These comparative costs as compiled by the Commission are presented 

 in the following table : 



Per Pound Costs Reduced to Raw Basis 



(Cents per Pound) 

 Region Pre-war 1916-17 1917-18 1918-19 



Cuba* 1.700 2.904 3.931 4.104 



Domestic Beet 3.492 3.287 4.199 6.002 



Hawaii 2.898 3.853 5.339 5.196 



Louisiana 4.101 3.963 5.692 9.304 



Porto Rico 2.828 4.229 4.568 5.802 



It is apparent therefore, that in both the pre-war and post-war periods, 

 average Cuban costs are materially below those of other producing regions. 

 In making this statement, however, it should be understood that the costs 

 quoted are only average costs and that in all areas there are certain individual 

 producers whose costs may be above or below the average quoted. The 

 sugar business, however, is a highly competitive business and it is only the 

 low cost producers which can most successfully withstand the rigors of this 

 competition. 



Significant Features of a Basic Industry 



Sugar is an indispensable modern food. The demand for sugar is re- 

 markably stable, being little influenced by depressions and expanding with 

 the growth of population and rising standards of living. Between two-thirds 

 and three-fourths of our annual consumption is in direct household use but 

 since prohibition, non-household use is becoming increasingly important. 

 The American people have invested more than $1,000,000,000 in the sugar 

 industry of Cuba, a sum greatly in excess of our sugar investments in other 

 individual regions. 



The commercial sugars of the world are obtained from the juice of the 

 sugar beet and the sugar cane. The beet is a crop of the temperate zone 

 while cane is grown in semi-tropical and tropical regions. The beet must 

 be planted annually and requires much manual labor. The cane as grown 

 in Cuba ordinarily requires little attention during the months of growth and 

 from twelve to fifteen ratoon crops may be grown from one planting. The 

 beet industry suffers severely from the competition of other crops but in 

 Cuba the cane industry has little competition of this character. The beet 

 industry was built up by a system of government bounties and high tariff 

 preferential, but even prior to the world war it was losing its relative im- 

 portance, due to the economic advantages of raising sugar cane in Cuba and 



* Duties on 96 Cuban centrifugals have been as follows: 



Dec. 27, 1903 to Mar. i, 1914 i.348oc. 



Mar. i, 1914 to May 27, 1921 i.oo48c 



May 27, 1921 to Sept. 21, 1922 i.6oooc. 



Sept. 21, 1922 1.76480. 



32 



