§ IV.—THE SUGAR-TRADE.

It is well known that sugar can be produced from other vegetables besides the cane. In France and Prussia, it is extracted from the beet- root ; in some parts of France, from grapes ; hi India, from the date ; in America, from the maple of Canada and the United States, the stalk of the Indian corn, and the Mexican agave. But none of these plants yield nearly such a quantity of saccharine matter, or so freely, as the sugar-cane; none of their sugars can stand in competition with cane- sugar in a fair and free market. The attempts to substitute the other classes of sugar for that of the cane by the aid of restrictive or prohi- bitive duties, which have been made in different countries of Europe, appear everywhere to be on the eve of being abandoned.

The sugar-cane is, properly speaking, a Tropical plant. In the North of India, and in Louisiana, it is cultivated as far North as the 30th degree of latitude ; and it seems formerly to have flourished on the North shores of the Persian Gulf. In Louisiana, however, the canes are liable to suffer from early frosts, which materially diminish the produce ; and the peculiar physical conformation of the regions adjoining the Persian Gulf, and lying in the nook enclosed by the Himalaya and the mountains of Afghanistan, raise their average_ temperature far above that which prevails in most countries on the same parallel of North latitude. In China, the cultivation of the cane does not seem to be attempted North of the Poyang Lake—about 29 deg. N.: the principal plantations are between that and Canton, in Fokien, and in the islands Hainan and Formosa. In the Southern hemisphere, the cane does not appear to be cultivated with success South of 24 degrees : the sugar-plantations most remote from the Equator are those in the vicinity of Rio Janeiro, and in the Northern provinces of La Plata. The sugar-countries, therefore, may be con- sidered as limited to 30 deg. N. and 24 deg. S. of the Equator. They consist of two groups-the Western or American, which have been created by European skill and enterprise ; the Eastern, where the manufacture and trade have been carried on since remote antiquity, but where European energy is only beginning to give them a new im- petus.

In our endeavours to place before our readers as complete a view of the sugar-trade as our access to information permits, we shall therefore fix our attention principally upon cane-sugar. We will first pass in review the sugar-importing countries ; and under each will fall to be noticed any internal manufacture of sugar from other vegetables than the cane from which its supplies may be derived. In the second place, we will pass in review the sugar-exporting countries ; classifying them under these two great groups-lst, the countries exporting cane-sugar which lie West of the Cape of Good Hope ; 2d, those which are to the East of the Cape.

1. IMPORTING COUNTRIES.

GREAT BRITAIN.

The Tables of Revenue, 8:c. for 1840, presented to both Houses of Par- liament, contain two tables which, as they serve to illustrate the sources 'whence Great Britain draws her supplies of sugar, and the countries to which the surplus not entered for consumption is reexported, are given here.

TABLE I.-Sugar imported into the United Kingdom in 1840.

Places from which imported. Into Great Britain. Into Ireland. Total.

Cuts. Cwts. Cuts.

British West Indies 2,019.934 194,830 2,214,764 British North America 2,917

2,917

Cape of Good Hope

11

11

Mauritius 545,007

545,007 British East Indies, t iz.-

East India Company's Territories 482.782

482,782 Singapore

15.875

15,875 Ceylon 73

73 Siam 9,250

9 250 Java 31,918 . . ... 31,918 Philippine Islands 69,981

69,981 China... 2

2 New South Wales and Vu Diemen's Laud 1

1 Foreign West Indies. viz.-

Cuba 304,063

304,063 Porto Rico 87,171 2,912 89,583 Cayenne 1,5E9

1,569 United States of North Americi 4

4 Columbia 1,625

1,625 Brazil 215,962

215,962 Peru 57

57 Europe 50,401

50.401

3,938,603 197,242 4.035,845

TABLE II.-Sugar Exported from the United Kingdom 'n 1840.

COUNTRIES TO WHIM EXPORTED.

1

BAN: 6 UGAS• REFINED &rasa.

FrOITI

British posse,.

sions. Foreign. Total of Raw Sugar.

Actual Wel4°ht•

The same stated as Raw Sugar.. Total stated as Raw Sugar.

FROM GREAT BRITAIN-

Cut. Cwt. Cut Cut. Cwt. Cwt.

Russia 165 39,816 39,981 15,165 25,781 65,762 Sweden and Norway. .. 1,806 1,806 769 1,307 3,113 Denmark .. . 5,904 5,904 2 3 5,907 Prussia . . 50,570 50,570 142 241 51,811 Germany 56 4,392 4,448 2,549 4,333 8,781 Holland . .. 24,398 24,398 145 247 24,645 Belgium 1 40,825 40.826 .... .. • . 40,826 France . . 2,636 2,636 582 990 3,626 Portugal, the Azores, and

Madeira .

400 400 969 1,647 2,047 Spain and the Canaries .... 4,611 4,611 11.910 20,247 24,859 Gibraltar . 6 6 5,840 9,928 9,934 Italy . . 17,034 17,034 70,066 119.112 136,146 Malta . 9 790 9,700 6,794 11,550 21,250 Ionian Islands .. 1,737 1,737 7,648 13,070 14,807 Mores and Greek Islands .... 186 186 1,159 1.970 2,156 Turkey . . 4,653 4,653 33,376 56,739 61,392 Syria and Palestine .. 757 757 817 1,389 2,146 Egypt . 223 223 1,052 1,788 2,011 Morocco .. .... .... 1,432 2,435 2,435 West Coast of Africa 15 605 620 339 576 1,196 Cape of Good Hope .... 3,266 3,266 932 1,584 4,950 St. Helena . . . 42 42 13 22 64 Mauritius . . . .

3,305 5,619 5,619 East Indies and China.., 13 50 63 2,449 4,163 4,226 Australia (including New

Zealand) 151 617 769 12,311 20,929 21,697 British North America .. 1,150 1,150 30,127 51,216 52,366 British West Indies

2:75

28 303 19,907 33,842 34,145 Foreign West Indies ..

