The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-03-22
THE
SUGAR
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.

HAVANA, Cuba, March 22-Cuba has
been made one of the wealthiest and
certainly one of the most prosperous
spots on the face of the earth during
the last four years. Tobacco, prohibi-
ton and fruit have contributed some
thing to this prosperity but the main
cause of 1t Is the tremendous rise in
the price Of sugar.
That acute shortage in sugar which
has Inconvenience almost every indi-
yidual in the United States and Europe
| has poured wealth into Cuba at an
almost incredible rate, The world ca
tastrophe of war has been to Cuba not
only a blessing, but a veritable saliva
ton. Just before the war broke out,
the Cubans were financially flat on
their backs. Raw sugar was bringing
about two and a half or three cents
a pound 1t scarcely paid to grind It,
A financial crisis threatened. Then
came war and the steady upward trend
Of sugar prices.
The sugar crops of 1917-1S and 1918
10 We're practically Communicated by
the United States sugar board. Theo-
retically the Cubans were free to sell
their sugar, to whomever they pleased,
but the United States government let
1t be known that it would regard it
as a friendly act if the Cuban sugar
was all consigned to the United States.
of friendship was emphasized by the
fact that the United States controlled
the shipping, and that a Cuban who
wanted to sell his sugar somewhere
else would have had hard time get
ting ships. In effect the Cuban sugar
crop was taken by force to this country,
but the Cubans did not object or com
plain because they got from $3.50 to
$3.50 a hundred pounds for their sugar,
and that seemed at. the time to be a
very good price.
When the next crop--that is, the one
now being ground-Came into the mar
ket, Il good many of the large Cuban
| producers thought it would be a good
| idea to sell it to the United States
sugar board again. In this they were
| not motivated by friendship for us or
| fear of a shortage of ships, but by the
fact that they thought II they could
| get $3.50 a hundred for the crop from
| the sugar board, they would be doing
| very well, Several of the big pro-
ducers, owning about one third of the
Cuban crop, god together ana wrote
| letter to the sugar board offering to
sell the crop at that price. Other sugar
| producers differed with these, and pre-
| ferred TO hold out for a higher price in
| an open market, but If the sugar board
had accepted the offer it could have
secured at least half of the Cuban
crop in all probability, and it could
thereby have averted the sugar short
age and the high prices from which
| we are now suffering.
The sugar board refused to make the
| purchase for reasons which have been
| explained in previous HaSkin letter
| 1t doubted its authority to do so and
put the matter up to the president and
to congress; but neither did anything,
and our sugar was lost The crop is
now more than half sold, and is bring
ing as high as IL cents pound If
we went into the market now we could
not get much Cuban sugar, even at
| that price, The feature of the sugar
board to buy that sugar at six and a
half while it had the chance was a
blow to every sugar bowl in the United
! States.
For very soon after the Cuban pro-
| ducerS made that offer, sugar prices
began to soar. American manufacture
ers of candy, cakes and other products
| that require sugar We're the ones who
boosted the price first. The sugar re-
fincTS in this country bought very lit
! Tie at that time because they believed
II that SIN and half was a top-notch
Il price and that it would come down.
H They made bad guess. The manu-
facturerS, on the other hand did no
guessing at all, They had to have SUI
gar at any price In order to stay in
! business and they bought all they could
get with the result that prices steadily
! mounted until today they are at a
level that would have staggered the
/ Cuban imagination five years ago.
/ The present crop is estimated at
about four and half million tons by
i n A. Himely, AN agent SoE American
teSiHers. who has the reputation of
guessing every year within one or two
per cent what the crop will be This
is nearly half million tons more
sugar than Cuba produced last year.
Mr.. 1imely admits, however, that the
crop may be reduced by labor trou-
bles, which are the hane of Cuban bust
ness just now. Except insofar as il is
interrupted by strikes and revolutions,
q steady increase in the Cuban sugar
crop Is expected. Stimulated by high
prices. which promise to last for some
time. Cuba will probably produce in
the next few years so per cent more
sugar than%t Is now producing. Ii is
doubtful whether the capacity of the
island will make II possible for the
Increase ever TO go much beyond that.
The prosperity which sugar has
brought TO the island Is widespread and
much in evidence. Everyone who raised
any sugar cane. from President Memo
cal who recently sold one of his great
sugar estates for nine million dollars,
TO the little fellow operating on a few
acres of rented Aand. has made more