The Savannah morning news., 1901-05-01
LOSING CUBAN TRADE.

1t is evident from a Washington dis
patch which we published yesterday that
we are not holding the Cuban trade. 1t
is pointed out in the dispatch that the
/ Cubans are buying their cotton goods
from Spain, Germany and Great Britain,
rather than from this country. Why is
this? Immediately after the Spanish
American war this class of goods was
purchased to a much greater extent from
our merchants than from those of any
other country. Gradually, however. the
trade has been slipping away from US.
The explanation is said to be that we
do not cater to the wants of the
Cubans-that is, we do not man
their trade calls for. The same
reason is given for our small trade with
the South American states. The people
of those states want textile goods that
are different in many respects from those
which are manufactured for our own mar
ket, and we have been trying to make
them accept the kind of goods we find
satisfactory to our home trade 1t seems
from the dispatch to which we have
called attention, that we are making the
same mistake in Cuba.
If the Cubans don't want what we offer
them we should manufacture what they
do want, if it is our purpose to get their
trade. 1t seems strange that our South
ern mills have not given this matter more
attention. New mills are being built in
the South all the time and some of them
ought to turn their attention entirely to
making goods for the Cuban market. If
it is not known what kind of goods is
required agents ought to be sent to Cuba
to find out. 1t would pay our Southern
manufacturers to inquire into this mat
ter at once. 1t is easy enough to give
the Cubans what they desire. There is no
reason why they should go to Spain or
England, or Germany, or France for sup
plies of cotton goods. The goods they
get from these countries are made from
American cotton While it is true that
cargo of cotton goods can be sent from
a European port to Cuba as cheaply as
one can be sent there from an American
port, the advantage is in favor of this
country for the reason that agents of
American houses can go to Havana in a
few hours and carry new styles, and keep
the Cuban merchants informed of all the
varying phases of the cotton goods trade
In view of the fact that American mer-
chants are said to be the shrewdest in
the world, it seems strange that they are
letting the Cuban cotton goods trade slip
away from them and have never been
able to get even fair share of the trade
of Central and South America.
In one of his speeches on Monday the
President said that the government was
trying to open new markets for Ameri-
can products. That may be all well
enough but it would seem that wisdom
would dictate that greater efforts be made
to secure the trade of countries nearer
home than the Philippines. 1t is, of
course, important that we should have
the trade of those islands and a share
of the trade of China, but it is equally.
if not more. important that we should
have the trade of the countries that
are thousands of miles nearer to us.
There is no good reason why the nations
of Europe should have the bulk of the
trade of Cuba and of Central and South
America, while we have, or can make
about everything the people of those coun-
tries need, and that, too at prices as low
as they can be obtained anywhere else
in the world.
Al this very moment, in all of the man
ufacturing cities of the North, there are
tens of thousands of textile workers out
of employment-are, in fact, hungry be-
cause of the lack of employment This
is sad state of affairs, especially as
the country is in a prosperous condition.
Our manufacturers of textile goods
should give their attention to this mat
ter at once. especially here in the South
where new mills are being built. 1t is
easy to find out what the trade of Cuba
and of Central and South America de-
mands, in cotton goods, and to complv
with that demand. This country should
make all of the cotton goods required by
the markets of this continent.