Mr. R. Giffeu has drawn up a most able paper
on the condition of the sugar trade, which shows that prices are not affected in any great measure by the giving of bounties in some countries, but by the enormous expansion of production. The English people now consume the incredible quantity of 1,083,000 tons a year, equal to 280 lbs. of sugar a house, for which the country pays 230,000,000, or about half the sum spent annually, at present prices, upon bread. So far from the business of sugar-refining having declined, the number of refiners has risen since 1851 from 2,820 to 4,484, and the quantity refined has risen since 1880 by 100,000 tons. As to the bounties, "the maximum amount of sugar receiving a bounty on refining is only about 270,000 tons, against an annual total of 3,000,000 tons refined." The "amount is too small to affect the predominance of the natural manufac- ture," and the true reason for the fall has been increased produc- tion. Indeed, the fall in sugar itself, great as it seems, is "less than the fall in wheat," rice, tea, and many other articles.
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