El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-05-09
Cuba Could Supply Americas
Sugar; Needs Stable Government
III-TROUBLE IN CUBA

Revolution in Cuba means much mon
to the American people than the ordi
nary Latin-American revolution. Not
only is the United States pledged to the
world % preserve order In Cuba, but
american business and economic inter
ests in the Island, present and proSpec-
tive, represent billions. of dollars. Gu
ba is more richly endowed by nature
than any other one country on earth. 1t
now produces greater amount of cane
sugar than any other one country. Its
tobacco fields furnish the material for
the best cigars, material not to be OBJ
tanned elsewhere. 1t has important min
eral deposits 1t has wonderful fruit
producing possibilities. And as yet its
resources have been scarcely touched
Cuba is so close to the United States
that the American people are directly
affected by conditions in that country.
Cuba already is a principal source of
food supply for the United States, more
than one-third of all the suguar used in
this country being of Cuban origin.
The increasing cost of living will force
the United States to make the most of
the possibilities of tropic America as
food producing country. Cuba, wonder
fully fertile and having its chief port
only ninety miles from an American
railway terminus, is worth many mil
lions of dollars to American business to-
day, L is worth billions for the future
Tobacco Builds Florida Cities.
The most important industries in Gu
ba are, of course, the production OF
sugar and tobacco. The tobacco culture
is restricted TO small section of the
western end of the Island, and is adj
vanced to high state of development.
The tobacco business cannot be expect
ed to grow greatly. Much of the Gu
ban tobacco is manufactured in the
island, but great quantities of leaf to-
bacco are sent abroad, especially to
the United States, to be made up. This
is on account of the tariff, and i has
resulted in the building up of two cities
in Florida inhabited mostly by Cubans.
Sugar Industry Greatest.
But the sugar business is now, and
has been for years, the most important
Cuban industry Last year Cuba pro-
duced, in round numbers, 10000 tons
of cane sugar. The next greatest cane
sugar production was in Java, 1.25O.000
tons, and then came our own Hawaii
with ATS, 900, and Louisiana with $4,000
tons. The total sugar crop Of the world
was 14,710,000 tons, Of which about
100000 tons was cane sugar.
The United States in that year con-
sumed 1885, 900 tons of sugar. of which
approximately one-third was produced
within the tariff borders of the country,
which includes Porto Rico and, TO
limited extent, the Philippines Cuban
sugar is entitled to reduction of 20
per cent of the customs duties when 1t
comes into the United States, American
wares going into Cuba having the bene-
fit of a similar concession. This reci-
procity agreement has caused all other
nations to levy reteliatory or counter
vailing duties on Cuban sugar, so that
the American market Is the only one
open TO Cuban sugar. As result. SO
per cent ef the Cuban crop comes to
the United States. This constitutes more
than half Of the total sugar imports of
the country.
Cuba Could supply Demand.
These figures show that Cuba already
is an important source of a valuable
article of food which the United States
is not able to produce in sufficient
quantities in its own territory But they
give no hint of the possibilities of Gu
ban sugar. IT is asserted on the high
est technical authority that II the sugar
land in Cuba owned by American sugar
interests were all under cane, those
American plantations would supply the
entire American demand for sugar. II
is furthermore asserted that II all the
sugar land in Cuba were under cultiya-
ton, all the cane sugar growers and all
the beet sugar growers in all the rest of
the world might quit the sugar business
suddenly and the sugar supply still
would be adequate. In other words, Gu
ba is capable of producing as much SUI
gar in one year as IS now produced in
all the world from both4cane and beets.
While the cane and beet sugar bust.
ness in the United States proper is an
important agricultural interest, there
seems to be no good reason to believe
that ii will increase with sufficient ra-
pidity to supply more than its present
proportion of the annually increasing