Sugar and candy 19,941 35,911 Tobacco, manufactured 59,658 61,494 Vegetables 380,802 978,261 Wire 118,214 321,120 Wood, and manufactures of 1,110,946 2,881,095 All other 820,987 701,656 ----------- ----------- Total $11,297,198 $23,604,094 [Illustration: SUGAR-CANE SCALES.] "The Western Railway of Havana, now in English hands, and recently extended from Havana to Pinar del Rio, in the heart of the finest tobacco region of the Island, has called largely upon the United States for its new work. Many hundred feet of iron bridging were furnished and erected by the Union Bridge Company of New York, the railway company being satisfied with the price, and their engineer, as well as the government inspectors, satisfied with the work. The cement used was also wholly or largely American, the American being adopted rather than the English, somewhat reluctantly, by their engineer, on account of the greatly reduced cost. The stone used for bridge-seats was American granite, and highly praised to me by the engineer, who, being a Scotchman, was naturally a good judge of the material. The fact merits attention, in estimating the value of the Cuban market, that the people are heavy buyers. There is very little saving practised. I do not think there is a single savings bank on the Island.... As a rule, all the money received is freely spent, particularly by the poorer and middle classes, who, of course, form the bulk of the population. Probably the pernicious system of government lotteries has something to do with the absence of saving, as the practice of purchasing tickets is as widespread among the poor as it is destructive and demoralising. Probably, too, the character of the climate and the consequent ease of living prevent people from devoting much forethought to a future that they do not dread, for there is really very little of that pinching want ever felt in Cuba which recent hard times have brought to notice in our own country. Be the cause what it may, the fact remains that all the Cubans are prodigal in their expenditures, which goes far to account for the immense quantities of goods consumed and paid for by a comparatively small population. "Enough has been said, I think, to show that Cuba offers a most inviting field for American enterprise. Her prosperity and even her very existence may be said to depend upon her commercial relations with the United States; the two are bound together by the strong ties of mutual interest, and everything points to the fact that, commercially, Cuba should be ours....