island, that is, the commercial business, the purchase and sale of
merchandise wholesale and retail, is almost entirely in the hands of
Spaniards. The Cuban youths seldom become clerks in stores. Most of the
so-called "_dependientes_" come out as boys from Spain. It is an old
established system. These lads, almost invariably hard workers, usually eat
and sleep in the place of their employment. The wage is small but board and
lodging, such as the latter is, are furnished. They are well fed, and the
whole system is quite paternal. For their recreation, education, and care
in case of illness, there are organizations, half club and half mutual
protective association, to which practically all belong. The fee is small
and the benefits many. Some of these are based on a regional plan, that is,
the _Centro de Asturianos_ is composed of those who come from the Spanish
province of Asturia, and those from other regions have their societies.
There is also a general society of "_dependientes_." Some of these groups
are rich, with large membership including not only the clerks of today but
those of the last thirty or forty years, men who by diligence and thrift
have risen to the top in Cuba's commercial life. Most of Cuba's business
men continue their membership in these organizations, and many contribute
liberally toward their maintenance.
This system more or less effectively bars Cuban youths from commercial
life. Nor does commercial life seem attractive to more than a very limited
number. This leaves to them, practically, only three lines of possible
activity, the ownership and operation of a plantation, a profession, or
manual labor. The greater number there, as elsewhere, are laborers, either
on some little bit of ground they call their own or rent from its owner,
or they are employed by the proprietors of the larger estates. Such
proprietorship is, of course, open to only a few. The problem, which is
both social and political, appears in a class that cannot or will not
engage in manual labor, the well-educated or fairly-educated sons of men
of fair income and a social position. Many of these take some professional
course. But there is not room for so many in so small a country, and the
professions are greatly overcrowded. The surplus either loafs and lives by
its wits or at the expense of the family, or turns to the Government for
a "job." It constitutes a considerable element on which the aspiring
professional politician can draw for support. Having such "jobs," it
constitutes a heavy burden on the tax-payers; deprived of its places on the
Government pay-roll, it becomes a social and political menace. If a Liberal
administration throws them out of their comfortable posts, they become
noisy and perhaps violent Conservatives; if discharged by an economical
Conservative administration, they become no less noisy and no less
potentially violent Liberals. But we may not criticize. The American
control that followed the insurrection of 1906 set no example in
administrative economy for the Cubans to follow.
The productive industries of the island have already been reviewed in other
chapters. The development of Cuba's commerce since the withdrawal of Spain,
and the substitution of a modern fiscal policy for an antiquated and
indefensible system, has been notable. It is, however, a mistake to
contrast the present condition with the condition existing at the time
of the American occupation, in 1899. The exact accuracy of the record is
questionable, but the returns for the year 1894, the year preceding the
revolution, show the total imports of the island as $77,000,000, and the
total exports as $99,000,000. The probability is that a proper valuation
would show a considerable advance in the value of the imports. The
statement of export values may be accepted. It may be assumed that had
there been no disorder, the trade of the island, by natural growth, would
have reached $90,000,000 for imports and $120,000,000, for exports, in
1900. That may be regarded as a fair normal. As it was, the imports of that
year were $72,000,000, and the exports, by reason of the general wreck of
the sugar business, were only $45,000,000. With peace and order fairly
assured, recovery came quickly. The exports of 1905, at $99,000,000,
equalled those of 1894, while the imports materially exceeded those of the
earlier year. In 1913, the exports reached $165,207,000, and the imports
$132,290,000. This growth of Cuba's commerce and industry is due mainly to
the economic requirements of the American people. We need Cuba's sugar and
we want its tobacco. These two commodities represent about 90 per cent,
of the total exports of the island. We buy nearly all of its sugar, under
normal conditions, and about 60 per cent, of its tobacco and cigars. On the
basis of the total commerce of the island, the records of recent years show
this country as the source of supply for about 53 per cent, of Cuba's
total imports, and as the market for about 83 per cent, of its exports. A
comparison of the years 1903 and 1913 shows a gain of about $87,000,000 in
Cuba's total exports. Of this, about $75,000,000 is represented by sugar.
