16 



THE CUBA liEVlEW 



many were valued at $11,000,000. Of $5,- 

 500,000 sugar mill machinery, Germany and 

 Belgium supplied $1,800,000. Of the' meat 

 products imported, valued at $12,000,000, a 

 large quantity of salted pork and $6, 000, 000 

 in lard came from the United States, and 

 tasajo, or jerked beef from Argentine and 

 Uruguay. Cod-fish was supplied by Canada, 

 United Kingdom and Norway. The 

 bulk of canned fish came from Spain. The 

 United Kingdom sujjplied $1,100,000 of milk 

 as against $800,000 fin-nished b.v the United 

 States. Denmark furnished $200,000 in 

 canned butter, and $300,000 in cheese was 

 supplied almost entirely by Holland. The 

 value of cereals imported was $16,000,000. 

 Of $7,700,000 in rice, $3,200,000 was supplied 

 by Ciermany, $3,800,000 by the United King- 

 dom and British India. Vegetable and gar- 

 den produce imported was worth $5,500,000. 

 Of $1,500,000 in onions, Spain and the Canary 

 Islands furnished more than half. Of $1,000,- 

 000 in sweet peas, slightly over one-half was 

 supplied by the United States and the remain- 

 der by Mexico. Mexico, Germany and 

 France furnished more than one-half of the 

 beans, valued at $1,500,000. Potatoes came 

 largely from the United States and Canada. 

 Spain supplied nearly the entire consumption 

 of canned vegetables, the $1,000,000 worth of 

 this article and olive oil being double that 

 which Cuba exported to that country. The 

 coffee consumption in Cuba was $3,800,000, 

 of which nearly all came from Porto Rico and 

 the rest from the United States. There were 

 $1,200,000 of United States eggs, which re- 

 tailed seldom below 48 cents per dozen, and 

 double that amount could have been used to 

 advantage. 



Those commodities showing the greatest 

 proportion of increase in the last ten years 

 were machinery, cereals and textures, the 

 annual increase from year to year being over 

 10 per cent. 



Although imports have generally decreased 

 since the beginning of the war, the decline 

 has been confined to European commodities, 

 of which there was a supply on hand, and 

 most of which the United States can supply, 

 an increase in American imports having even 

 now become noticeable. 



The general outlook is considered more 

 favorable that it has been for years, and the 

 next six months should not only relieve local 

 depression, but materially advance the alreadj' 

 close and profitable relations between Cuba 

 and her commercial neighbor, the United 

 States of America. 



FAVOR TEACHING SPANISH IN THE PUBLIC 

 SCHOOLS 



In a report submitted at a meeting of the 

 Chamber of Commerce in New York by the 

 committee on education it was recommended 

 that Spanish be taught in the public schools. 

 A plan is also outlined for the instruction. 



The committee calls attention to the neces- 

 sity of the subject being taught students in 

 order to properly fit them for trade with 



Latin-American countries, which is rapidly 

 extending and wliich oi)ens great opj^ortuni- 

 ties for manufacturers and merchants in the 

 United States. 



It was resolved by the Chamber "that the 

 attention of business men dealing with South 

 American and Central American countries by 

 the schools in the study of the Spanish lan- 

 guage and that they be urged to encourage 

 students to acquire a knowledge of this lan- 

 guage by co-0])erating with the schools by 

 giving preference in employment to such 

 students." 



CONSULAR RECOMMENDATIONS ON SOUTH 

 AMERICAN TRADE 



That the United States has in the last few 

 years been making steady advances in the 

 markets of the various South American coun- 

 tries is plainly brought out in a publication 

 just issued by the Bureau of Foreign and 

 Domestic Commerce, of the Department of 

 Commerce, entitled "Consular Recommen- 

 dations on South American Trade." This 

 trade extension has been in general the result 

 of a gradually awakening interest in the 

 southern continent on the part of American 

 manufacturers, an interest due partly to the 

 opening of the Panama Canal and partly to 

 the general increased attention to foreign 

 trade. The European war has of course still 

 further stimulated this awakening interest, 

 and has made more valuable than ever the 

 various recommendations made by consular 

 officers who have been studying the markets 

 for years. 



Consular recommendations are well sum- 

 marized in a report from Rosario, Argentina, 

 which states that the principal factors in ex- 

 tending American trade may be included 

 under five heads: Investment of American 

 capital, steamhip facilities, credits, direct 

 personal effort, and willingness on the part of 

 American manufacturers to comply with local 

 requirements. The first two of these points 

 have been thoroughly discussed in the press 

 and in official publications, and steps have 

 been and are l^eing taken to provide the miss- 

 ing facilities. The matter of credits is con- 

 stantly emphasized, and an illustration is 

 given of how the usual American practice of 

 insisting on cash with order or cash against 

 shipping documents works a hardship to 

 South American importers. 



That Latin Americans insist on having just 

 the kind of article that suits their taste is illus- 

 trated by an incident in Guatemala. An old 

 gentleman in the interior, a large ranch owner, 

 had always been used to a certain kind of 

 necktie, and asked a local house to buy a num- 

 ber of them for him. The house ordered 

 several from an American concern, but the 

 later wrote back that that kind of necktie 

 had been out of date for 20 years, and sent 

 several of the latest design. These were re- 

 fused, however, the old kind was obtained 

 from Europe, and the American house lost 

 what might have been an opening wedge to 

 a good trade. 



