10 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



TRADE CONDITIONS BETWEEN CANADA AND 

 CUBA 



We are indebted to Mr. J. B. Daggett, Sec- 

 retary for Agriculture of the Province of New 

 Brunswicik of Canada for a copy of his report 

 of the Canadian Government on Trade Con- 

 ditions existing l)etweon Canada and Cuba, 

 together witli liis reconnnendations regarding 

 the future handling of same. In view of the 

 length of the report it is impossible to publish 

 it in full, but we have incorporated the sahent 

 features in this article which we feel sure will 

 be of interest to our readers: 



The crop of potatoes for 1914 is estimated 

 to exceed that of 1913 by upwards of 1,000,- 

 000 bushels, giving the province in the vicinty 

 of 10,000,000 bushels for export. Due to the 

 extremely large crop in the Ignited States and 

 Ontario, and the tremendous increase in 

 freights to Europe without a corresponding 

 increase in the p]uropean market, Mr. Dag- 

 gett, as representative of the Canadian Gov- 

 ernment, was sent to investigate the possi- 

 bilities of Cuba as an outlet as well as general 

 conditions, particularly with regard to the 

 reports from many of the shippers that results 

 there had not been satisfactory, resulting in a 

 heavy loss to themselves. As a matter of 

 statistical information, it was found that in 

 1913 potatoes to the amount of $1,881,197 

 were imported in Cuba, Canada having sent 

 $660,273 or over half the amount imported. 

 A large part of the balance was imported from 

 Europe. The European importation, how- 

 ever, is eliminated from the competing condi- 

 tions of this year. 



Mr. Daggett's investigation of the shippers' 

 complaints of ill-treatment previously men- 

 tioned will no doubt be of lasting benefit to 

 this trade, as his investigation showed that, 

 while in a few cases the shippers had some 

 justification for their feelings, in the majority 

 of cases, the unprofitable returns were the 

 result of shippers carelessness in the putting 

 up of their stock or in their failure to observe 

 trade conditions in Cuba, in one case the 

 shippers forwarding a large consignment on 

 an already weakened market, necessitating a 

 lengthy storage with consequent deterioration 

 and expense with a further depression of the 

 market. He also reported that the Cuban 

 market, instead of being willing to accept 

 anything the shippers chose to forward, 

 looked for quality for which they are willing 

 to pay the price, aiid cheap goods find a poor 

 sale, if any. To quote Mr. Daggett's own 

 words, "If our shippers intend to enter this 

 market and to hold it, they must give atten- 

 tion first to conditions under which business 

 is done there, and then to the quality of the 

 goods which they send to the Island." 



Mr. Daggett made temporary arrangements 

 for able representation when the trade should 

 revive, as well as going over the matter of 

 transportation and conditions surrounding 

 same thoroughly with one of the experienced 

 steamship companies who have in years past 

 handled a large bulk of this trade, receiving 

 every assurance of assistance from them as 



soon as conditions in this trade should im- 

 prove. 



Mr. Daggett also thoroughly recommends 

 the interest of Canadian exporters in many 

 other commodities besides potatoes, the most 

 important of which are incorporated in the 

 following list: 



Lumber, cod fish, butter, cheese, oats, 

 dried fish, tinned sardines, hay, wood pulp 

 and apples, particular stress being laid on the 

 possibilities of the butter and cheese traffic. 



The personal investigation of this subject 

 by Mr. Daggett can only show the best of 

 results, as thorough familiarity with the local 

 conditions of a desired trade is one of the 

 1 ongest steps toward its attainment. 



CUBAN MINISTER WEDS 



Dr. de Cespedes Marries Mrs. Laura Alesandri at 



New York 



Mayor Mitchel officiated, February 25th, 

 at the wedding of Dr. Carlos Manuel de 

 Cespedes y Quesada, Envoy Extraordinary 

 and Minister Plenipotentiary of Cuba to 

 the United States, to Laura Bertini Alesandri 

 of Rome, Italy. The Mayor consented to 

 officiate because of the official rank of the 

 bridegroom, and performed the ceremony 

 in his office. 



The witnesses were Commandant Pablo 

 Yglesias, Count G. Melony, and the Cuban 

 Consul General in New York. 



Dr. de Cespedes is the son of Cuba's first 

 war President. He was educated in the 

 United States, France, and Germany, and 

 received the degree of doctor of civil and 

 international law from the University of 

 Havana. During the last Cuban rebellion 

 he was Governor of the Province of Santiago 

 de Cuba and Colonel in the army. Subse- 

 quent to the establishment of the republic 

 he became Vice-President of the House of 

 Representatives in Havana; then Minister 

 to Italy, Special Envoy to Greece, and 

 Minister to the Argentine Republic. 



Dr. de Cespedes has lately been appointed 

 Secretary of the Neutrality Commission 

 of the American Republics in the Pan- 

 American Union. He presented his credentials 

 to President Wilson in July last. 



LECTURE ON CUBA 



Dr. Charles Upson Clark, of Yale Univer- 

 sity, announces a new lecture, entitled "A 

 Tour Through Cuba," with colored slides 

 from his own negatives. The lecture de- 

 scribes Havana, with its wonderful harbor, 

 handsome avenues and buildings, and remark- 

 able clubs; Pinar del Rio and the tobacco in- 

 dustry; life on a sugar estate near Cienfuegos; 

 a trip on the south coast boat past the lofty 

 Sierra Maestra; Santiago and its battlefield; 

 an iron mine above Siboney; and the interior 

 of the island, with its cattle, lumber and fruit 

 industries. The lecture discusses also our 

 relations with Cuba, the prospects for Ameri- 

 can colonists, etc. 



