THE CUBA RE V I E If 



duction of raw sugar. Cuba contributes over one-fifth of the world's sugar crop, or 

 nearly 4,000,000 tons per year, which is an enormous production for a country having 

 only about 3,000,000 inhabitants. Cuba's imports are therefore dependent on the price 

 obtained for her sugar crop, about 80 per cent of which is shipped to the United States. 



The Cuban trade is not only protitable to the American producer of the exported 

 goods, but is also a source of income to the railways of the United States (since a large 

 part is transported long distances to the sea ports or via Key West on the Ferry to 

 Havana) ; to American steamship lines which carry about three-fourths of the exports 

 to Cuba (in 1921, out of a total of $183,986,941 of domestic exports to Cuba, S140.S70,- 

 325 was carried in American owned vessels); to American bankers who furnish a con- 

 siderable part of the credits and handle nearly all the exchange to which the trade gives 

 rise; and to American insurance companies which insure the goods. Moreover, a large 

 proportion of the merchandise exported to Cuba from the United States is distributed 

 there by American citizens acting as agents and representatives of the American manu- 

 facturers and wholesalers or by subsidiary companies, and in this way a large part of 

 the middlemen's profits are obtained by the exporters themselves or other American 

 citizens. As regards the sugar which Cuba sells to the United States, since it is all raw 

 sugar, it is refined here, and not only leaves a profit to the refining companies but also 

 gives employment to thousands of laborers in the Eastern part of the United States. 

 The Cuban sugar producers are to a large extent financed by American banks. American 

 ships transport the greater part of the sugar, and American brokers and dealers in sugar 

 handle the sales of a considerable proportion of the crop. 



There has thus been created a network of commercial activities which binds the 

 United States and Cuba in peculiarly close and mutually profitable relations of trade and 

 industry, which we all no doubt wish to see enlarged and strengthened for the benefit of 

 both peoples. 



Washington, October, 1923. 



Demand for Bicycles 



Of the bicycles sold in Cuba 90 per cent 

 are of American manufacture. A few have 

 been imported from Germany, but this 

 trade is diminishing. The demand for 

 bicycles is limited to children, chiefly for 

 amusement purposes. In several of the 

 cities messenger boys in the service of tele- 

 graph companies use bicycles, but beyond 

 this there is little demand. Most of the 

 bicycles are equipped with coaster brakes. 

 Stock-gear ratio is main-sprocket 26 tooth, 

 rear-sprocket 9 tooth, or about 3 to 1. 

 Preferred colors of enamel are black, blue, 

 and red. Light colors are not popular, and 

 green bicycles are unsalable. The type of 

 frame is about equally divided between 

 single truss and re-enforced, the frame 

 height being about 20 inches, except for 

 children. Rims are plain wood type for 

 cement attachment of single-tube tires, but 

 a few bicycles are fitted with rims for inner- 

 tube clincher tires. Metal rims are not 

 liked on account of their tendency to rust. 

 Bicycles are sold in Cuba largely to in- 

 dividual buyers on order through dealers. 



These generally buy on 30 to 60 days" time. 

 Retail prices for bicycles range from S30 

 to $50 each. There is a small but steady 

 sale of repair kits; small tools, such as 

 wrenches and pliers; wire spokes; wheel 

 and hub parts; and puncture plugs. — Trade 

 Commissioner Frank E. Coombs. Habana. 



Rubber Heels 



Rubber heels are mostly importeil into 

 Cuba through Habana. Considerable ship- 

 ments are received also at the port of 

 Cienfuegos. some coming direct from the 

 United States. In Santiago there is no 

 concern that deals in rubber heels at whole- 

 sale. All of the shoe stores in Matanzas 

 sell rubber heels, but only one shoe manu- 

 facturer there uses rubber heels on his 

 shoes, although it is believed others will 

 begin to do so. In Nuevo-Gerona, Isle of 

 Pines, there is a small market for rubber 

 heels— orobably not over one gross being 

 sold monthly. The Cuban tariff on rubber 

 heels from the United States is S0.20S per 

 kilo. 



