The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-03-02
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC y. HASKIN, Director.
Washington, ID. C.
SUGAR.

havana, CUBA, FEB. 2l.-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, prohibit
ton and fruit have contributed some
thing to this prosperity but the main
cause of it is The tremendous rise in
the price of sugar.
That acute shortage in sugar which
has inconvenienced almost every in
dividual in the United States and Eu-
rope, has poured wealth into Cuba at
an almost incredible rate. The world
catastrophe of war has been to Cuba
not only blessing, but a veritab BILE
salvation. Just before the war broke
out, the Cubans were financially flat
on their backs. Raw sugar was bring
ing 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
191S-19 We're practically comman-
deered by the United States sugar
board. Theoretically the Cubans were
free to sell their sugar to Whomever
they pleased, but the United States
government let it be known that it
would regard it as a. friendly act if
the Cuban sugar was an consigned to
the United States The advisa bility of
performing this act 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
a hard time getting ships. In effect
the Cuban sugar crop was taken by
force to this country, but the Cubans
did not object or complain because
they got from $3.50 to $3.50 a hun
dred pounds for their sugar, and that
seemed at the time TO be very good
price.
When the next crop-that is. the
one now being ground-came into the
market, a good many Of the large
Cuban producers thought 1t would De
a good idea to sell it to the United
States sugar board again. In this they
were not motivated by friendship for
us or by fear of a shortage of ships,
but by the fact that they thought if
they could get $3.50 a hundred for
the crop from the sugar board. they
would be doing very we'll Several
of the big producers, owning about
one-third of the Cuban crop, got to-
gether and wrote a letter to the sugar
board offering to sell the crop at that
price. Other sugar producers differ
ed with these, and preferred to hold
out for a higher price in an open mar
ket, but if the sugar board had &C
cepted the offer. it could have Sc
cured at least half of the Cuban crop
in all probability, and it could thereby
have averted the sugar shortage and
the high prices from which We are
now suffering.
The sugar board refused to make
the purchase for reasons which have
been explained sin a previous Haskin
letter. 1t doubted it's authority to do
so and put the matter up to the presi-
den and to congress; but neither did
anything, and our sugar was lost The
crop is now more than half sold, and
is bringing as high as II cents a
pound. If We went into the market
now we could not get much Cuban
sugar, even at that price The fail
ure of the sugar board to buy that
sugar at u while it had the chance
was a blow to every sugar bowl il the
United States.
For very soon after the Cuban
prices began to soar. American manu-
facturers of candy, cakes and other
products that require sugar were the
ones who boosted the price first. The
sugar refiners in this country bought
very little at that time because they
price and that it would come down.
They made bad guess. The manu-
facturers, on the other hand, did no
guessing at all. They had to have
sugar at any price in order to stay in
business, and they bought all they
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 a half million tons
by II. A. Himely, an agent for Ameri-
can refiners, who has the reputation
OF guessing every year within l or 2
per cent what the crop will be- This
is nearly half a million tons more
sugar than Cuba pr6duced last wear
Mr. Him civ admits haf
crop may be reduced by labor trou-
bles. which are the bane of Cuban
business just now. Except insofar as
it is interrupted by strikes and revo-
buttons, steady increase in the Gu
ban sugar crop is expected. Stimu-
lated by high prices, which promise
to last for some time, Cuba will prob
ably produce in the next few years
so per cent more sugar than it is now
producing. 1t is doubtful whether
the capacity Of the island will make
it 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
Menocal who recently sold one of his
great sugar estates for nine million
dollars, to the little fellow operating
made more money than he ever
dreamed of making. This prosperity
has naturally extended to the mer-
chants. and to almost all other classes
of business. Trade, especially in lux
uries. is very brisk. a manufacturer
of high-grade walking sticks down
here from New York on a selling trip.
reports that he is selling a thousand
dollars worth of goods to merchants
who never before took more than
three hundred dollars worth. And
the demand is for ornate canes, with
gold, silver and amber heads. a local
merchant bought canes for fifteen
dollars apiece, and Immediately placed
them on sale at thirty-five dollars.
You are are a profiteer," the
manufacturer told him.
Il give them what they want" he
replied. eff I marked those canes
| twenty dollars they wouldn't look at
them
4 thriving business is also being
done in automobiles. with which
Habana is literally running over. Big
touring cars painted in very bright
colors and jitneys deliberately up
holstered in stamped leather are the
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