The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1920-02-19

in Havana, winch is SClll III erect, are
the prime causes for shortage of SUI
gar and the high prices at which it is
selling.
"In those states where beet factor
les are located, sugar is cheaper than
elsewhere over the country because
the best companies agreed to furnish
the people Of their respective states
all the sugar they wanted. This was
done to encourage the growers of
beets as in many places it is difficult
to obtain the required acreage. There
fore in Michigan, Nebraska, Colorado
and other states sugar is now selling
around Is cents retail. If We had more
factories in Minnesota, or it the one
at Chaska had reached it's normal
output we would have had cheaper
sugar here. Unable to buy beets is
customary since November and with
cane reineries in the east closed or
partially so for lack of raws, whole
sale grocers have sought in every
conceivable way to procure sugar OF
some kind at almost any price. Louis
lana sugars costing II cents, price
permitted by Washington, have
found their way throughout the north
for domestic consumption the first
time in many years. Brazil and Guati-
mala sugars seldom handled in this
country at all, partly because of their
inferior color, are coming in limited
Quantities at about the same price
171a cents net cash at New Orleans
and selling quickly. Then month
ago came offerings from SPECTATORS
sugar jobbers, who appear to have
Anticipated the present shortage and
bought raws in Cuba and are now
having them refined on a tall basis,
paying the regular retiners for cost
and refining. These sugars OF which
our firm received one car last week
while another shipped on same date
January Is, is apparently lost, can
only be bought by depositing the cash
in advance in a New York bank.
These sugar jobbers or spectators
are the only ones who are profitlng
by the sale of sugar. All war time
restrictions as to profit are removed
except those covered by the Lever
act which prohibits any upreason-
able profit in food stuffs. 1t is alleged
and undoubtedly is true that these
SPECTATORS evade this law by selling
the raw sugars among themselves,
each sale taking only a fraction OF
the total profit made.
"Probably with few exceptions has
the wholesale grocer charged more
than his allotted Is cents per bag for
profit. Not single bag has Melted our
house more than that above actual
cost which is less than four per cent
and l am sure the retailer in this
territory is not asking more than a
reasonable profit or about 27a cents
which is less than it costs him to do
business. In some instances he has
paid a premium for sugar bought
outside usual channels in order to get
it and in such case his price is cor
respondingly higher.
LAS to the trend Of prices for the
balance of this season l think that
will depend largely on the consuming
public. There is large stock Of raw
sugar made and in processes of grind
ing in Cuba, but the refining capacity,
in times when bins are swept clean,
is limitedg If the people persist as
many threaten to do in stocking up
no matter how high price, the law Of
supply and demand will tend to keep
prices high. If on the other hand only
such quantities as are needed from
week to week are bought retiners will
catch up with orders as raWs begin
to arrive freely after the strike settle
ment and the same law inversely ap-
piled will cause gradual reduction in
price. '-Mankato Free Press.