10 THECUBAREVIEW 



In the presidentip,! message he also referred to the foreign commerce of the Republic* 

 which, including money in the year 1917, amounted to $638,051,759 divided as follows: Imports, 

 $273,279,814; exports, $364,771,945. Comparing these figures with the total of 1916, which 

 was $604,849,629, an increase of $33,202,130 is shown, of which $23,001,535 were exports, and 

 $10,200,595 were imports. 



It is further stated therein that the passengers arriving in Cuba during 1917 were 108,861, 

 as against 111,582 in 1916, or a decrease of 2,721 during the last year. On the other hand, the 

 movement of immigrants during 1917 amounted to 57,022 and 55,121 in 1916, leaving a balance 

 in favor of 1917 of 1,901. 



In this same message are given some further comparative figures of imports and exports as 

 follows : 



IMPORTS 



Countri-'s 1916 1917 



United States $185,337,194 $205,104,233 



Other American countries 12,249,130 17,915,255 



Germany 25,773 730 



Spain 14,408,772 15,651,998 



France 5,930,905 6,289,418 



United Kingdom 19,230,658 15,377,099 



Other European countries 4,143,985 3,424,408 



Another crantries 6,951,862 7,516,679 



Total $248,278,279 $271,279,814 



EXPORTS 



Countries 1916 1917 



United States $2.50,090,418 $2.57,373,113 



Other American countries 3,676,264 8,445,281 



Germany 



Spain 30,288,126 13,546,199 



France 13,030,856 11,616,630 



United Kingdom 52,776,331 73,563,756 



Other European countries 5,689,686 1,335,610 



All other countries 1,019,669 891,356 



Total $356,571,350 $356,771,945 



In the President's message referred to above, mention is made of the falling off in passenger 

 arrivals in Cuba for 1917, as compared with the previous season. Government statistics show 

 that this decrease has steadily continued during the three months of 1918 already past, and in 

 fact March shows by far the greatest falling off. This, however, is probably due to the fact 

 that the service between Spain and Cuba furnished by the Spanish lines has been greatly re- 

 stricted of late. However, the total number of steamers arriving in Havana during March from 

 all ports was 228 as against 208 for the previous month. 



The reopening of the "Fronton" where the Spanish game of "Jai-Alai" is to be played, 

 has been postponed, owing to non-arrival of the players from Spain on the date expected, but 

 all arrangements are being made to again resume this game as soon as they do reach here. 



The importation of coal from the United States is again approaching normal, the total for 

 the month of March at this port amounting in round numbers to 107,000 tons as against 

 February, 63,000 tons and January, 24,000 tons. These figures of coal importation cover that 

 by steam and sailing vessels, and also in ca;rs via the ferry from Key West. 



In addition to the companies enumerated in our last advices as having been organized 

 by the Banco Espanol de la Isla de Cuba and allied interests, there should be added the "Com- 

 pania de Jarcia de Matanzas" which took over the rope works and sisal plantations formerly 

 operated by Raffloer, Erbsloh & Co., with headquarters at Matanzas. 



The present Cuban sugar crop, while previously estimated at about 3,500,000 tons, will 

 not reach that figure, but will be larger than that of last year, or something over 3,000,000 tons. 



