New Britain herald., 1919-10-21
SUGAR..

SUGAR.
 Among the large volume of statis- tics that reach our desk every morn ing there are an appreciable per. centage which deal with the sugar. shortage just at the present time Sugar seems to be the paramoun issue of the hour, disregarding evel the strikes and threats of strikes that are in progress. Bankers an6 merchants have turned their atten- tion to the question of, the product and why we are short of it. Amos without exception they conclude tha1 the shortage is due to the much greater consumption of this yea over that of last.
 The foreign trade record of the National City bank of New York traces the growth of consumption over several fiscal years as follows:
 The quantity or sugar con-
 Sumed by our people, aggregated nearly O,OOO,OOO~ pounds in
 the fiscal year 1919 against about
 5000, 100000 last year, S,50O,-
 100000 pounds in the year prior
 to the war a little over 7,5O0,-
 100000 in 1910, 6,00O,O0O,OO0
 in 1905. 5,0OO,OOO,OOO in 1902,
 and 4,500, 0,000,00O in 1900, ell of
 these being, of course, in very
 round terms. Thus the 1919 con-
 sumption is about double that of
 1900, although the population
 meantime has increased only
 33Ic. The average per capita
 consumption in 1919 was S3
 pounds against v pounds per
 capita in 1918, IS in 1916, 59 in
 1900, 50 in 1890, 40 in 1880, and
 33 pounds per capita in 1870.
 In fact, our 100,O00,O0S people,
 although forming about 6H of
 the worlds population, consumed
 last year nearly 25Io of the
 worlds sugar production.
 The statement further points out that we have expended, in this coun- try, about one billion dollars for sugar against about one-third of that sum for the year preceding the war. About onc-half of the sugar con- sumed here during 1919 was raised in the United States or it's islands and the other half was imported from foreign countries, principally Cuba.
 The Sugar Equalization Board points out that domestic consumption from January to September 1919 has been 3,263,O0 long tons of refined sugar against 2,661,00O tons for the of 22.5 per cent, although the in crease is about 12 per cent. of pre- war normal. There was, during this period almost as much sugar de- livered to domestic consumption as there was in the whole of 1918 and the per capita consumption during g the past nine months has been 70 pounds, as against 73 pounds for the whole year 1918 and 83 pounds for the whole of 1917.
 The Board also states that there remains about 100000 tons more of sugar for distribution in the last quarter of 1919 than there was in 1918.
 Editors have taken occasion to ask the public after it had been shown that there was 9 pounds more per apita, received in this country this year than last whether each one of the aggregate consider that they have used this extra amount. With more or less reason they have pointed out that the sugar board counts sugar produced as sugar consumed. The mills turned it out and placed it on the market, who got it, asks the writers and then suggest that it may have found it's way into the hands of hoarders and profiteers. This is possible but not probable. The hunt for sugar has by no means been con- fined to the housewife and her lesser half Retailers and wholesalers have been as earnest in the search and, it is safe to say, had any appreciable beeh stored away there would have been some one to inform the Department of Justice officials who have also been hunting the hoards, where it was. The trade must know where the sugar has gone. The aver-