The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-03-20
THE INTELLIGENCFR.
wuEELINe. afARcH 60, looo.
Their Prospective Value.


The prospective value Of Cuba, Pue=-
10 Rico. and the Hawaiian. Philippine
and Samoan Islands as markets for the
products Of tho farm and factory in this
country is shown by a statement pre-
pared by the bureau of statistics OF the
treasury department. It is further
Illustrated by a recent publication in
the Moniteur oficiai du Commerce. an
official publication of the French gov
ernment, which discusses at consider
able length the consuming powers Of
those islands and their consequent
economic value to the United States.
and the prospective increase in their
consuming powers through enlarged
production under American capital.
the statement referred to relates that
at present the imports Of these coun-
tries amount to about S1OO.OOO,oOO. Those
Of Cuba were in 1892, which was an
average good year, S52.1Ol,es2; of the
philippines In 1896, $2S.Si5.075; Of the
Hawaiian Islands in 1898. S11.65O,S9O, and
of Puerto Rico in 1896 SS,s56.57s. The
imports. however, show already an In
crease, as is seen by the American ex-
port figures of these islands, those to
the Hawaiian Islands for 1889 being 49,
sos 40 as against s5,sO7,155 for 1898 and
S4,6sO,O75 for 1897; those TO Cuba, 49,
6is,sl7 in 1899, as against 1885, s5s in
1898, and Ss.259.7 7s in 1897; the respective
figures Of exports to Puerto Rico being
s. $685. for the year 1893, as compared
with 81. 5O5,g46 for 1898 and st,sSs,sss for
1897 There is no doubt that with an in
creased productive power which would
naturally he followed by increased
consumption, the volume Of the foreign
trade Of these islands is likewise bound
to increase considerably.
The consumption of foreign products
by these islands is made up almost
equally of articles of manufacture and
of agriculture of the temperate zone.
out OF S2O,1s5,S2l worth OF products ex-
ported from the United States to Cuba
In 1894. the value Of ss.44O,953 was In
products Of agriculture, and out of $1S,-
sl6,s77 worth of exportn for the year
1893, S9,79s.5l3 worth belonged TO the
same category. The exports from the
United States to the Pearl of the An
TILES" are made up principally Of ce-
reals, live animals, salt meat, cotton
goods, machinery. footwear, instru-
ments, etc.
Spain, under normal conditions, sold
annually to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the
Philippines about S4O,OOOOOO worth Of
goods, principally manufactured arti-
cles, besides wines, oils. flour, meats
and vegetables. Out of 1S5.OOO.OOo pc
setas worth Of merchandise shipped
from Spain to Cuba in 1896, about $780,
100000 represented the value of products
Of agriculture. The proportion was
nearly the same in the case of Puerto
Rico and the Philippine Islands.
Speaking generally" says the Moni-
teur, I'VE may assume that under nor
NAL conditions the surplus production
OF cuba and the Philippines before the
war amounted to about $l25.OOoOOO an
nually, and their consumption Of $780,
100000, but that their productive power
Is capable Of great increase. which in
turn will CAUSE similar increase In
consumption. About one-half OF the
imports into these Islands was of Span
ish origin and the other half came from
other countries proportionatc to their
proximity or distance. Thus the United
states furnished the greater part OF
the Imports into cuba and Puerto Rico.
while the Philippine Islands received
whatever Spain was unable to furnish
them with, from Hong Kong, Shanghai,
Yokohama. Singapore, Calcutta and
Australian ports"