i6 



THE CUBA REVIEW And Bulletin 



Commercial 



Janu's L. Rudgers. the new 

 U. S. Consul- consul-general ti) Havana, 

 General having assumed his oflice 

 Rod gets First ]\\\y i. 1907, sends up his 

 Report from first report in August, which 

 Cuba. is a review of Cuba's com- 



merce and industries during 

 1906. He says: "The trade of Cuba 

 prior to the last American intervention 

 had never been better, but the prospect 

 of another revolution was a serious 

 deterrent to trade. The rapidity, how- 

 ever, of the change in government rather 

 checked evil results, and though the vol- 

 ume of trade was smaller the gain was 

 large in those things which produce fu- 

 ture benefits." 



The exportations were: 

 Manufactur- Sugar. 60 per cent.; tobacco 

 iug Dci'cl- and manufactures thereof, 

 oping. 26 per cent., and agricul- 

 ture. 8 per cent. Manufac- 

 turing for export and local consumption, 

 while of small moment in the past, is 

 beginning to develop and with good 

 promise of success. There are many 

 signs of future activity. He says: "Al- 

 though the year 1906 does not show it 

 in volume, the eflfect of American inter- 

 vention and the program of internal 

 improvement inaugurated thereunder will 

 be plainly visible in the 1907 statistics 

 and in those "f the fiscal year 1906-7.'' 



The present reciprocity 

 Exports from treaty with Cuba expires 

 other conn- December, 1908, and it was 

 tries keep pace hc\\c\'QA that a new treaty 

 li-'ith those would be sent to Congress 

 from the some time this winter, but 

 United States. th'\s plan was abandoned 

 when the revolt came 

 against the Palma administration. While 

 the exports to Cuba continued to in- 

 crease so likewise did the exports from 

 other countries, and it was charged that 

 the money received by Cuba from the 

 United States for her sugars, tobacco, 

 etc.. was being expended in other lands. 

 The new treaty, therefore, it was under- 

 stood, included heavier cuts in the Cuban 

 tariff on American products, although 

 the concessions the United States receive 

 have been regarded jealously by other 

 governments and they have sought thus 

 far in vain to secure like advantages. 

 Statistics can be misleading, as witness a 

 statement issued by the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Commerce and Labor, which 

 shows an increase in trade with Cuba 

 under present tariff arrangements. While 

 Cuban exoorts to the United States have 

 increased durine the four -"^ears about 50 

 per cent., the shioments from the United 



States to Cuba have gained IJ3 per cent., 

 says tl:e report. 



This moves the Iron .\ge 

 Untied States of New York to say: "Ex- 

 imports from pressed in percentages this 

 Cuba far in is, of course, an excellent 

 excess of its showing from the Ameri- 

 exports to thecan standpoint, but a state- 

 Island. ment of actual values is not 

 so flattering to the manu- 

 facturers and exporters of the United 

 States. The total value of American ex- 

 ports to Cuba in 1903 was $20,140,132, 

 but as a treaty involving tariff reduc- 

 tions was then in immediate i)rospect the 

 export movement was at an abnormally 

 low ebb. In 1907 the shipments to Cuba 

 were valued at $48,330,913, or a gain in 

 four j'ears of about $28,000,000. The ex- 

 ports from Cuba to the United States in 

 1903 were valued at $62,942,790, while in 

 1907 they rose to $97,441,690, a gain of 

 nearly $^5,000,000. It thus appears that 

 the actual gain in values has been 20 per 

 cent, greater in our imports from Cuba 

 than in our exports to the island, and 

 that at present we nurchase nearly twice 

 as much in Cuba as the Cubans buy in 

 the United States." 



Cuba's imports from the 

 Large United States show large 

 increase in eains in flour, lard, lumber. 

 exports in boots and shoes and coal. 

 metal lines. In the metal schedule, loco- 

 motives have 'risen from 

 $67,970 in 1903 to $765,770 in the fiscal 

 year ending June 30, 1907. Imports of 

 builder's hardware has nearly doubled, 

 scientific instruments, sewing machines 

 and agricultural implements also show- 

 gratifying increase, but, continues the 

 Iron age, inasmuch as nearly all our 

 important foreign c<jmoetitors have made 

 corresponding gains, it is apparent that 

 the existing treatj- has merelj' increased 

 Cuba's purchasing power and that only 

 about one-half the monej- we send to the 

 island is expended bv the Cubans in our 

 markets. 



Within the last nine years, 

 Capital saj's World's Work. Ameri- 

 Flo7K'ing into can and British capital to 

 Cuba. the extent of more than 



$300,oco,oco has flowed into 

 Cuba, although checked sharply by the 

 late insurrection. That it will resume 

 within, the next vear or so is the confi- 

 dent hope of capitalists. If it continues 

 uninterrupted for the space of a few- 

 years, the future of »^uba is assured, and 

 it will become a highly important com- 

 mercial factor in the world. 



