Omaha daily bee., 1920-02-20
"He Kept Us out of Sugar"
From the Kansas City Star.

Why is it, people continue to ask, while
sugar sold the year after the war at II cents
pound, it should now have gone soaringf The
answer has been given from time to time as
due to the failure OF the president and the sugar
equalization board to buy the Cuban crop.
Testimony taken last autumn by senate
committee, of which a transcript has been re-
ceived in Kansas City, gives the details OF the
failure. In brief, the facts are that the equal
ization board was offered the entire Cuban crop
at price to be determined later, but which was
estimated at about 6h cents pound. lhe
board transmitted the offer to the president with
the advice that it be accepted. The president
ignored the letter and few weeks later the
offer was withdrawn.
The presidents action or failure to take &C
ton, resulted in the American people paying
from II cents to p cents pound for sugar in
stead of IL cents. Each family can figure tor
itself what penalty il is paying for the piresi-
dents mistake In addition there is a consider
able sum taxed on each family through the in
creased price of sugar used commercially.
The offer of the sugar crop made by agents
of the Cuban government and the sugar planters
dated July 20, 1919, was in a really fine spirit
They wrote that Cuba, as by far the largest pro-
ducer, had virtual monopoly; but did not de-
sire to take advantage of the situation. 1t was
ready to sell the entire crop at fair price and
believed that in doing so it would be serving the
welfare of the American people.
The price was not settled The year previous
it had been 51z cents and the board believed an
advance of cent would be satisfactory. That
would have made possible retail price of II
cents a pound, considerably below what any
other country was paying.
In transmitting the Cuban letter TO the presl-
dent the board inclosed an elaborate memor-
andun giving'reasons for urging the acceptance.
The advice was concurred in by six out of the
seven members. The seventh, Prof. F. w.
Taussig of Harvard university advised adversely
on the ground that the government would be
taking risk of loss if the market price should
decline, and that it was best to allow the world
to get back as rapidly as possible to normal
financial and economic conditions" =
AS the weeks passed and the White house
paid no attention to the communication of the
Cuban government or the sugar board, the board
became uneasy and wrote again. 1t received an
acknowledgment from an executive secretary,
but nothing from the president. A few days later
letter was received from the Cuban representa-
tives canceling their offer
1t was an amazing situation. The representa-
tives of a friendly government offering as a
matter OF courtesy to supply America with
sugar at price that would have saved this
country several hundred million dollars, and get
ting no answer, not even thank you from the
head of the government to whom their letter
was referred.
Meanwhile all the elements of sugar crisis
were developing. The Cuban crop is always the
main reliance of this country, but Louisiana and
the beet sugar districts furnish a necessary sup
Elementary production. Both these SOURCES were
short in 1919, while the demand was increasing
immensely. In 1918 the United States consumed
1886 pounds of sugar for each person. This
jumped in 1919 to 87H pounds, gain of Ia
pounds, or nearly 20 per cent The increase
was due to the buying power from high wages
and to the demand for sweets to take the place
of liquors.
This situation drove up the price so that
raw sugar is now selling in Cuba at l1H cents,
as against 61z cents, which it could have bsen
contracted for last August-an advance of near
ly 50 per cent.
President Wilson's negligence in ignoring
the recommendation of the sugar board was
fine for the Cuban planters, but it is costing
every American housekeeper 5 cents more on
each pound of sugar she buys.