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influence of an individual combination over a period. of years, money prices have been used. Inasmuch, however, as the value of gold in terms of commodities has changed not a little in later years, it has seemed best in certain cases to make a comparison also between the price of the article under consideration and the price of commodities in general as shown by an index number. This method of illustration, while not perfectly exact as will be explained later, still has some advantages over the mere comparison of money prices. In Charts II, III, IV, VII will be seen, therefore, the power that the article under discussion has to purchase other commodities used for consumption.

SUGAR*

The lines on Chart I represent standard refined and raw sugars in the United States, Germany, and England. For America the refined sugar considered (black line A) is the granulated; the raw sugar (black line B), the 96 degree centrifugal. The German sugars are: for the refined, the granulated f. o. b. at Hamburg (green line H); the raw sugar, the German beet root 88 per cent. f. o. b. Hamburg (green line K).

The English raw sugar represented (red line E) is the English Java afloat, a 96 per cent. test, United Kingdom terms. This English raw sugar corresponds closely with the American 96 degree centrifugal. The English refined sugar (red line D) is Tate's cubes, a special grade which normally brings somewhat more than the regular price of the American granulated sugar, probably at times nearly one-half cent more.

*From Willett and Gray's Weekly Statistical Trade Journal, various dates.

The German sugars, both raw and refined, are of somewhat poorer quality than the American sugars. In a few establishments in Germany the refined beet sugars are made directly by a single process from the beet roots themselves. The refined beet sugar, even in the United States, is not considered quite up to the grade of the cane sugars produced in the refineries in the East. It sells even in the Chicago markets somewhat lower than the refined sugars from the cane which are produced in the eastern refineries.

The line C on the chart represents in its distance from the bottom of the chart the perpendicular distance between A and B. It measures, therefore, the cost of refining the sugar plus the profit to the refiner. The cost of refining sugar varies materially from month to month or from year to year, as improved processes tend to lower somewhat the cost of refining, or as increased cost of new sugar gives added cost to the waste and thus increases the cost. Again, any increase in wages, or any increase in the cost of boneblack, one of the chief costs in refining, or any increase in the rate of interest upon capital invested, or any increase in the cost of the raw material used in building refineries, necessitating the investment of a larger amount of capital, would tend to increase slightly the cost of refining. In the main, however, the fluctuations in this line C would show fluctuations in the profit, especially where these fluctuations are simply from month to month or from year to year.

The line L represents in similar manner the perpendicular distance between lines H and K, and is thus the margin showing the cost of refining plus the profit

of the German refiners. It will be noted that this line is regularly considerably lower than the line C. There are probably two reasons for this. The first is that the German beet sugars in some factories are made by a single process, the same as the raw sugars, so that the cost of refining is considerably less, and as has already been indicated, the quality of the refined sugar is also not quite so good. Moreover, the cost of their material is somewhat less, and German wages are distinctly lower. We should expect this margin, therefore, to be somewhat lower than that in America. In addition to that, as the rate of interest in Germany rules somewhat lower than in the United States, the Germans are probably content with a somewhat less rate of profit. Furthermore, during a considerable time preceding the International Sugar Union Convention there was a bounty on sugar exported from Germany. This bounty it would seem would tend to lessen somewhat the price of the refined sugar, as compared with the raw. That, however, does not appear in this margin.

Let us note now particularly the fluctuations in line C, representing in rough outline the history of the profits of American refineries. The actual cost of refining, of course, varies somewhat, but, according to the testimony given by the refiners at the time of the Industrial Commission investigation in 1899, the probability is that the actual cost was not far from 50 cents a hundred, although the former president of the American Sugar Refining Company, Henry O. Havemeyer, declared that, while that might be considered the bare cost of refining, at least 24 cents more ought to be added, on account of the waste in raising sugar from

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