18 



THE CUBA R E V I E W 



INFORMATION ABOUT CUBAN CON- AGAINST SPURIOUS TOBACCO IMPORTA- 



TRACTS 



American Minister John B. Jackson at 

 Havana calls attention to the fact that each 

 year during the months of May and June 

 the Cuban government issues calls for bids 

 on a large and varied assortment of gov- 

 ernment supplies. The time allowed be- 

 tween publication and the closing of the 

 bidding is so short that it is of no avail 

 for the American legation to specifically 

 notify each call to the American business 

 public. Furthermore, the language of the 

 calls is usually so indefinite that prospective 

 bidders must be personally represented in 

 Habana in order that the exact nature of 

 the supplies wanted can be ascertained. 

 American manufacturers are therefore 

 urged to remember that annually during 

 the months of May and June extensive 

 contracts are let by the Cuban government, 

 and that if they wish to compete for these 

 it is necessary that they be represented in 

 Habana during those months by agents 

 who can watch the Gaceta Oficial and cor- 

 rectly ascertain the nature of the supplies 

 contemplated in each invitation to bid. 



TRADE STATISTICS OF CUBAN CITIES 



According to U. S. Consul Max Baehr 

 at Cienfuegos, the trade of Caibarien, 

 Nuevitas and Sagua la Grande, all on the 

 north coast, for 1910 showed a very 

 satisfactory growth as compared with 

 1909. The figures follow : 



1909 1910 



Caibarien $5,452,022 $7,422,351 



Nuevitas 3,358,641 5,135,857 



Sagua 5,553,888 7,845,687 



The population of these cities by the 

 census of 1907 is as follows : 



Caibarien 10,053 



Nuevitas 10.620 



I Sagua 26,937 



r ^ 



GERMAN GOVERNMENT PROTESTS 



The German Minister on July 13th filed 

 with the Cuban State Department an ener- 

 getic protest against the failure of the 

 Government to protect the lives and prop- 

 erty of the Kaiser's subjects and other for- 

 eign investors in the island. 



The case of Karl Meyer, a wealthy 

 planter of the Trinidad district, in Santa 

 Clara Province, was cited. Meyer was re- 

 cently held up by bandits, captained the no- 

 torious Solis Alvarez, on his own sugar 

 estate. He was robbed and left for dead, 

 with ten wounds on his body. 



TION 



The secretary of the treasury has issued 

 a decree governing the reimportation of 

 Cuban tobacco and other products. 



It is aimed at the practice of shipping 

 Cuban tobacco to foreign ports and im- 

 porting other and cheaper tobacco, not Cu- 

 ban and passing it off as the original prod- 

 uct. 



The degree in substance is as follows : 

 "Paragraph 341 of the tariff exempts from 

 duty national products exported to for- 

 eign countries and reimported under vari- 

 ous and expressed conditions. As it is not 

 sufficient to declare said reimportations to 

 be Cuban products and to accompany same 

 with a certificate of foreign customs of- 

 ficials, it is hereby declared that in the fu- 

 ture for said reimportations to be classed 

 under Paragraph 341 the declaration of the 

 foreign customs officials must be certified 

 to by the Cuban consul and must provide 

 that the shipment is composed of Cuban 

 products and have remained under gov- 

 ernmental supervision, in the same cover- 

 ings and markings as when imported and 

 have not undergone any alterations, nor in- 

 crease nor decrease in value through any 

 process. This declaration must be accom- 

 panied by the oath of the importer, who 

 will incur all the usual civil and criminal 

 responsibilities if it is proven that he has 

 sworn falsely. 



TOBACCO PRODUCTION BY DISTRICTS 



The production of tobacco in Cuba dur- 

 ing the past three years was as follows : 



1908 1909 1910 



Districts Bales Bales Bales 



Vuelta Abajo... 257.628 220,458 189,728 



Semi Vuelta 24,519 28,868 21,485 



Partida 38,843 33,824 27,905 



Santa Clara 192,874 162,178 91,231 



Matanzas 445 428 732 



Camaguey 12,522 9,089 7,194 



The average price of tobacco per 100 

 pounds in Cuba in March, 1911, was : 

 First-class, $50 ; second-class, $32, and 

 third-class. $18. 



The parrot "crop" on the Isle of Pines 

 is late this year. So far none have been 

 shipped from the isle since 1910. — News, 



IRRIGATION COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED 



Active work upon the forming of plans 

 for the irrigating of the Province of Pinar 

 del Rio is to be begun at once. The com- 

 missioners and the sub-commissioners to 

 whom will be entrusted the work, have 

 already been appointed by the secretary of 

 agriculture. 



David C. Henry is the American, George 

 M. Whigan the English, and Eduardo An- 

 tonio Gilberga the Cuban expert. 