1 1

21 36 37 United States of North

America . 5,485 5,483 56 95 5,580 Mexico and States of South

America .. 92 92 373 634 726 Guernsey, 8cc 7,314 531 7,845 4,758 8,089 15,934

-- 7,990 221.521 P29,511 , 235,048 629,093 Total from Great Britain 399,582

FROM 1 HUARD-

France . 1

1 British West Indies .. .... ....

1.-..11

223 223 Total from Ireland

1 1 131 223 224 Total from theUnited King- dom 7,990 221,522 229,512 235.179 399,805 629,317

These are the most recent tables that show the distribution of British sugar-the channels into which the British sugar-trade runs. It must be remarked, however, in order to prevent erroneous inferences, that

• 34 cwt, of raw to 20 cwt, of refined. [This proportion, although still used in offi- cial calculations, is now known to be incorrect.)

the importation of about 50,000 cwt. of sugar from "Europe," in 1840, was an exceptional case, and such an entry will not be found in any other year.

The supply of sugar in this country may be said to consist exclusively of cane-sugar. In 1838, we find 129 cwt. of beet-root sugar entered as having paid the Excise-duty ; in 1839, 16 cwt. ; and in 1840, 104 cwt. These quantities are too inconsiderable to admit of any other inference than that the manufacture of beet-root sugar is with us merely an amusement for amateurs. The total of sugar imported into Great Bri- tain in 1842 was 234,963 tons ; of this quantity, 193,823 tons was en- tered for home-consumption, 20,094 tons exported in a raw state, and 21,966 refined.* The sugar entered for home-consumption was exclu- sively the produce of the British West Indies, and the districts of British India from which sugar is now allowed to be imported at the West Indian rates of duty. The differential duty on foreign sugar was in effect prohibitory. In the circular of a great mercantile house in the City, for the present month, we read-" The first three months of the present year show a much greater consumption than the same period in former years ; being 42,500 tons, against 35,500 in 1842, and 38,000 in 1841; and there is every prospect of its extension."

FaeNcE.t

A considerable proportion of the sugar consumed in France is mama- factured in the country from beet-root. In 1837, 543 manufacturers of beet-root sugar produced about 35,000 tons ; in 1838-9, 560 manufac- turers, all except five actively at work, produced nearly 40,000 tons ; in 1840-41, 388 manufacturers produced about 26,000 tons. The annual average consumption of beet-root and colonial sugars together, for seven years, has amounted to about 93,600 tons. In 1840, about 78,000 tons of foreign and colonial sugar were imported into France : to this must be added nearly 26,000 tons of beet-root sugar, manufactured in that year, giving an available total of 104,000 tons ; and about 10,500 tons were exported,-leaving for the consumption of the whole of France in that year, 93,500 tons. Sugar imported into France is, as in Great Britain, liable to heavy duties ; even beet-root sugar is subjected to an excise-duty of about 6s. 10d. per cwt. These duties, the limitation of the number of ports into which sugar may be imported, and other vexatious restrictions, have all been imposed with a view to promote the growth of beet-root sugar. They combine to augment the price of sugar in France ; which, while it averaged in the Antilles, in 1840, 22s. per cwt., averaged at Havre 53s. 6d., (the average duty-paid price of sugar in the London market was in the same year 74s. 2id.) and at Paris considerably more. The falling-off in the production of beet-root sugar in France of late years is the consequence of inability to keep its ground in the market against cane-sugar, labour- ing under all the disadvantages mentioned. The complaints of the colonial merchants and the shipping interest, and the impatience of the consumer, are working a change in public opinion on the subject of beet-root sugar. Committees were appointed in 1840 and 1841, and their reports have led the Government to entertain the proposal to prohibit the manufacture of beet-root sugar, and indemnify the manufacturers.

HOLLAND.

In 1840, the value of sugar imported into Ho:land from all parts of the world is said§ to have been- From Dutch Indies 1,243,785 From Culas. and Porto Rico 656,333 From Hann Towns 227,708 From Brazil 219,000 From England 85,833 £2,432,749

Of this total, sugar to the value of 2,014,183/. was imported into Am- sterdam alone. We have no statement of the value of the sugar im- ported into Rotterdam in 1840; but in 1841, it was 259,720/. From this it may be inferred that the importation of sugar into Holland centres in these two ports. One half of the sugar annually imported into Holland would appear to be drawn from its own colonies. Of this portion, 15,000 tons are drawn from Surinam,11 the rest from Java. The quantity of sugar exported from Java in 1840 was 61,378 tons ; two-thirds of which, being about 40,000 tons, added to the 15,000 tons from Surinam, gives 55,000 tons of sugar imported into Hol- land in 1840 from its own colonies. It would appear from the table of values, that the quantity of sugar imported from other countries about equalled the quantity imported from the colonies. In 1840, there- fore, there cannot have been less than 110,000 tons of sugar imported into Holland - about half the quantity imported into Great Britain in the same year. The population of Holland does not exceed 3,100,000; and the general high taxation of Holland, joined to the frugality of the people, limits the demand for sugar to far below what would under more favourable circumstances be consumed by the Dutch at home. Raw sugar to the value of 276,000/. is stated to have been reexported in 1840: the refined sugar exported in the same year is estimated at 2,112,000/. The bulk of the sugar imported into Holland is intended to be reexported as refined sugar. It is a forced trade. A mono- poly of the Java sugars is given to the Colonial Association of Hol- land (Neerlsndische-Handel-Maat schappy.) The inhabitants of Java are obliged to cover a fifth part of their estates with sugar, which is paid as rent. The sugar is prepared in private factories, to which money is advanced by Government, who are repaid in raw sugar received at the rate of 15s. 3d. per cwt. This sugar is delivered by the Government to the Company's agents at certain ports, and shipped for Holland by the Company at fixed rates, free of duty, at the risk of Government. The Company dispose of it by public sales "as speedily as possible," and account to the Government for the proceeds. The sugar thus obtained by forced labour is sold at a low price to the refiners,-who have built as

• Accounts relating to Trade and Navigation, ordered to be printed by the House of Commons, 17th Feb. 1843.

t Commercial Tariffs, Part IV.-France. Preseuted to both Houses Of Parliament by command of her Majesty. April 1842.

For the comparative rates of duty in the principal sugar marts of Europe, see a table at the end ef this chapter. I Commercial Tariffs and Regulations, Part VI.-Holland. Presented to bot HOUSeS of Parliament by command of her Majesty. 25 February 1843. II Surinam Almanac. if they were to receive for ever a bounty which would enable them to engross the home market of Continental Europe. The effect of forcing the cultivation of sugar for the Dutch refineries has been attended with great loss. Russia prohibits the importation of refined sugar : Ger- many imposes high differential duties on refined sugars, and admits raw sugars for refineries : France imposes high, and England prohibitory duties, both on raw and refined sugars. The loss of Belgium has re- duced the home consumption one-half; the production of Java has gone on increasing ; and the Dutch have been obliged to go on refin- ing beyond the demand of the market, to avoid greater loss. There have already been failures from this cause in Rotterdam and Amster- dam ; but the chief revenue of Java is derived from sugar, and the Dutch navigation depends upon the sugar-trade. By the arrangements taf 1839, the Dutch Government is bound to persevere in this system 111 1850.

DENMARK.

Tie quantity of sugar imported into Copenhagen in 1838 was- St. Croix sugar 5C2wot 1;. 87

Foreign Plantation 40,803

Total 92,990

The German province of Holstein is supplied with sugar from Ham- burg: there are no means of ascertaining the quantity. The duties on sugar in Denmark are moderate ; the prices are low ; but the whole supply does not exceed the demands HAMBURG, AND OTHER GERMAN STATES NOT INCLUDED IN THE Z OLL • VEREIN.

Hamburg and Bremen are the emporiums of sugar for all the German States (except Austria) not included in the Zoll-verein. Hamburg, in addition to the supplies with which it furnishes those countries, exports largely to Prussia, and sends a considerable quantity of sugar to the North-western provinces of Austria. The customs-duties both in Ham- burg and Bremen are little more than nominal. The quantity im- ported into Bremen, in 1838, was 6,200 tons. The importation of Hamburg, in 1840 and 1841, amounted to-

Tons.

1840 45,300

1841 30,200

The stock remaining on hand at the end of 1841 was 8,700 tons. The sugar transported from Hamburg, by the Elbe, in 1837 and 1838, to the Prussian dominions alone, amounted to-

Tau Tons. In 1837. In 1838.

Raw 18,300 18,800 Refined 1,100 1,200 THE GERMAN ZOLL-VEREIN

The Customs Union of Germany resembles France in this respect, that a large portion of its sugar supply consists of home-manufactured beet-root sugar. It differs from France in this respect, that it has no colonies, and we might almost say no maritime trade. The following tables shows the amount of the colonial sugar-trade in the States of the Union in the years 1837 to 1840 inclusive-

Raw and Lump Sugars Refined. for Refiners.

IMPORTS. Centners.g Centners.

1837 213,740 1,140,168

1838 1 " JP 1839 j-

1840 269,964 1,411,148 EXPORTS.

1837 30,788 56 1838 21,936 25 1839. 21,227 199

1840 42,808 310

Professor Dietrici (from whose official work on the Commerce of Prussia and the Zoll-verein, in 1837-39, these tables are taken), states the quantity of beet-root sugar annually produced in the territories of the League, as far as it had been ascertained, as follows-In Prussia, 89 manufacturers produced annually 112,268 centners of best beet-root sugar ; 36 in the other States of the Union produced 32,942 centners ; in all, 145,210 centners, or about 6,500 tons. From some manufac- turers returns had been obtained ; but as the Professor leaves them out of account in his subsequent calculations, they were probably of little consequence.

It appears, therefore, that in 1840, shoat 55,000 tons of colonial sugar were imported into the States of the Union ; at least about 6,500 tons of beet-root sugar manufactured in them, and nearly 2,000 tons exported. This leaves about 59,500 tons for internal consumption. The produce of the beet-root sugar manufactories would, according to this statement, amount to nearly a tenth part of the whole sugar con- sumed in the Union. The production of this tenth is promoted, and perhaps rendered possible, by the duties imposed on imparted sugar ; which will be found stated, along with those of France and other coun- tries, in the sequel.

The colonial raw sugar consumed or refined in the Customs Union, is derived almost exclusively from Holland and Hamburg ; a very little is imported from England in the Eastern Baltic ports of Prussia.

THE AUSTRIAN COMINION8.

The sugar consumed in Austria is partly beet-root and partly cane- sugar. Professor Dietrici estimates the quantity of beet-root sugar annually produced in Austria at nearly 3,200 tons ; and from the sickly state of the manufacture, there is good reason to believe that this is not an under-estimate. The great emporium of colonial sugar is Trieste. There is a growing sugar-trade from Hamburg to Bohemia and Ga- licia. In 1839, about 1,500 tons found their way through this channel into the Austrian dominions. Some sugar is imported into Venice which does not come through Trieste : in 1836 it amounted to up- wards of 1,096 hhd., valued at 101,0311. An official statement now before us gives the quantity of sugar annually imported into Trieste from 1832 to 1841. As a good deal has been said about the increased

Commercial Tariffs and regulations Part III., presented to both Houses of Parlia- ment by command of her Majesty, 7th February 1842.

1 Commercial Tariffs ItOtt Regulations, Part V.

11 The Berlin centuer =103.3 lbs. avoirdupois English.

" These years are left bleak in the original tables of Professor Dietrici.

consumption of sugar anticipated in Austria from the reduced duties of the tariff of 1838, a table, showing the imports of 1838, (the year in which the new tariff came into operation,) of the three years preceding that year, and the three following it, is here subjoined.

Sugar Imported into Trieste.

.11835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 { 1841 aw.