The crop of 1894 a little exceeded a million tons. Such a quantity was
not again produced until 1903. With yearly variations, due to weather
conditions, later years show an enormous and unprecedented increase. The
crops of 1913 and 1914 were, approximately, 2,500,000 tons each. The
tobacco industry shows only a modest gain. The average value of the exports
of that commodity has risen, in ten years, from about $25,000,000 to about
$30,000,000. The increase in the industry appears largely in the shipment
of leaf tobacco. The cigar business shows practically no change, in that
time, as far as values are concerned. This résumé affords a fair idea of
Cuba's trade expansion under the conditions established through the change
in government. That event opened new and larger doors of opportunity, and
the Cubans and others have been prompt in taking advantage of them. Toward
the great increase shown, two forces have operated effectively. One is the
treaty by which the provisions of the so-called Platt Amendment to the
Cuban Constitution are made permanently effective. The other is the
reciprocity treaty of 1903.
By the operation of the former of these instruments the United States
virtually underwrites the political stability and the financial
responsibility of the Cuban Government. That Government cannot borrow any
important sums without the consent of the United States, and it has agreed
that this country "may exercise the right to intervene for the preservation
of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the
protection of life, property, and individual liberty, and for discharging
the obligations with respect to Cuba imposed by the Treaty of Paris on the
United States." This assumption of responsibility by the United States
inspired confidence on the part of capital, and large sums have been
invested in Cuban bonds, and in numerous public and private enterprises.
Railways and trolley lines have been built and many other works of public
utility have been undertaken. The activities of old sugar plantations have
been extended under improved conditions, and many new estates with costly
modern equipment have been created. The cultivation of large areas,
previously lying waste and idle, afforded both directly and indirectly
employment for an increased population, as did the numerous public works.
The other force, perhaps no less effective, appears in the reciprocity
treaty of 1903. This gave to Cuba's most important crop a large though by
no means absolute control of the constantly increasing sugar market of
the United States, as far as competition from other foreign countries
was concerned. The sugar industry of the island may be said to have been
restored to its normal proportions in 1903. Our imports for the five-year
period 1904-1908 averaged 1,200,000 tons a year. For the five-year period
1910-1914 they averaged 1,720,000 tons. In 1914, they were 2,200,000 tons
as compared with 1,260,000 tons in 1904. It is doubtful if the treaty had
any appreciable influence on the exports of Cuban tobacco to this country.
We buy Cuba's special tobacco irrespective of a custom-house advantage
that affects the box price only a little, and the price of a single cigar
probably not at all. On the other side of the account, that of our sales
to Cuba, there also appears a large increase since the application of the
reciprocity treaty. Using the figures showing exports from the United
States to Cuba, instead of Cuba's records showing imports from this
country, it appears that our sales to the island in the fiscal year 1903,
immediately preceding the operation of the treaty, amounted to $21,761,638.
In the fiscal year 1913 they were $70,581,000, and in 1914 were
$68,884,000.
Not all of this quite remarkable gain may properly be credited to the
influence of the reciprocity treaty. The purchases of the island are
determined, broadly, by its sales. As the latter increase, so do the
former. Almost invariably, a year of large export sales is followed by a
year of heavy import purchases. The fact that our imports from Cuba are
double our sales to Cuba, in the total of a period of years, has given rise
to some foolish criticism of the Cubans on the ground that, we buying so
heavily from them, they should purchase from us a much larger percentage of
their import requirements. No such obligation is held to exist in regard
to our trade with other lands, and it should have no place in any
consideration of our trade with Cuba. There are many markets, like Brazil,
British India, Japan, China, Mexico, and Egypt, in which our purchases
exceed our sales. There are more, like the United Kingdom, France, Germany,
Italy, Canada, Central America, and numerous others, in which our sales
considerably or greatly exceed our purchases. We do not buy from them
simply because they buy from us. We buy what we need or want in that market
in which we can buy to the greatest advantage. The Cuban merchants, who are
nearly all Spaniards, do the same. The notion held by some that, because
of our service to Cuba in the time of her struggle for national life, the
Cubans should buy from us is both foolish and altogether unworthy. Any
notion of Cuba's obligation to pay us for what we may have done for her
should be promptly dismissed and forgotten. There are commodities, such as
lumber, pork products, coal, wheat flour, and mineral oil produces,
that Cuba can buy in our markets on terms better than those obtainable
elsewhere. Other commodities, such as textiles, leather goods, sugar mill
equipment, railway equipment, drugs, chemicals, and much else, must be
sold by American dealers in sharp competition with the merchants of other
countries, with such assistance as may be afforded by the reciprocity
treaty. That instrument gives us a custom-house advantage of 20, 25, 30,
and 40 per cent, in the tariff rates. It is enough in some cases to give
us a fair equality with European sellers, and in a few cases to give us a
narrow margin of advantage over them. It does not give us enough to compel
Cuban buyers to trade with us because of lower delivered prices.
