COMMERCE. 



311 



— cannot compete with it. 1 A competition was 

 begun by Mexico, under the most favorable circum- 

 stances ; for, during my residence at Vera Cruz, 

 Mexican flour was already exported from there to 

 the value of three hundred thousand dollars ; and 

 this had increased, in 1809, to 70,000 barrels, as is 

 shown by the statement of Mr. Pitkins. The politi- 

 cal disturbances of Mexico have entirely destroyed 

 this trade in cereals, between two countries both 

 situate under the torrid zone, but at different eleva- 

 tions above the level of the sea, which exerts a 

 powerful influence upon climate and production. 



As a complement to these statements regarding 

 the foreign trade of Cuba, let us listen to the author 

 of an essay we have repeatedly cited, who sets forth 

 the true situation of the island. " Havana begins 

 already to experience the effects of an accumulation 

 of wealth, for provisions have doubled in price, 

 within a few years, and the wages of labor are so 

 increased, that a newly imported African, without 

 having learned any trade, earns by the labor of his 

 hands from 50 to 62-J- cents a day; and a negro 

 mechanic, however rough his work, earns from 62|- to 



1 The duty on flour imported from the United States is now nearly 

 eleven dollars a barrel, and is an efficient protection to that of 

 Santander. 



