Menominee, Michigan, located away from the world's financial centers a hundred years ago, just as today, unexpectedly landed right in the middle of one of the hottest business shocks of the early twentieth century — sugar. The small community that dared to plant footprints in world trade took a place that plunged into Lake Michigan in such close proximity to Wisconsin that the cartographer’s finger jerked at a cruel moment, Menominé being in Wisconsin and not in Michigan.
The Menominee borders East Green Bay, Michigan’s arm, and in the southwest, the Menomine River. In 1903, many investors in the beet sugar industry had a background of wood, and then came to the conclusion that the same rivers that once delivered logs for sawmills in abundance could also satisfy the needs of the sugar beet plant, which used huge amounts of water for chopping beets in a factory, washing them, and then dispersing sugar from them. The sugar mill could easily supply three million gallons of water to use every twenty-four hours. Barges can carry sugar beets from farm fields, and freight transport can take products to the market. The presence of the Menominee rivers convinced investors that Menominee could compete with the country's sugar producers, despite negative reviews from skeptics who said that Menominee was too far north to successfully grow sugar beets.
The skeptics had a point. Menominee, Michigan, is an extremely important place to build a sugar beet plant. Located in the western part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the growing season is about forty days shorter than the main lakes growing areas in the lower peninsula of the state. During the short season, the ripening of the beets can be prevented, which then reduces the sugar content of the unripe beets prepared for the stress of the grinding process. The hard frosts in early spring are not unusual and are almost always fatal for the harvest of young beets. Frosts can occur in early autumn, which may make harvesting impossible. The farmer stood to lose his entire crop either earlier, or during the growing season, or during the harvest period after he had invested heavily in bringing the sugar beet harvest to maturity. Investors, however, in Menominee, as in many cities in Michigan, tend to fold contributions from farmers before building the plant and often explain the over-enthusiasm of competent farmers as representatives of the wider agriculture. Quite often, as in the case of Menominee, as it turned out, convenience was not a whole.
Official recognition by the USDA in 1898 of the importance of the sugar beet industry led to the construction of sugar beet factories across the country. A year earlier, the nation could boast only ten sugar beet factories, four of which were in California, one in Utah, two in Nebraska and three in New York. The construction of seven sugar beet factories in 1898 for the first time caused a wave of haste, unlike the dot-com boom that flourished almost a hundred years later. The idea that sugar produced from sugar beets can compete with sugar produced from sugar cane turned into a full-fledged boom by 1900, when the national number of sugar beet factories was thirty-two in eleven states.
Nowhere was hotter than in Michigan, where nine factories followed the successful launch of a plant in Essexville, Michigan, a suburb of Bay City. A surge of cyclonic enthusiasm caused quarrels when investors, builders, bankers and farmers combined their energy and skills to bring life to eight factories in one year! They were in Holland, Kalamazoo, Rochester, Benton Harbor, Alma, West Bay City, Caro and the second factory in Essexville. After a shortage of factory designers and engineers for their operation over the next six years, 14 additional plants, one of which appeared in Menomin in 1903, grew on the outskirts of the cities of Michigan.
In Menominee, a group of investors who are not amenable to natural shortcomings and supported by rewards from influential investors and knowledgeable experts prepare a plan to maintain the economic viability of their city after the approaching demise of the logging industry, which previously provided the foundations of the Menominee economy. This plan included the development of one of the largest and most modern sugar beet factories in America before this time.
As logging began in the early 20th century, railways, which came into their own hands because of wood, bought new sources of income. Chief among them was the Detroit and Mackinac Railway, which Charles M. Garnison, an agent for the land, collected and disseminated information about the potential of the sugar beet industry. Harrison spread the word among financiers from Detroit about the estimated profits from sugar beet, communities affected by the reduction in lumber, looked at land resources for ways to replenish wealth. They had a lot of work. The state was crossed by railway lines and rivers, and some of them left money from the era of logging. When Harrison ran, investors came to life. Communities eager to find a quick replacement for lumber were rushed to attend meetings organized by Harrison, and even more quickly to trap their cities. All that was needed was to persuade the farmers to grow beets. It was here that Michigan State College of Agriculture (now Michigan State University) entered.
Farmers in the Upper Peninsula, imprisoned by the Michigan Agricultural College to plant control plots of sugar beet, received an even bigger shot in the arm by visiting the Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson in 1902. He outlined the advantages of sugar beet and discouraged the notion that the Upper Peninsula & Climate did not meet the challenges of obtaining profitable crops. Wilson served in three presidential offices, McKinley, Roosevelt and Taft, served longer (1897-1913) than any other cabinet official. He encouraged modern farming practices, including transport and education, when applied in agriculture. His word carried a lot of weight. When he talked about sugar beets, some farmers listened, and when his department acknowledged that the cold northern temperatures would not hinder the development of the industry next door, investors, farmers and manufacturers lined up to start the industry in Menominee.
