Dec. 1895.] BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY ON THE CONTINENT. 



297 



bounty ; it would appear, however, to amount, at the present rate 

 of extraction of ]efined sugar, to about, 2s. per cwt. 



The French imports and exports of raw and refined sugar in 

 the 10 years ending with 1893 are shown below : — 



Years. 



Imports. 



Exports. 





Cwts. 



Cwts. 



1884 



4,220,000 



1,500,000 



1885 



5,540,000 



2,640,000 



1886 



3,180,000 



2,760,000 



1887 



3,140,000 



3,180,000 



1888 



4,180,000 



3,220,000 



1889 



3,200,000 



5,380,000 



1890 



2,680,000 



7,060,000 



1891 



3,080,000 



5,540,000 



1892 



3,240,000 



4,520,000 



1893 



2,840,000 



5,400,000 



The position of the beet-sugar industry in France w^as reviewed 

 by Sir J. Crowe in February last in the following words : — 



*' In 1871 France consumed 288,000 tons; 20 years later the con- 

 sumption rose to 467,000 tons, and sugar was quoted Is. id. dearer in 

 Paris per cwt. than in London. But as production had risen to more 

 than 700,000 tons a year, a stock remained which required an outlet 

 abroad to the extent of 300,000 tons. French refiners, therefore, com- 

 peted in neutral markets, and chiefly in England, with the exporters of 

 other continental States, and here it is that depression comes in. Over- 

 production and other causes brought on a decline of price. The decline 

 became more marked every year. Quotations for sugar, which had been 

 24s. lOd. for raw, and 52s. Id. for refined, per cwt. in 1862, fell to 

 2ls. Ad.-24s. \0d. and 445. \\d. in 1882. In 1890 the same goods 

 were to be had for 1 1^. Qd. to \4:s. 5d. and 42.?. Hd. A further fall to 

 10,9.9c?. to lis. 4cd. and AOs. 8o?. occurred in 1894, and the effect on 

 growers, refiners, and exporters has not been favourable. Exports, 

 which had risen 190,000 t ns in 1871 to 353,000 tons in 1890, were 

 reduced to 288,000 tons in 1894. All round her France saw rivals 

 progressing as exporters, whilst her own position was growing worse. 



The agriculturists cried out that they were being ruined ; 



growers and producers of raw sugar protested that something must be 

 clone to protect them further. The latest panacea is to be a surtax of 

 45. 5d. and 45. lOd. per cwt. on foreign and colonial sugai-. But here 

 the refiners refuse their approval. It is a long way from the Depart- 

 ments of the Nord, the Aisne, the Somme, and the Pas-de-Calais, where 

 beet is specially cultivated, to Marseilles, and at Marseilles, refiners 

 receive foreign cane sugar, and work it up for export. Thej^, too, cry 

 out that they are about to be ruined, and hundreds of suggestions are 

 made to show how the interests of all classes, growers, manufacturers, 

 and refiners, can be reconciled. It is melancholy to think that the State 

 has spent 20,000,000/. in premiums in 10 years for the protection of 

 the sugar trade, and that growers and manufacturers alike still find that 

 they are on the verge of penury." 



- The total area under bugar-beet in Austria-Hungary is 

 871,000 acres, of which 664,000 acres are accounted for by 