Cuba's economic future can be safely predicted on the basis of its past.
The pace of its development will depend mainly upon a further influx of
capital and an increase in its working population. Its political future
is less certain. There is ample ground for both hope and belief that the
little clouds that hang on the political horizon will be dissipated, that
there will come, year by year, a sane adjustment to the new institutions.
But full assurance of peace and order will come only when the people of the
island, whether planters or peasants, see clearly the difference between a
government conducted in their interest and a government conducted by Cubans
along Spanish lines.
INDEX
A
Adams, President John, 127
Angulo, Governor de, 59
Animals, wild, 50
Asphalt, 232, 233
Autonomy, 143, 178
B
Babeque, 6, 7
Bacon, Hon. Robert, 160
Bacon's Rebellion, 144
Ballou, M.M., 31, 32, 71
Banes, 113
Baracoa, 12, 91, 100, 114
Batabano, 12, 116
Baths, 52
Bellamar, Caves of, 42,110
Belligerent rights, 136, 140, 157, 158, 181
_Bermuda_, 189, 197
Bertram, Luis, 14
Betancourt, Salvador Cisneros, 174
Black Eagle conspiracy, 147
_Black Warrior_, 131
Blanco, General Ramon, 178
Bolivia, 126
Bolivar, Simon, 124, 185
Bonds, Cuban, 175
Boston sugar plantation, 113
Buchanan, President, 130
C
Cabaña, 57, 60
Cabinet, Cuban, 250
Cabrera, Raimundo, 135
Cadiz, 20
Caibarien, 102
Callahan, James M., 125, 139, 152
Camaguey, city, 105, 110, 111
Camaguey, province, 40, 109
Cardenas, 101
Casa de Beneficencia, 24
Castillo del Principe, 57, 60, 71, 83
Cathay, 3
Cathedral, Havana, 63
Cattle, 17, 235
Cauto river, 43
Caves, 42
Cemetery, Colon, 83
Census Reports, United States, 27, 35, 44, 144, 236
Cespedes, Carlos Manuel,154, 155
Channing, Edward, 142, 143
Chaparra sugar plantation, 113
Ciego de Avila, 106
Cienaga de Zapata, 43, 51
Cienfuegos, 102
Cigars, 224, 225, 254
Cipango, 2, 5
Clerks' Associations, 251
Climate, 45 et seq.
Coal, 232
Coffee, 23, 36, 226, et seq.
Colonies, American in Cuba, 12, 120
Colonies, British, 19, 236
Colonies, Spanish, 19, 21, 123, 126
Columbia, 124, 145
Columbus, Christopher
Death and remains, 63
Describes Cuba, 3, 4, 7
Discovers Cuba, 2
Extract from journal, 2
Letter to Sanchez, 3
Memorial to, 64
Mistaken belief, 2, 3, 5, 8
Report to Spanish sovereigns, 7
Second expedition, 7
Commerce, 21, 22, 35, 36, 156, 253, 254, 257
_Commodore_, 193, 195, 197
Constitutional Convention, 247
Constitution, Cuban, 154, 245, 246
Constitution, Spanish, 29, 145, 159
Copper, 231, 232
Cordoba, de, 12
Cortes, Hernan, 13, 58
Cortes, Spanish, 29, 176
Crittenden, Col., 150
Cuba:
Aborigines, 14, 15.
Advice to visitors, 55.
American attitude toward, 135, 137, 140.
Annexation proposed, 125 et seq.
Animals, wild, 49.
Area, 37.
Climate and temperature, 45 et seq.
Colonized, 12.
Commerce, 21, 22, 35, 36, 156, 253, 254, 257.
Conquest by Velasquez, II.
Described by Columbus, 3, 4, 7.
Description, general, 37 et seq.
Discovered, 2.
Expeditions from, 13, 14.
Flora, 48.
Forests, 49.
Future of, 258.
Insects, 51.
Intervention by United States, 25, 160, 182, 242.
Mineral springs, 52.
Monopolies in, 20, 144, 220, 231.
Monroe Doctrine, 127.
Nineteenth Century, 142.
Population, 17, 23, 34.
Railways, 89, 91.
Relations with United States, 122 et seq., 247, 248.
Republic of, 182.
Revolutions, 141 et seq.
Roads, 87, 95, 96.
Self-government, 243.
Slavery in, 15, 16, 23, 125, 145, 155.
Spanish Governors, 24, 32.
Spanish policy in, 17, 19 et seq. 24, 31.
Trade restrictions, 20, 21, 24, 25, 30.