Optimism rose to new heights when the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported favorable test results for the sugar beet site. Sugar beet news on December 15, 1903 report the results of tests of beets, supplied by about 140 farmers. Test runs revealed 15.6–19.9% sugar, which meant the cash value for farmers per acre from $ 5.70 to $ 7.13 per ton (inflation of $ 135–169, adjusted for current period). For those projected prices, no crop in the history of mankind had the opportunity to create such a high income from so many acres.
In the lower peninsula, a farmer with a higher average capacity, who placed fifteen acres in sugar beets, could earn more than $ 800, and if his family provided the bulk of the workforce, the net profit would be more than concern for the family’s needs during the year, , including food, was less than $ 800. After adding income from crops as a result of rotation and income from milk, eggs and poultry, the standard of living of farming families increased from the subsistence minimum to a level that was relatively beneficial for those who held senior positions in industry. The USDA figures confirm the view that the sugar beet peninsula will exceed two percent on average for all the other 18 sugar beet factories in the Lower Peninsula.
If the tests provided reliable performance, the Menominee beet group cost up to $ 10 more acres than the beets of the peninsula, guaranteeing income of almost $ 1,000 a year only from sugar beet.
Although enthusiasm was on the rise, it was necessary to do something else to seal the deal. In order to instil confidence in potential investors that technical expertise is at hand, Benjamin Boutelle, who gained fame as a tugboat captain and industry captain, arrived in Menominee from his headquarters in Bay City, Michigan, for the sole purpose of transferring interested investors in the district Bay, where they could see well-groomed lakes and effective plants, twisting white crystalline sugar. Eleven potential investors agreed with Bowell in Bay City, where there was strong evidence. Four sugar beet factories, more than in any other city in the United States, were built around this city. Bay City is supposedly buzzing with economic activity due to the presence of sugar mills. Mansions inhabited by former barons, who turned them into sugar barons, built the prestigious central avenue of the city.
Boutell announced that he would be one of the investors, because other investors do not mind the factory designing and installing Joseph Kilby, who was according to Boutelle, the best builder of sugar beet factories in the United States. Many others agreed with the assessment of Butella; Kilby built nine of the temporary 24 factories built in Michigan. Local investors lined up for Butellem to set up Menominee sugar processing company. Half a dozen important supporters came out, each subscribing to more than $ 25,000 at the warehouse of the Menominee Sugar Company.
On the list of local shareholders was Samuel M. Stephenson, a former lumber producer and native of New Brunswick, Canada, who made a home for himself, his wife Jenny and their four daughters and one son in Menominee. He was then seventy-one years old, but he was in no mood for retirement. After a successful career in the field of lumber and banking, he successfully spoke three times in Congress (Michigan 11th District 1889-93 and 12th District 1893-97). He invested $ 100,000 ($ 2 million by modern standards) in a beet sugar factory, taking into account not only the favorable results of the test site and the enthusiasm of its neighbors, but also the interest shown by the American Sugar Technology Corporation, commonly known by its then popular sobriquet , Sugar Trust. A few years later, Sugar Trust fell out of favor as a result of accusations of unfair business practices, but in 1903 he was confident in the general public and investors and controlled the production and sale of 98% of the sugar consumed in the United States of America. Trust Executives, Arthur Donner and Charles R. Heike, have invested $ 300,000 in acquiring a 36% stake in the Menominee Sugar Company.
All members of the board of directors and a list of officers, except for the Bay City resident, Benjamin Boutella, listed Menominee as a record. Menominee's population accounted for 74% of shareholders. Together they controlled 53% of the shares. In addition to Stevenson, other major shareholders who also held either officers or directors were: William O. Carpenter, who invested $ 55,000, and served the sugar company in various ways as president and vice president. Gustave A. Blesch invested $ 15,000 and served as treasurer. John Hennes, the owner of the brewery, invested $ 25,000 and became a director. Augustus Spies was the second largest investor after Stephenson and the Sugar Trust. He also served as a director.
Spies are a great example of the hardy, innovative spirit that prevailed in Menominee. He was a native of the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, where the fertile soil and mild climate made it possible to produce grain and wine. He participated in the creation of the National Stevenson Bank in partnership with the future US Congressman Samuel M. Stephenson and Samuel's brother, the future US Senator Isaac Stephenson. In addition, he owned a spy sawmill and several large forests; he was an investor in the First National Bank of Menominee, Marinette and Menominee Paper Company, as well as the president of Menominee Light, Railroad and Power Company. When the production of raw sugar began, he stepped forward with $ 75,000 ($ 1.5 million in current dollars).
