Evening star., 1905-10-31

diateiy fell OF. neArly oes-half, 10 sso017.-
10. ana sugar TO ~. .10z0x The revival of
Island and the new reciprocity arrangement
brought the imports from Cuba into the
United States In 1904 up to 76.ooo, ,41S, OF
which e6a5l7.37 was sugar: and partial re-
turns already received show that during the
current year they will 20 way beyond the
record figures OF the Blaine reciprocity Pc
riod and reach nearly $o0.000.o0o. During
the first eight months OF the current cal
more sugar and other merchandise from
Cuba than during the entire twelve months
of 1901. or any previous twelve months.
OF course. all this prosperity is shared by
the sugar planters. They have not only
profted by the enormous increase In trade,
put the price paid them now by the trust
Tor raw sugar is nearly double what II was
The following table will show the average
invoice price of raw sugar on the docks OF
Cuoa before being loaded into the ships
'na' Drought 1t to the United States:
Average price
,soe ..............,......... o23 per pound
1903 :..::.:. .:.... Siss Sis per per PsanS PPoanS
1895 % mon,hs) ......... 1ai her sound
You will notice the jump in the price Of
raw sugar In Cuba from 1903. before tho
treaty was negotiated, to that Of 1905 when
ITS full effect Is felt. Although the whole
sale prices indicate that 100000 consume
ers In the United States have not been d.
rectly benefited, the planters of Cuba GER
tainly have no right to complain. Their
prosperity 10 also confirmed by the enor-
nous increase In the purchase OF new ma
chinery. The total imports for 1908 of su-
gar machinery and implements were S. 46I,-
0S7. while during the eight months of the
present calendar year the total has reached
"a .3S2.201. and last year It went over
$5,OO0O OOO
High tide in Cuban trade was reached
in 1893. under the Blaine reciprocity agree
ment. when the total commerce with tho
United tSates ran up to nearly sos. 600 600.
Low tide was reached during the rebellion,
when II ran down to $24, 100000 But when
the returns for the fiscal year of 1905 are
all In. the total will be unprecedented, and
win reach somewhere In the neighborhood
Of $130.0o0.000.
American Investments in Cuba.
very interesting monograph, entitled
Commercial Cuba in 1906" from which
many of these facts are taken. has recent.
ly been prepared by the bureau of sta.
tistics. 1t shows that more than one hum
dred million dollars OF American capital
has been invested in Cuban sugar planta-
tions and other industries the island.
SO that our own people are getting a large
share OF this prosperity. And. you can
see by the increase In trade, our merchants
and manufacturers at home are reaping a
rich and growing harvest from that coun-
try. Cuba could not live without our mar
ket and must make every sacrifice to keep
1t. The markets of Great Britain are COM
paratively unimportant. We take s1D worth
of her products for every dollars worth that
she sells to Great Britain; but, on the other
hand. Great Britain is our most serious
competitor in the Cuban market and sells
there nearly one-half as much as the
United States. The following table will
show comparison of the imports into Cuba
from the principal countries of the world
during the calendar years of 1903 and 1904: