COMPETITION 125 



state of things. Another Conference was called and 

 met at Brussels in 1898. The numbers had multiplied. 

 France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Russia, 

 Spain, Sweden and Great Britain were now gathered 

 together and showed some real intention to make the 

 Conference a success. It was an interesting discussion, 

 but all hopes of success were wrecked by Russia. It 

 was agreed that the Russian system was a flagrant case 

 of unfair advantages conferred by the Government on 

 their sugar industry, with the effect of artificially 

 stimulating production and disturbing the natural 

 course of competition. Russia indignantly denied the 

 imputation and the Conference broke up. 



At that date Germany exported 760,000 tons of raw 

 sugar and 426,000 tons of refined. Austria exported 

 377,000 tons of refined, and Hungary 40,000 tons. 

 The average yearly exports from Russia for the period 

 1885-95 had been 72,000 tons, practically all refined 

 sugar. In 1896 the Russian exports went up to 221,000 

 tons. An interesting foot-note to the Belgian table of 

 (so-called) statistics says : " The figures relating to the 

 production of sugar are approximative, the duty being 

 based on a presumed yield." This is evidently the case, 

 for on adding the production and imports for 1897 we 

 get the figure of 222,185 tons, while we find the total 

 exports amount to 236,027 tons, leaving a minus 

 quantity for home consumption. 