Taxation, Spanish, 24, 27, 28, 30.
Villages, 85, 93, 94, 100
_Cuba and the Intervention_, 154, 164
Cushing, Caleb, 138
Custom house, 62
D
_Dauntless_, 193, 194, 197, 199, 200
Delicias sugar plantation, 113
Dexter, Lord Timothy, 216
Domestic life, 80
E
EARTHQUAKES, 53
Elections, 240, 250
Elson, Henry William, 186
England, 19, 128, 130, 139, 145
Everett, Alexander H., 130
F
FILIBUSTERING expeditions, 148 et seq., 184 et seq.
Firemen, 83
Fish, Secretary, 157
Flora, 48
Florida, 13
Forests, 48, 49
Fortifications, 59, 60
France, 128, 145
Fritot, Alphonso, 196, 199
Fruits, 5, 229
Fuerza, la, 17, 58, 59
G
Garcia, General Calixto, 84, 190
Geerligs, H.C. Prinsen, 206
Gibara, 112
Gold, 2, 6, 231
Gomez, General Maximo, 84, 158, 164, 172, 174. Proclamations, 167 et seq.
Government, 250
Grant, President, 135 et seq.
Guane, 101
Guantanamo, 91, 115
Guines, 90
H
Haiti, 9, 10, 144
Harbors, 44
Hart, John D., 191, 197
Hatuey, 8 et seq.
Havana:
Bells, church, 65.
British occupation, 20.
Capital, 20, 59.
Cathedral, 63.
Changes in, 66, 67, 82, 85.
Commerce limited to, 20.
Destroyed, 17, 58, 59.
Discovered, 12, 57.
Early conditions, 61.
Excursions from, 97 et seq.
Firemen, 83.
Fortifications, 59, 60.
Homes in, 77 et seq.
Las Casas as governor, 24.
Market, fish, 74.
Name, origin of, 58.
New City, 70 et seq.
Old city, 54 et seq.
Parks, 70, 71.
_Paseo_, 75.
Public buildings, 62 et seq.
Sanitation of, 63.
Settled 12, 58.
Shopping in, 68.
Streets 61, 71.
Suburbs, 85.
Sunrise in harbor, 54.
Theatre, Nacional, 71 et seq.
Havana, province, 38, 41
Hayes, President, 136
Hazard, Samuel, 33, 65, 111
Henry, Patrick, 143
Heredia, José Maria, 146
Hill, Robert T., 39, 48
Holguin, 113
Hotels, 91, 111
Homes, 77 et seq.
Humboldt, Baron Alexander, 8, 14, 15, 16, 35, 53
Hurricanes, 53
I
Imports and Exports, 253, 256
Independence, 162 et seq.
Insect life, 51
Intervention, First, 25, 182, 242
Intervention, Second, 160
Iron ore, 233, 234
Irving, Washington, 4, 5, 6
Isle of Pines, 8, 116, 117 et seq.
J
Jefferson, Thomas, 122
Joint Resolution of 1898, 242
Jolo, 54
Juana, 2, 4
Jucaro, 106
Junta, 164, 174, 188
K
Kimball, R.B. 32
L
Las Casas, Bartolomé, 9, 14
Las Casas, Governor Luis de, 24
_Laurada_, 193 et seq.
Lemus, José Francisco, 146
Llorente, Pedro, 246
Lodge, Henry Cabot, 123
Lopez, Narciso, 148 et seq.
Ludlow, General William, 63
M
Maceo, General Antonio, 99, 164, 172, 174
McKinley, President, 122, 178, 179
Magoon, Charles E., 160
_Maine_, battleship, 179
Maisi, Cape, 7, 8, 38, 115
Malecon, 75
Manufactures, 234
Marti, José, 164, 166
Marti, the smuggler, 72 et seq.
Martinez Campos, General, 158, 165, 166, 177.
Maso, Bartolomé, 165, 174
Massachusetts rebellion, 144
Matanzas, city, 41, 101
Matanzas, province, 41
Menocal, General Mario, 241, 244
Mexico, 13, 58, 124, 145
Minerals, 231 et seq.
Mineral springs, 52
Miranda, Francisco, 126, 185
Monopolies, 20, 144, 220, 231.
Monroe Doctrine, 127
Monroe, President, 129
Monuments:
Firemen's, 83, 84
Students', 84
Moret law, 16
Morgan, Henry, no
Morro Castle, 17, 57, 59, 60
Mountains, 5, 41, 93
Murielo, 13
N
NARVAEZ, 13
Navigation acts, British, 19, 144
Nelson, Hugh, 127
Nipe Bay, 2, 91, 113, 114
Nuevitas, 2, 3, 110, 111, 112
Nuñez, General Emilio, 191, 192, 199
O
O'BRIEN, "Dynamite Johnny," 189, et seq.
