Show CUBAN C urb A N FACTS F A V 54 7 f M if i e p V V air view of havana harbor prepared b by national Goo graphic society was washington 1 ast on D C service BerTl ce and economic conditions athe POLITICAL in cuba aro are of interest to the people of the united states not only because the island republic Is a neighbor but because millions of dollars of american capital ore are invested in cuban commerce and industries and because the island has become a popular american playground like a gally gaily attired spanish senorita cuba charms the eye and the glamour of a lurid past with its pages of piratical plundering pomp and high adventure with which it Is so romantically manti cally linked quickens interest from the moment it Is sighted on the horizon the island presents many contrasts sea defenses of time mellowed rock are ara relentlessly attacked by jealous waves yet within these stern barriers are green rolling hills dotted with royal palms luxurious valleys bursting with verdure are shadowed by towering mountains ahers rock and jungle stand guard in secondary defense against mans onslaught even today more than one third of its area remains primeval forest 1 summer days in cubas higher altitudes are so hot it would seem needless to lug along blankets if mountaineering tai Is esthe the hobby yet the nights are surprisingly cold it Is an island of extreme wealth and dire poverty a land of sugar to baboo exotic fruits and agriculture of mining oil drilling and business of speeding airplanes automobiles and plodding oxcarts ox carts a land of flash ing eyed and the soft seductive perfume of the tropics cuba Is often called the island of a hundred harbors for it la Is literally toothed with inlets and bays these together with its many beys offered ideal hiding places supplied with fresh fruits and water to those navigators who knew their way about while the broad expanse of the harbors of havana santiago gianta guanta namo name and cienfuegos Clen fuegos accessible only through narrow inlets afforded the utmost protection for the less brave crossroads for shipping today with modern wharves and port equipment vessels of any length or draft can be easily handled in several of the harbors and many of the others will accommodate ships of more than average displacement of the larger latin american republics the island Is nearest to europe and next to mexico nearest to the united states it Is the crossroads for shipping between many ports of europe or the united states and central or south america it you could lift the island bodily and lay it on the united states with the easternmost point cape aalst resting on new york city you would find that the other tip cape san antonio would extend some miles beyond chicago or it if moved slightly to the north would rest exactly on milwaukee the width varies from 25 to miles allies the island supports a population ula tion including the isle of pines of nearly people this latter island largest and most important of many that dot the cuban coastline lying to the south of thel the western end of cuba was named for the many varieties of pines that grow on it its chief claim to fame however Is Us its excellent climate its fine marble quarries and its mineral springs here it was that the welsh fere brand sir henry morgan and cornelius Pe jola came to assemble their men and harass the unhappy residents r esi dents of those days to most moat people cuba of course suggests sugar and tobacco while these two commodities are the chief products yet by no means unimportant are the mining districts oil fields asphalt deposits find and numerous other natural resources including a delightful climate mutt sugar cane Is grown throughout the island but the province of Cn Ca maguey leads in its production with oriente second more afore than half of the total sugar crop Is provided by these two easternmost provinces while tobacco also may be grown almost anywhere ot ob the island three quarters of the total crop is grown in pinar alnar del rio hlo province at the extreme western end of cuba with habana and santa clara provinces supplying the remaining one quarter habana province Is rich habana province although the smallest Is the richest and most industrial du portion of the island it has sugar model dairy farms grows tobacco oranges pineapples and othet fruits and Is rich in mineral resources it Is best known however for its cigar and cigarette factories it approximately halt of cubas exports and consumes two thirds of its total Im imports portal I 1 like other countries cuba has hag undergone some painful economic and political experiences in the past few years the old order depending perhaps too much on sugar values and tobacco for income and importing most of the necessaries of life to the statistically minded the importance of cuba and the united states to each other may bo be seen by examining the figures relating to cubas foreign commerce they show the united states as the largest fac tor in this exchange with the united kingdom coming second in 1932 the tha united states took of the tha total exports of the alie island and for the same year the total imports into cuba amounted to the united states supplying at of that amount compare those figures with the 1027 statistics which show total imports of and exports from cuba of on the other hand american investments in 1927 were calculated at one ona and a halt billion dollars by 1932 this figure was raised to the tha bulk of these investments are in sugar properties but large sums also are in real estate railroads public utilities and government bonds in view of the fact that the bulk 01 ol cubas foreign trade Is with the united t states and that the american monetary investments in the island are tremendous men dous whatever touches cuba affects many Amer americans leans and whatever happens in the united states affects cuba we fought a war with spain that cost many american lives and many millions million of dollars both at the until and in subsequent peu pensions to spanish wai war veter veterans arf ln in order to 16 help cuba gain her fre freedom edorn and place her fairly upon the path of economic progress years later an american tariff deeply affected the island supplying her own needs the cubans point out that the tariff threw united states doors wide open to importation of sugar from the philippines ip where only 40 per cent of the tha total investment in the sugar industry Is capital from the united states and closed them in the face of cuba where the capital invested la Is 84 pet cent from the united states cuba formerly imported practically all of her flour and eggs from the tha united states under the depressed sugar prices she embarked upon a program of development of local industries dus tries and diversification of manufactures fac tures to supply her own needs in 1927 she imported worth of wheat flour from the united states in 1932 she purchased only for the same years the value of fresh eggs purchased in the united states dropped from to zero canned vegetables fell from to lard from to and so on all decreases more or less directly traceable to the tha fact that the price of sugar fell from cents per pound in 1927 to as low as 57 of a cent in may of I 1 an evidence of this change Is observed in the growth of home manufactures fac tures shirts underwear shoes straw hats and linen suits are being made on a scale never before known A large american manufacturer ot of shirts and underwear sensing the change has erected a factory in cuba to meet the demand tor for home prod acts the production of cotton and rayon socks seeks and stockings has become an important industry and local manufacturers rs are turning out rayon garments for women the dried beef in industry which plays playa a major part la in the islands food supply Is growing and canning factories have recently been established tor for tomatoes pineapples and other products two factories are engaged in making cans during normal times one can pass weeks traveling around the picturesque island for there are some good roads the beautiful rolling country dotted with quaint palm thatched huts and the stately royal palms like huge feather dusters are never end ing sources of delight the open fields are eye filling scenes of green splashed here and there with other colors the new central highway now spans the island from pinar del rio hlo to santiago a total distance of miles it was built at a cost of 1200 and Is a fine piece of road there aro are no railroad crossings tor for all such points have been elther either over or un der passed nor are gasoline stations permitted to establish pumps at t the he roadside they must be set back far enough so that any vehicle stopping tor for service will be off tho the highway and cause no obstruction to traffic |