BEET SUGAR.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 280, 11 July 1888, Page 5

BEET SUGAR.

Wellington, July 7. It will be ol great interest to your readers to learn that in view of the early establishment of the beet root sugar industry, arrangements have been made to admit machinery free. Mr GokUe is in receipt of letters from R. R. Hunt, of Auckland, urging ceitain concessions for the encouragement of this industry, and faying that it something is done this session we shall see the beet sugar industry established in New Zealand ere long. He adds that as an old Waikato man ho believes there is nothing that will revive the piosperity up there but this particular industry, which will put a value on lands now valueless. The first concession leferred to is tha r beet sugar machinery should be admitted free. Mr G oldie saw the Premier on this matter and urged its importance on his attention. The Premier admitted the force of his arguments, but said it was too late to recommit the Bill to have this exception made. He, however, promised that beet sugar should be included with agricultural machinery, and would thus be free of duty. Mr Hunt, in hi-* letter, goes on to say, furthermore it should be fixed what differential duty will be grafted by the State. and for what term of yeais. S.iy, for instance, the duty on foieign sugar is over a halfpenny, there should be no excise duty on sugar locally manufactured, and that if the tariff on foreign sugar got up, and exci&e duty is put on the local production, the ditlerence f-huuld be the same, namely, not less than one halfpenny, and the term of guarantee seven yeara. Formerly ,1)10,000 was offered for the hr&b thousand tons of beet sugar produced within the colony, but it is not likely that the large bonus >\ ill be ottered again. Mr Goldie also made inquiries into this matter. He finds Mi Valentine read a paper on the subject several month? ago. It transpires that by an Act passed in 1885 piovision is made for a bonus of a halfpenny in the pound for the first thousand tons of beet or sorghum sugar, this representing a sum of £4,666. In addition to this, no excise duty is to be charged, &o that while there is duty on foreign sugar, this gives a further maigin of a halfpenny in fche pound in favourof thelocal producer. The Government guarantee by the Act in question not to put any duty on for fifteen years from bhe passing of the Act, and that if at any tim'e they reduced the duty on foreign sugar, they would refund to the local producer the amount they would lose by such reduction. This Act ia still in force, and offers great encouragement to the industry.