The Daily News. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1920. SUGAR SHORTAGE.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 September 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1920. SUGAR SHORTAGE.

The epidemic of shortage which is causing such grave inconvenience in the Dominion, as well as I in other parts qf the world, appears to be growing instead of diminishing. In some cases the cause is more or less due to the war, but there are other factors of which human perversity is by no means the least, which play an important part in contributing to the present curtailment of the essentials to living in comfort, New Zealand is in the enviable position of having plenty oi money to pay for all the requirements of the people, but is unable to obtain the goods. As a consequence prices have risen abnormally, wages have followed suit, and yet recourse to rationing has become compulsory. Sugar is a case in point. It is a debateable question whether sugar is a necessity or a luxury, but there can be iio question that a far larger quantity of this commodity is used than need be, and it is probable that the low price at which for many years past it has been sold to the public in large measure accounts for the rapid rise in its consumption. ,Jt is interesting to note that, 'although sugar was shipped from Venice to London as far baek as 1319, it was chiefly used as a medicine till the beginning of the last century, when it became a food staple in connection with tea and coffee, while the growth of the I confectionery and other industries gave sugar production an enormous stimulus, and incidentally has brought much business to dentists. Until the shortage of supplies came about there were few people who realised how much sugar they used, and fewer still how much they wasted, so that the curtailment may not be I entirely without advantages. The settlement of the strike by the workers fit the' Auckland refin- ! eries will be hailed with satisfaction. Practically the men have secured all they demanded—a forty-four hours week, but only on the understanding that the shortened hours will not result in a diminution of output, and in. order to test the bona fides of the workers on this point the duration of the award was fixed at six months, the Arbitration Court regarding the concession as an experiment. Now that the men have returned to work, the acuteness of the shortage should soon be relieved, and the only disturbing factor will be the ex:tent of the supplies of the cane. Some light on this subject was recently shed by the general superintendent of the Queensland Bureau of Sugar Experiment Station (Mr. H. T. Easterby), who recently spent seven weeks in visiting the northern sugar districts. On the whole, his report is satisfactory, for although it has been a som'eAvhat trying time for eane growers, the crop prospects' are far better than was at one time thought possible. In the Mackay district the usual rains in February and March were absent, causing a severe check, but the belated woisturtf enabled a retaarkabla

j Recovery to be, made, so that a I ! medium crushing is expected j while, under favorable weather conditions, next year's . crop is expected to be a record, as everywhere growers were preparing land for planting. At Cairns, grubs were found to be causing a great deal of damage in many parts of the district—at one eslate only 4000 out of 12,000 tons will be cut, the remainder having been destroyed, the loss from this cause during the last four years amounting to 98,000 tons of cane. To a lesser extent this evil is present in other districts, but is being vigorously stacked. .Occasionally the cane plantations are severely injured'by cyclones, so that the growers appear to have their full share of inimical influences. To sugar consumers the fact that large extensions are being made to the eane-growing areas should be welcome news. Meanwhile the compulsory lesson of economy in the use of sugar may be regarded as a redeeming feature of the present shortage, and Dominion consumers may also take some consolation from the fact that sugar is still cheap, as compared with the price in Britain nineteen pence per pound.