Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-04-08
WHERE OUR SUGAR WENT
Apparent Increased Corsump-
ton Due to Enormous Exports
One Hundred Times As Much Evap-
GRATED MIX Exported As Before
Wsr-sugar Needed by q. 8.
Used in Fruit Preserves
tFrom Daily Financial America)

leans seemed to have consumed ten
pounds more Of sugar last year forl
each of us than In 1918. II consump-
ton means we ate all this the
statisticians. reports are deceiving.
They seem to have fooled Austen
Chamberlain, British Chancellor of tho
Exchequer. He declared in the HOUSE,
of Commons the other day that Amer
leans had added to the miseries of the
world by prohibition. because they
wanted an immensely increased
amount of sugar.
Mr.. Chamberlain might have said
also that Frcnchmen, having not
enough sugar. had enormously i'm
creased their wine bills last year. It
is certain that this Indulgence added
more to misery in France than any use
of sugar in America. France is COM
planning bitterly because her wine
makers have tripled the price at q
time when the country is impoverished
by war.
AS to sugar. the fact is that not
America, but Europe vastly increased
it's actual consumption. The British
Chancellor, If he had examined British
Board of Trade reports. must hav{
known that England increased he&
own consumption of sugar by 511,00Q
tons, or sixty per cent. during eleveu
months of 1919, compared with thu
same period of 1918. He cannot offeN
the excuse of prohibition for thiS
British indulgence. 1t seems to bd
one way of saying. We'll the war'1
over; let's have something" If suga1
buying has added to the world@
| misery--or happiness-Britain has had
| a big share in the matter.
America used 100000 tons more
-
the word rather than consumed. We
did not eat all of this excess. Mr..
Chamberlain may be surprised to know
that we sent a large part Of it td
Europe under other names. What
| happened to our sugar supply in tho
| last year is beginning to appear. A
| large part of it left the country in
disguise. as preserved fruit and con-
| densed milk.
In condensed and evaporated milk
| America has been satisfying an
enormous demand from Europe. Our
milk is feeding the babies of Europe.
1t has saved the lives OF millions, who
must otherwise have starved because
| the dairy herds of Europe were
! slaughtered for meat We sent A
hundred times as much out OF the
country last year as in in 1914. The total
| of condensed and evaporated milk
exports as reported by the department.
| of commerce for eleven months wa9
S50,000,o00 pounds. In value these ex<
ports were near the top of the food
list, close behind pork products. Tho
total was $751; 100000.
A very large part of this $4,000, 00Q
pounds of condensed milk was comS
posed of sugar. The amount varied
with the grade of the milk. In soma
-l, \
cent. in others much less. 1t seema
certain that at least $50, 900. 900 pounds
or $4,000 tons of sugar, went abroad
in cans labelled condensed milk.
America did not eat this sugar. al-
though it appears in the statistical res
ports as consumed" in this couptry1
Its consumption consisted only Cd
mixing it with milk at the creameries
and sealing it in the tin cans ready
for shipment. The real consumer waa
not the American. but the foreign pur-
chaser. The buyers of about 600,00O,-
900 pounds of milk were Europeans
as the government reports show
The others were scattered in many
lands
Sugar used in preserving milk waa
not all that Europe took from us with-
out credit from the statisticans.
From our consumption must be de-
Quoted the sugar that went abroad in
canned and other preserved fruit.
OF this first there was a tremendous
increase in exports last year. The
weight is not reported. The value as
given by the customs officials wa1
s37.00O000 in eleven months. cons
pared with only s4.6OO,OO0 in 1918. A
large part of these fruit preserves
contained as high as fifty per cent.
| 40 -
, less. But like the sugar sent abroad
in condensed milk. it was eaten not by
Americans. but by foreigners. though
figured in the American sugar cons
, sumption statistics that have deceived
Mr.. Chamberlain and many others.
There is a further indefinite de-
duction from our excess sugar con-
sumption due to exports of fruit
juices and extracts. These in value
for eleven months were s1.266.0oo, an
increase of about s365.00o.
Mr.. Chamberlain probably did not
take the trouble to learn that America
, also sent abroad enormous shipments
of grape sugar and glucose derived
from corn. These exports were no
less than 900 tons in eleven months.
or more than four times as much as in
the same period of 1918 This ship
ment OF corn sugar and syrup, Of
course, was taken from our own food
and confectionery industries, and
probably replaced by an equal amount
, of cane sugar Corn sugar was pre-
I ferred by the European, who bought
> II because 1t was the cheaper sugar
I 1t will be seen from these figures that
little If any. OF the $4,000 tons of increase
a | In sugar Consumption went into Amer
lean stomachs. Instead of adding to The
a mseries of the world this 10000 tons wa s
| keeping alive the starving children OF
Europe.
/ Additional use Of soft drinks and candy
n took place in America. no doubt. AS the
result OF prohibition. But the figures of
consumption and export indicate that the
sugar used in these articles was transfers
red from other purposes.
Any American housewife knows where
this sugar came from. Last summcr
there was a scarcity of sugar for the
Y usual household preserving season. The
price was prohibitive for many. The
@ commercial Gamers, confectioners and
soft drink makers had provided in
advance for their needs. The housewife
had not So the family preserves suffer-
Y ed. This has caused more winter buying
of canned fruits and confectionery
Y Our tables are bare of homemade pres
A that of Britain or France. took no
v measures to retain in America all the
sugar that we We're able to raise or buy