19.800 tons* 27,500 - 15,680 - 22.154 - 26.050 23,446 - 18.595 Refined.

2.195 tons. 5.500 4,064 - 8,000 - 5,832 - 4.400 8,525 BELGIUM. Total. 21,995 tons.

33.000 - 19,744 - 30,154 - 31.880 - 27,846 - 27,120 -

The total importation of sugar into Antwerp in 1838 was 15,000 tons. Professor Dietrici estimates the annual average of beet-root sugar ma- nufactured in Belgium at 15,000 tons. There are no means of estimat- ing the quantity of sugar exported from Belgium.

ITALY.

The sugaeof Italy (the Austrian provinces excepted) is drawn prin- cipally from Holland, France, and England. The quantity, we have found it difficult to ascertain : it appears to be about 35,000 tons.

SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.

The statistics of the sugar-trade of the Peninsula, like those of Naples, remain a blank, though every effort has been made to procure inform- ation regarding them. M. Montveran estimates the consumption in Spain at 41,000 tons.

SWEDEN.

The accounts of the sugar-trade of Sweden and Norway are some- what antiquated, and not very minute. In 1829, 90,334 cwt. of sugar was imported into Sweden ; in 1831 the importation amounted to 97,106. Norway and Finland are in part supplied with sugar from Sweden.

Russia.

Nearly 35,000 tons of sugar were imported into Russia in 1838, by way of Odessa and St. Petersburg. According to the official journal of Berlin, there were in 1841, 174 manufactories of beet-root sugar in Russia.t The amount of the produce of those establishments is not mentioned : Professor Dietrici estimates it at 156,600 Berlin centners- this, however, is mere conjecture.

UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA.

The United States, notwithstanding the very considerable quantity of sugar produced in them, belong to the importing countries. In 1839, the import of sugars was 195,231,2731b. at a cost of 10,000,000 dollars. In 1840, about 120,000,000 lb. was imported, valued at about 6,000,000 dollars. The greater part of this was retained for home consumption. The quantity of sugar produced in the United States in 1841 appears from the following table.

lb.

lb.

Maine 263.592 Mississippi 127 New Hampshire 169,519 Louisiana 88,189,315 Massachusetts 496.341 Tennessee 275,547 Rhode Island 55 Kentucky 1.409,172 Connecticut 56,372 Ohio 7,109,423 Vermont 5.119,264 Indiana 3,914,184 New York 11,102,070 Illinois 415,756 New Jersey 67 M issoori 327,165 Pennsylvania 2,894,016 Arkansas 2,147 Delaware

Michigan 1,894,372 Maryland 39,892 Florida Ter 269,146 Virginnia 1457,206 Wisconsin Ter .. 147,816 North Carolina . ...... .. 8,924 Iowa Ter. 5L425 South Carolina 31.461 District of Columbia ... - Georgia. 357.611

126,164,644 Alabama 10,650 Total

The quantity of sugar imported into the States in 1841 we have not been able to learn ; but the value is stated in the North American Almanac for 1843 to have been 8,802,742 dollars ; which, by its proportion to the value of the import of 1839 and 1840, seems to imply about 170,000,000 lb. This added to the quantity produced, gives for the total consumption of the United States, in 1841, about 132,200 tons. In Louisiana, Mis- sissippi, Alabama, and Florida, sugar is manufactured from the cane ; and the produce of these countries amounts to within thirty-five millions of pounds of the whole produce of the States. Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, are at the extreme verge of the cane-cultivation : almost every alternate year the canes suffer from the early frosts. The prospects of increased population and cultivation in Florida are rather remote. The remaining thirty-five million pounds of sager is prepared from maple in the thinly-settled districts, and from beet-root in the rest. Some experiments were made by the French chemists towards the close of last century on the yield of sugar from the maple, which clearly showed that the cultivation of this tree for the manufacture of sugar could not pay in an old settled country. The beet-root is not likely to compete any better with the cane in America than in Europe. There is every reason to believe, then, that the United States of North America, with their rapidly increasing population, will continue to im- port sugar, and that to a greater extent than they have hitherto done.

BRITISH COLONIES.

The British colonies in which sugar is not produced are British North America, the Cape of Good Hope, and the settlements in New Holland and New Zealand. The following is the state of the import of suear into them in the year 1839.

_ Colonies. Raw Sugar.

Refined British.

British

Plantation.

Foreign. East Indian.

lb. lb. lb.

lb.

British North America 1,629,560 16,667,323 164.257 3.086,184

New South Wales and

Van Diemen's Land 6,636.050 9,318.5901 ....

787.490

Cape of Good Hope 2,839,115 816.061 109,747

51,789

Total 11.104,725 26,801.974 274,004 3,945,463

• In the original table the ctuautities are stated in ceutners of Vienna (1234 lb. avoir- dupois) ; in converting them uto English weight fractions have been disregarded. Preussische Staats-Zeitang. 1841; No. 117.

In this sum the import from India is included. NORTHERN ASIA.

Though the quantity cannot be ascertained, it is known that consi- derable quantities of sugar are imported into the Northern provinces of China, and into Chinese and Independent Tartary.

SOUTH AMERICA.

There is also a growing demand, the exact quantity of which cannot be ascertained, in the Southern provinces of La Plata and Chili.