Ocampo, Sebastian de, 8, 12, 57
Oriente, province, 40, 41
Ostend Manifesto, 133
Otis, James, 143
P
PALACE, Governor's, 64
Palma, Tomas Estrada y, 162, 174, 192
Palms, 5, 7, 48, 49
Panama Congress (1826), 126
Parks, Havana, 70, 71
Parties, Political, 159, 176, 237, 238, 240, 244
Pearcy _v_. Stranahan, 120
Pepper, Charles M., 105, 134, 152, 176
Petroleum, 233
Pierce, President, 130, 132, 151
Pinar del Rio, city, 101
Pinar del Rio, province, 41
Platt Amendment, 118, 247 et seq., 255
Politics, 252
Polk, President, 130
Ponce de Leon, 13
Population, 14, 17, 23, 34
Porto Rico, 118
Prado, 71, 75
Preston sugar plantation, 113
Puerto de Carenas, 12, 57
Puerto Principe, see Camaguey
Punta, la, 17
Q
QUITMAN expedition, 151
R
RAILWAYS, 89, 91
Rainfall, 46
Real estate speculation, 120
Reciprocity treaty, 255, 258
Reconcentration, 177
"Relations," question of, 247, 248
Remedios, 102
Revolutions, 19, 141 et seq.
of 1868, 153 et seq.
of 1895, 162 et seq.
of 1906, 159, 160
Rhodes, James Ford, 131
Rivers, 43 44
Roads, 87, 95, 96
Rubens, Horatio, S., 165, 181, 191, 192, 195
Ruskin, John, 56
S
Saco, Antonio, 31
Sagua la Grande, 101
Sanchez, Rafael, 3
Sancti Spiritus, 12, 91, 104
Santa Clara, city, 102
Santa Clara, province, 40
Santangel, Luis de, 4
Santiago de Cuba, 12, 13, 20, 115, 116
Santo Domingo, 7
Seville, 20
Slavery, 15, 16, 23, 125, 145, 155
Smuggling, 21, 26
Snakes, 50
Sociedad Economica, 24
Sociedad Patriotica, 24
Soles de Bolivar, 146
Soto, Hernando de, 13, 14, 17, 58
Soule, Pierre, 132, 133
Spain, 17, 19, 24, 29, 123 et seq., 145, 236
Spanish-American independence, 126
Sugar, 113, 203 et seq.
Beet sugar, 208
Countries producing, 209
History, 207
In Cuba, 210
Manufacture of, 204, 213
Muscovado, 205
Origin of, 206
Planting and cutting, 213 et seq.
Production of, 209, 254, 256
Supreme Court, United States, 120
T
Tacon, Governor Miguel, 32, 33, 70, 71 et seq.
Taft, Hon. William H., 99, 160
Tariff, Spanish, 21, 25
Taxes, 24, 27, 30, 163
Taylor, President, 148
Teller Amendment, 182
Temperance question, 76
Temperature, 45 et seq.
Templete, el, 64
Ten Years' War, 16, 134, 135 et seq., 153 et seq.
Thrasher, J.S., 15, 29
_Three Friends_, 193 et seq.
_Tillie_, wreck of the, 210
Times, New York, 150
Tobacco, 36, 102, 221, 222
Cultivation in Cuba, 223
History, 219 et seq.
Origin, 218
Use in Cuba, 225
Trade restricted, 20, 24, 25, 30
Transportation, 90
Treaty of Paris, 118, 182
Trinidad, 12, 91, 100, 103
Turnbull, David, 25
U
UNITED STATES:
Diplomatic correspondence, 125 et seq.
Mediation offered, 156
Presidential messages, 125, 135, 136, 137, 158, 178, 179, 180, 184
Relations with Cuba, 122 et seq., 179
V
Valmaseda proclamation, 156
Varona, Enrique José, 153
Vedado, el, 82
Vegetable products, 228 et seq.
Velasquez, 8, 58
Villages, 85, 93
_Virginius_ affair, 116, 137, 185
Volantes, 88
W
Welles, Gideon, 186
Weyler, General Valeriano, 177, 198
Wilson, Henry, 125
Y
Yumuri valley, 41
Z
Zanjon, treaty of, 158
End of Project Gutenberg's Cuba, Old and New, by Albert Gardner Robinson