Red River prospector. (Red River, Taos County, N.M.) 1900-190?, 1902-01-02

Gen. James H. Wilson in an adj
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 favors 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 most valuable
field for commencing the work. II
has about 43, 1000 to 46, 1000 square miles,
or a. 0 900 acres at the least, mostly
suitable for raising sugar, tobacco,
coffee, fruits and cattle. OF this acre
age nearly 10, 600, 600 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 1870 feet above the sea. These
high ranges make the interior of Cuba
balmy, or to quote Gen. Wilson's
words, 1T is, indeed, one Of the most
beautiful, healthful, and inviting is
lands under the sun; and while 1t lies
Just within the tropics, it can hardly
be called tropical; its climate is every
where m~itigated 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 as a
promising field, provided the United
States will enter into reciprocal trade
relations with it, as the island cannot
be annexed because of the joint reso-
luton of congress. AS annexation is
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 a limited field
fer American enterprise and emigra-
ton. The population is dense and the
land almost entirely occupied. AS to
Cuba, millions of its acres are I'M
touched, it's annual sugar capacity Is
about 5000, 900 tons, it's tobacco is the
best in the world for cigars, coffee
grows nearly everywhere in the is
land, and it's pastures and grass lands
will easily support several million
head Of cattle, or as many as Iowa and
Texas. Minerals, such as iron and
copper, are plenty. AS the general
says, THE island is a natural garden.
The climate and temperature Of Cuba
and Porto Rico are at all times better
and more equable than in my 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.
Benefits That Would Ensue.
With the inflow of capital and emil
grafton 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 Gle 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 will be their growth in wealth
power and civilization"