"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 |
| 967,612 | 271,888 | |
| Local consumption | 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 uncertain one. It is said that the tobacco growers, disgusted with their treatment, have always been in favor of the revolutionists.
The mineral riches of the island have never been exploited to any considerable extent and yet it is known that they are by no means unimportant. Gold and silver exist. Some specimens of the finest gold have been obtained, but at an expense of time and labor that could not remunerate the parties engaged in the enterprise. There are copper mines near Santiago of large extent and very rich in ore. There are also several iron mines. Numerous deposits of manganese have been found in the Sierra Maestra range. As nearly all the manganese used in the United States comes from the Black Sea, it is thought that these mines will prove very valuable, when the conditions for operating them are more favorable. Bituminous coal is very abundant. Marble, jasper and slate are also to be found in many parts of the island.
The trade of the United States with Cuba since 1891 is given as follows by the bureau of statistics, Treasury Department: