THE CUR A n v: y i i: \v 



As is Uiiowii to :ill. ciily ji sliml liinc nl'wv tliis dfrrcc went into ct'l'cct tlie late 

 World War lK';iaii. No iiiinuMJiali' rliaii;;*' in Culia's siitrar iiuUistry aiul I'spocially 

 ill tlic nx'thods adopted for liit> sale of Ciilta's siijrar tooi< place, as her crops of 

 r.H4-n»in. V.tl.j-lDli; and 1'.»ir»-i;H7 were still sold larj^ely al ("iihaii points, thus 

 uivin;: ilata from which Ilie inomedios could he calculat«'d with reasoiiahle ac- 

 curacy, lii't since that lime everxliiin;; lias ciian^ietl complett'ly. The purchase by 

 the r. S. Siijrar Kt|ualization I'.oard of the entire crojt of sugar of the Island of 

 l!tl7-l!»ls and I'.Ms-l'.n'.i at tixe«l prices varying only slightly between the iwrts of 

 the north and the jtorts of the south coast, has brought about such a change that at 

 the present time by far the greatt'st percentage of the crop of the Island is not 

 sold in Cuba at .ill. but sold through organizations in the United States. The 

 pe<ullar condition was, therefore, brought about that ac<-ording to the old decrees, 

 laws and customs, the entire (piaiitiiy of cane grown in the Island was paid for at 

 prices which were dt'termined by the sales of an almost infinitesimal precentage of 

 tlie t'litire sugar production of tlie Island. According to the old law, as we liave 

 alnady indicated, and a<cordiiig to custom, the price or promedio determined by the 

 authorized Itrokeis was arrived at taking into consid«'ration only the actual sales 

 of sugars in warehouse or f. <>. b. vessel. Cuban ixirts, varied in former times by 

 "impressions" that were allowed to creep in and modify these prices, so that witli 

 sugar sales largely effected in the North and transactions covering only very small 

 quantities in warehouse or f. o. b. Cuban ports, ir can readily be realized that the 

 data up. Ill which to fix ilie proiiicdins was extremely limited. Furthermore, there 

 was no law re(|uiriiig that even the few sugar transactions entered into in T'uha 

 be brought to the attention or coiniileted with the intervention of the authorized 

 Brokers, so that it could haiiiieii. and fre(|uently did, that transactions were entered 

 into which ilid not reach the knowledge of these lirokers. 



Thus it was that at the early lieginning of the present crop, in fact, during 

 praitically the entire months of November, December and January, no iiromedios 

 had been given out by tin- lirokers authorized to this effect, because no data ful- 

 filling the legal re(|uirements ha<l been obtained by tlieni. The sugar mills had in 

 many cases entered into voluntary agreements with their sugar cane growers, by 

 which either final settlement was reached covering the canes delivered during 

 Nov«'nibt'r and December or iiartial settlement was made, final li(|nidation to take 

 place wiieii tlie legal promedios were given oiu hy the in'uper imilies. It is easily 

 understood that in an industry so huge as is that of Cul)a's sugar i>roduction, in 

 which all classes and nationalities are interested, many grievous differeixes of 

 oiiinioii c(Mild be bnaight about by this condition. A hue and cry arose from the 

 entire I-;land at times reaching such a jioiiit that in many districts the colonos 

 threatened to stop delivering canes to the mills unless some satisfactory basis was 

 reached upon which they would be jiaid. The result was that some mills, as we 

 have indicated, reache<l final and more or less satisfactory terms of settlement with 

 their c«»;onos. hut the majority were waiting for solution of the in-oblem. It was, 

 therefore, (piite natural that the Board of Directors of the recently or- 

 ganized Association of Ilacendados and Colonos. uiioii the petition of a large 

 percentage of the members of the organization and in careful cooperation 

 with the various bodies of authorized Brokers and with the Department of 

 Agriculture, Commerce and Labor, studied closely the problem presented and sub- 

 mitted their conclusions to President Menocal. petitioning him in view of the con- 

 ditions to give official sanction to the result of their deliberations. Decree No. 112, 

 doted the I'^th of January (.f this year, published in the Official (hizrttr and, there- 

 fore, becoming law on January 2sth. was the outcome of these labors. 



All those who have followed the course of the sugar market since it was 

 definitelv known that the Sugar Equalization Board of the T'nited States would not 

 purchase the Cuban sugar crop of l!)1!t-ll)L>0. have observed that Imig liefore the 



