Norwich bulletin., 1920-01-03


 authority, is the shortage not tenn porary and more or less fieticioas? writes Malcolm H. Stuart in the Bos- ton Transcript.
 To one who has observed the sugar cane, as it grows in the rich fields, and who has followed the sugar con- tent of the cane through it's various ! transformations 1t is interesting to consider it's increase in value. or bet l ter expressed, in selling price, from one cent pound to two dollars a proximately what the small sugar planters receive. The last-named price is that received by some of the l Fifth avenue stores in New York for l the fancy product, in ornate boxes, 1 called candy.
 At time when the word Sugar Is ] on each lip, and in the thoughts of each and every man, it appears that
 a few intelligibIe comments on sugar
 might dispel the bewildernlent of the 1 unfortunate public, compelled to read the present day propaganda and to l depend upon it for such information l as it affords.
 Has the world forgotten the Island 1 of Java, one of the Dutch East Indies? :? Tn the early spring of the year 1918 the information was published that
 more than 10000 GOO tons of cane sugar l were in store in the islands of the Dutch East Indies. Lack of shipping
 for the long voyage to and from Eu~ rope prevented it's export. The lack I of shipping has continued during the. i period intervening. Sugar cane is a perennial plant. and since two crop
 making seasons have passed. it is con- | servative to estimate that at the pre- l sent time a minimum of 2,000,000 tons ] of cane sugar await export from Java l and the other fertile parts of this island group.
 Has Peru been forgotten? In Peru l there are millions of acres adapted l to the growth of sugar cane. The an- inual crop of cane sugar is about one million tons a quantity equal to the llcombined cane and beet sugar crops
 of the United States. The same lack of shipping has retarded the export
 of sugar from Peru.
 4 Other localities might be mentioned,
 such as Haiti, Santo Domingo and Porto Rico, where cane sugar, is pro
 duced in lesser quantities, but never ] theless in large quantities, and where j the shipping problem has likewise
 been difficult.
 The beet sugar crop of the world is also to be considered. The sugar beet
 comes to maturity in about three months. Millions of sugar beets are raised each year in Europe; especially ] in the plains descending from the AL pine Highlands, the plains of Hung
 ary. southwest Russia, Germany France, and the delta of the Rhine.
 Much of this land was unravished by
 the great war. TNe women and child
 ren work in the fields i'll these regions and notwithstanding the dininution
 fIf naI1T aS ffaA of 1t appears that the output of beet Su- gar from nearly all these localities will be on an increasing scale, through the gradual return to normal condf , tions.
 But after all, it is fact that ones
 eyes turn toward the Pearl of the An
 tilles-to Cuba, when the word sugar is whispered. It is from Cuba that
 our country receives more than half it's yearly supply of sugar. The con
 ditions surrounding it's cultivation and : growth are probably not familiar to many of our people.
 First of all, a state of political tram ! qui1ity in Cuba. such as now exists ! is most necessary, and is conductive to the production of large sugar crop.
 One of the chief factors in the making of a crop in Cuba is the con- Olt1Ol1 VI JIG fo1l1elI4 SQ5StI pIdnC0IS, known as the 'Cofonos.' These men work small acreages of sugar cane which they sell on 9 per centage basis to the ''Ingeuios., or sugar mills. The , Colonos. q worthy set of men. are ir eoltiual economic war with the mil owners over the question of percent
 ages. The Colonos bear the heat and
 burden of the day. Their life is one Of constant toll and of vigilance ! trTr S-c IL cane to the mills at Q price which means about one cent a pound for the
 sugar content of the cane.
 This is the beginning of the cycle : from the grower to the consumer s during which many fatten their purs- es on this essential commodity. ant
 during which the transformation ir . selling price from a cent pound tc
 two dollars a pound takes place. 7 a4 The cutting and grinding season i. g now beginning in Cuba for the croT 3 19191920. But the warehouses ar, 7 bursting with a large fraction of
 last years crop. At the seaports, tn, f wharves and freight sheds are piled 2 awaiting export. The shortage of f shipping has caused much delay
 Since the problem of securing tn,
 necessary ships is of much import
 ance with relation to an island S, q near, it is readily understood that tn | problem as it pertains to Peru ant f Java has been almost insurmountab1e : In the passage of the cane througl n the sugar mill the first unwarrantet e elevation in price occurs. The stiga n cane is cut by mactete in the hand |, Of the Cuban peon. who labors unde q the tropical sun during the cattin, n season, November to June. I have ye = to hear that he is overpaid. The can
 Is loaded into two-wheel oXcarts an hauled through the muddy roads t V the mill or to the railway by eigh ', or more bullocks The cost of th n cutting and handling is relatively . small, Jsince wages compared with - wages paid in the United States ar q low.
 . At the mill the cane passes int i the crushing and grinding maehiner !. where the juice is extracted. Tn n juice flows into the vats where it i n boiled down. The process is simpl, V and the work is done principally b = machinery under the eyes of mechan = ics and sugar experts. The suya mill and its machinery, that is tn n plant are expensive and Ared,Iire Istre
 capital, but the personnel ernploye
 in the mill is comparatively small. A II the end of the process the brown su . gar comes down the chute and 4 carefully weighed into bags. ,eac '; weighing S25 pounds. It may. confid n II; ently be said that even under the pre- IS sent conditions of labor in Cub; o a wages having advanced since the he 't 't ginning Of the war. the mill ovgne U would make a fair profit at a price ( frJ11- 1Yeso k