20 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



CUBAN COMMERCIAL MATTERS 



CUBA'S RICE CONSUMPTION ing Cuba's European trade to the United 



rr,, . -rr -u u „^ ■^., vv,„++,,.. States. That is the short-time credit. 



The war m Europe wil be a serious matte ^^^^^ merchants are accustomed to buying 



for the poor people of Cuba, for rice is then ^.^.^^^^ ^ ^^ ^. ^ , ^ ^ 



prmcipal food. C.e"nany will not be able ^j^^ American exporter either demands cash 



to supply Cuba with nee ^^hlle Great But- ^^. ^^jj^ ^^^ ;^^^^.^ ^^.^^^.^ ^^ overcome 



am's commerce is likely to be_ crippled o ^,^.^ difficulty Collector of Customs Despaigne 



such an extent that high freight rates will ^^.jj ^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^ Governmint 



greatly increase Its price. Indian rice reaches • „ T';„,j „f mnnntep to the American 



Cuba in German and Enghsh ships, which ^/Y^ a ^mcj ol guarantee to the American 



^^uuc^ jii vjci <* . b +„' „ „,;+K shippers SO that II they do extend long Credits 



places Its supply m the same category v^^Ui ^j^J i ^^jj ^^ ^^^^^^.^^j -Jj^^^ ^j^^.^ ^^^^^^ 



Enghsh and German sonrces of supply ^^f/_ It is understood that Col. Despaigne 



Belgium has her hands ivul and bpain will , .,, , . , , .,, r .1 i 



Ajcigiuiii 110,0 I . . i will get in touch with some of the larger 



have market for all she can raise in Europe. ^hj,,.,^,., ;„ +u„ Tinited States and sound 



The United States will not^have rice enough "^^'^^^^^l the subiec 

 for its own needs, and Cuba is therefore • j • 



facing a serious rice situation. 



The island can grow upland rice very CATTLE HIDES FROM CUBA 



easily and there are said to be large areas 



suitable for rice culture in Cuba, but it has Imports of cattle liides into the United 



not been resorted to before. States from Cuba for the last five years com- 



The population of Cuba is around a million ptii'e as follows: 

 and a half and the rice consumed in 1912 Pounds 



aggregated 258,680,562 pounds, the import 1909 7,548,000 



vlhae of which was $7,215,236. 1910 6,095,000 



Germany fm-nished 115,460,692 pounds; 1911 fln?ffi 



Great Britain, 77,166,051 pounds ; United |912 o'qVo'SSS 



States, 5,607,046 pounds; Belgium, 5,224,071 191-^ 2,840,000 



pounds; Spain, 2,418,305 pounds, and 51,- The imports of hides into the United States 



804,397 pounds were imported dnect from are reported in pounds and not in numbers for 



India, where it was milled in the rice mills the reason that the hides are both dry and wet 



of Rangoon, for the most part. or salted with no separation in the report. 



It thus appears that Cuba, with a popula- — - — . 



tion of less than two millions, consumes about CATTLE IN CUBA 



half as much as continental United States 



consumes with a population more than fifty The number of cattle in Cuba for several 

 times as great. periods is given by the United States Bureau 

 of Foreign and Domestic Commerce in a re- 

 cent report as follows: 

 WILL BUY MORE AMERICAN GOODS ^gg^ 2 455 788 



The war in Europe may result in Cuba 1895 2,485,766 



in the future importing nearly everything 1S99 376,650 



she needs from the United States. A move- 1900 2,506,870 



ment to bring this about has ah'eady been 1910 3,212,087 



started by Col. Manuel Despaigne, the 1912 2,829,553 



Collector of Customs of Havana. He is 

 working on a plan which the Government 

 wiU shortly consider. 



The duties on imports from Europe yearly 

 amount to about $10,000,000, and the war 

 has ah'eady caused a material decrease in 

 these importations, so that if something is 

 not done soon there will be a large deficit 

 as there is a very narrow margin left between 

 Cuba's estimated income and her annual 

 budget. If the Cuban merchant can be 

 induced to make his importations from the 

 United States the problem will be solved to 

 a great extent, although not entii-ely so, be- 

 cause the 20% reduction gi-anted to products 

 of the United States will reduce the revenues 

 one-fifth, as compared with importations 

 from other countries. 



There is one great difficulty about divert- 



SPAIN WANTS MORE BUSINESS 



In the Yearbook for 1913 of the Chamber 

 of Industiy of the Province of Madrid appears 

 a memorial addressed to the ministers of state, 

 treasury and public works of Spain calling at- 

 tention to the decrease of Spanish trade with 

 Cuba, Figures are quoted showing that 

 whereas in 1904 Spain imported from Cuba 

 articles to the value of $868,500 and exported 

 to that island $15,547,100 worth, in 1911 the 

 totals were $347,100 and $10,180,600, respec- 

 tively 



The decrease in Spanish exjjorts to Cuba 

 was principally in cotton goods, $816,970; 

 soap, $51,000; wax sheets, $69,500; packing 

 paper, .$45,700; boots and shoes, $1,046,000 

 cheap wines, $835,200; olive oil, $340,800: 



