SUGAR INDUSTRY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 136, 5 December 1912, Page 7

SUGAR INDUSTRY

— r-* —— MINORITY REPORT DEFENDS THE COMPANY. INCREASE OJMMPORT DUTY SUGGESTED. By Telegraph.-Preßs A»soei»tlon.~Copyrlght, MELBOURNE, 4th December. The minority report of the Sugar Commission, signed _by Mr. Crawford, one of the Commissioners, strongly defends the Colonial Sugar Company and urges that the beet industry of Victoria Should be encouraged as far as possible, as it is unlikely that the requirements of Australia wilt be met by the production of catie sugar in New South Wales and Queensland for several years to come. Mr. Crawford's conclusions include the following:—That the excise duty and bounty on white-grown sugar, in conjunction with other measures, have ful-filled-their purpose; that the profits of the mill-owners and refiners, while sufficient, are not excessive to the consumer; that the primary producer will do better by serving under existing conditions than he would under a system of small independent refiners by which farmers would not receive an adequate return for their labour and enterprise. The recommendations of the minority report include the abolition of the excise and bounty and the prohibition of coloured labour, an increase in the import duty on sugar to £7 a ton, tut if the excise and bounty are retained an increase in the import duty to £9. It is also recommended that wages and conditions of labour should be regulated by local boards.