THE CUBA REVIEW 



21 



CUBAN RAILWAY ENTERPRISES 



ANALYSIS OF TRAFFIC RETURNS BY THE LONDON TIMES — 

 THE UNITED RAILWAY'S POSITION IMPRO\'ED 



W'itli the end of the financial year ap- 

 proaching, the moment is opportune for a 

 consideration of the position of Cuban 

 railway enterprises, says the London 

 Times: The traffic returns are now avail- 

 able for 35 weeks, and the fact that the 

 financial year of all the railways operat- 

 ing" in Cuba terminates on June 30th, 

 makes the task of comparison a simple 

 one. The United RailwaA'S stands in an 

 exceptional position in recording a de- 

 crease of £2,851 in the receipts for the 

 period referred to^the much smaller un- 

 dertaking, the Cuban Central, with a 

 mileage of 241, compared with the 660 

 miles operated bi' the United, having 

 recorded an increase of £S,967, and the 

 A\'estern Railway showing an improvement 

 in gross receipts of £-±.529. A striking up- 

 ward movement in traffic receipts stands to 

 the credit of the Cuba Railroad, in which 

 various interests are consolidated, the ag- 

 gregate increase recorded for the six 

 months to the end of December being 

 $242,669. As the heav}' traffic in sugar is 

 now coming forward there mav be a little 

 shifting of the relative position before the 

 end of the financial year, but in any case 

 the position is not likely to be materially 

 aii'ected. 



The staple freight traffics of the Cuban 

 railwaj-s are, of course, sugar and to- 

 bacco, and it is known that there will be 

 a decrease in the former, the crop, which 

 reached a record of 1,800,000 tons for last 

 season, being estimated for the current 

 season at about 1,600,000 tons. As to to- 

 bacco, there were apprehensions not long 

 since that the cyclones in October last had 

 ruined the crop, but successful replanting 

 lias to a great extent retrieved the position, 

 and although it is certain that the tobacco 

 traffic will show a decrease the deficiencv 



will not be a serious one. The crop last 

 year was one of about 25,000 tons, of 

 which about 60 per cent was produced in 

 the famous \'uelta Abajo district. 



It is difficult to make an accurate fore- 

 cast of the season's tobacco crop, the col- 

 lection of which commences next month, 

 but the decline as compared with the pre- 

 vious year has been estimated at about 10 

 per cent. The companies which are spe- 

 cialh" affected by the falling oft' in the 

 sugar crop are, of course, the Cuban Cen- 

 tral and the United, the latter system be- 

 ing the principal carrier, and handling 

 about 38 per cent of the total crop. The 

 Cuban Central has also a fairly good 

 traffic in tobacco from the Remedios dis- 

 trict. The Western Railway of Havana 

 relies mainly upon the tobacco crop for its 

 heav' freights, and a feature of the finan- 

 cial year of the tobacco-carrying roads 

 in Cuba is that it includes two crop 

 periods. 



The dividend records of the Cuban 

 railways are somewhat variable, with the 

 exception of the Western Company, which 

 has paid 7 per cent on its ordinary- shares 

 for a number of years. The Cuban Cen- 

 tral, after paying the dividend on its 

 ordinary- shares for the years 1907-S and 

 190S-9, paid 2 per cent last time. The 

 Cuba Railroad has been making distribu- 

 tions recenth' of 2 per cent on its pre- 

 ferred stock, but the common stock has 

 not yet received a dividend. The United 

 Railways has not been improving its po- 

 sition latterly, and the rate paid on the 

 ordinary stock has risen from 2 to 4 per 

 cent. Xo mention has been made of the 

 Havana Central, the new electric line, but 

 this undertaking works in conjunction 

 with the United, and its stocks are not 

 held here. 



CUBA S SHOE IMPORTATIONS 



Cuba is the leading importer of United 

 States boots and shoes, according to the of- 

 ficial figures of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Commerce and Labor. The ex- 

 ports to Cuba for December were as fol- 

 lows : 



1910. 1909 



$236,095 $205,529 



For the calendar years 1909 and 1910 the 

 figures are : 



1910 1909 



$3,138,109 $2,907,473 



CUBAN BONDS REFUNDED 



Outstanding Cuban bonds of the issue of 

 1906, bearing interest at 6 per cent, are to 

 be refunded from the third issue of 

 $5,500,000 of the national loan of $16,500,000 

 authorized by the late provisional govern- 

 ment. 



These bonds, of a face value of $1,000. 

 and -aggregating $732,000, are to be pre- 

 sented to Speyer & Company of Xew York 

 on August 1, 1911. 



Interest will cease after the first dav of 

 October, IbOll. 