It is but too apparent from this review, that any estimate of the total annual consumption of sugar in the sugar-importing countries, founded on the collective amount of their importations, must be imperfect. The data are insufficient. And any other method of attempting to arrive at the quantity consumed, must evidently be fallacious. The great import- ing markets in Europe are Great Britain, France, Holland, Russia, Ham- burg, and Trieste. Their imports are reexported in part, to supply the demand of the rest of Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. Each of them imports a portion of its sugar from some of the others ; but the effect of this in making the figure of their total exports too high may be set off against the unknown quantity imported into Spain and Portugal, and small quantities imported direct into Italy, Russia, and Sweden. The total imports of the United States, and of the British colonies which do not produce sugar, are ascertained with tolerable ac- curacy. But our ignorance of the quantity consumed by the import- ing countries of Eastern and Northern Asia, and in Chili and the pro- vinces of La Plata, renders it impossible to ascertain the whole annual consumption of sugar. The quantity actually passing through the market of the importing countries, in the course of a year, as far as

can be shown in figures, is here given-

Great Britain (1842) retained for consumption France (1840) colonial retained for consumption, and beet root Holland (1840) imported Denmark 1838) imported Hamburg 1840) imported

Prussia and Zoll-verein (1839) beet root sugar

Belgium (1838) colonial and beet-root sugar Russia (1840) imported 33,000 1 (1841) beet-root sugar 7.710 f Austria (1841) imported at Trieste 25,120 1 (1841) beet root 3,200 f United States of North America (1841) British Colonies not producing sugar (1839) Tons. 193,823 93,500 110.000 4,650 45,300 6,500 30 000 42,700 28,320 132,000 18 800 706,593 tons.

The quantity of sugar retained for consumption in France and Great Britain has been taken, because what is exported would hare been repeated in other countries; the total imports of Holland and Hamburg are taken ; but the colonial sugar imported into the Zoll-verein, and into Austria overtaud, and Switzerland, as drawn from these markets, is omitted; the sugar in Italy. Spain, and Portugal, cannot be ascertained.

We have received from a gentleman who has access to the best in- formation respecting the state of the sugar-trade, the following state- ment of the stocks on hand in the leading importing markets of Europe, on the 1st of March for each of the years 1840, 1841, 1842, and 1843. They are sufficiently close to show that the annual consumption must pretty nearly equal the annual importation; it is obvious that in almost every country the use of sugar is on the increase ; and hence it follows, that the actual produce of the exporting countries is no more than suffi- cient to supply the existing demand.

Stocks of Sugar in Tons on the 1st of March 1840-43.

Jo 1040.

In 1041. In 184:s. In 1883 Holland 10,700 16,600 15,550 3,100 Hamburg 7,000 5 750 6.750 3 500 Trieste 5 600 8,400 9,900 3,930 Antwerp 1,000 2.800 4.150 2.000 Havre 500 2,500 2,600 7,000

24,800 36,050 31,950 19,550 England 39,875 47.900 43,000 43.500 Total 64.675 83,950 74,950 63.050 British Mutation in England 26,935 27.650 28200 31.450 Foreign Sugar 37.690 56300 46.750 31 600

Comparative Table of the Duties Leviable on the Importation of Sugar into the principal Consuming Countrzes.

In shillings per hundredweight.

Raw. Claved. Refined.

d. c.. d. s. d.

GREAT BRITAIN West India Colonies .. 1

British India Mauritius Foreign India Foreign

FRANCE French Colonies average

Foreign average

HOLLAN D

GERMAN Customs Union, or)._ For Refining

Zoll-vereiu f For Sale Lumps for Refining under special control

AUSTRIA For ReGning ...

For Sale

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

2. EXPORTING COUNTRIES.

The countries from which the cane-sugar is drawn to supply the demand of the great market we have been contemplating, are divided, as has been already remarked, into two groups-the Western and the Eastern. Geographically speaking, the Cape of Good Hope divides these groups in our Western hemisphere, as the yet scarcely-cultivated isles of the Pacific do on the opposite meridian ; but the European cha- racter of Mauritius and Bourbon, and the nature of their connexion with their mother-countries, render it advisable to class them with the Western sugar-countries.

WESTERN GROUP.

These are-the British colonies in the West India islands and on the Lain; the French, Spanish, Danish, and Swedish colonies, and the Brazils. Dutch Guiana, as enmeshed in the trammels of the Dutch oolonial system, can only be regarded as an appendix to Java ; and tliong.h sugar is produced in Mexico, Columbia, Guatiniala, Peru, and the Northern provinces of La Plata, it is in such small quantities as mther to be not exported at all, or to an amount too trifling to tell on the market

24s. and 5 1er cent f • • • 168 0 32 0

• • 63

o ' a' o

• .

18 0 25 6

31 0 36 0 prohibited.

16 6 .... 820 16 0 ....

30 0 ....

32-0

ia

0 .. .

14 27 0 0 ....

33..6

11

6

18-6

280

Barran WEST INDIA. CoLozsms. Of these we shall afterwards have to speak more at large; here it is only required to show their relative importance among the countries from which cane-sugar is sup- plied. In Guiana and Trinidad there is a great quantity of unappro- priated land fit for the culture of the cane. The average fertility of the British West Indies, even of those old-settled islands which are ab- surdly enough spoken of as "worn-out," is at the least equal to the fer- tility of any other country. Even in Jamaica the canes will ratoon in most places from three to ten years, and in St. Thomas in the East for thirty years. The limited size of the smaller islands has this advan- tage, that it facilitates the carriage to the shipping-port. The numerous water-courses which intersect each other in the low and level lands of Guiana have given occasion to a system of canals which produce a simi- lar effect. The machinery employed in the colonies ia much greater in quantity and superior in quality to that used in any other sugar- countries. The persevering and energetic character of Englishmen has rendered the processes of industry, although still partaking of the Tropical leisureliness, more earnest and continuous than in countries similarly situated. The manner in which the mother-country has in- terfered (and for the most praiseworthy purpose) with the supply of labour in those colonies, has alone prevented them from far exceeding the production of other sugar-countries. A return of the exports from Jamaica for a term of fifty-seven years, which was submitted to the West Indian Committee of 1842, shows the effect produced to the former event. The Bourbon cane was introduced into Jamaica in 1799, and greatly increased the yield of sugar. The exports of 1798 amounted to about 96,000 hhd.; of 1805, to about 150,000 hhd. ; and the average of the nine years, 1799 to 1807, (the year in which the slave. trade was abolished,) were upwards of 130,000 hhd. The following table will show the effect of Emancipation on all kinds of West Indian produce.

Quantities of Produce Imported into Great Britain, from the year 1831 to 1841, both inclusive. (Purl. Paper, No. 293, 1842; pp. 1,2.)

