A RETROSPECT 3 



ports 63 per cent, of the total they consisted entirely 

 of foreign refined sugar. In 1860 the total imports 

 into the United Kingdom were : raw sugar, 434,766 

 tons ; refined sugar, 13,303 tons. In 1900 they were : 

 raw sugar, 661,747 tons ; foreign refined sugar, 962,409 

 tons. These are eloquent figures and we shall see how 

 the change came about. 



In 1860 our supplies of sugar came mainly from our 

 own sugar-producing colonies in the West Indies, 

 Mauritius and India. The Spanish West Indies, Brazil 

 and Manilla were our other principal sources of supply. 

 At that time practically all the refined sugar consumed 

 in this country was the product of our own refineries. 

 Sugar refining was, in those days, a most important 

 British industry, and London was its principal centre. 

 In London was produced nearly all the loaf sugar that 

 the country consumed. The London refiners were men 

 of some importance in the City. Their " sugar houses " 

 were to be found in the East End in considerable num- 

 bers and constituted the staple industry of the district. 

 From Whitechapel eastward to Mile End, and southward 

 through St. George's-in-the-East to the gates of the 

 London Docks, their chimneys were to be seen on all 

 hands. The London Docks and the East and West 

 India Docks were full of raw sugar destined for these 

 various refineries. A refinery in those days was con- 

 sidered to be a good-sized one if it dealt with three or 

 four hundred tons of raw sugar in a week. This may 

 sound ridiculous to the reader of the present day, but he 

 must recollect that the consumption of sugar only 

 amounted then to about 34 Ibs. per head of the popula- 

 tion. It must also be remembered that in those days, 

 from the time the raw sugar entered the refinery until it 

 left it in the form of loaf sugar, at least a month elapsed. 



Some of the London loaf sugar producers were at 



