The Evening Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED. The Evening News, Morning News, and EchO. FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 1897, BEET SUGAR.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 76, 2 April 1897, Page 2

The Evening Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED. The Evening News, Morning News, and EchO.

FRIDAY, APRIL 2, 1897, BEET SUGAR.

For tho causß that lacks assistance, For tho -wrong that needs resistanco, For ths future m the distance, And the good that we can do.

A deputation representing a meeting of the workmen at the Colonial Sugar Company's extensive works at Chelsea, yesterday waited upon Mr J. C. Firth as one of the founders and the first Chairman of that great enterprise in New Zealand, asking him to bring under the notice of the Hon. Mr Seddon, before his departure for England, the adverse circumstances affecting both their employers and the workmen. Their case was that, owing to the increasing imports into New Zealand of bounty-paid beet sugar from Germany and France, the output of sugar at ihe Chelsea Works was diminishing to such an extent that already large numbers of workmen had been dismissed. The deputation pointed out lhat the bounty was from £2 to per ton, and they strongly urged that, unless an import duty ecfual to the bounty were levied oa beet sugar, the trade of the Colonial Sugar Company in New Zealand would be greatly injured, a further dismissal of workmen would follow, with the final ruin in New Zealand of this most important enterprise.

Though the deputation appear to have put their case strongly, we think the circumstances fully justified their representations. That a fair idea may be formed of the magnitude of the operations of the Colonial Sugar Company in Auckland, and of their farreaching influence upon trade and employment here, we have been at the pains to obtain some figures which disclose conditions requiring the close and prompt attention of. Government to remedy the injustice inflicted upon a great enterprise by the admission of bounty-paid beet sugar into the colony as at present.

What has been the cost of the great sugar refinery at Chelsea we have no means of learning, but we believe it runs into the hundreds of thousands. T'.ie Sugar Company employs at Chelsea upwards pi 160 men and boys, with about 400, persons dependent on them. • The weekly wages paid to the regular workmen are about or about £\ 7,500 per annum, besides large sum;, expended for casual labour. The Company pays dues to the Auckland Harbour Board amounting yearly to about This large sum is paid lor dues for passing over a wharf which cest the Company -£io,ooo, but to which the Harbour Board contributed nothing. The Company pays about per annum for Customs supervision and license fee, besides income tax and other taxes local and general. The Company also pays large sums for coal, bricks, oats, bran, chaff, etc , for use at the Chelsea Works aud the sugar mills in Fiji.

These figures clearly show that the sugar industry at Chelsea is a very considerable factor in the prosperity of Auckland and the South. Nor must it be overlooked that the Company's connection with Fiji (from which the Chelsea Works derive all their supplies of raw sugar) is largely instrumental in enabling the Union Steamship Company to keep its steamers in the Island trade. In the strenuous efforts Sydney is making to snatch the Island trade from Auckland, anything which threatens to place our merchants at a disadvantage with Sydney ought to be promptly remedied.

Now, none of the advantages—some of which we have noticed —pertain to the importation of bounty-fed beet sugar, and yet the same duty is levied upon sugar grown in Fiji and refined in Auckland as on beet sugar, while the German and French Governments pay a heavy bounty for all beet sugar exported from those countries. South Australia, we believe, imposes an extra duty of j£s Per ton on beet SLl»ar» Victoria £6, and New South Wales until recently levied £$ per ton on beet sugar, as a counterpoise to the bounties paid by France and Germany.

In the case of New South Wales, our readers will have noticed the efforts made by Mr Reid, the Premier, to reduce the import duty on beet sugar. We believe he has already reduced it from £$ per ton to £$ ios, with a threatened annual reduction of duty till the bounly-su.pport-ed beet sugar comes into New South Wales tree. Under these circumstances the Sydney Colonial Sugar Company have given notice to the sugar cane farmers in New South Wales that when the extra import duty on beet sugar is reduced to the Company will remove all its sugar mills in New South Wales to Queensland and Fiji. In thai case, sugar producing in New South Wales will be* a lost art, which will probably never be revived.

As an instance of the way this bounty-fed beet sugar is destroying an irapartant local industry, we may mention that the steamers Tongatiro and Ruahine have just discharged large quantities of beet sugar in Wellington. As previously stated, this state of things has already led to

the discharge of a number of hands hitherto employed on the Chelsea Sugar works, to be followed by a further discharge unless Government impose an extra duty on German and French beet sugar equivalent to the bounties now paid by those countries on all exports of beet sugar.

Mr Chamberlain has recently asked for returns from the Australasian Colonies showing the inroads Germany is making on British trade. In view of the approaching departure of Mr Seddon to England, we cordially support the efforts ol the workmen at Chelsea to direct his attention to the loss to themselves and the injury to a very important local industry certain to occur unless remedial measures arc adopted, and we hope Mr Firth will promptly place the Chelsea workmen's request before Mr Seddon, so that on his return to New Zealand in September he may be in a position to take the necessary measures to prevent the increase of the unemployed, and the certain loss, if not ruin, to a most important local industry.