21

H.—2.

In fact, there can be no doubt that the estimated expenses are placed sufficiently high, being at the rate of 4t°u cents [2id.] per pound of sugar, or 1t 8h cents [Id.] higher than in the Trench manufactory, which it is proposed to copy; while, excluding the item of labour, the balance of expenses would be less here than in France. The actual expenses for labour in the French manufactory are less than J cent [id.] per pound, and 1A cents [Id.] per pound has been allowed as the excess of cost here over that in France. I present below a table showing the estimated result, with the yield of sugar as great as in the French establishment—namely, 8 per cent., provided it were sold at its present market value, say 12i cents [G^d.] per pound, and the molasses at $25 [£5] per ton, or 10 cents [sd.] per gallon, which is less than half its actual value for distillation :— 1,920 tons of sugar, at 121 cents per pound ... ... $537,600= £107,520 727 tons of molasses, at 525 per ton ... ... ... 18,000 3,600 4,800 tons of pulp, at S2 per ton ... ... ... 9,600 1,920 $505,200 £113.040 Less expenses ... ... ... ... ... 194,500 38,900 Profit (equal to 123 per cent, on capital) ... ... $370,700 £74,140 Or, deducting taxes and internal revenue ... ... 16,000 3,200 118 per cent. ... ... ... ... ... $354,700 = £70,940 By the poorest methods prevailing in Europe 6 per cent, of sugar is obtained. By the best processes 9 per cent, of sugar and 2J per cent, of molasses can be and repeatedly have been extracted from beets containing 12J per cent, of saccharine matter, which is the amount in the beets raised in Illinois on the first experiment. I submit, therefore, the accompanying table as an indication, on the one hand, of a result that is possible to be realized, and also, on the other, of a result that in the present state of the art is certain to be at least equalled. In this tablo sugar is credited at 10 cents [sd.] a pound, molasses at 10 cents [od.] per gallon, and pulp at $2 [Bs.] per ton. Expenses are reckoned as in the preceding table [page 20]. Table showing the Products of Sugar from 24,000 tons of Beets, yielding 6, 7, 8, and 9 per cent, with the Amount and Percentage of Profit on a Capital of $300,000 [£60,000]. Taxes and internal revenue not deducted. Yield per cent. 181" Pl'ofit Profit per cent. 6 ... 1,440 ... $152,660 = £30,532 ... 50A 7 ... 1,680 ... 206,420 41,284 ... 68 T s u 8 ... 1,920 ... 260,180 52,036 ... 86 T 'o 9 ... 2,160 ... 313,940 62,788 ... 104 T o o On pages 40 to 48 I have discussed fully the probable cost of manufacturing beet-root sugar, and have arrived at the conclusion that under no circumstances, with a yield of 7 per cent, of sugar, can the cost exceed 5^- cents [2£d.] per pound. My belief is that it would be less, say 4f- cents [2}d.] at the outside. But if it cost 5J cents [2|d.], and sold at 10 cents [sd.], there would still be a profit of 90 per cent. After making all allowance for contingencies that I can imagine as possible to arise, I have not the slightest doubt that there can be realized on the manufacture a profit of at least 80 per cent, on the capital invested. In a conversation with a French gentleman, a manufacturer of sugar machinery for all parts of the world, and who is also largely interested (and with most favourable results) in the manufacture not only of cane sugar in Martinique, but also of beet sugar in France, in Germany, in Poland, and in Eussia, he gave it as his opinion that the beet was destined to become the great sugar-producing vegetable of the world, for the reason that it can be cultivated in the temperate latitudes, in countries of dense population, and consequently in close proximity to the consumers of sugar. In his judgment sugar can be produced from it as cheaply in Europe or in the United States as it can be from cane in the West Indies or Brazil. And even if that position were not tenable, the expenses of transportation are so great as to render it absolutely certain that sugar produced from the cane cannot compete with beet sugars in the markets of Europe or the United States. From Mr. Crookes' book, to which. I have before referred, I take the following extract: — Labour and Genebal Estimates. "With perhaps the exception of two or three men, no skilled labour is required in new beet-root sugar "works, as most of the operations are of a simple mechanical nature, easily taught to inexperienced country hands by a competent superintendent and his overseers. The only skilled hands really needed are an engineer, a hydraulic pump man, a defecator, a sugarboiler, and a bone-black burner. Of these the defecator and sugarboiler should have alread}' had some experience in a beet-sugar factory, as the best " sugar refiner," accustomed to cane syrups alone, would not understand the practical difficulties incident to important minutiae in the special treatment of the juice of the beet. We here give a general estimate of the cost of labour for a 150,000 per diem factory, on the basis of 4s. per shift, of which two take place every twenty-four hours, the work being continuous day and night. We have added, as a separate item, the necessary additions to be made for the extra salaries to

Cost of production, and return therefrom,