Vol. hi. No. 47. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



as 



bounties, the ]irefert'ntial rel^ite offered Viy Canada to the 

 Vest Indies of :i.'5.\ per cent, reduction in tlie duty was non- 

 effective owing to the United States Government cliarging 

 a countervailing duty e<iual to tlie amount of the bounty 

 jiaid on Euro[iean beet when exjiorted, tliereby enabling tlie 

 United States retiner.s to i)ay ])roiPOrtionately a greater 

 premium for West Indian and other cane sugars than the 

 Canadian refiners could afford to do, as the amount of the 

 bounty was greater than the jireference in the Canadian 

 tariff. Now that bounties had been abolished and all 

 sugars were on an ecjuality in the United States market, 

 Jamaica sugar would not command the premium in New York, 

 wliich it, along with other cane sugars, had done while 

 bountj--fed beet had been subject to a countervailing duty on 

 entering the States. Therefore, it is from now on that the 

 Canadian preference should show itself, and that Canadian 

 refiners should be willing to pay a higher price for West 

 Indian sugars than can be obtained for them in other 

 markets. The Canadian refiners would, of course, continue 

 their efforts to .secure }5ritish West Indian grown sugars at 

 the .same price, as the United States and United Kingdom 

 refiners would be willing to pay for them, and take the benefit 

 to themselves of the preferential rebate. So it rested with 

 the sellers in the West Indies to enter into an agreement 

 b.'tween themselves, whereby all ship[iers would refuse to sell to 

 Canada unless a premium were |>aid in [iroof of the preference 

 Canada offers to the West Indies, and which it was the 

 intention of the Dominion Government should be given as 

 an enhanced price to the West Indian planter for his sugar. 

 An agreement might be arrived at that a fixed niininium 

 jiremium be established at which sales are to be made to the 

 Canadian refiners, either direct or through .selling agents, 

 either in New York, London or Canada, and that wherever 

 possible an extra price over this minimum premium should 

 be extracted from the Canadian buyer. Selling prices, of 

 course, to be governed by what the Canadian refiners can 

 buy other sugars at, but these bu3-ers should at least be 

 willing to ]iay half the amount of the preferential rebate in 

 the Canadian tariff. The sjiecific duty on sugar entering 

 Canada, on raw sugar for a minimum polarization of 7o' 

 was 40 cents per 100 lb. advancing 1 1 cent.s. per degree up 

 to 100° paying 771 cents. The duty on 89', which is the 

 basis of test for sale of muscovado, is 61 cents, from which 

 the preference of 331 per cent, to ]5ritish grown sugar was 

 20"83 cents i)er 100 lb., and the duty on 96" test which 

 was the basis for .sale of centrifugal refining crystal sugar, 

 is 711 cents, the preference on this rate being 23'83 cents 

 per 100 lb. There really is no reason why the Canadian 

 refiners should not paj- the whole of the preferential rebate, 

 as an extra return on the purchased juice to the West Indian 

 grower. Otherwise the Canadian refiners would get their 

 supplies of British West Indian sugar at nearly £1 per ton 

 cheaper than anybody else, thereby increasing their own 

 protection to that extent, at the expense of the West Indies. 



Referring to the same subject, the Hon. Sydney 

 Olivier, C.M.G., made the following observations : — 



Another important question was that of the Canadian 

 preference. According to information given to Sir D. Morris 

 and himself, the whole of that preference was going into 

 the pockets of the Canadian sugar refiners, and although 

 Canada had received great credit for working in the interests 

 of the Empire, the preferential arrangement was simply being 

 run for the benefit of a few sugar refiners in Halifax, 

 Montreal and elsewhere. The planters in Jamaica should 

 make such arrangements as to secure their fair share of the 

 preference. 



West Indian Molasses in Canada. 



The following information in regard to action 

 taken by the Government of the Dominion of Canada 

 to prevent the entry of molasses mixed with an 

 appreciable percentage of glucose will be read with 

 interest in these colonies. 



The duty on molasses entering Canada is I J cents 

 per imperial gallon on all testing 40 per cent, of 

 saccharose and upward, and 1 cent additional for each 

 degree down to 85 per cent. In future, to prevent the 

 admission of molasses mi.xed with glucose from, the 

 United States and other countries, it has been decided 

 that any molas.ses or .syrup, claimed to test le.ss than 35 

 percent, of saccharose, shall be liable to the syrup rate 

 of dut}', viz., fc. per poiduJ, subject to a refund if 

 the molasses is subsequently found to be pure. 



The order issued by the Department of Customs 

 at Ottawa, is as follows : — 



In view of the frecpient importation of mola.sses found 

 to contain the admixture of gluco.se, it is ordered that jc. 

 per lb. duty be collected on molasses entered at the 

 Customs of Canada and claimed to test not less than 35 

 pending the test of polariscoi)e at Customs in Ottawa, 

 subject, however, to refund of dutj- if the molasses be 

 subseiiuently found entitled to entry under tariff item 441. 

 In case, however, of molasses imported direct to a Canadian 

 port from the West Iiulies or Guiana, collector must allow 

 delivery on i>aynient of duty, luider tariff item 441, upon 

 importer's undertaking to amend entry, when so required, if 

 the collector deems it advisable to do so, after examination 

 of importation. 



As stated in Pamphlet No. 28, Barbados and 

 Porto Rico ^fola><f<ffl (p. 21), molasses from these 

 islands contains on the average 52 per cent, of saccha- 

 rose, the minimum being 47 per cent, and the 

 maximum 5() per cent. The duty on molasses entering 

 the United States containing less than 50 per cent, of 

 saccharose is 3 cents per gallon, and on that containing 

 50 per cent, and upwards, it is cents per gallon, wine 

 measure. 



Sugar Consumption in Canada. 



The following note on the consumption of sugar 

 in Canada, taken from the Maritime Merchant of 

 December 31, 1903, is likely to be of considerable 

 interest to planters in the West Indies: — 



The steady increase in the consumption of sugar in 

 Canada affords ground for hope that in the course of time 

 this market will become much more valuable to the planters 

 of the West Indies than it is to-day. For the fiscal year 

 ending June 30, 1899, the total importation of sugar of all 

 classes was 118,671 tons. In the year following, the 

 importations increased to 136,011 tons, or 15 per cent. 

 The importations in 1901 were 150,309 tons, an increase 

 of 10 per cent. In 1902, we imported 165,211 tons, an 

 increase of 10 per cent.; while in 1903, the consumption 

 amounted to 174,397 tons, an increase of over 50 per cent, 

 in five years. It is estimated that the consumption of sugars 

 in Canada for the current year will reach 185,000 tons. At 

 the present rate of increase, the consumption at the end 

 of the next five years may be expected to exceed 250,000 

 tons. 



