Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1891-04-23
A GOOD BARGAIN.
Uncle Sam Secures the Lions
Share Of Guba's Trade.
Provisions of the Treaty by Which
Spain Relinquishes a Great Part
of the Islands Commerce.
FosrER's srccEssFuL MIssIoN.

LONDON. April 22.-l ne reciprocity
convention between Spain and the
United States as drafted by Premier
Canovas del Castillo, representing
Spain, and Gen. J. w. Foster, repre-
senting the United States, is based,
as far as the United States is
concerned, upon the reciprocity sec
ton of the new American tariff
law. In return for the privilege of free
entry into the United States of Antilles
sugar, moiasses, coffee and hides, and
a reduction of the duty on tea, Amer
lea will obtain exemption from duties,
on most of its raw and manufactured
products, and a reduction of the tariff
on cereals and -four.
The negotiations were protracted
upon the question of the entire aboli-
ton of the tariff on cereals, fiours
and oils, including petroleum and
lard. The same question in re-
gard to tobacco was also raised,
but not coming within the scope of
the third section of the American
tariff law was put aside. Premier
Canovas offered protracted resistance
to the abolition of the tariff on flour.
Barcelona and Santander traders, who
are largely interested in flour ship
ments, presented energetic protests
which fortified the minister in his
indisposition to accede to the American
proposals. Eventually representations
that American reciprocity would be inn
possible without the free admission of
American cereals induced Premier Can
ovas to assent to such reduction of
the tariff as will place American -four
upon nearly equal footing with Span
ish -four.
Santander merchants declare that,
taking into consideration the cost of
the transportation of CASTLE grain, of
which the bulk goes to the Antilles,
American -four will crush out
the Spanish product in the
Spanish West Indies. Cuba
now consumes 100000 hsrrels of
flour yearly, chiefly Spanish, which
enters free of duty, and pays for it S12
per barrel. Trade in American -four,
burdened with an extra duty of 20 per
cent. since 1889, has been completely
wiped out to the advantage of the
Spanish product.
Under the new convention the entry
of American flour practically free of
duty will lower the price to about six
dollars per barrel and will extinguish
the importation of Spanish -four while
increasing the Cuban consumption to a
million barrels yearly, all of which will
be American product If the pressure
of Spanish interests had not been coun-
teracted by the demands of the Cuban
commission of notables. who were de-
termined to obtain reciprocity with the
United States, Premier Canovas would
have declined to make such concessions.
The prospect of dangerous tension
of the relations of Spain with Cuba
and Puerto Rico, resulting probably in
civil war, obliged the government to
sacrifice home industries to colonial
interests. Under the new con
vention America win obtain a
kind of zollverein with the Span
ish Antilles. Her wheat, beans,
-four, lard. petroleum, manufactured
products and machinery will enter prac-
tically free of duty. Among other
Spanish exports olive oil viii be re
placed by American lard, and beans,
now exported to Cuba in large quanti
ties, will cease to be sent. The advan-
tages resulting to Cuba will be great,
but it is impossible to estimate the in
jury to Spanish trade.
According to the returns of the Brit
ish consul general at Havana the sugar
crop in Cuba for 1890 I'm ounted to 645,-
s94 tons, against 526, 439 tons in 1899.
OF molasses the total product was ILL.,
422 tons, as compared with 101, O59 tons
in 1889. The exports of sugar to
Europe from the 1st of January to the
81st of July, 1890, were 40, 365 tons. and
to the United States during the same
period $50, 012 tons.