148 



SUGAB. 



Boxes 



743,249 



1851. 



43,615 



270,010 

 81,866 

 33,165 

 26,828 

 29,814 

 46,517 

 14,832 

 5,243 

 16,601 



872,457 



Our West India possessions have, owing to the want of a good 

 supply of labor and available capital to introduce various scien- 

 tific improvements, somewhat retrograded in the production of 

 sugar ; which, from the low price ruling the past year or two, has 

 not been found a remunerative staple. 



The two large islands of Jamaica and Cuba, may be fairly com- 

 pared as to their production of sugar. From 1804 to 1808, Jamaica 

 exported, on the average, annually 135,331 hhds., and from 1844 

 to 1848, it had decreased to 41,872 hhds. The exports from the 

 single port of Havana, which in the first named period were 165,690 

 boxes, rose during the latter period to 635,185 boxes ; so that the 

 shipments of sugar from Jamaica, which were in 1804 to 1808 

 double those of Havana in the period from 1844 to 1848, were 

 five times less ! 



Cuba will be able to withstand the crisis of the low price of 

 sugars, better than the emancipated British Colonies, for the 

 following reasons : 



1. It will find, in its present prosperity, a power of resistance 

 that no longer exists in the British sugar-growing colonies. 



2. Because it enjoys in the Spanish markets a protection for 

 at least 16,955 tons of its sugar, or about eight-tenths of its total 

 exportation. 



3. Because it has secured a very strong position in the markets 

 of the United States ; and both from its proximity to, and its 

 commercial relations with that country, as also from the better 

 quality of its sugar, will command the sale of at least 33,500 

 tons, or about 16 per cent, of its total production. 



4. Because in 1854, after the duties shall have been equalized, . 

 it will be enabled to undersell the British article in its own 

 market. 



5. Because, not being an exclusively sugar- growing colony, as 

 are almost all British West India Islands, it may suffer from the 

 present depressed condition of the sugar market, but cannot be 

 entirely ruined, owing to its having commanding resources, and 

 many other valuable staples, coffee, copper, cotton, &c. 



6. Because, by improving its agriculture and introducing use- 

 ful machinery, railroads, &c., for which it has large available 

 capital, it can produce sugar at a diminished cost. 



7. And lastly, because the proprietors have continuous labour at 



