T H E C U B A R E V I E W 17 



labor and the smaller number of laborers required in obtaining the wood here- 

 tofore used t>y many of our mills, espeeitilly in the days immediately preceding 

 harvesting to capacity when the quantity of bagasse begins to be sufficient to fill 

 the fuel requirements of the mills, now that the number of laborers obtainable for 

 all the various operations of the harvest is limited, are also factors which favor the 

 use of oil. Furthermore, at the present time with coal from $20.00 to $25.00 per ton 

 and oil at $2.50 to $3.00 per barrel f. o. b. coast points, the very great economical 

 saving brought about by the use of oil as fuel is evident. Four barrels of oil at, say, 

 $3.00 per barrel cost only $12.00, and this quantity is equivalent to one ton of coal 

 costing from $20.00 to $25.00. 



THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN TRADE IN CUBA 



There are those who profess to believe that a large amount of Cuba's trade which 

 came to the United States during the war will go elsewhere now that European and 

 other competing commerce is no longer hampered in its movements. 



FACTORS FAVORING PERMANENCE OF TRADE 



It would seem that this fear is unfomided, especially so far as it relates to a very 

 large range of important staples that have entei-ed into our trade with the island. The 

 geographical nearness of the two Republics, the cordial relations existing between them, 

 their close connection through ship lines, including the car ferry between Habana and 

 Key West, the rapidly increasing travel which brings thousands of Cuban and Spanish 

 business men and their families from Cuba to the United States with a corresponding 

 travel from the United States to Cuba continuing practically the entire year — these and 

 other influences will tend to stabilize and render permanent a large and increasing- 

 demand for American products in Cuba, whatever inroads may be made here or there 

 by the trade of other countries. The fact that Cuba's demands are for practically the- 

 same kinds of merchandise as those required in the United States is an additional rea- 

 son why much of the trade of the island will continue to go to its nearest neighbor p. 

 the American factory will not be called upon to furnish special lines for the Cubart 

 market. 



COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS RETURNING 



There are, however, important matters connected Avith this trade which cannot be 

 overlooked if we are to hold our share xmder competition that soon will be keen beyond! 

 precedent. The fact that trade in nearly all its branches during the war came to the 

 United States practically without effort should not lead us to forget that the old, time 

 worn maxims of trade will be in force again with increased significance. It can be taken 

 foj granted that the country of origin and the nationality of the seller will not in 

 themselves long control as against quality and price and certain other considerations 

 which enter into commerce. It was not the country of origin that popularized certain 

 lines of carpets, rugs, tableware, linens, silks, wines, etc., before the war, but the 

 merchandise itself. The fact, for instance, that Germany's exports of hosiery in 1913 

 amounted in value to more than $37,000,000 as against less than one-tenth this amount 

 from Great Britain, may be assumed to have had nothing to do with the relative popu- 

 larity of the two peoples themselves. It was hosiery that was being marketed and not 

 racial or national characteristics. A British commentator on the branch of merchandise 

 referred to names quality and price alone as the two decisive factors. 



THE QUALITY TEST IN THE TEXTILE TRADE 

 Under the exigencies of war it was well understood that unsatisfactory dyestuffs 

 and other inferior materials were to be accepted without complaint, but with the re- 

 sumption of normal conditions of trade higher standards will be insisted upon. The 



