It is semi-officially stated that all the Governments which now
grant bounties on the cultivation of sugar have at last agreed to treaties prohibiting the system, which has been found intolerable to their Treasuries. The negotiations have been entirely in the hands of Baron de Worms, and his success is creditable both to his knowledge and his tact. The result will be at first unpopular, as it must involve a rise in the cost of sugar in England, but that will be partly compensated by a restoration of the trade to its natural footing. It has been almost impossible to grow sugar in countries not giving bounties, and the most natural sources of supply were, so to speak, forbidden the market. Their competition, when they are again set free, will keep the price low, and it must be remembered that the bounty-money was all extracted from the foreign taxpayer, who became to that extent a poorer customer. The case was, however, we believe, a unique one ; at least, we can remember no other foreign law which, while ruining the English producer, directly and most unjustly fattened the English consumer.
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