THE CUBA REVIEW 19 



Be this as it may, the beginning of operations by the two mills already mentioned 

 was speedily imitated by other mills situated in these two provinces, so that as of the 

 1st of January, twenty-seven factories were in operation, which had produced as per 

 figures of the Department of Agriculture, Commerce and Labor, 340,032 bags, equivalent 

 to 48,576 tons, of which, according to 'Sh. Himely's figures, 22,768 tons had been 

 received at ports. Shipments of new crops had been 10,246 tons, leaving 38.280 

 on hand in Cuba. Of the preceding crop, 881,234 tons were in stock in ports, with an 

 additional 400,674 tons yet to be accounted for from the total crop of 3,935,433 tons. 

 Of the 1919-1920 crop, 18,591 tons were still in our ports, thus making up a total of 

 sugars in Cuba available for e.xport and home consumption of about 1,300,499 tons. 

 On March 1st, 176 mills were in operation, representing about 89^^ of the total number 

 which worked the preceding crop with a producing capacity of 95.5% of that crop. 

 Receipts at ports of the product of these mills as of February 2Sth had been 718,912 

 tons, of which 2 79,673 had been shipped and consumed at home, leaving 439.239 tons 

 in ports. Meanwhile 742,163 tons of the sugars of the two preceding crops had been 

 shipped, leaving stock in ports of the sugars of these tw^o years 413,374 tons, thus 

 making total available sugar in ports in Cuba 852,613 tons. There was doubtless a 

 further considerable quantity in the warehouses of our mills and in transit from factory 

 to port, but, of course, just what this quantity is we have no means of specifying. 



A comparison between the list of active mills and the total number of mills operat- 

 ing last season and new mills, show^s that in Pinar del Rio Province as of March 1st, 

 "Clotilde," "Gerardo," "Los Palacios" and "Orozco" were still idle; in Havana Province, 

 "Alquizar," "Fajardo" and "Guira de ^lelena"; in Matanzas Province, "Armonia," "'Dulce 

 Nombre," '"Elena," "Reghta" and "Feliz'"; in Santa Clara Province. "Adela,"' 

 "Altamira," "Cabaiguan," "Carmita," "Juragua," "Lutgardita," "Naranjal,"' "Santa 

 Isabel" and "Unidad"; in Camagiiey Province, "Vertientes"; and in Oriente Pro\-ince, 

 "Cacocum," '"Monona," '"Palmarito," "Rey," '"Salvador," and "Santa Maria." We give 

 below a list of the productions of these mills last season, from which it will immediately 

 be observed that they are of somewhat minor importance, and it can also be said 

 that several of them are mills the companies owning w'hich have been organized within 

 the last two or three years, or ownership of which had changed during this period, so 

 that the present mill owners found themselves operating from a financial basis that had 

 no solid underpinning. Just how many of these mills will still operate during this 

 crop, we, of course, cannot say, but we believe that a very good percentage of them 

 will make no sugar this season. 



The old time sugar statisticians in Cuba ran up against a combination of condi- 

 tions this past Fall which left them absolutely nonplussed. The quantity of cane that 

 was available to our mills could be ascertained, but how many units would operate, 

 how long operation of each one would be possible, the finances upon which each one 

 could depend, thus allowing capacity operation or operation at very much below the 

 mill capacity, and many other conditions made it impossible at the time when our 

 estimates are usually given out to make anything more than the wildest of guesses. 

 If Mr. Himley's estimate of 3,580,571 tons is made, it will be certain that a generous 

 supply of this product will be available, sufficient not only to satisfy the demand from 

 consumers, but also to fill the spaces usually occupied by invisible supplies which had 

 been entirely emptied by the hand to mouth system of purchase carried out by the 

 entire sugar consuming world during the past year. In other words, the supplies will 

 be sufficient to cause stability in price, thus encouraging speculation and the con- 

 sequent taking of a considerable volume of sugars that will not go into immediate 

 consumption. 



Future Prospects: Those who are familiar with the Island of Cuba and its people, 

 and with the vast amount of capital that is involved in the establishment of sugar prop- 

 erties, can readily understand that once established, conditions must be very serious 

 to prevent continued operations. That the nominal owners of many of our mills are 

 in such financial condition that they undoubtedly could not continue operating, is well 

 known, but the debts incurred by them have been so great that their creditors are com- 



