I 2 GOODWIN'S WEEKLY
fl R. Cutler, did not begin to pay and develop until he took hold of it.
M It was some thirty years ago that he became a sugar man with the
, completion of the factory at Lehi, where he was bishop. True, the
j church gave the industry its support from that time forward, but it
m was the genius of Thomas R. Cutler that transformed a struggling and
W losing enterprise into a financial success.
ji Resigning his office of bishop at Lehj, he came to Salt Lake to
! devote himself to the sugar beet industry. He threw his whole life
H' into its development. Recognized as a good business man, he had
H ' been persuaded to work in an industry of which he knew practically
M nothing. Today there is not a man in Utah, perhaps not a man in the
M United States, who knows as much about sugar as Thomas R. Cutler.
M From the outset he made it an intensive study. He set about acquir-
H ing all the knowledge of the business that books, the experience of
H others and his own experience could give. If there was a problem to
H solve it was his brains that solved it. If a crisis was to be met and
H there have been many crises in the industry in the last thirty years
Mt it was due largely to him that the crisis was overcome. If a tariff
H change was contemplated he knew just what the effect would be on
H sugar beet growing or sugar making in Utah ; or, if he did not know, he
H never rested until he did know. If something happened to the sugar
H cane industry in Cuba or the Dutch East Indies or elsewhere he could
H gauge accurately what the consequences would be here.
H And because he possessed this information, together with a far-
H seeing business sense, he was able to cope with any difficulties that
H arose. The industry had many ups and down in the early days, but he
H remained an optimist. He always glimpsed the glorious future ahead.
H He toiled on laboriously and courageously, removing obstacle after
H obstacle as each presented itself.
H It would be a long story to tell of all the trials and tribulations of
H the man who did most to set the industry on its feet and start it on
H the road toward the goal at which it has arrived. It was one of Mr.
H Cutler's merits that he sagaciously associated with him able assist-
H ants. Among them may be mentioned the Austin brothers George
H and Mark. The former has retired from the business, but Mark Aus-
H tin is still with the Utah-Idaho Sugar company and has Idaho as his
H field of operations.
H When Thomas R. Cutler took control of the sugar business beets
H were selling for $4.50 a ton. Today they are selling for $10 a ton.
H The price of beets was always one of the perplexing problems, for it
H was necessary to make the business profitable to the grower and at
H the same time pay the investors something on the capital they had
H risked. It was not always an easy task to harmonize these interests
H so that the industry might continue to exist. But Mr. Cutler suc-
H ceeded in weathering all the storms and bringing his 'bark safely into
H golden seas at last.
H The Utah farmers have found that the sugar beet is their most
H remunerative crop because it pays for itself in many ways. After the
H extraction of the sugar the residuum is pulp tops and a sugar syrup.
H The pulp and tops are directly as food for cattle and the sugar syrup is
M used in preparing fat foods for cattle. But that does not tell the
1 whole story. It improves the land by enriching and developing the
H
H If one would rightly visualize the heritage which Thomas R. Cut-
H ler is leaving to Utah and Idaho he must ride through the beet-grow-
H ing sections of these states. He will be profoundly impressed by the
H titanic work which the genius of the industry has accomplished in a
M generation.
H Without the self-assertion, the egotism or the braggadocio of
H many of the captains who have developed industries throughout the
H land, Thomas R. Cutler is really one of the biggest hi them all, one
H who has done his share in lifting our industrial civilization to higher
H
M CALIFORNIA'S ESCAPE. 'r
FANATICIZED Califomians wanted the state, to go into the health
insurance business, but the people voted down; the plan.
B The influenza epidemic should be a convincing argument. It was
H brought to light that insurance companies, as a result of the epidemic,
are called upon to pay $ 100,000,000 in death claims aionc in California. 1
Had the. people adopted the plan in 1918 there Would have been I
disaster at the very beginning, It call be taken for granted 'that ho j
reserve sufficient to cope with the epidemic would have been pro
vided. That is the history of the earlier exponents with State ih- Jj
surance. The failure to provide sufficient reserved quickly emptied
the insurance funds and the taxpayers "Were compelled to make Up the
deficits. ,,,,
It is interesting to speculate Upon the amount of the deficit in
California had the health insurance law been in effect at the Outbreak - f
of the influenza epidemic, , ' - '
'
DEPORT THElM. - S
ONE of the best services the monarchies and ex-monarchies of
Europe can do the United States is to keep their aristocrats aWay.
from this country. It is true that some of these blue-bloods are refu- f
gees seeking safety from a murderous Bolsevism. As Americans we
cannot refuse mercy to any human being who Comes to us for refuge '
from wrong and injustice not even to a king. At the Sanie time We
cannot blind ourselves to the fact 'that these representatives of the
monarchial and despotic systems which have come into such disrepute
in Europe can do much harm if permitted to attitudinize in this coun
try as our friends. They cannot possibly have genuine sympathy
for our institutions and we are simply playing into the hands of the
Bolshevists, anarchists and I. W. W. by allowing these personalities ,
to parade from city to city airing their silly views.
Only a few days ago a Russian princess dined with some of our
literary women in this city. After delectable bits of scandal
over the tea and cakes about Tolstoy's domestic infelicities the
princess proceeded to tell how noble and good the old regime in Rus
sia had been.
"Was it true that the old regime of the czar had treated the
peasants cruelly? Oh, dear no. Of course, the government was some- I
what one-sided, but the people were happy and contented. In time, I,
as the masses became more educated and better able to handle the
reins of government, they would have been given control."
In 1905 when the oppressed people were lured up to the gates of
the imperial palace "by Russian agents to voice their protests, to de
mand reforms and to plead with the czar for surcease from ancient
wrongs and cruelties the emperor's cossacks formed a screen in front
of scores of machine guns. At a signal the cavalry divided to each
side of the thoroughfare and the machine gunners opened fire on the
men, women and children. This was the end of the revolution of
1905. Of course, if the people had been better educated and more
refined the czar would have abdicated and handed over to them his '
crown and sceptre.
Let us admit that the weak czar was well-meaning and that he
was injustly tried, condemned and executed, yet, as Americans, we
are perfectly aware that he was a despot and that in 1905 he acted as H
despots must act if they are to retain their thrones. The only way
a despot can keep himself in power is by force. He is a standing A
challenge to his people. He cannot make concessions to them and
still remain an autocrat. In Russia the czar made concession only
under compulsion. When he felt that he could resist reform he re
sisted. When his people approached him to ask for mercy and pity he
killed them.
In the whirl of the war have Americans forgot the Kishinev mas
sacre when a fanatical people hurled themselves upon the unoffending
Jews of a whole city and slew them. That was the fruit of despotism.
Such an atrocity was unthinkable in times of peace anywhere in
Europe outside of Russia and the Balkans. It was due to an ignorance
which is essential to the maintenance of autocracy.
It is true that the czar, before the war, had granted his people a "
liberal system of education. It was a fatal mistake. Enlightenment
was sure to bring his dynasty crashing into ruins. Books were sure
to overcome the machine guns.
The same ignorance which produced the despotism of the czar
and the pogroms against the Jews has produced the Bolsheviki and ,
their "dictatorship of the proletariat," In benighted Russia it is one
I