Sugar Deal

In Havana one day last week five Cubans boarded a Pan American Clipper, took off on the first leg of a 1,200-mile junket to Washington. Handpicked by President Batista, they were to start negotiations for the possible sale of Cuba's entire 1942 sugar crop—some 4,000,000 tons worth at least $225,000,000.

The U.S. is anxious to make a deal for two reasons. First, it would assure the Army and Navy of high-test molasses, one of the chief raw materials in making industrial alcohol, which is essential in smokeless powder (TIME, Oct. 13). By purchasing...

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