Beet Raising and Community Welfare 257 



The live-stock business is advanced by the cheap feeds 

 resulting as by-products of beet raising and sugar-making. 

 Several secondary manufacturing industries also grow out 

 of the use of sugar-house products. All business is en- 

 hanced by the presence of a sugar factory. 



NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE 



Perhaps the most important contribution of the beet- 

 sugar industry to community welfare comes in the greater 

 degree of national independence that it insures. In 

 modern days, sugar has come to be a food necessity. Its 

 high food value, its palatability, and the ease with which it 

 fits into the human ration make it almost indispensable. 

 The European war taught us much concerning the hard- 

 ship that may result from a shortage of sugar. 



Any nation that finds itself dependent on some other 

 nation for so important a commodity as sugar cannot 

 boast that it is really independent. In time of war when 

 an old supply is likely to be shut off, the nation that does 

 not produce its own sugar may find itself seriously handi- 

 capped. The beet-sugar industry owes its origin to just 

 such a condition. Later international troubles have shown 

 that preparation for an emergency of this kind must be made 

 in times of peace ; it is too late after fighting has begun. 



It now seems evident that, aside from other consider- 

 ations, the American beet-sugar industry should be en- 

 larged as a matter of national preparedness. The Amer- 

 ican people cannot afford to place themselves at the mercy 

 of a possible enemy by not having at home a source of 

 sugar sufficient to meet their needs in times of war. 



