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Show DEATH KNELL OF SUGAR INDUSTRY! The Underwood bill, providing for free entry of sugar, has caused consternation con-sternation among Utah beet sugar produceis, nearly all of whom feel that the suspension of the sugar tariff would forco them to abandon tho cul- j tlvatlon of beets in this district David Eccles, president of tho Amalgamated Sugar company, with headquarters In this city, In an interview inter-view today, said: "The Underwood bill sounds tho death knell of the beet industry. It rewards the eastern sugar 'refineries by giving them cheap foreign sugar and punlahes the western beet farmers farm-ers by discriminating against the beet industry." Local beet sugar men declare that the passing of the Underwood bill means that foreign sugar, produced largely by peonage labor, would be placed on the eastern markets at prices with which western concerns could not compete. Inasmuch as the western factories depend on tho eastern east-ern market for S5 per cent of their sales, there would be no more money Invested in the industry In the west. Present operations would of necessity be reduced 85 per cent as the west-em west-em concerns would bo forced 'to' depend de-pend entirely on the local field. r Foreign raw sugar can now be placed on the New York market for 4.6 cents a pound. The duty is $1.84 a hundred pounds, which would make it possible, with the duty removed, to i sell the foreign Taw1 product in Now York at 3.2d couts a pound, but little more than is paid tho western farmer i for his beets. I The raw material, through cheap labor, la-bor, can be produced In Cuba for 2 cents a pound, while the Utah and Idaho farmers receive 2 1-2 cents a pound for the sugar in their beets, it can readily bo seen that tho western factories cannot handle the beets and enter Into competition on the New York market. Tho difference in freight rates wouia noia inem out oi uie jnicago market. New York refineries have a rate of 22 cont3 a hundred, while the rates to Chicago from Utah common points is 50 cents a difference of almost al-most 30 cents a hundred. "With these conditions prevailing," say the sugar men of Ogden," Utah and Idaho factories would be forced to depend entirely on the local field for their existence Only about 15 per cent of the sugar produced in Utah and Idaho is sold on tho Utah and Idaho Ida-ho markets. Last year's production in these Btates amounted to 1,650,000 bags or 165,000,000 pounds. Confined to the local field this production would necessarily be cut 85 per cent, lowering lower-ing the output to about 247,000 sacks, or 24,700,000 pounds One factory alone could handle this amount. "It can easily be seen that this would kill tho sugar beot Industry The death of the sugar beet industry would be all that the cane sugar people peo-ple would need to havo everything In their own hands Gaining this point, sugar prices would soar and ultimately ultimate-ly return to a point where they wero before the advent of the sugar beet It was tho advent of the sugar beet that brought the prices down to the point where they aro today Thoy have kept the price of sugar down and the killing kill-ing of the beet Industry would mean a return to tho higher pi es Hpw-ovor, Hpw-ovor, tho Underwood bill has not passed pass-ed vet" Tho bill proposed b the Democratic Demo-cratic loader would put sugar on th free list and has been ratified by n caucus of tho Democratic members of the house. Those favoring the sugai niu esiimaic mai u 111 reuuee wo price of sugar to the consumer about a cent and a half a pound and sao the American people $107,000,000 a year The supporters contend that while It will reduce the profits to the manufacturers of sugar it will not piove detrimental to the sugar InduR-try InduR-try in this country The Underwood measure, however, was assailed bitterly by representatives representa-tives from Louisiana the cano sugar state, and by representatives from tho sugar beet growing states, who wore absolved from tho bond of the caucus. Representatives from all of these states declare that the passage of the bill will prove a death blow to the sugar Industry of their states. |