28 



THE CUBA JIEVIEW 



TOBACCO INDUSTRY. 



Havana Looking to Washington. 



The Havana correspondent of Tobacco of 

 New York makes a plea for lower duties 

 to save the cigar industry of the island. 

 He says : 



"Cubans are bent upon using all lawful 

 means to convince the American President, 

 Congress and the public at large, that Cuba 

 ought to be entitled to at least a 50 per 

 cent, reduction on the present tariff rates 

 on cigars, as otherwise our cigar industry 

 is bound to disappear, which would be a 

 hard blow to the Island of Cuba. It might 

 even cause such discontent as to finally end 

 in another uprising, which would not suit 

 the United States, if it could be avoided by 

 a little letting down of the tariff bars in 

 our favor. 



"It is perfectly understood in Havana 

 that another revolution would mean another 

 American intervention, and which would ulti- 

 mately result in the annexation of the is- 

 land. Through the immigration of Ameri- 

 cans and the vast millions of American 

 capital employed, a gradual annexation will 

 be brought about in the course of years, 

 but the time is not yet ripe for this. Cuba 

 is virtually bound hands and feet to the 

 United States commercially, although nomi- 

 nally it is still an independent republic, al- 

 though handicapped bj' the Piatt amendment. 

 No commercial reciprocity treaty could be 

 made with any European, or any other 

 country, unless the government at Wash- 

 ington had already given its sanction be- 

 forehand. If Cuba should lose the American 

 market for its products it would become 

 hopelessly bankrupt. Anarchy and revolu- 

 tion would destroy all property, and in such 

 case the Americans would have to interfere 

 to save their own citizens. The present 

 reciprocity treaty is not fair to Cuba by 

 any means, as the reduction on American 

 products is from 30 to 50 per cent., while 

 the United States have only conceded 20 

 per cent, to Cuban products. If our island 

 should get a 50 per cent, allowance it would 

 in return raise its tariff 50 per cent, on all 

 articles coming from France, Spain, Ger- 

 many and other European countries, thus 

 giving the Americans a chance to supply 

 all such manufactures and goods that are 

 now imported from these countries. 



"While there is a little more business 

 going on in the local factories, it is, how- 

 ever, not equally distributed and far from 

 what it should be at this season of the year. 

 Where formerly every cigarmaker was em- 

 ployed and there was a scarcity of them, 

 now many are still idle, while the exodus to 

 Tampa and Key West continues. Up to the 



middle of September the year 1909 shows a 

 decrease of over three million cigars, as 

 compared with 1908, and last year was the 

 poorest in exports from Havana. Some even 

 fear a greater discrepancy by the end of 

 1909. 



"The commission recently appointed by 

 President Gomez is hard at work, and is 

 sending 5,000 blanks to those interested in 

 tobacco and cigars, requesting them to an- 

 swer questions and suggest remedies to help 

 the industry. There is, however, little faith 

 in manufacturing circles that anything prac- 

 tical will be evolved, although a lot of fu- 

 ture valuable statistics may be gathered."' 



The October Storm's Destruction. 



The tobacco barns in Havana Province 

 have been destroyed to the extent of 8o 

 per cent., and all seedlings which were 

 ready for transplanting were runied. The 

 outlook for the coming Vuelta Abajo 

 and Partido crop is now extremely prob- 

 lematical. Much valuable time has been 

 lost: money is as scarce as ever, and 

 while new seed beds may be provided, 

 the planting season cannot now begin be- 

 fore December at the earliest. 



El Tobaco is making fun of 68 ques- 

 tions, which might be subdivided into 

 6oo, which the commission to look into 

 the tobacco industry appointed by Presi- 

 dent Gomez has published in the daily 

 press and sent to all people interested 

 or connected with the tobacco growing, 

 handling or manufacturing, as it thinks, 

 it will take a year to answer and tabulate 

 them fully. A few practical recommen- 

 dations would do more good, as nearly 

 everybody knows where the shoe 

 pinches, and there ought to be some 

 remedy in sight. Quick action and 

 heroic measures, if need be, ought to be 

 taken to save the country from dissatis- 

 faction at present and a possible revolu- 

 tion later on, caused by hunger. — Havana 

 Correspondence of Tobacco (New York). 



Tobacco Growers Busy. 



Reports from the Pinar del Rio sec- 

 tion state that the vegueros are pushing 

 their preparations for the coming to- 

 bacco crop and many of the planters who 

 have lost a portion of their seed beds, 

 in anticipation of an unusual demand for 

 posturas, have obtained additional seed 

 and are planting additional semilleros so 

 as to have posturas to sell their less for- 

 tunate neighbors. 



