THECUBAREVIEW 13 



wharves and lighters here have caused an alarming shortage of these useful coverings 

 for merchandise. The Alameda de Paula Avill onlj^ receive such commodities as would 

 not be damaged by rains, and these articles are a very small factor in the wharf 

 congestion in Havana. The principal source of worry ai'ises from the inability of the 

 consignees of sacked materials to give prompt relief to the wharves upon the unloading 

 of the vessels. Thousands upon thousands of bags of flour, corn, oats and rice are ou 

 the docks and in barges waiting to be taken into warehouses of the consignees, while 

 most other articles are given fairly prompt despatch. Great quantities of rice have 

 spoiled during the last two months on account of having gotten wet while lying in 

 barges awaiting unloading and also thousands of dollars worth of onions have rotted 

 while awaiting despatch. In addition to this space, the AVharves and property of the 

 Cuba Distilling Company have been declared "bonded" by the Customs authorities and 

 freight is being received on these premises in an endeavor to relieve the congestion. 



The Island of Cuba, it would seem, is overbought to an alarming extent. The 

 population of the Island has increased during the past ten years about 300,000, while 

 during the first six months of the year 1920 the imports into Havana have exceeded 

 the total imports of the year 1919. Prices are very high on all necessities : rice sells 

 for 18 cents per pound ; potatoes went as high as 20 cents per pound ; cooking bananas 

 (one of the absolute necessities in the Cuban diet) recently sold as high as 20 cents 

 each when formerly they sold three for 10 cents. Clothing, which has recently taken 

 a drop in the United States, is as high as ever here. Shoes remain the highest in the 

 history of the Island, horsehide shoes selling at from $20 to $21 per pair. Straw hats 

 have gone up 250 per cent, during the past twelve months. Warehouses are full of 

 merchandise, wharves are congested with freight, steamers are arriving in Havana 

 Harbor daily with cargoes, and the one single step that we believe will be effective in 

 the relief of congestion is the action of the Shipping Board in placing an embargo 

 against the Port of Havana until relief is made sure. Over 60 per cent, of the total 

 freight receipts for the entire Island of Cuba come through the Port of Havana and 

 yet the outports of Matanzas, Cardenas, Sagua la Grande, Caibarien, Antilla, Santiago 

 de Cuba and Manzanillo are beginning to feel the pressure brought upon them by the 

 diverting of freight from Havana to these ports. There is rice in Havana Harbor to 

 last the entire Island for a year and yet, owing to a controversy between the shippers 

 and purchasers of these million sacks, the rice is lying in barges and on wharves 

 moulding, with the price the highest in the history of the Republic. It has been hinted 

 that the larger importers have deliberately permitted their merchandise to remain 

 on the various wharves in order to have their warehouses appear empty of particular 

 lines of merchandise in an endeavor to maintain the present high prices. Just what 

 truth there is in this we are not in position to say. Surely, were all the wharves of 

 Havana cleared up great quantities of merchandise would be found to exist in the 

 city, and competition would be very keen in an endeavor to dispose of the merchandise 

 to the public. 



To us the congestion of the Port of Havana is the natural result of having over- 

 taxed the capacities of the many narrow streets leading from the wharves, which are 

 in the very center of the business district of the city. Many of the streets in the 

 downtown district permit of one-way travel only on account of their narrowness, and 

 trucks leaving warehouses for wharves for the purpose of extracting merchandise are 

 unable to make more than two round trips in the course of an ordinary business day. 

 This is because the traffic in the downtown business streets is so congested with auto- 

 mobile and freight-carrying vehicles. Were the wharves for the reception of freight- 

 carrj'ing vessels located at some more distant point in the Bay of Havana — where 

 congested streets would not interfere with the extraction of merchandise— we believe 

 that the solving of the present trying problem would be in sight. As an example of 

 what could be done were certain streets cleared for freight traffic only during business 

 hours, a business house in Havana allotted three automobile trucks to the extraction 



