THE CUBA REVIEW 



17 



daily menu. Here lizards are ])cinf!; hrougJit l)y Jiundreds and encouraged to increase and 

 multiply for the sole object of combating the frog.hopper and increasing the sugar yield of the 

 estates. In addition to this measure, the banks of the river are being scoured for miles around 

 for toads to help in the work. — Consul Henry D. Baker. Trinidad, British West Indies. 



SUGAR AFTER THE WAR 



At the present time the thoughts of sugar 

 producers are largely concentrated on the 

 conditions as regards sugar which will prevail 

 after the war. The difficulty of prognosis 

 is naturally enormous, and much will depend 

 upon the fiscal conditions which will follow 

 the declaration of peace. The question 

 very largely hinges on the future of European 

 beet. In e\ery European beet-growing 

 country there has been an industrial up- 

 heavel, with a reduction of sugar crops, 

 due partly to want of labor, partly to the 

 destruction of sugar factories, but mainly 

 to the necessity for the cultivation of other 

 provisions. The points to be considered 

 are: Will the pre-war crops be again realized; 

 will they be extended? 



The chief European sugai-producing coun- 

 tries are Germany, Austria, Russia, and 

 France. In the fiist two of these the pre- 

 war factories remain standing, in the latter 

 it may be expected that a good many of 

 those in Poland have been destroyed, while 

 we know that French factoiies ha^ e been 

 sacrificed. 



Geimany, with its great powers of output, 

 naturally occupies an important place in 

 the consideration of the suDJect. Laoor 

 will inevitably be scarce, the utilization of 

 women toi laboi purposes haraly making 

 up for the scarcity of men. On the othei 

 hand Gennany will strain all hei mdustiiai 

 powers to produce sugar for her own pur- 

 poses, and wiJ endeavor to export sugar for 

 the purpose of bringrng grist to the miU in 

 the shape of money into the country. This 

 opens up a turther question. With the world 

 in arms against her, will she be able to export 

 sugar at anytliing but a ruinous figure, ex- 

 cept in the remote contingency that peace 

 will enable her to make such terms as will 

 place tier produce on the Allies' markets on 

 equal footing wrth the produce oi the Allies. 

 Without venturing to prophesy, it looks as 

 if f^is will not be the case, in which e^ent 

 it may be taken that Germany wA\ not 



export sugar from the Continent, as she did 

 before the war, Austria will be in the same 

 position as Germany, and her exports are 

 not likely to extend beyond supphing 

 comparatively small Eastern demands. 



The future position of the Russian sugar 

 industry is very doubtful. If Germany 

 acquires the commercial control ot that 

 country it is quite possible that she will 

 discourage the production of sugar in Russia 

 beyond a certain extent, with the view of 

 proviaing a favorable market for her own 

 surplus sugar. The Gemran cost of pro- 

 duction is far below that of Russia, ana duty- 

 free German sugar in Russia would be a 

 considerable damper to the Russian industry. 

 The other Eurpoean beet-growmg coimtnes 

 will probably return to their previous out- 

 put, but in no case wiU their excess sugar 

 be an rmportant asset in the world's market. 

 There may be a certain amount of beet sugar 

 grown in tlie Umted Ivingdom. 



The other large beet-producing country 

 is the United States. Here the output will 

 certainly be increased. 



It may be taken, therefore, that the 

 post-war production of beet sugar available 

 for the world's supply will be much less 

 than before the war for many years at least, 

 and if cane sugar production goes ahead 

 permanently it is not Ukely to ieco\er its 

 lost position. 



Turning to cane producing countries, a 

 prime factoi in supply vtill be, as it now is, 

 Cuba. It is not likely, however, that the 

 output of t.hat country will ever much ex- 

 ceed 3H or 4 milhon tons. Transport ana 

 labor trouble will probably make this the 

 economic limit. As the American beet 

 susrar industry increases in volume there 

 will be smaller market in the United States 

 for Cuban sugar, the increasing excess being 

 throwii on the world's market. It must be 

 remembered that Cuba is in the circle of 

 Alhes, and will receive preferential treat- 

 ment in Great Britain, the great market for 

 the world's sugar, if any preference rs given 



