THE CUBA REVIEW 15 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY OF CUBA— A BRIEF SKETCH 



By H. O. Neville. 



It is seldom that a plant is given the power to make or break the happiness and prosperity 

 of a people to such an extent as falls to the lot of the sugar cane in its relation to the Island of 

 Cuba and its inhabitants. Originating in the dim past, supposedly in eastern India, though 

 some ground exists for believing that its birthplace was in China, it traveled first north, then 

 southwest, entering Egypt by way of Nubia and Ethiopia, whence it was taken by the Vene- 

 tians into Syria and the Mediterranean Islands. From her it was carried by the Portuguese 

 into Madeira and the Canary Islands, and was introduced at the beginning of the sixteenth 

 century into Brazil and other American regions, among these being the Island of Cuba. The 

 exact date of this introduction is unknown, but it is believed to have been not many years 

 after the discovery of the New World by Columbus in 1492, and contemporaneous with the 

 arrival of Diego Velasquez, the conqueror and first Governor of the Island, who was sent over 

 from Santo Domingo for the purpose of taking possession. History informs us that he bent 

 his efforts to the promotion of the prosperity of the Island, giving special importance to the 

 utiUzation of its agricultural resources, and especially favoring the cultivation of the sugar 

 cane. To this end he made grants of land to his followers and also furnished them the slaves 

 needed in their work. 



Details of the early history of the industry are lacking, but it is well known that from the 

 time of Velasquez, and during the 16th and 17th centuries, industries of all classes in Cuba 

 were harassed and oppressed by the Spanish Government, at one time this being carried so far 

 as to prohibit the planting and cultivation of sugar cane. After this prohibition was withdrawn, 

 monopolies and restrictions were continued so that the infantile industry was constantly held 

 in check and could not advance, notwithstanding the great advantages that nature had con- 

 ferred upon the Island. In 1772, however, a change took place, the former restrictions were 

 removed, and active progress began. Every Spaniard was given the privilege of producing 

 sugar, and that advantage was taken of the freedom is shown by the increase of sugar exporta- 

 tions from 4,392 tons in 1760 to 12,000 tons in 1780 and over 14,000 of tons in 1790. The next 

 year the insurrection in Santo Domingo and the ruin and destruction of the sugar mills and 

 industry that had prospered there, left a vacancy in the sugar world that Cuba was quick to 

 take advantage of, with the result that the number of mills operating in Cuba in 1792(473), 

 was increased in the next ten years to about 870, and the exportations of sugar from 14,600 

 tons in 1792, to 40,800 tons in 1802. This production was of course from the small mills worked 

 by oxen — the only kind that at that time existed. 



During this period of the 19th century, war was ravaging Europe, and its influence, due 

 to the severing of the old commercial relations and connections, was felt in the New World 

 and among the sugar producers of Cuba. The industry lagged, but later, after the fall of 

 Napoleon, with the re-establishment of the broken trade ties, prosperity returned and by 1826 

 production had increased to fully its former figures. The increase in volume of the industry, 

 and in the area of land tilled, caused the first feeling of pressure that has been so seriously 

 felt by the industry m these last years, due to lack of sufficient laborers to handle and harvest 

 the crops. As always had happened after the colonization and "civilization" of new countries 

 the native population had steadily diminished in numbers, and the number of slaves that had 

 been brought in had not been sufficient to take their places, so that in 1834, Miguel Taccn, then 

 Governor of the Island, encouraged the slave trade, causing the introduction of many negroes 

 from Africa. At the same time he discouraged many of the corrupt administrative customs 

 which had been practised by those sent over by the Spanish Government to rule over Cuba, 

 and encouraged all lawful industry. This resulted in the period of greatest prosperity ever 

 enjoyed by the Island before its occupation by the United States. The heavy taxes, export 

 duties, and special contributions which continued to be levied by the Spanish Government 

 did not prevent this prosperity, so that at the outbreak of the first war of rebellion, the "Ten 

 Years War," the industry was well established and the Island was prosperous. No record is 

 given of the number of mills operating, nor of the area planted to cane during the greater por- 

 tion of this period, but beginning with 1850 approximate data began to be recorded, these 



