T II E C U B A It !•: \' I E \\- 



15 



CUBAN COMMERCIAL MATTERS 



IMPORTED FOODS 



According to statistics prepared by the 

 Cuban Clovernment in response to the request 

 of th(> Washington food administration, 

 which desired to be informed how much food 

 Cuba wiH have to import from the United 

 States, it appears that Cuba consumes an- 

 nually no less than $71,000,000 worth of food- 

 stuflFs, the greater part of which comes from 

 the United States. A fcAV of the items are: 



Meats $13,500,000 



Fish 1,220,000 



Cereals 15,000,000 



Vegetables and tubers 7,000,000 



Milk products 2,500,000 



In spite of all efTorts to diversify the crops 

 of Cuba in order to produce foodstuffs suffi- 

 cient to supplj' her needs during the war, 

 little has been done to increase Cuba's pro- 

 duction of foods. Whether the United States 

 will be able and will be incUned to furnish all 

 the foodstuffs required by Cuba this j-ear is 

 causing some concern in Cuba, but inasmuch 

 as the Allies must have Cuba's sugar crop, 

 there will doubtless be enough food to enable 

 Cuba's population to keep on working. 



REAL ESTATE CONVENTION 



Cuba is planning to send representatives to 

 the 19 18 convention of the NationalAssociation 

 of Real Estate Boards, which is to meet in St. 

 Louis, June 17-20, according to the St. Louis 

 press. 



It is stated the Cuban real estate men are 

 vitally interested in the coming convention 

 and that a large number of representative 

 realty men will be in attendance from the 

 Island. 



CAUSTIC SODA 



It is reported that the soap manufacturers 

 of Cuba have made very urgent representa- 

 tions to the government, stating that the stop- 

 page of caustic soda imports from the United 

 States would disrupt their industry and leave 

 Cuba utterh- soapless. 



The government has i)romised to lay the 

 matter before the I'nited States, and it is said 

 that instructions have already been sent to 

 the Cuban minister in ^^'ashington to take up 

 the matter. 



TOBACCO INDUSTRY 



The Cuban association of cigar and cigar- 

 ette manufacturers has voted to appeal to 

 congress to save Cuba's once flourishing 

 tobacco industry from the ruin which, they 

 claim, is menacing it, as a result of the Euro- 

 pean war. It is well known that the tobacco 

 industry, which had been Cuba's second in- 

 dustry, sugar holding the first place, was hard 

 hit when the British government in February 

 of last year put tobacco in the list of articles 

 of luxury, the importation of which was 

 banned for the period of the war. Subse- 

 quent representations on the part of the 

 Cuban government and its diplomatic rep- 

 resentatives at London secured a modifica- 

 tion of the order; but the modifications were 

 only temporary and with the exten.sion of the 

 war to new combatants and the taking of 

 similar action by other countries besides 

 Great Britain, the tobacco outlook has grown 

 very dark, so the manufacturers say. 



Just what action the tobacco men expect 

 the congress to take is not revealed by the 

 association's chiefs. It is expected that 

 congressional investigation will be asked for 

 first, with further action to wait until the 

 committee reports. 



TOBACCO 



It is reported that the I^nion of Manufac- 

 turers of Cigars and Cigarettes has received 

 a communication from the committee of 

 national economic defense, conceding per- 

 mission for the shipment of manufactured 

 tobacco to the I'nited States, England and 

 France. 



OPIUM IMPORTS 



One of the heaviest opium importations of 

 the year went through the Havana Custom 

 House December 10. It consisted of 500 

 kilograms of the narcctic, and came in a large 

 number of parcel post packages. The opium 

 is w^orth considerably ever $30,CC0 and paid 

 $4,000 to the government in customs duties. 



NEW BANK 



A new bank, to be known as the Banco 

 Comerical de Cuba, has been established 

 with offices at Muralla 121. The new insti- 

 tution has a capital of $500,000. 



