Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1902-03-20
OUR TROPICAL TRADE
IMMENSE BUSINESS POSSIBILITIES
ARE OPENED UP.
Gen. James H. Wilson Has wsn Described
the Benefits which Are within Our
Reach-Isiand of Cuba II the Most
Promising Field.

L
the BENEFITS which Are within Our
Reach-Isiand of Cuba L. the Most
Promising Field.
Gen. James H. Wilson in an ad-
dress on Our Trade Relations With
the Tropics" recently delivered at
Boston, gives an exhaustive review of
the future possibilities in our dealings
with Cuba, Porto Rico, and other
tropical countries. He fayors an Am
erican Customs Union with all the
countries south of us, beginning with
Cuba, and as the benefits are received
and felt in our enlarged commerce, ex-
tending the Union to other nations
He considers Cuba the moot valuable
field for commencing the work. It
has about $4,000 to $4,000 square miles,
or 27,500.000 acres at the least, mostly
suitable for raising sugar, tobacco.
coffee, fruits and cattle. or this acre
age nearly IL, 0eG, coo acres are uncleared
forest These vast forests consist OF
mahogany and other hard woods, all
valuable for manufactures. cabinet
work and shipbuilding. The fruits OF
Cuba are manifold, and have been arti-
cles of staple consumption in the
United States for generations. The
attitudes of Cuba vary, one elevation
being 1910 feet above the sea. These
high ranges make the interior of Cuba
balmy, or to quote Gen. Wilson's
words, ut Is, indeed, one OF the most
beautiful, healthful, and inviting is
lands under the sun: and while it lies
Just within the tropics, It can hardly
be called tropical; its climate is every
where mitigated by the trade winds
and the balmy air of the surrounding
seas" Since the Spanish authority
over the island ceased, sanitary condi-
tons have been enforced, and the yell
low fever has disappeared.
Cuba Rich in Natural Resources
Gen. Wilson regards Cuba an q
promising field, provided the United
States will enter into reciprocal trade
relations with 1t, as the island cannot
be annexed because Of the joint reso-
luton of congress. As annexation Ia
out Of the question for the present
and until the Cubans so desire, volun-
tarily-other arrangements for mutual
prosperous trade must be made. He
regards Porto Rico as limited field
for American enterprise and emigra-
ton. The population is dense and tho
land almost entirely occupied. An to
Cuba. millions of its acres are IN
touched, its annual sugar capacity Is
about 100000 tons, its tobacco is the
best In the world for cigars. coffee
grows nearly everywhere in the is
land. and its pastures and grass ands
will easily support several lion
head Of cattle. or as many as low and
Texas Minerals, such as iron and
copper. are plenty. As the general
says. "The island is natural garden.
The climate and temperature OF Cuba
and Porto Rico are at all times better
and more equable than in any of our
states in the Mississippi Valley south
of the Ohio and Missouri rivers" As
to the population. the whites outnum-
Der the colored two to one, while in
the Philippines there is one white to
fifty Of the colored races. N.Y.
Benefits That Would Ensue.
With the inflow of capital and emf
cratic to Cuba all of the nations OF
Central and South America will be
the recipients OF the same benefits.
and In Gen. Wilson's opinion, these
countries "lie clearly within our right
full theater of interest or influence, and
in the direction of our true trade ex-
pansion. We shall much more surely
gain supremacy in trade with our
nearby neighbors. than with those
that lie beyond the sea, and the wider
we make our reciprocity with those we
have undertaken to defend, the more
rapid win be their growth in wealth,
power and civilization"
Great National Highway
In the development OF these numer-
Gus resources, there must be some ma
tional highway for the travel and traf-
dc Of the nations, and In this conneo-
ton the conception OF THE Overland
Route" by Abraham Lincoln appears
now in all its grandeur. Senator Ben
ton urged and later on Mr.. Lincoln
selected the Union Pacific as the nat
ural route on which the mighty
streams of western commerce would
be borne, and now the Isthmian canal
is to be built, the waters of the two
oceans mingled, China, Japan, the
Philippines and the Antilles, to throw
off the sloth and oppression OF CEN
turtles, 1t will give to the United States
the rich markets Of the Orient. whose
wares and people must pass over the
Union Pacific as the fayorite' route to
Europe, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Central
and South America and the coast of
Northern and Western Africa. They In
return will send their products to ex-
change for those of the nations, while
the North and South. East and West
OF the United States Will pour their
manufactures. meats, fruits and grains,
into the ports Of every island and ev-
cry continent. receiving their products
In return over the Union Pacific as the
great railroad that has brought the
world together and made our country
| first among the nations.