government almost trebled the cost to the planter.

In times of peace, the sugar production of Cuba averaged a million of
tons a year, but this is nothing like what the island might be made to
yield under a decent government and proper enterprise. It has been
estimated that if all the land suitable to the growth of sugar cane were
devoted to that industry, Cuba might supply the entire western
hemisphere with sugar.

Mr. Gollan, the British consul general, says:

"Until a very recent date the manufacture of sugar and the growing of
the cane in Cuba were extremely profitable undertakings, and the reasons
for their prosperity may be stated as:

"1. The excellence of the climate and the fertility of the soil, which
allow of large crops of good cane. The rainfall, about 50 inches, is so
distributed that irrigation is not a necessity, though it would in many
cases be advisable.

"2. The great movement toward the centralization of the estates which
took place in the early eighties, planters having understood the value
of large sugar houses and overcome their difficulty in this way.

"3. The proximity of the United States, affording, as it does, a cash
market for the sugar."

To show how the sugar trade has been injured by the Cuban uprising, the
following figures are of interest:

Description. Tons in 1895. Tons in 1896.

Exports 832,431 235,628
Stocks 135,181 36,260
---------- ----------

Local consumption 967,612 271,888
50,000 40,000
---------- ----------
1,017,612 311,888

Stock on January 1
(previous crop) 13,348 86,667
--------- -------
Total production 1,004,264 225,221

The decrease in 1895-96 was 779,043 tons, equivalent to 77.574 per cent.

While the tobacco crop of some portions of Cuba is unsurpassed, notably
that of Vuelta Alajo and of Mayari, it is of excellent quality all over
the island, the poorest of it being quite as good as that of Hayti. The
entire crop is estimated at $10,000,000 annually. Yet, owing to the
extortions of the government, which loaded it with restrictions and
exactions of every description, the tobacco industry has always been an
uncer