THE CUBA REVIEW i» 



miles. The only other Improved roads are the old military or "royal mails" which 

 need repairs. Under recent appropriations wm-k was begun on a road to conned 

 the city of Camaguey with the porl stralghl south of It, Santa Cruz del Sur, and Im- 

 provements are to be made in the paving <>i' Camaguey city. 



SANTIAGO I»i: CUBA HAS GOOD ROADS. 

 There are excellenl roads in Santiago, the capital of the Province of Oriente, 



and the chief distributing point for the eastern end of the island, in 1915 the Ameri- 

 can consul at Santiago reported that American cars were verj popular there, 90 per 

 cent, of the cars used in that district being of American make. Several motor trucks 

 are used for transporting goods from Santiago to towns in the Interior. Near the 



town of Guantanamo, 50 miles east of Santiago, there is a lack of g l roads, which 



has greatly retarded development. There is little motoring in that region, though a 

 few motor trucks are used in Guantanamo and on neighboring sugar estates. .\ road 

 is now being built from Santiago to Guantanamo, having been completed as far as 

 Alto Songo in 191S. When finished, the trip between the ports of Santiago and Guan 

 tanarao can bo made more quickly by automobile than by train, since there is u<> 

 direct railway line. Though the Province of Oriente is the largest in Cuba, its mad 

 mileage is the lowest, there being in that district only about 60 miles of highway 

 suitable for motor transportation. 



PROSPERITY IN SUGAR INDUSTRY INCREASES AUTOMOBILE TRADE. 

 The increasing interest in road construction in Cuba is an indirect result of the 

 world demand for Cuban sugar in the war period when planters needed the aid of 

 motor trucks and tractors to overcome the shortage of labor and to enlarge, as well 

 as market, the sugar production. Moreover, good profits from sugar meant prosperity 

 for the planters, and larger imports of automobiles were followed by demands On- 

 better roads. Sugar represents SO per cent, of the exports of Cuba, tobacco 8 per cent., 

 minerals 3 per cent., and the remaining 9 per cent, is made up of fruits, honey, wax, 

 hides, and hardwoods. In 1915 the value of the total exports of Cuba was $254,200,000 

 (an increase of $70,000,000 over the highest record of any previous year), and in that 

 year the exports of automobiles from the United States to Cuba jumped from 318 to 



1,476 cars. In 1916 the Cuban exports rose to $356,400,< M 10, and in 1917 to $366,800, ». 



In 1918 the Cuban exports to the United States alone were $264,000,000. The increase 

 in Cuba's imports of motor cars and trucks has kept pace with this increase in ex- 

 ports. For the first eight months of the present fiscal year the imports of sugar from 

 Cuba into the United States amounted to 2,717,496,100 pounds, valued at $136,087,732, 

 indicating a considerable increase over the imports of last year. Cuba estimates that 

 its total crop of sugar this year will be worth $500,000,o<)< >, and as it will be marketed 

 at the prices assured by the Sugar Equalization Board, there is no immediate prosped 

 of a curtailment of Cuba's prosperity. 



CUBAN FOREIGN TRADE PER CAPITA— POPULATION AND HEALTH. 



In 1917 the value of the total exports of Cuban sugar was $305,300,000, the value 

 of the tobacco exported in that year was $30,000,000, of minerals $11,000,000, of fruit, 

 vegetables, honey, native woods, hides, skins, and other exports $20,500,000, making 

 the total value of the year's exports $366,800,000. The imports in 1917 amounted to 

 ^$272,500,000, giving a total foreign trade of $039,300,000, with a favorable trade bal- 

 ance of $94,300,000. As the population of Cuba is approximately l'.T'khmio. the exports 

 per capita in 1917 were $136, the imports $100, and the total foreign trade $236 per 

 capita. The trade of the island with the United States alone in 1918 was sis.", per 

 capita. 



This high figure of Cuban trade per inhabitant suggests the commercial pos- 

 sibilities of the island. At present the population is about 59 inhabitants per square 

 mile, the Cuban Government estimating that 70 per cent, are white and 30 per cent. 



