Evening star., 1899-01-31
Many Inquiries as to How Capital
May Be Invested.
MORE IMPORTANT THAN POLITICS
Section of Cuba That VIII More
Rapidly Recuperate.
FORMING NEW ALLIANCES
tCopyrisht. 1892 iy Charles NJ. Prprer)
from Stafr Correspondent.


than politics in cuba y good many people
are now coming from the United States To-
find out for themselves what opportunities
exist. Others are seeking informa ton liz
a different manner. but they all want to
know what the prospects are for the future.
So long as the insurgent troops are not
| paid and disbande nobody can tell just
what the immediate future Will be. Never
theless. the majority Of persons making
inquiry seem satisfied to accept the state
ment that this matter Will be arranged,
and they are not letting the uncertainty
interfere with their plans.
Requests for information are along two
lines One relates to the chances fpr Ordi-
nary business. The other has reference to
the development Of new enterprises. aud
the best ways in wi.icI capital may be in
vested. l do not think Havana, or any
town in Cuba. is gong 70 have Il no
within the next twelve months. Trade Viii
not be stagndnt. Vet the dull season IS
likely 10 continue through another year.
This does net mean thaj there are no "pvl-
IngS Tor business. or that there i no chance
for American merchants and mauufactUr-
ers TO ship their goods to Cuba. bat the
ability OF the population 20 buy Is limited,
and the market is governed by THAI c:r-
cuHstance- In Havana. if anything, il is
Ovecs,ocked for the next two months.
Warehouses Filled with Goods.
The warehouses are filled with goods
which were imported under the old Spanish
system Of fraudulent invoices. These goods
are now coming out. Large shipments were
made during the early part of this month
to take advantage of the lower tariff put
in force by the United States. The result
has been that Havana merchants now have
all the supplies they need. 1t is quite like
/ ly that tho customs receipts for February
Will fan considerably below those for Jan
uary- This vii not be Indication of poor
/ business, but viii simply be a means of
balancing the imports. The statistics which
viii BE- made at the end Of the month
| should not nlislead- During January, 1SE',
this city has not increased enormously the
amount of coffee and Hour which ii con-
sumes The custom house statistics Will
show an apparent increase Of great vol
ume.
The amount of corn and bran and guano
viii also show Il tremendous falling OF.
| All this is due 70 the fact that c0ff.r. and
-four now imported and pay duties "a
such whereas formerly they were imported
as bran and Other articles on which the
duties were low. Al the end of three ,
months 1t Will be possible 20 form correct
idea of the actual consumption of the sta
pies.
Going Into Retail Trade.
Some enterprising Americans have the no
tion that retail trade can precede whole
sale trade They are proving their faith by
opening stores. The manager of one Of
them told he did not expect TO maxi.
any money for the first year. It is possible
that if he can hold on that long his second
year will show profit. l noticed. however.
that his stock was arranged chiefly for the
benefit of American customers That is
something which they appreciate. II does
not change an unalterab!e condition of bust
ness. This is that people will buy the
goods they want and not what may be sal
able in other countries. 1t Will be a long
time DefOr there viii be enough Americans
in Cuba 20 make their trade more profitable
than that of the Cubans and Spdnards
who live in the country. There has been q
craze for cheap American novelties. IL has
no effect on the balk OF business that is
transacted. The Cubans and the Spanards
eat certain things and wear certain things.
Those are what they want tn buy.
This is a detail which some over-confdent
persons Will learn by experience. 1t does
not alter fact of Importance. This is that
business methods in Cuba are going 20
change and ultimately be nodded by thc
methods which obtain in the United States |
Some of the conservatism will be retained |
D do not believe any Spanish merchant can
be induced to make a sale at loss. The |
fear that he will lose his customer that |
his rival will undersell him does not cause
him TO sell for the purpose of keeping bust
ness- The Spanish merchants are IN trade |
for the profit. Where they cannot see 4 /,
profit they will not do business. The draw
back to their methods is the abnormally |
high profits which they expect and exact.
Profits Are Enormous.
For the amount Of capital which any of |
the great commercial houses have invested |
the profits from year to year are enormous |
They accumulate with "A rapidfty that is |
pleasing to the owners. IN consequence it
happens that there is hardly a firm OF
standing in Havana which borrows.- They
all have the money in their safes and do !
not even pay by checks drafts. The
possession of such large sums Of cash has |
enabled The business houses 10 pass through /
the troubles Of the last four years without
serious distress Having this cash capital |
they are better prepared to withstand COM |
/ he Ii
tiOn which now exists in Havana could |
exist in any other place The tariff put in |
force under the American administration |
lowered the price OF all the necessities Of I
life by Very heavy percentage. Never
theless the staple products have charged |
very little. In some Instances war prices !
yet prevail j have not seen an adVsrtiSe- |
ment Of "A single merchant IN which bar |
gains were set forth as result Of the low
|er duties Nobody iS competing with his |
neighb"r on that basis They are all get
ting their goods cheaper and selling them |
at the Old prize q course. this will change
IN time, hut II ought To change at once.
German Colony Will suffer Most.
Most Of the leading Spanish houses recog- !
nize that ultimately both business methods |
and business come CtiunS will be altered |
and they are seeking new alliances Nom.
Of them il going out Of business simply 10 |
ooiige Americans or from fear that com
petition VIII destroy his trade They rraliZa |
that much or the commerce which WIS
Formerly had with Spain will fall away and
they are seeking To replace tt by nercan- |
tile connections in the United States II i
n curious fact that what * known as the
herman colony VIII suffer more than the
Spanish business houses from the change
which is coming over cuba. commercially
and politically In a few Years this Ger
man commercial colony i likely to be swaI
lowed Gp and lost entirely Its members
do not like To have this statement made to
then. Yet they realize that such prObabil-
ity exists. The Germans had the best
chance in Cuba. They have been establish
fd for nearly 100 years When in the early
part Of the century commerce was made
free they were among the first to take ad-
Vantage of IL. They have u club and a re-
lief society which dates back To 1919
Neverth helesS they did not extend their
sphere widely.
One reason. and Z creditable one was
their repu@DanCe To the identifying them
selves with the corrupt Spanish official
system Beyond this they lid not take ad-
vantage Of their opportunities. The rner-
chants OF Hamburg and Bremen did not
show the same enterprise in Cuba that
they showed iH South America. The busi-
Gess that is done in this generation Is by