110 SUGAR 



establishment. The Austrian Government were losing 

 revenue to such an extent that it seemed probable that 

 they would soon cease to receive anything from the sugar 

 duty. This proved to be only too true. In 1867 the 

 net revenue was 5,363,159 florins. By 1874 it had 

 dropped to 1,742,324 florins, and in 1875, while the gross 

 revenue was 9,337,435 florins, the drawback allowed on 

 exports amounted to 9,472,991 florins, so that the sugar 

 duty produced an actual loss to the Exchequer of 

 135,556 florins. They remedied this disastrous state 

 of things by insisting on a fixed minimum revenue 

 with a gradual yearly increase. This checked the 

 exports to a certain extent and the manufacturers 

 loudly complained. In 1888, therefore, the whole 

 system was abolished and the duty was levied on the 

 actual sugar produced. The Government followed 

 the example of Germany and gave a temporary direct 

 bonus on exports, to be abolished when a general agree- 

 ment with the other countries should be arranged. 

 The manufacturers enjoyed the certainty of 9,000,000 

 florins per annum and were satisfied. The stimulus 

 to production continued and exports rapidly increased. 



Belgium and Holland levied the duty neither on the 

 sugar nor on the roots but on the density of the juice. 

 No one knows how much the manufacturers made out 

 of this, because neither the quantity of sugar pro- 

 duced nor the quantity consumed has ever been 

 discovered. 



Russia desired to have a flourishing beetroot sugar 

 industry, and after many vicissitudes hit upon a system 

 which thoroughly answered the purpose of giving the 

 necessary stimulus. The Russian Government, in 1894, 

 took the matter into their own hands. They fixed 

 (1) the quantity of sugar necessary for home consump- 

 tion ; (2) the maximum price to be charged to the 



