THE CUB A R EV IE W 



in Cuba had been disposed of and at wiiich it is quite probable that a fairly large per- 

 centage of the crop now in the making has been contracted for, Cuba's 96° sugar is still 

 paying 1.6c. per pound on its entry into the United States, and our producers are 

 receiving a price smaller by the difference between the duty which formerly prevailed 

 and the above rate. The readers will readily realize what a difference of practically 

 0.6c. per pound means to Cuba on her entire crop. 



The Present Crop: This brings us to a consideration of that which is most 

 important, the crop that is now being made in Cuba. As we have already seen, actual 

 work was begun by "America," followed the next day by "Ermita," both in Oriente 

 Province. It is interesting to note the reasons why the crop was commenced in this 

 region. Those familiar with Cuba doubtless know that until only a few years ago her 

 sugar industry was in greatest importance in the four western provinces, Camagiiey and 

 Oriente containing only a limited number of important mills. The latter province espe- 

 cially contains a large area of rough and even mountainous country, covered then and 

 now by virgin forest, but before the sugar boom beginning shortly after the War, tre- 

 mendous areas of fine, almost level, or gently undulating lands, excellently adapted to 

 the growth of sugar cane, were also clothed with tremendous forests that have known 

 man only when the hunter or the timber hewer entered them. Communication between 

 the various localities of these provinces was still of the crudest, and the slowness with 

 which movement could be effected between places situated only a very short distance 

 apart offered security to the lawless and troublesome element. A consequent spirit of 

 unrest accompanied by a tendency to act in an independent manner was found among 

 the inhabitants of these provinces, and this character was only very slightly modified 

 by the clearing away and planting to cane of vast areas of forests on the more easily 

 tillable lands and the natural increase of means of communication resulting from the 

 demand for transportation for the cane produced on these areas. 



When Cuba's sugar industry was so severely stricken in the Fall of 1920 and 

 during the 1921 crop, when credit had practically disappeared and money was non- 

 obtainable, the rural inhabitants, not only of these two provinces, but also of all Cuba, 

 found themselves in the direst straits. The owners of our sugar mills and plantations 

 had no funds with which to continue cultivation during the non-grinding or "dead" 

 season of the Summer and early Fall, so that practically throughout the Island, but 

 especially in the two eastern provinces, vast numbers of workmen with families to 

 sustain welcomed the opportunity of giving their services in the fields in return merely 

 for the sustenance of themselves and families. Many thousands could not obtain work 

 even under these conditions, and as the dead season passed and the continuous rumors 

 of crop limitation of the 1921-1922 crop spread abroad, with the possibility that the 

 limitation would be brought about by delaying the commencement of operations of our 

 mills until February 1st, the spirit of discontent reached such a point that our mill 

 owners in Oriente concluded that unless harvesting operations began, rebellion would 

 ensue, with the resulting loss to them of not only the cane in their fields, but also of 

 all kinds of property. It was also the case that at the ending of the 1920-1921 crop 

 large areas of Spring planted cane that had not yet attained a size such as to demand 

 cutting had been carried over into the following harvest. Practically no expense was 

 necessary in the maintenance of these fields, as they were on new lands and the cane 

 had already developed to such a point that its shade prevented the growth of obnoxious 

 weeds and grasses, so that, especially Oriente Province, but also to a considerable extent 

 Camagiiey Province, found themselves with a very heavy production of cane which had 

 reached such a state that harvesting was essential if heavy loss was to be prevented. 

 It seemed also that the mill owners in these provinces were either less stricken by the 

 financial depression, or on account of conditions surrounding them had been able to 

 secure the funds required for their operations. It is also highly probable that the mill 

 owners of Oriente Province, who had been among the most strenuous objectors to any 

 plan for the limitation of the crop, had formed the opinion that perhaps the surest 

 means of preventing any Government action regarding this would be the actual com- 

 mencement of the harvest by some of our mills. 



