:michigax beet sugar 407 



SUGAR BEETS THE THING. 



But there is one field in which the farmer is in evidence, and from the 

 nature of the case must remain there, viz.. sugar beets for manufac- 

 turing beet sugar. Here the farmer is the first party to consult and 

 conciliate. If for any reason he refuses to raise the sugar beet, the 

 beet sugar industry comes to a full stop. The farmer commands the 

 situation. The result is that a fair division of the profits of this in- 

 dustry is made and the farmer receives a proportion that is satisfac- 

 tory. ' yot only is this so. but this is the only industry where his equit- 

 able proportion of the profits comes directly into the pockets of the 

 farmer in cash. The price does not depend upon quotations in Chi- 

 cago, Xew York or Liverpool, but is determined by conditions at home. 

 The sugar produced in our State is of such high quality that it does not 

 require refining, but is ready for use just as it comes from the factory. 

 In this respect the beet sugar made in Michigan difters from most com- 

 mercial sugars. American machinery and skill have brought the pro- 

 cess to such perfection that no refining is here required, the sugar 

 as it comes from our factories is fit for immediate use — granulated sugar 

 of high quality. Raw sugar requiring refining is not made in our State. 

 The process is thus removed from any possibility of a monopoly. Any 

 farmer can raise the beets and any capitalist can piit up a factory for 

 making the sugar. Competition is absolutely free on both sides. No 

 trust is possible under such conditions; the only trust required is that 

 the farmer and manufacturer should trust each other. To class the 

 beet sugar industry with the sugar trust is absurd. Take these two 

 facts {1} that the American method enables the manufacturer to turn 

 out refined sugar, the only kind sent out from our sugar beet factories, 

 and (2) beet sugar factories are possible only by the co-operation of the 

 farmers in raising the beets, and it is seen that monopoly and trusts 

 in the sugar industry are impossible in our State. Farming is free to 

 all, and any man can build a factory who has the necessary cash. 



SUGAR REFINING. 



Much of the sugar that comes from abroad needs refining before it 

 is fit to be placed on the market. The sugar refiners in eastern cities 

 for a lime had a monopoly of this business, selling the refined sugar 

 at their own ])rice, and thus fixing the price for refining to suit them- 

 selves. The fait that the price of ''common stock in American Sugar 

 Refining Co.,'' September 30, was more than 121 is evidence that it is 

 a paying concern. Having a monopoly of refined sugar they fixed the 

 price for any locality and season. The practice of ^'putting up the price 

 of sugar a cent a pound during the canning season," and then allow- 

 ing it to sink to its normal level when the ■•canning fiuriy" passed by 

 was an illustration of the tactics of the sugar trust. 



The monopoly of the sugar trust is threatened by the increasing i)ro- 

 duction of granulatcil beet sugar by the American method, fit for im- 

 mediate use as it leaves the factory, and has no need of refining. This 

 production of sugar for consum])tion is a fatal blow to the monopoly of 

 the sugar trust. If we can produce in the factory refined sugar in suffi- 

 cient quantities to snp]tly onr people, the refiners' occupation is gonel 



