INDIRECT BENEFITS OP SUdAB-BBEl? OUI.TTJBB. 



21 



FIRST DECREE OP NAPOLEON PROVIDING FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OP THE BEET- 

 SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



PALACE OF THE TUILERIES, March 23, 1811. 



Napoleon, Emperor of the French, etc. 



Upon a report of a commission appointed to examine the means proposed to natu- 

 ralize, upon the continent of our Empire, sugar, indigo, cotton, and divers other 

 productions of the two Indies; 



Upon presentation made to us of a considerable quantity of beet-root sugar refined, 

 crystallized, and possessing all the properties of cane sugar; 



Upon presentation made to us at the council of commerce of a great quantity of 

 indigo extracted from the plant woad, which our Departments of the south produce 

 in abundance, and which indigo has all the properties of the indigo of the two Indies; 



Having reason to expect that by means of these two precious discoveries our Empire 

 will shortly be relieved from an exportation of 100,000,000 francs hitherto necessary 

 for supplying the consumption of sugar and indigo; 



We have decreed and do decree as follows: 



ARTICLE 1. Plantations of beet root proper for the manufacture of sugar shall be 

 formed in our Empire to the extent of 32,000 hectares (79,040 acres). 



ART. 2. Our minister of the interior shall distribute 32,000 hectares among the 

 Departments of our Empire, taking into consideration those Departments where the 

 culture of tobacco may be established and those which from the nature of the soil 

 may be more favorable to the culture of the beet root. 



ART. 3. Our prefects shall take measure that the number of hectares allotted to 

 their respective Departments shall be in full cultivation this year, or next year at 

 the latest. 



ART. 4. A certain number of hectares shall be laid out in our Empire in plantations 

 of woad proper to the manufacture of indigo in the proportion necessary for our 

 manufacture. 



ART. 5. Our minister of the interior shall distribute the said number among the 

 Departments beyond the Alps and those of the south, where this branch of industry 

 formerly made great progress. 



ART. 6. Our prefects shall take measure that the number of hectares allotted to 

 their Departments shall be in full cultivation next year at the latest. 



ART. 7. The commission shall, before the 4th of May, fix upon the most conven- 

 ient places for the establishment of six experimental schools for giving instruction in 

 the manufacture of beet-root sugar conformably to the processes of chemists. 



ART. 8. The commission shall also, before the same date, fix upon the places most 

 convenient for the establishment of four experimental schools for giving instruction 

 upon the extraction of indigo from the leaves of woad according to the processes 

 approved by the commission. 



ART. 9. Our minister of the interior shall make known to the prefects in what places 

 these schools shall be formed and to which pupils destined to this manufacture should 

 be sent. Proprietors and farmers who may wish to attend a course of lectures in the 

 said experimental schools' shall be admitted thereto. 



ART. 10. Messrs. Barruel and Isnard, who have brought to perfection the processes 

 for extracting sugar from the beet root, shall be specially charged with the direction 

 of two of the six experimental schools. 



ART. 11. Our minister of the interior shall, in consequence, cause to be paid the 

 sum necessary for the formation of the said establishments, which sum shall be charged 

 to the fund of 1,000,000 francs ($200,000) in the budget of 1811 at the disposal of the 

 eaid minister for the encouragement of beet-root sugar and woad indigo. 



ART. 12. From the 1st of January, 1813, and upon a report to be made to our minister 

 of the interior, the sugar and indigo of the two Indies shall be prohibited and con- 

 sidered as merchandise of English manufacture or proceeding from English commerce. 



ART. 13. Our minister of the interior is charged with the execution of the present 

 decree. 



DECREE OF NAPOLEON, JANUARY 15, 1812. 

 SECTION 1. School for manufacture of beet-root sugar. 



ARTICLE 1. The factory of Messrs. Barruel & Chappelet, plain of Vertus, and those 

 established at Wachenheim, Department of Mont-Tonnere, at Douai, Strasbourg, and 

 at Castelnaudary are established as special schools for the manufacture of beet-root 

 Bugar. 



