Show CUBAN C U FACTS res rates A A 91 ai J A 0 air view st havana harbor prepared by national geographic society washington D C Q service nud economic condl P POLITICAL in cuba are of interest to the people of the united states not only because the island republic Is 18 a neighbor but because millions million of dollars of american capital are invested in cuban commerce and indusi tries 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 pasto 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 tire are relentlessly attacked by jealous waves yet within these stern barriers are green rolling hills dotted with royal palms luxurious valleys bursting with verdure are aio shadowed by towering mountains where rock ant ami jungle stand guard in secondary defense against mans onslaught even today more than one third of its area remains primeval forest I 1 summer days in cubas higher altitudes are so hot it would seem needless to lug aang blankets if mountaineering tai Is the hobby yet the nights ore are surprisingly cold it Is an iniard of extreme wealth and dire poverty a land oi of sugar to baboo exotic fruits and agriculture of mining oil drilling and business of speeding airplanes automobiles and plodding oxcarts ox carts cuba is often callei the island of B n hundred harbors for it Is literally toothed with inlets and bays these together with its many keys 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 iravani II avani santiago guanta gianta namo damo and cienfuegos 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 miny many of the others will accommodate ships of more than average displacement of the larger latin american republics the island is nearest to europe lind 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 if IE you yon could lift the island bodily and lay it on the united states with the easternmost point cape maisl resting oil new york city you would find that the other tip Japo Cape san antonio would extend some miles beyond chicago or if moved slightly to the north would rest exactly on milwaukee the width varies from 25 to miles the island supports a population ula tion including the isle of pines of nearly people this Thi clatter island largest and most important of many that dot the cuban coastline lying to the south of the western end of cuba was named for the many varieties of pines that grow on it its chief cl claim alm to fame however lh Is its e excellent xcell ent climate its flue fine marble quarries and its mineral springs to most people cuba of course suggests cats sugar and tob tobacco neco vaille these two commodities are the chief products yet by no means unimportant are the me mining districts oil fields asphalt deposits and numerous other natural resources sugar cane Is grown throughout the island but the province of Ca maguey leads in its production with oriente second alore allore than half of the total sugar crop la Is provided by those these two easternmost provinces habana province Is rich while tobacco also may maw be grown almost anywhere on the island three quarters of the total crop Is grown in jinar del rio nio pro province yince at the extreme western end of cuba with ila iia bann bana and sarta sacta clara provinces supplying the remaining one quarter habana province although the smallest Is the richest and roost most ini du portion of the island it has sugar mills model dairy farms grows tobacco oranges pineapples and other fruits and Is rich in mineral resources it Is best known however for its cigar and cigarette factories it supplies approximately half of cubas exports and consumes two thirds of its total imports Import sl 1 like other countries cuba has 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 ench each other may be seen by examining the figures relating to cubas foreign commerce they show the united states as the largest factor in this exchange with the united kingdom coming second in 1932 the united states took of the total exports of the island and tor for the same year the total imports into cuba amounted to the united states supplying of that amount compare those figures with the 1927 statistics which show total imports of and exports from cuba of on the other hand american investments in 1027 were calculated at one and a half billion dollars by 1932 this figure was raised to the bulk of these investments are in sugar properties but large larg e sums also a are re in reil real et estate afe ralli railroads ondi public utilities and government bonds in view of the fact that the bulk of cubas foreign trade Is with the united states and that the american monetary investments in the island are tremendous men dous whatever touches cuba affects many americans and whatever happens in the united states affects cuba we fought a war with spain that cost many american lives and many millions of dollars both at the time arid and in subsequent pensions to spanish war veterans in order to help cuba I 1 gain ain her freedom 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 total investment in the sugar industry Is capital from the united states and closed them in the face of cuba where the capital invested Is 84 per cent from the united states cuba formerly imported practically all of her lour flour and eggs from the united states under the depressed depress bd sugar augar 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 1027 she imported SC worth of wheat flour from the united states in 1032 1932 she purchased only 2948 OW for the same years the value of fresh eggs purchased in the united states dropped from to zero canned vegetable a fell from to lard from to and so on all decreases more or less directly traceable to the fact that the price of sugar fell from ac 69 cents per pound in 1927 to as low as 57 of a cent in may alay of an evidence of this change is observed in the growth of home manu facture 4 shirts underwear shoes straw hats and linen suits are being made on a scale never before known A large Amer american ienn manufacturer of shirts and underwear sensing the change has erected a factory in cuba to meet the demand for home products I 1 the production of cotton and rayon socks and stockings has become ani important industry and local manu j facture rs are turning out rayon garments for women the dried beef industry which plays a major part in the islands food supply Is ia growing and canning factories have recently been established for tomatoes pineapples and other products two factories are engaged in madrig cans I 1 |