Brazil at the Dawn of the Eighteenth Century

Chapter IX: The Past and Present Prices of Sugar

112 chapter ix y The Past and Present Prices of Sugar Twenty years ago, the prices in these parts changed a lot for white, mascavado, and batido sugars. The white that was selling for eight, nine, or ten tostões per arroba afterward rose to twelve, fifteen, and sixteen, and finally eighteen, twenty, twenty-two, and twenty-four tostões. It then fell to sixteen. The white batido that they had let go for seven or eight tostões rose to twelve and fourteen. The mascavado macho, which had been worth five tostões, sold for ten, eleven, and even more. The mascavado batido, whose price had been one cruzado, reached six tostões. Need forces one to sell cheap and to “burn” (as they say) the fine sugar. This has cost the slaves, the mill owners, and the tenant farmers , who have been working and spending money. The lack of ships is another reason why sugar does not bring the price it is worth. However, another reason is the rapid rise these days of the price of copper, iron, cloth, and other items that the mills require. This is especially true for the cost of slaves, whom they will not let go for less than one hundred milréis. In the past, the best slaves were worth only forty or fifty milréis. This is the chief cause of sugar’s great rise in price, in addition to having local and national coins, and the discovery of gold mines, which serve to make a few rich and to destroy many.13 The best mines in Brazil are the ditches and furrows where tobacco is planted. If we consider the intrinsic value sugar merits because of its inherent good qualities, no other substance is its equal. If everyone knows its sweetness when they consume it, there is no reason that it should not be given its extrinsic value when it is bought and sold. The mill owners, the merchants, and the magistrate for revenue should, by rights, adjust its price. After so many expenses, he (the fiscal magistrate) could allow a respectable profit. Following that, if the prices were reduced on goods 113 Various Types of Sugar Crated Separately coming from Portugal and for slaves coming from Angola and the coast of Guinea to something more moderate, then the price of sugar could also be lowered to ten or twelve tostões. Everyone agrees that it is impossible for these excessive prices to continue from one side of the Atlantic and the other without the loss of Brazil. ...