1 Nov., 1897.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 399 
The (ueensland Sugar Industry. 
In view of the present position of the sugar industry in Queensland, the 
following extract from the letter of an anonymous writer (“N. C.’”’), addressed 
to the Brisbane Courier on the 27th September, cannot fail to be of general 
interest :— 
No one can deny the value of the Queensland sugar industry. There 
are nearly 90,000 acres under cane. The value of the annual production of 
sugar is close upon £1,000,000. There are between seventy and eighty sugar- 
mills in operation, and 8,000 white hands directly employed in the manufacture 
and growth of the cane. There are also 8,000 coloured men employed as 
labourers. The value of the manufacturing plants is nearly £1,500,000 
sterling. 
In March of last year, Professor Dr. Pausche, speaking from his place in 
the German Reichstag, said: “The fight between cane sugar and beet sugar 
which prevails in the sugar market of the whole world must come to an end 
somehow or other. One of the two only can be the victor; the other must 
succumb, if not completely, yet sufficiently to put an end to the mismanagement 
in the colonies. I wish that our sugar industry may become great and strong, 
and I hope that we gain the victory over the colonies; and, if the bounty 
can do anything to bring us nearer to this aim, even though incurring worse 
times tor ourselves in the beginning, we can say at last, when the market is at 
our command, * We have pursued a grand policy, and we have reached a grand 
aim.” The language is clear enough. ‘Che destruction of the sugar-cane 
industry has been decided upon. ‘This may seem a dream, but “ to-day’s 
dream is a fact to-morrow.” I shall endeavour to show that the dream of cur 
patriotic German friend is about to be realised. 
The ‘present depression in the cane-sugar industry of the entire world is 
- caused, of course, by the fail in the value of sugar of some £15 per ton during 
the last twenty years or so. To say that this striking event is due entirely to 
bounties, would, of course, be mere nonsense. More general reasons have to 
be sought, and one of the most important of these is to be found in the 
enormous relative increase in the saccharine strength of the beetroot, and the 
improved processes, which haye not only led to the production of sugar at half 
the old prices, but have prevented the hitherto enormous waste of sugar during 
the process of manufacture. But the increased sugar content of the beet and 
the improved methods of manufacture are not sufficient to account for the 
depressed state of the industry. If these were the only causes, I would say by 
all means let the British planter go to the wall if he does not exercise the same 
care as his Continental rival. What the British planter complains of is the 
artificial methods that are adopted by his foreign adversaries to crush him. 
Let us examine these methods. I shall have to go into figures, but I shall 
condense as much as possible. 
_ The position of the three largest producers on the Continent—namely, 
Germany, Austria, and Fr }2e—is as follows :— 
. 
Production Excise Export 
in Tons. Duty. Bounty. 
Germany 1,820,000 £6,500,000 £1,600,000 
Austria ... 1,000,000 3,200,000 900,000 
France ... rh 765,000" 10,500,000 2,500,000 
, 
— 
e 
Totals... «. 98,585,000 £20,200,000 £5,000,000 