The support of the rich class Menominee, who also shared the differences in making good business decisions and enhancing his merits rather than inheriting wealth, was so great that there was no need to request funds from the general public. With its shares in excess of $ 35,000, Menomine River Sugar was in an enviable position, with sufficient capital for its business. He not only possessed sufficient capital, but also took advantage of the experience of Benjamin Boutella and representatives of the Sugar Trust. Menominee would not like technical or business experience.
Gustave Blesch, like Augustus Shpiyam, owed his success to the inherited qualities of hard work, honesty, and respect for his peers. He will be the first treasurer of the sugar company. He was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 1859, the son of Francis Blesch, a native of Germany and Antoinette Schneider, a native of Belgium. Gustave became an office boy at Kellogg Green Bay National Bank, rising to the calendar by the age of twenty. Five years later, he moved to Menominee to help create the First National Bank of Menominee, where he began as a cashier before becoming president of the bank. He became president of Menominee Brick, vice president of the Menominee-Marinette Light & Traction Company, and also the treasurer of the peninsula Land Company.
In January 1903, the newly elected board of directors approved a contract for the construction of a 800-meter factory worth about $ 800,000 (about $ 19 million this year), which will produce 1,000 tons of beets per day. Of the 48 sugar beet factories operating in the United States in 1903, only two were larger than the new Menominee plant, one in Salinas, California and another in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The average sugar mill in Michigan in 1903 could cut six hundred tons of beets within 24 hours. Four thousand acres of beets would easily provide factory maintenance for the season. If investors first interviewed farmers, of course, they would be advised to build a smaller factory and, perhaps, would be convinced to build it. Farmers supplied beets from about 1,500 acres, which is significantly less than the 9,000 acres required by the investment.
The first Menominee factory (called the “campaign” in the sugar industry) quickly ended, receiving only 14,263 tons, which is enough for a production cycle of fourteen days for the plant, investors planned to work at least one hundred days. However, farmers served the highest sugar beet that any company reported during their first campaign, 15.04 percent — about 20 percent more than the average, and enough to provide a small profit from the scarce supply of beets. Like almost all the factories, the records that would tell us about the profits, if any, were obtained for this first campaign, have not been preserved over time. However, it would be reasonable to estimate, based on the known cost of supplying coal, coke, limestone and the cost of labor, which could earn a profit of $ 36,000, especially in the management style, which paid close attention to costs and especially in light of the very high sugar content in beets.
The second campaign was better with a sufficient amount of beets for a whole month, but there is still a shortage of the supply necessary to make a profit sufficient to justify the investment. By 1911, local supply reached a level that provided sustainable profits, but was not enough to encourage expansion, which persisted until 1926, when tower apathy fell to a level that required the closure of the factory until 1933, when it reopened the last year years during which the plant lagged behind the industry in technology and growth. Year after year, due to the lack of supply of beets, mainly grown in Wisconsin, the underused factory ended its campaign weeks earlier than necessary for healthy profits, which could then be reinvested in the factory. Menorah investors have learned, like many other investors in the sugar factory, that the mantra "build it and they will come" fell on deaf ears among farmers who showed a better understanding of sugar than investors.
С течением времени купил, однако, вред или добро на фабрику Menominee, поскольку он не смог расширить или модернизировать. Он обосновался в процессе изящного старения. Прибыль, ожидающая возможности, постепенно накапливается благодаря фирменному стилю управления компанией и целенаправленному кадровому составу фермеров.
Джордж У. Маккормик, первый менеджер компании, открыл тщательный стиль управления, который проделал долгий путь к сохранению прибыли компании, несмотря на ежегодные недостатки в поставке свеклы. Он управлял компанией в течение первых тридцати двух лет работы, начиная с 24-летнего возраста. Он встретил Бенджамина Бутелла в Бей-Сити, когда он переехал туда, чтобы устроиться на работу в качестве менеджера округа для страховой компании Travelers. Бутелл подумал, что молодой человек ассоциируется в быстро развивающейся сахарной промышленности и призвал его помочь в создании сахарного завода в Уолласебурге, Онтарио. После успешного завершения задания Бутелл рекомендовал его для работы менеджера в Menominee.
