The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-04-04
MILLIONS ADDED
. To CDUVT RY'S
SUGAR BILL.
Price. Advanced so Per Cent in
Face Of. Worlds Larg-
est Crop.

sugar thus Neuf. sugar. SkyfOcteeI-
led IL price about so per cent ~
February, thus adding some SSI i
900 600 to the consumers food bill,
If prices stGy svhere they are.
This ndU19tce gCGs made M the
face of the aVorld's largest sugar
crop.
rs the consumer being soaked by
Spectator or atnnipulGtorg
So that the reader may haze
some basic knowledge of the sugar
situation, The Washington Times
has had a financial eIpert, ". s..
Cousins, prepare three articles on
the situation.
The first article 1CSlL deal NTH
some facts regarding production.
BY w. s. COUSINS.
fcopyrigllt. 1928, BY cosmopo Iitan
News Service.) ~
NEW YORK, April when the
price Of sugar goes up Il cent g
pound. the cost to the American
consumer is boosted $52 ,OOO, OOO.st
When it goes up 8 cents pound,
as ii did In February Of this year,
the additional annual cost Is Sslz,-
900 900, or from $12 to SO yearly
for each family Of average Size IN
the nation.
When. by artificial or other
means, the cost Of sugar ~ poosLea
S312 .0O0 900. the extra cash finds It's
wa.v into the hands Of sugar plant
ers. refiners and spectators IN this
country. for the sugar industry Is
assenfiaiiy an American industry.
FroTn 4 third to q fourth Of the
worlds sugar crop il produced, re-
fined and marketed by American
capital.
Production Is Increasing.
world production and consump-
ton Of sugar is steadily increasing.
IN 1914 the worlds total Of raw
sugar products was about 1000, wy
IoI1e tons. while In 1922 production
had appropriated 5000 900 long
tons. Most of the estimates for
this year exceed any figures tnat
have ever been published ana TIN
as high as 100000 tons above pre-
war average. Thus we are witness
ing q sugar rise in the race OF the
worlds biggest crop!
last year the United States con-
sunled $3.50 900 short tons OF re-
fined sugar, which came from the
following sources:
Beet sugar in the United States,
$50 900 tons: cane sugar from
Louisiana, 225,000 tons; cane sugar
from Porto Rico, 400, 600 tons; cane
SMEAR from Hawaii. 100000 tons
cane sugar from Philippine Islands
ESQ 900 tons: cane sugar from Cunae
3,225. 900 tons; total 5,26O,0O0 tons.
Behind the lump Of sugar which
goes into q cup OF coffee eacn
morning there lies an important
manufacturing and agricultural en-
terprise which, like the cake which
sstook more than 1000 men to
make = enlists the activity Of hum
'dreds Of thousands of wofkmen
lions Of dollars.
How to Arrive at Fair Price.
Al fair estimate of what refined
sugar should cost the American
people would naturally be arrived
at by taking the cost Of production,
adding reasonable amount for
transportation, investors profits,
etc.
The following computation, as
supplied by American Sugar Refin-
ing Company. will illustrate this
point:
Raw sugar lcost and freight aver
age for year,, 800 cents per pound,
Tariff, 1.76 cents per pound.
Wasteage q per cent. OLA cents
per pound.
Refiner's cost and profit, 10
cents per pound.
Refined sugar 500 cents per
pound.
But the violent rise in sugar
prices, which has taken place in re-
cent weeks, suggests not only to
the ordinary sugar eater, but even
to the President, that other factors
have been entering into this simple
computation, President Harding
has accordingly directed the Depart
ment Of Justice to discover the
sources of the sudden and unwar.
ranted rise in sugar prices and as
certain what persons in Washing
ton, New York and elsewhere have
profited by it," Are these factors
merely speculation, or do they in.
clude manipulation by big factors in
the sugar industry as well?
Charge Easy to Prove.
The director of the Peoples Leg
islatiye Service at Washington has
charged a conspiracy has been en-
tered into artificially to boost prices
of sugar. Since, as stated before.
the American fefineries are owned
and operated by American capital
lists and practically all the sources
of raw sugar are also under the
American ownership it should not
be difficult matter to prove either
the correctness or the falsity of, this
CHARGE.
The largest and most prominent
domestic refinery is the American
Sugar Refining Company, with la
total net working capital of $4,000.
900. This company produces about
one out Of every four barrels of
sugar consumed in America. Not
only does 1T engage in sugar refin.
ling, but it also owns considerable
portion of the stock OF the Amer.
lean beet sugar companies and of
Cuban producing companies.
OF the seven domestic beet sugar