274 



CUBA. 



Pesetas. 



The Goguel loan 80,000,000 



The 1879 six per cent, loan, for which the duties 



are pledged 850,000,000 



The three per cent, loan, for which a sinking 



fund is provided 200,000,000 



Sundry indebtedness 100,000,000 



The floating debt 100,000,000 



Paper money in circulation 200,000,000 



Total 980,000,000 



Equal to $196,000,000 



The budget estimate for 1885-'86 was fixed 

 as follows : 



Outlays. Pesetas. 



Interest on the debt, etc 14.236,750 



Department of Justice 882,259 



War 7,948,859 



" Finance 1,842,057 



" Navy 1,970,330 



Interior 4,054,441 



" Public Works and Instruction... '785,157 



Total 81,169,658 



Income. Pesetas. 



Contributions and taxes 7,939,986 



Revenuefrom customs 13,105,000 



monopolies 2,119,100 



" lotteries 2,663,125 



" state properties 807,400 



Other revenues 4,655,500 



their credit restored, but were enabled to order 

 improved machinery from the United States, 

 and prepare for a large crop in 1885-'86. The 

 recent sugar and molasses crops in Cuba have 

 been: 



Total 80,790,110 



In September the home Government nego- 

 tiated a 6 pev cent, loan at Madrid for $20,- 

 000,000, in behalf of the Cuban treasury, ex- 

 tinguishable in the course of fifteen years 

 through the operation of a sinking fund. The 

 rate at which this loan was taken was 92 per 

 cent., with per cent, commission. The Bank 

 of Spain, for a commission of 1 per cent., takes 

 charge of the payments toward the sinking 

 fund and of the coupons. The proceeds of this 

 loan were set aside for canceling the floating 

 debt. The revenues from the stamp duties 

 were assigned as a guarantee, besides the sub- 

 sidiary guarantee of the Spanish treasury. 



Customs. The revenue derived from duties at 

 the custom-houses of the island during the fis- 

 cal year ended June 30, 1885, was as follows : 



July and August taken together showed an 

 excess over the corresponding months of the 

 preceding year of $279,617. 



Sugar. Up to the month of May, the pros- 

 pects for sugar, the main industry in Cuba, 

 were dismal and hopeless in the extreme, 

 when fortunately the curtailed beet-sugar pro- 

 duction on the Continent of Europe, and a 

 strong partially speculative upward movement 

 in the price of the staple all over the world, 

 caused a rapid advance of about 25 per cent, 

 and enabled^ Cuban planters to sell the rem- 

 nants of their crop at correspondingly better 

 rates. The enhanced value of sugar continued 

 during the remainder of the year with slight 

 fluctuations, and planters in Cuba not only saw 



After deducting 30,000 tons for annual local 

 consumption, the remainder is exported. 



Tobacco. Cuban tobacco has of late years 

 lost much of its prestige through forcing and 

 artificial manures, and has to sustain sharp 

 competition abroad where it formerly com- 

 manded the market, so that some years may 

 have to elapse before the soil can recover from 

 the excessive and indiscriminate use of artifi- 

 cial fertilizers. A few years ago the leaf har- 

 vested in the Vuelta Abajo was not sufficient 

 to meet the large demand, and, in order to in- 

 crease the yield, growers made use of guanos 

 of all sorts, and with s\ich bad results that in 

 many instances they find it now difficult to 

 place on reasonable terms more than half, and 

 sometimes less, of their crops. In a few locali- 

 ties only the soil has not been spoiled by spuri- 

 ous manures, and the leaf grown there com- 

 mands very high prices, and is warmly competed 

 for by local manufacturers and buyers for the 

 United States. Notwithstanding the fact that 

 the last crop has been of better quality than 

 heretofore, a good many growers were COM- 

 pelled to abandon tobacco-cultivation for a 

 certain time and devote the ground to ether 

 purposes. It appears that this change of culti- 

 vation is absorbing the fertilizers and restoring 

 to the soil its former good qualities, and, if one 

 can judge from the splendid appearance of the 

 leaf and the ready sale it now meets with, it 

 would seem that the Vuelta Abajo yields are 

 regaining their former renown. 



The total tobacco production is estimates 

 at between 400,000 and 500,000 quintals (one 

 quintal equals 101| pounds American). As I' 

 well known, that grown in the Vuelta Abajo 

 or district west of Havana, is the best kind 

 and has given Cuba its well-earned reputation 

 About 67,000 acres are cultivated in the dis 

 trict, and only about one fourth of the produc 

 is manufactured in the island. Very larg< 

 quantities of the leaf are exported in bales an< 

 rolled abroad. 



Cigars. It is evident, however, that, givei 

 the total production and corresponding resul 

 in the manufactured form, but a small portioi 

 of the cigars sold in Europe and elsewhere ii 

 Havana cigars have the slightest claim to 

 connection with Cuba. The chief and onl; 

 important manufactories of these cigars are i 

 Havana, and much care and money are e: 

 pended in producing a handsome-looking art 

 cle. As much as $40 (gold) per 1,000 is pai 

 to skilled laborers for making up 'first-cla; 

 goods. About 17,000 operatives are employe 