Population. Sugar. Molasses. Rum. . Coffee. Cocoa. r

Slaves. Cwt. Cwt. Gall. lb. lb.

1831 800,000 4.103,800 323,306 7,844,157 20,030,902 1.491,947 1832

3.773.456

553,663 4,713,809 24,673,920 618,215 1833

3,646,205 686,794 5,109.975 19,008,375 2,125,656

Apprentices.

1834 769,000 3,843.976 650.366 5,112,400 22.081,490 1,369,365 1835

3,524,209 507,495 5,453,317 14.852,470 439,447 1836

3,601,791 526,535 4.869,168 18.903,426 1,612,304 1837

3,306,775 575,657 4,418,349 15,577,888 1,847,145

Freemen.

1838 750,000 3.530 876 638,007 4.641,210 17,588,655 2,143,637

1834

2,824,372 474,307 4,021,820 11,485 675 959,641 1940

2,214,764 424,141 3,780,979 12 797,739 2,374,301

1841

2.151,217

430221 2770.161 9.927,689 2,920.298

In 1842 the exports began to increase ; and the estimated supplies of sugar from British possessions in 1843, as appears from the following statement, made on the best authority, exceed the supplies of 1842.

Tons.

From the British West India Colonies, 190,000 hhd. = ... 135,000 Being an increase of about 12,000 tons upon 1842, and of 30,000 tons upon 1841,

From Mauritius 25,000

From British India 60,000

This continuous increase during 1841, 1842, and 1843, looks as if the tide were turned, and the difficulties immediately attendant upon Emancipation were almost surmounted. The estimated surplus for 1843 from the British West Indies, Mauritius, and the exporting parts of British India, give a total of 220,000 tons ; which is more than the ave- rage supply for 1830, 1831, and 1832, the three years preceding Eman- cipation. The cause of this increase shall be considered in the sequel.

FRENCH SUGAR COLONIES. They are Bourbon, Gnadaloape, Mar- tinique, mid Cayenne. The total exports of these colonies, in 1841, amounted to 90,000 tons. In regard to natural fertility they are on a par with the British sugar-colonies. In intelligence, skill, and industry, the French colonists are almost on a par with British. Their machinery is certainly inferior both in quantity and quality ; their facilities of pro- curing capital are less ; and the plantations are not conducted on that large scale which best admits of adopting economical processes. Their available labour is at this moment rather greater ; but the growing feeling against slavery in France renders the hold upon their slaves some% hat precarious. They may ere long be called upon to go through the process of emancipation with all its difficulties from which the British colonies are just emerging. The French colonies are also sub- jected to heavy duties on their sugar, to favour the beet-root sugar of France. To such an extent has the industry of the islands been de- pressed by these restrictions, that several planters of Martinique and Guadeloupe have been known to seek for personal compensation by carrying their slaves to Porto Rico and offering them there to the highest bidder. (Turnbull's Cuba, p. 563.) The consequence is, that French colonial sugar costs at home on an average 40 francs more than foreign colonial sugar. (Commercial Tariffs and Regulations. Part IV. p. 176.) That Bourbon, the French Antilles, and Cayenne, are capable, under favourable circumstancea, of producing a great deal more sugar than they do at present, is beyond a doubt; but their immediate future is too precarious to allow of any expectation of a speedy in- crease ; and the abolition of the beet-root sugar manufacture will in- crease the French demand for cane-sugar.

DANISH WEST INDIA COLONIES. There were 13,000 tons exported from the Danish West India Islands in 1841 : their limited extent renders it improbable that this quantity can be materially increased.

SPANISH CoLoarrks. Cuba and Porto Rico are, with Brazil, the rivals from whose competition the British West India Colonies would, under a free-trade system, have most to apprehend. The total export of sugar from Cuba, in 1841, was 155,000 tons ;, from Porto Rico, 35,000. There is much fertile soil in Cuba ; and, except on the North coast, where the North winds some times damage the canes, the climate is as favourable as can be conceived for sugar-cultivation. The sugar. producers of Cuba have the benefits of slave-labour, subject to all the drawbacks which the daily increasing hatred of the slave-trade entails upon that questionable advantage. In regard to numerical amount of la- bowers, Cuba is favourably circumstanced. In regard to skilful applica- tion of that labour in agriculture, the island is far behind its neighbours.

The sugar-making processes and the means of conveyance are at an equally low ebb. The frequent cane-fires, arising from malice or ac- cident show the savage state in which the slave-labourers have been kept by neglect and bad usage. There is no prospect of a speedy increase in the sugar-produce of Cuba, unless from the influx of foreign capital and enterprising and intelligent settlers from England or the United States. But the dependence of the island upon Spain interposes an ob- struction. The wretchedly unsettled state of the parent country affords little hope of wise and energetic government for the colonies. The in- triguers who succeed each otber at Madrid care for Cuba only as a means of replenishing their empty coffers. At the time Mr. Turnbull visited the island, taxes had just been imposed, under the name of a war-contribution, amounting lb 2,500,000 dollars, the whole of which was to be remitted to Spain. The insecurity of property exposed to the arbitrary will of needy rulers holding a precarious authority, will deter capitalists from settling in Cuba. The heavy duties on foreign trade will also cramp the developement of the resources of Cuba. If a Spanish and foreign vessel were to arrive at the Havanna at the same time with precisely similar cargoes, the charges on the foreign vessel would amount to 645 dollars, the Spaniard paying only 368. This insecurity of property, and these paralyzing duties, will remain until Spain be regenerated or Cuba become independent : and it is but too probable, that, with the existing population of Cuba, a revolu- tion might make matters worse instead of better. Cuba has soil and climate and a numerous population in its favour ; but the want of skill and facilities of communication and the insecurity of property, and the mischievous commercial policy of the Government, forbid us to expect any rapid and steady increase in the production of its sugars. The same remarks hold good of Porto Rico.

