T II E CUBA 11 E V 1 E W 



HAVANA CORRESPONDENCE 



September 24th, 1920. 



PORT CONGESTION: Tlio I'ort conyestiun during the pust month has improved but 

 little, if any, and today tliere are exactly one hundred vessels in the Bay of Havana, 

 loaded, unloaded or waiting for berth. The Public Wharves are as crowded as ever 

 with cargo and the merchants are clamoring as usu^l for their goods. The barges of 

 merchandise that have been lying alongside of the wharves in the bay are still vm- 

 touched, as far as we can see, and although President Menocal has issued orders for 

 the removal of the rice cargoes, we are unable to find the instructions have been 

 complied with and the tlu»usands and thousands of bags of this commodity are still 

 atliiat in the bay. Recently the merchants of Havana addressed a letter on the 

 subject of the Port congestion to the President of the Republic and, since the reply 

 did not reach the Merchants' Association in time, they declared themselves on the 

 24th inst., on a "vacation," which is to extend until Monday, the 27th, of this month. 

 This move on the part of the merchants is considered one of very poor judgment 

 since it will cause a three-day cessation from work which could have continued and 

 relieved the congestion. The Cuban Government has recently taken a firm hand in 

 the congestion situation and is now demanding that the merchants relieve the Gov- 

 ernment or Municipal wharves of the merehandise that is, and has been for months, 

 upon them. Demands are being made that the merchants extract their merchandise 

 and if room cannot be found for the merchandise in their own warehouses, it is urged 

 that warehouses be acquired for the reception of this merchandise. Heavy fines are 

 to be assessed against all those who do not adhere to the new rulings of tlie depart- 

 ment regarding these wharves. 



In an effort to assist the public in the extraction of their merchandise, the Custom 

 House has instituted night work on the different wharves, and goods can be extracted 

 from the wharves between the hours of 7 P. M. and 11 P. M. each night, excepting 

 Saturday and Sunday nights. The advantage of these hours is evident. After the 

 Itusiness day the downtown streets are practically deserted and the auto trucks and 

 mule-drawn vehicles of the business houses have a free use of the streets Practically 

 all of the business houses are availing themselves of this opportunity to extract goods 

 from the wharves. 



As an illustration of the congested condition of affairs on the Island, when the 

 steamship lines were forced to cease receiving cargo for the Port of Havana, the 

 merchants, instead of organizing and joining forces to relieve the situation here, 

 diverted tremendous quantities to the Cuban outports of Matanzas, Sagua, Nuevitas, 

 Antilla, etc. The result is that at this moment there is a congestion at Matanzas 

 little short of the conditiftn in Havana, and steamers are lying in the Bay of Matanzas 

 as long as 30 to 40 days awaiting discharge. The same is true of the other ports 

 further down the Island. 



Overworking the facilities of a port has never paid and that Is the condition 

 which faces the shipping industry on the Island of Cuba today. The rolling stock 

 of the railroads is not up to the handling of the tremendous importation and neither 

 can that be brought up to the requirements in a short time. The only relief that 

 we can see for the situation is the diversion of tonnage from the Port of Havana for 

 the space of thirty days to permit time to clean up the congestion here, and then, 

 when freight is again received for this port, shippers and consignees should take care 

 to have that proportion of their receipts diverted to the outports which is for the 

 cities and provinces other than Havana. But to permit 60 per cent, to 75 per cent. 

 pf the total tonnage for the entire Island to pass through the Port of Havana is a 



