Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-04-29
CUBA'S TRADE IN
UNITED STATES
Instead of Decreasing it Has
Increased.
MUST CATER TO 1T STILL
Prefer European shoes 90 American
Spain Has the Call In This
Branch Of business.

Washington, April 2e.--In recent
statement given to the press by the
division of insular affairs of the war
department considerable loss was in
dicated In the trade Of Cuba with the
United States for the first eight months
OF 1899. 1t is now explained by the d.
vision OF insular affairs that In that
statement the value of gold and silver
coin and bullion was included In the
Total value Of commerce between Cuba
and the United States. Eliminating
the coin shipments, It is ascertained
that instead Of there being a decrease
Ia the value Of the imports into Cuba
from the United States, there is an
Increase Of sl,22O2O5 for the first eight
months Of 1900 over the same period
Of 1899.
II Is stated that while there may
have been an impulse of sentiment at
tlie close of the war on the part OF the
cuban importers TO buy from the culn-
lry that had just secured to them their
liberty, there is no evidence of II TO
be found In the subsequent statistics.
There are isolated cases OF Cuban mer-
chants who tried 70 substitute Ameri-
can products for Spanish on sentiment
al grounds, but that their efforts
proved very successful cannot be
shown" One extensive dealer in foot
wear tried TO introduce American
shoes but hts customers preferred the
spanish last even though II was coupled
with inferior leather and poorer work
manshipi and during the last six
months Of 1900 Spain furnished s620096
worth Of shoes and the United States
SleSI6S worth.
Unless the form Of the American
SHOES can be made TO suit the Cuban
taste and Cuban custom the American
shoe manufacturer, II stated, cannot
expect to dominate tde Cuban shoe
trade.
The same is true of cotton goods. It
eosts no more to bring a cargo from
Barcelona than from New York and the
Cuhans, like the Mexioans, have come
60 prefer the goods Of European make
ANA the European manufacturers
through long application, have come 60
Ft'ow what these people prefer and
y re me goods expressly that for that
market. The United States sells
gteae deal OF raw cotton but COMPARE
lively very little OF the manufactured.
The apparent loss In the exporta lions
from Cuba to the United States during
the 1900 period as compared with the
1899 period, as shown by the figures In
the press statements herein before
mentioned is accounted for by the d.
vision as follows
The greater part OF the tobacco
shipped to Europe goes by the way OF
New York and during the first nine
months Of 1899 when heavy shipments
were made the reports 20 the division
Of insular affairs did not disclose the
final destination Of this commodity. It
Is not possible now 10 determine the
exact amounts that should be credited
to the United States and TO the rest OF
the world, Europe almost exclusively,
but judging the expectations Of 1899 by
Of 1900, It is reasonable to assume that
at least 100000 worth Of tobacco,
chiefly cigars destined for Europe,
more particularly Germany and the
United Kingdom, were credited TO the
United States. The statement issued
by the division in conclusion says that
1t therefore appears instead OF being a
loss In the export trade Of Cuba to the
United States, the same Is not only be-
ing maintained, but is increasing.