Blum,. In many respects Brazil is not unlike Cuba. True, it has a national government, instead of being kept in check by distant rulers powerful only to obstruct ; but the unsettled state of men's minds, and the imperfect authority of the central government, to a considerable extent neutralize this advantage. There is an almost inexhaustible supply of excellent sugar-land in Tropical Brazil, situated favourably with respect to navigable streams. Ultimately the country may pro- duce an enormous quantity of sugar ; but the reluctance of capitalists to hazard their money in an unsettled country, the increasing difficul- ties in the way of procuring additional slave-labour, and the embarrass- ments attendant on a transition from a system of slave-labour to one of free-labour, may indefinitely postpone that day. The population is much more scattered in Brazil than in Cuba, and the power of combined labour consequently less. There has been for some time a steadily-in- creasing demand for sugar in the European market, and yet it has been insufficient to carry off the sugar of Brazil at a price remunerating to the grower. A gentleman long and intimately acquainted with the trade of Pernambuco writes—" The exportation of sugar from Pernambuco, from 1st July 1840 to 1st July 1841, was 30,690 tons ; from 1st July 1841 to 1st July 1842, it was 25,393 tons. This year it is certainly ex- pected to be no more ; perhaps it may be less, for cotton has been much more attended to an account of the remunerating price. The cultiva- tion of cotton was diminished for some years, on account of a kind of brand or rot in the bushes, which diminished the returns. This disap- peared towards the end of last year, and cotton is again becoming a favourite cultivation." There must be a general reduction in the prices of sugar before the demand for sugar in the market of the world can be very greatly increased. And it would appear that even the existing prices are not sufficient to keep the sugar-cultivation of Brazil at its present extent. A. social revolution must precede any great and per- manent extension of the supplies of sugar from Brazil.

EASTERN GROUP.

The sugar-exporting countries of the Eastern group are British India, the Eastern Archipelago, Siam, the Southern provinces of China, and the Philippine Islands. With the exception of Java and the Philip- pines, the sugar-cultivation of all the countries east of the Malayan Peninsula is exclusively in the hands of the Chinese. This was also the case till a comparatively recent period in Java and the Philippines ; but in the former, the entire command of the trade has been transferred to the Europeans ; and in the latter this transference is taking place. In reality, therefore, there are only three classes of sugar-exporting countries in the East—British India, Java, and the sugar-countries, chiefly in the hands of Chinese, which supply the North of Asia, and from which a small quantity of sugar finds its way to Europe through Singapore.

BRITISH INDIA. The exportation of sugar at the West India rate of duty can now take place from all parts of the Bengal and Madras

Presidencies ; but as yet little if any Madras sugar has made its ap- pearance in the British market. Madras has barely ceased to be an importing country ; and Bombay and the Straits settlements still are

importing countries. Benares is the great centre of the Indian sugar- trade ; and the principal produce is in the Dooabs to the North. The region is well watered only in the immediate vicinity of the rivers ; and the great canal of irrigation now constructing by the Company's Go- vernment will entail considerable expense at the outset. The canes are cultivated by the ryots, and sold by them to the sugar-manufac- turer. The ryots are content with a low rate of remuneration ; but they are too indolent to be tempted by higher prices to increase their exertions. The sugar-trade in India has struck root, and will increase, but not rapidly. The countries from which the principal supplies of sugar have hitherto been drawn will not be those which will yield them when the trade reaches maturity. It is in the Delta of Bengal, where this branch of industry is at present only beginning, that it will ulti- mately settle. It will be the creation of British capital and British colonization; but some time will elapse before capital flows into this new channel. The exports of sugar from British India were, in 1841, .62,000 tons ; in 1842,46,600 tons ; in the present year they are expected to amount to 60,000 tons.

JAVA. The total exports of sugar from Java were, in 1839, 50,000 toll; in 1840, 60,000 tons. Java has ample quantities of fertile laud, a favourable climate, a numerous and industrious population, and, in the Chinese a large body of intelligent managers and speculators. Natnrehas done her utmost to make it a productive sugar-country : and yet, so far from looking for an increased exportation from that quarter, it is doubt- ful whether the present supply can be kept up. The inhabitants of Java are obliged to cover a fifth part of their estates with sugar : the canes pay the rent. The cane is preparEd in private factories, to which money is advanced by Government ; which is repaid in raw sugar, re- ceived formerly at the fixed rate of 21s. 2d. per cwt., and now at 158.3d. per cwt. The sugar is exported to Holland by the Colonial Association of the Netherlands at the risk of the Government, and the Company accounts to the Government for the proceeds of the sales. It is only the sugar produced in addition to the proceeds of this forced labour that can be sold to the private merchant. The import-duties in Java are 25 per cent for foreigners and 12i for Dutch merchants. Under this condition, no more than fifteen Dutch houses, and six or eight French, English, and American houses, have been enabled to keep their ground in Java against the Company's monopoly. The producer in Java is entirely at the mercy of the Company and its sleeping part- ner the Dutch Government. The ambitious project of the late in of Holland to give the Company a monopoly of the refining-trade in &t- rope, has been counteracted by the restrictive duties of the German Zoll-verein and prohibitive duties of Russia. The Company is in debt, and the Dutch refiners are becoming bankrupt. The cultivators of Java are obliged to prosecute a branch of agriculture without being left free to abstain if they dislike it. And the hands of the Dutch Go- vernment are tied up : it must persevere in this miserable system till 1850.

MANILLA. The sugar-cane of Manilla is represented as most luxuriant ; exceeding even that of Otaheite. The natives are not snore civilized than the Negroes, and not so industrious. The manufacture has been until lately, and still is in a great measure, in the hands of the Chinese. Manilla, like Cuba, is paralyzed by its subjection to the Spanish Government. The same obstacles are opposed to the iMUli- gration of intelligent and enterprising European settlers and the influx of European capital. And its greater remoteness from Europe is an ad- ditional impediment. Owing to these circumstances, the exportation of sugar from Manilla has not of late years increased by any means in proportion to the increasing demand of Europe. The average amount for these few years back has been about 25,000 IOUS.

