The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-06-27

/ pretty certain Of getting the crop this
/ year. though somebody else may come
/ along and offer him a tTife higher price.
/ The explanation which the buyers them~
/ serves give IS that the tobacco grower
| knows he VIII have a crop to sell next
/ year and the year after next and is IN
4 Wiling TO take the chance of losing a good
market for the temporary advantage
which might come from a new buyer for
/ a single season. Where he owns the farm
J ne Is also jealous OF the suggestion that
t after time he may lose its ownership
/ ana become simply 4 tenant Of one Of the
! companies
Big factories all have large tracts Of
/ tobacco lands Of their own. which they
! cultivate by hired field hands, mostly Ca
! nl-ry Islanders but few of them think i
/ wise TO be dependent on these lands They
Z ind il to their interest to have a certain
/ amount Of independent growing, which
! gives them the benefit of their own crop
and that of the small farmer
NEED OF BANKING FACILITIES
What the ordinary tobacco grower in
Pi1aT del Rio and other parts of the ISL
and wants most is increased banking and
/ warehouse facilities At present he IS too
Z much dependent on the advances from the
/ large estate owner or from the profess
sioual money lender IN the uncertain
period o. the future when the island gets
/ 4 system Of country banks the probability
+ is that tobacco growing viii receive its
! greatest stimulus.
There is an ever present fear on the
part both Of the small farmer and the to-
/ baCco planter that the Cuban product is
/ going to be corrupted by the introduction
! OF the Porto Rico leaf. Whenever a hint
I is given that the present pruhibitoTy tar
] if against Porto Rican tobacco may be
modified this whole province begins to
ferment. Meetings are held, memorials
/ are addressed to Washington and to Cen
! eral Wood, and an agitation is set on foot
/ which is only quoted when the assurance
is given that such notifications are not
/ contemplated.
The Havana Tariff Commission, which
+ IS framing the new schedules. IS a con-
( slant source of uneasiacSS TO the Fuelta
/ ApaJo. 1t VIII not breathe freely unJn
/ the commissions IabOTS are completed
| and the schedules are made public OH
I ciaily. \ few weeks ago an intimdtion
: shown Porto Rico by permitting the en-
/ try of its tobacco into Cuba though at
pretty stiff rates At cnce the protests
( began, and they are kept up
! OStenSibly the objection TO the intro
duction of the Porto Rico leaf Is its infe-
rority TO the Cuban product and the al
! legged fear that it would corrupt the quail
I ity of Cuban tobacco and destroy its mar
! kets- The statements made by Porto
| Rico tobacco growers contrOVeTt this
{ claim They always have asserted that Il
certain proportion of their product. which
I is not very large in its entirety, is equal
! to the Cuban leaf in quality. and, more
1 over, that it is Smuggied into the island
I anC utilized by the dealers and the man
ufacturers who make the lOudeSt OutCry
/ against its Introduction openly
When the War Department put a pro
hibitive tariff on impcrtations Of tObaC-
! co from the United States into Cuba the
Cuban producers and nlaaufS cturers were
Z fully satisfied, and agreed in saying that
I they had been treated both with justice
and with generosity. No complaint ever
! is heard OF the American leaf being
/ s1nugEled into the island TO corrupt the
native leaf or to compete with il, yet
/ there is q widespread belief that some in
I ferior American tobacco does come into
Cuba. The customs officials believe this,
/ and though they always are on the alert
/ for smuggling they say that it Is posi-
I bic for an occasional cargo TO be unload
! ed Once IN q while they make 4 seizure
! OF tobacco which has been imported IN
! lawfully from the United States.
5 Large quantities, however. could not
! come in without the tobacco trade being
/ aware of 1t. and in this lies the assurance
/ cargo as undoubtedly IL does, but If
! enough were coming in to injUre the repu-
/ tation Of the Cuban tobacco information
{ would be given and the smuggling be stop
ped. This Is the philosophical view taken
by customs officials and endorsed by the
! larger tobacco dealers and manufacturers
Il seems TO be satisfactory TO all classes.
but the Porto Rican imPortations are not
viewed with the same complacency-
WILL BE SOCIAL FACTOR
After a time the vegUero, or small to-
bacco farmer, is going 10 be a social fac
tor Of consequence in the central and
western part of the island He has the
/ making Of a very good citizen. and he
rarely fails to show his conservative ten
denotes. His life is not an easy one, for
tobacco production Is labOriOus- but i in
{ suTeS a certain degree OF independence,
( and is far preferable to the life OF hired
field hand on the sugar Plantations The
VegUerO now wants government which,
above all things. viii protect Cuban to-
baccO- That is going to be his first arti-
Gle of political faith. and some of the
slippery Cuban politicians will find II out
/ After the protection of his product the
veguerO wants a government which viii
I build roads. He suffers heavily ac-
count of the lack OF means of cOmnuni-
cation In the tobacco regions nothing
that the American authorities haze done
has been so fully appreciated as their
road building This has been far less ex-
IensIEe than the officials themselves
would have wished, but they did ali that
could be done with the funds they had
1t IS estimated that 80 per cent OF Cuban
tobacco is consumed at home, but Ehe es-
innate seems "A liberal one, even though
the male population from ten years old
upward smokes continuously either cigars
or cigarettes. In all probability IN the fu-
/ ture the home consumption DTOpOTti0uzte-
/ " viii not grow with the growth Of pro-
dUction. Some OF the thinking men among
: the Cuban leaders who see the grave
/ problems of internal taxation ahead are
/ talking of an internal revenue tax on to-
+ baccO- but they talk very cautiously for
fear Of aTOuSlnS the opposition OF the
very powerful class comprised in the
grenics. OF cigarmakeTs unions.
At this time the estimate IS that from
seyenty-flve thousand TO eighty thOusa nd
people are engaged in the production,
handling and manufacture Of tobacco. and
II makes potential element If ali the
classes should be united. In a general
{ hH-4Tgfara no
community OF interest. yet the sssueTo in
the country does not concern himself
much over the cigar worker in Havana
The cigar worker on his part cares little
( for the veSuero-
HAD TO LEAVE HIS CHURCH.