Menominee было самым трудным местом в Соединенных Штатах для обработки сахарной свеклы. Низкие температуры стали тяжелыми для рабочих, машин и свеклы, которые обычно проходили через нарезные машины, такие как валуны, повреждающее оборудование, которое ограждало фабрику тонких ресурсов. Трудно было найти запасные части из-за расстояния, отделяющего Menominee от поставщиков и от сахарных заводов нижнего полуострова, где руководители фабрик часто сообщали запасные части друг другу.
Приличное внимание компании к управлению издержками окупилось в 1924 году, когда сахарные заводы, расположенные в Грин-Бей и Меномине Фоллс, Висконсин вышли на рынок. Компания Menominee River Sugar Company купила обе, а затем инвестировала значительные суммы в восстановление фабрики Menominee Falls, которая была закрыта в течение трех лет, непосредственно предшествующих ее продаже.
Восстановленный завод Menominee Falls в сочетании с заводами Green Bay и Menominee, Мичиган создал больше возможностей, чем было необходимо для доступных площадей. Одна из фабрик должна была бы закрыться. Menominee выиграл петлю после того, как бухгалтеры подсчитали стоимость фрахта для перевозки свеклы на каждую фабрику. Завод Menominee оставался закрытым до 1933 года, когда фермеры Мичигана смягчились и согласились вернуться на сахарную свеклу, решение, которое слишком поздно, чтобы спасти шкуры владельцев сахарной компании, которые потеряли компанию к дефолтным облигациям три лет назад.
Срывы в Европе, начавшиеся в начале 1930-х годов, приобрели новое название для месторождений сахарной свеклы Мичигана и корпоративных офисов - Flegenheimer. Альберт Флегенхаймер был сыном Самуэля Флегенхаймера, который иммигрировал в Соединенные Штаты в 1864 или 1866 годах и стал натурализованным гражданином в 1873 году. Однако в следующем году он вернулся в Германию, поселившись в Вюртемберге. Он прожил там свою жизнь, умер в 1929 году в возрасте 81 года. Однако его краткое пребывание в Соединенных Штатах и его статус гражданства США однажды спасет его потомков из немецких лагерей смерти.
В феврале 1939 года Альберт Флегенхаймер женился на своей семье в безопасности Канады, а затем в США, заявив о гражданстве в качестве сына натурализованного гражданина. Он планировал поднять свою семью и посвятить свое время сахарной промышленности как в Соединенных Штатах, так и в Канаде. Его планы встретились с продуманным успехом, и к 1954 году он контролировал сахарный завод в Меномине и тот, который был в Грин-Бэй, штат Висконсин.
Несмотря на усилия Альберта Флегенхаймера, отсутствие интереса со стороны фермеров держало фабрику маленькой и устаревшей. Он изо всех сил боролся из года в год, пока, наконец, в 1955 году, когда его оборудование не было исчерпано, его здания в потрепанном ремонте и его фермеры, занимающиеся другими культурами, компания Menominee River Sugar Company, построенная на надежды и мечты и работающая с дужностью и упорством более полувека, закрыл свои двери навсегда.
Sources:
GUTLEBEN, Dan, The Sugar Tramp-1954- Michigan, Отпечатано: Bay City Duplicating Co, Сан-Франциско, 1954 г.
1962 СЕМИНАР РЕСУРСОВ В ОБЛАСТИ СЕЛЬСКОГО СИТУАЦИИ, раздел «Известные лидеры, которые помогли построить меномине», подготовил Ирен Свайн, д-р Лев Дж. Алилунас, директор.
ХЕНЛИ, РОБЕРТ Л., Сладкий успех. , Рассказ о производстве свеклы сахарной свеклы Мичигана 1898-1974 гг., Мичиганский исторический центр, факультет истории, искусств и библиотек
РЕГУЛИРОВКИ ИНФЛЯЦИИ: данные до 1975 года являются статистикой индекса потребительских цен из «Исторической статистики Соединенных Штатов» (USGPO, 1975). Все данные с тех пор взяты из ежегодных статистических тезисов Соединенных Штатов. Записано по адресу: http://www.westegg.com/inflation
ГОДОВОЙ ОТЧЕТ МИХИГАНОВ, Мичиганские архивы, Лансинг, Мичиган
© 2009 Томас Махар
About the author:
Томас Махар занимал пост исполнительного вице-президента Monitor Sugar Company в период с 1984 по 1999 год и в качестве президента компании Gala Food Processing, компании по упаковке сахара, в 1993-1998 годах. Он ушел в отставку в 1999 году и теперь посвящает свое свободное время письму об истории сахарной промышленности. Он написал, Sweet Energy, The Story of Monitor Sugar Company в 2001 году.