CHINESE SUGAR COUNTRIES. Of these we only know, that the Chinese in their own Southern provinces, in Siam, and some of the islands of the Eastern Archipelago, produce a great deal of sugar. East of Malacca, they appear, with the exception of the Europeans in Java and Manilla, to have the whole trade in their hands. The sugar-production of China is wholly in the hands of the Chinese: in the Birman empire, into which they have not yet penetrated, the cane is only cultivated to be consumed in its natural state. The Chinese sugar-districts are the islands of Hainan and Formosa, the provinces of Canton and Foltien, the valley North of Canton leading down to the Yang-tse-Kian, along which the British Embassy travelled, and the province of Setchwen. The surplus produce of these provinces of Siam, and some from Manilla, is carried by Chinese traders to the Northern provinces of China, and thence diffused as far as the Northern limits of the Chinese empire, and Bokhara. The amount of sugar annually produced by the Chinese is considerable, and increasing ; but their Asiatic market is increasing quite as rapidly. There is no near prospect of an increased supply for the European market from this quarter. Having subjoined to our review of the importing countries a tabular view of the total imports as far as ascertained, it seems advisable to elosSe this section of our inquiry with a similar table.

Production of Sugar for Exportation.

86,000 13,000 70,000 10,000 673,000

[Authorities fur the draw Table.

A. Parliamentary Paper—Trade and Navigation, 17th February 1843.

B. Spanish Official Statements.

C. Dutch ditto ditto.

D. French ditto ditto.

E. Danish ditto ditto,

F. Collected from the statements of merchants trading to Brazil.

G. Gathered from various sources : not much to be relied upon.

N.:al.—The figures for the British and French colonies are taken from official state- ment.6 of " imports " into the permit country ; the rest from statements of " exports" from the colonies or country. At least 5 per cent ought to be added to the two former on account of loss during the vosage. or deducted from the latter. Deducting Spec cent from all except the French and British sugars, we arrive at a total of 657,350 teas; a nearer approach to the total imports into the importingteouutries than could have been anticipated, considering that the tables have been compiled by different persona. and in some cases from different authorities, and that no account could be obtained et the imports into Spain, Portugal, and Italy)

GENERAL REMARKS.

First. The actual demand and the actual supply in the sugar- market of the world are at present pretty nearly balanced. There is no surplus that the producers find any difficulty in disposing of. Second. The demand for sugar is increasing ; partly in con- sequence of the mere increase of population, and partly, there is

Tons.

A. British West India Colonies (1842) 123,600 British India (1842) 46,600

Mauritius (1842) 33,800 204,000 B. Spanish Colonies—Cuba 155,000 Porto Rico 35,000 Manilla 25,000 C. Dutch Colonies—Java 60,000

Surinam 15,000

215,000 75,00()

D. French Colonies—Guailaloupe, Martinique, Bour-

bon, and Cayenne E. Danish Colonies

F. Brazil..

G. Siam, Penang, Singapore, (nearly)

t eason to suspect of new classes acquiring the ability and habit to 11118 sugar. Third. There is no reason to expect that the increase of pro- duction in the sugar-exporting countries will be more rapid for some time to come than the increase of demand in the sugar- importing countries. There was for a time a rapid increase in the production of sugar in Cuba, but it has been interrupted. The in- crease was occasioned, chiefly, by the influx of North American adventurers during the time that such lavish advances of capital were made from this country to the United States. These ad- vances were checked by the failure of the great American houses some years back, and have been put an end to by repudiation. The sugar-produce of Cuba is not now increasing. There is a want of capital in all the sugar-exporting countries, except our own possessions, that will render the development of their re- sources slow. And they are in too unsettled a state at present for foreign capitalists to run the risk of making great advances.

Fourth. Foolish commercial theories have done much to em- barrass the sugar-trade. Other countries have not been wiser than our own. France has been at great expense in trying to sup- port the manufacture of beet-root sugar ; paying, as it were, a large sum annually for leave to pay dearer for its sugar. Holland has been foiled in its endeavour to establish a monopoly of sugar- iefining, and has incurred national loss in the attempt. In less than ten years, the Dutch system of colonial policy will be altered, and the French beet-root sugar manufacture put down. These , events will restore the sugar-market of Europe to a more healthy condition ; but they will in the first instance raise the price of sugar. The Dutch monopoly, met as it has been by restrictive duties in Europe and prohibition in Russia, is as dear as if the Javanese husbandmen and sugar-makers were paid full price, in- stead of being obliged by a system of forced labour to supply the Government and Commercial Company of the Netherlands with sugar at an inadequate price. The price of Java sugar in the European market will not fall ; but a great portion of what is now wasted upon duties and counter-duties will go into the pocket of the producer. The suppression of the beet-root sugar in France will occasion a large and permanent additional demand.

FOh. Under these circumstances, such a reduction of the du- ties upon the importation of sugar into the United Kingdom as would permit prices in England to approximate to the average level of prices throughout the world, would, in the first instance at least, and probably for a considerable length of time, be more apt to raise foreign prices nearer to the English level than to reduce English prices nearer the level of foreign. The principal advantage of such a reduction of duties would consist in the impetus it might give to the general industry of the country. A long time must elapse before such a measure, by itself, could lower the price of sugar enough to bring it within the reach of those who are at present nonconsuming classes. Owing to the gradual way in which any important re- duction of price effected by reduction of duty must be brought about, Government, when it resolves upon adopting this measure, must be prepared to relinquish for a time a large proportion of the revenue derived from sugar-duties.

Sixth. It is therefore mainly to diminished cost of production that we must look for any speedy and important reduction in the price of sugar. Under this conviction, we turn to our second head of-inquiry—the actual condition and prospects of our Sugar Co- lonies, with a view to point out the means of making free-labour produce more sugar and at less cost than slave-labour. Before, however, we enter upon this branch of our subject, let us give some brief space to the consideration of Slavery and the Slave- trade.