar. The logical source was
Cuba, from which the United States
This developed competition which,
until the international agreement was
reached, caused q serious advance in
price both Of raw and refined sugar.
But with the International Committee
acting for the allies and the Food Ad-
ministratien in control In this country,
the supply will be equally distributed
and prices stabalized.
No ships Fer Java.
Great quantities Of raw cane sugar
are locked Up in far-away Java un-
available because ships cannot be
spared to transport 1t. Hence the Eu-
ropean allies are asking Cuba and the
United States as a practical patriotic
duty to supply them with sugar. The
United states is making every effort
TO comply with this request for the
very interesting reason that IL We
save the allies from the necessity OF
transporting 10000 tons Of sugar from
Java 1t will release shipping sufficient
TO carry about 10000 American sol
dieFs to France
When Mr.. Babst voluntarily ap-
peared the other week before the SEN
ate subcommitte inquiring into the
sugar situation, he told what his COM
pany as well as the other large refin-
ing interests were doing to safeguard
the sugar supply. Among other things,
he laid emphasis on the value of sugar
in packages as an economical means
of distribution. This especially inter-
ested Senators Lodge, Jones and Var
daman. and the subject was brought
up in the interview. In reply to
questions, Mr.. Babst said:
Yes, I presume the public, being
Interested In having the sugar supply
conserved, Is equally interested In
knowing why sugar In packages can
be more economically distributed than
loose sugar. And this is the reason:
In the first place, package sugars
are weighed and packed by machine.
This saves the groeers' time and stops
his loss by spillage which occurs when
sugar has to be scooped by hand out
of a barrel, carried to the scales,
weighed and tied in paper bags. And
when he counts this saving, plus the
value of his time and the cost Of pa,
per bags and string. he finds he can
handle package sugar more economi-
cally.
Making Sugar Go Round.
Sugar in packages also enables him
to restrict sales to actual needs, to
make il go as far as possible. In our
own experiences during the recent pc
riod Of great scarity. we were able