THE CUBA REVIEW 



19 



doing this also, where the changes de- 

 manded are not too expensive. Americans 

 enjoy a. 30 per cent, preference on manu- 

 factures of cotton and Cuban importers 

 say if this were raised to 50 per cent, the 

 Americans could dominate the market on 

 all lines except lace, embroideries and other 

 specialties. With a larger market they 

 could afford to make the changes in print- 

 ing, marking and packing the Cuban im- 

 porter wants, and these changes would not 

 only benefit them largely in the Cuban mar- 

 ket but put them in a position to compete 

 on equal terms with protected markets 

 elsewhere. Copies of the Cuban tariff on 

 cotton goods can be had upon application 

 to the Bureau of Manuiacturers at Wash- 

 ington. 



Terms of Payment. 



Foreigners give longer credits than 

 Americans. Many of the importing houses 

 are wealthy and carry large stocks. Ha- 

 vana, it is claimed, is one of the strongest 

 markets of the world, there having been 

 scarcely a single failure in the last 10 or 

 IS years. 



The English give long credit at 6 and at 

 5 per cent. As a rule the English give here 

 three to four months with interest from 

 date of invoice, or allow 2^/2 per cent, dis- 

 count. If a customer does not pay in four 

 months, and his credit is good, they do not 

 object to letting the account run up to six 

 months. With some houses they carry 

 open accounts, allowing each a credit to a 

 fixed amount, and the customer pays as 

 convenient. The Germans also give long 

 time, their usual custom being four months 

 or 4 per cent, discount. The Spanish 

 nominally sell for cash, so as to be in posi- 

 tion to demand an accounting at any time, 

 but in doing this they do not ask for pay- 

 ment under four months, during which 

 period they charge no interest, so that their 

 system is even more lenient than the oth- 

 ers. After four months they charge 6 per 

 cent, interest up to six months, and some- 

 times carry accounts even longer. 



Three to four months is therefore the 

 usual credit given by foreign exporters, and 

 six months not uncommon. It would seem 

 that if the importers are strong they would 

 not need such long credit; but as it takes 

 a good while to get the goods from abroad 

 they have to carry large stocks, and in sell- 

 ing throughout the island they have to carry 

 long credits, often without interest, so that 

 much capital is thus tied up, and they de- 

 mand similar time for themselves. 



The usual terms demanded by the Amer- 

 ican exporter are 2 per cent, for cash in 

 ten days after receipt of goods, which means 

 thirty days in New York. A few give 

 2-10-60, but it is very rare than an Amer- 

 ican house gives over sixty days. An in- 

 creased business could be done on ninety 



days' time, and where the standing of the 

 importer warrants it there would seem to 

 be little danger in giving ninety, and, in 

 occasional instances, 120 days. Cuba is near 

 to the United States, and the standing of 

 its merchants is easily obtained through 

 banks or commercial agencies. The mer- 

 chants complain of the lack of flexibility of 

 the American terms, and that if they do not 

 meet accounts promptly, even in cases 

 where the goods have failed to arrive, they 

 are immediately drafted on, whereas the 

 English grant them more consideration in 

 such respects. Some also complain of the 

 American system of not acknowledging re- 

 mittances, but simply crediting them on ac- 

 count, whereas foreigners always send re- 

 ceipts. In this, however, they will grad- 

 ually get accustomed to the American sys- 

 tem of a check being equivalent to a re- 

 ceipt. 



Practically all the cloth importing houses 

 are Spanish, and naturally these favor 

 Spanish goods, or goods from foreign ex- 

 porters with whom they are on terms of 

 personal friendship. American goods have 

 only won their way into the Cuban market 

 on their merit by creating a demand for 

 them. 



Foreign drummers invariably speak the 

 Spanish language, while many American 

 drummers do not. As the importers are 

 mainly Spanish and Spanish is the lan- 

 guage of the island; both correspondence 

 and invoices should be in that language. 



The Cuban customs are strict and much 

 given to red tape, so that invoices should 

 be made out so completely and clearly that 

 there is no chance of their giving trouble 

 to the importer. Invoices should specify 

 the number of cases and marks in detail, 

 with gross and net weight, the brands, the 

 width and construction of goods (this lat- 

 ter in threads per square of six millimeters, 

 not per quarter inch or inch), the weight 

 of goods per 100 square meters in kilos, 

 and price in such way that there can be no 

 question as to' their classification. Bills of 

 lading should precede shipment so that 

 there will be no delay in passing the cus- 

 toms. 



Higher Duties Wanted on Tasajo. 



A demand has been made on Congress to 

 raise the tariff on "tasajo" (jerked beef). 

 This is one of the principal articles of diet 

 of the poorer classes, says La Lucha of 

 Havana. A pound of tasajo' will go further 

 to fill hungry mouths than five pounds of 

 fresh meat. 



The bill is in committee. Importations 

 come mainly from Argentine and Uruguay. 

 The last available figures are for the fiscal 

 year 1907-08 and are as follows : 



1906-07. 1907-08. 



41,534,000 lbs. 37,796,000 lbs. 



