THE CUBA REVIEW 



23 



CUBAN COMMERCIAL MATTERS 



AUTOMOBILES AND SUPPLIES IN CUBA 



An estimate <>r the total Dumber of mo- 

 tor vehicles in the Province of Santa 

 Clara, based on the presenl registration 

 in the four principal municipal districts 



of this Province, gives 7."><i as the figure 

 for passenger cars, <;o tor motor trucks, 

 and 70 for motorcycles. The registration 



in these municipalities is as fellows: 



Province 



I'd SS( ii- Motor Motor- 

 gerCars Trucks cycles 



Number Number A umber 



Caibarien 54 



Cienfuegos 463 



Sagua la Grande 53 



Santa Clara 100 



Practically all the motor vehicles in 

 use in this Province are of American make, 

 there evidently having been no imports 

 of European vehicles since the beginning 

 of the war. The official license record in- 

 dicates that the majority of the cars here 

 are the lighter and cheaper American cars, 

 which are regarded as more serviceable. 

 The United States is also the principal 

 source of supply for automobile accessor- 

 ies, including tires, the best-known Ameri- 

 can makes being sold in the supply houses. 



The increased use of motor vehicles, 

 particularly in the interior, depends on 

 the improvement of roads. If proposed 

 plans for road construction and repair are 

 put into execution, there will be a larger 

 market for motor vehicles of all kinds in 

 this Province. — Consul Frank Bohr, Cien- 

 fuegos. 



RECENT REGISTRATION IN MATANZAS 



Annual licenses were issued recently for 

 the motor vehicles in Matanzas Province, 

 and the completed registration shows a 

 total of 250 passenger cars and 116 motor 

 trucks in use here. All of the motor trucks 

 and most of the passenger cars are of 

 American manufacture, the lighter and 

 cheaper cars being in the majority, though 

 some of the machines are of the more ex- 

 pensive makes. 



A few foreign cars are to be seen here, 

 but the difficulty of obtaining repair pails 

 has not tended to make them popular. 



Moreover, it is believed thai the heavily 

 built European cars wear out tires more 

 quickly (ban do the lighter American ma- 

 chines. The prices or American cars have 

 been about 1 1 per cent . more here I ban in 

 the United States. The price of gasoline 

 is ai present 52 cents per gallon retail ami 

 19 ••enis wholesale. However, the high cost 

 of cars and fuel is not so great an obsta- 

 cle to t he sale of automobiles as are the 



poor si reets. The bad condition of st reets 

 and highways makes driving difficult, ami 

 leads lo greal expense for tires. The larg 

 est automobile dealer in the city estimates 

 I bat Matanzas purchases an average of 

 $10,000 worth of tires every month. I ice 

 consul /,'. c. Beer, Matanzas. 



( A general survey of automobile market s 

 appears in another part of this magazine.) 



CUBA S FOREIGN TRADE 

 According to the figures of the Statis- 

 tical Section of the State Department, the 

 foreign commerce of Cuba during the fiscal 

 year 1918-19 reached the stupendous sum 

 or $794,242,578. Of this sum imports 

 amounted to $315,5S7,1»'>7, and exports to 

 .$477,221, 863. Re-exportation amounted to 

 $1,433,548. 



Foreign trade for the fiscal year of 191S- 

 19 showed a gain of $110,493,683 over thai 

 of 1917-18, when it amounted to $683,- 

 748,89.1. 



Custom House collections amounted to 

 $39,546,560.90 during the last fiscal year. 

 Collections during the year of 1917-18 

 amounted to $39,489,004.55. 



NEW LINE OF STEAMERS 



A new steamship passenger and freight 

 line has recently been incorporated under 



Cuban laws, with a subscribed capital of 

 $2,000,000. The company Is to be known as 

 the Viajera Antillana Company, and will 

 ply between island ports, Santo Domingo 

 and Porto Rico. It is expected this com- 

 pany will start operations as soon as 

 steamers can be chartered and it is the 

 intention of the management to acquire by 

 purchase nine steamers. 



