YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
ree 20 >3o

OUE OOMMEEOE WITH
teTO RICO, AND MEXICO.
i
 ' By C. C. ANDREWS.
[Reprinted from the Atlantic Monthly for July, 1879.]

That eminent liberal Spanish lead
er, Emilio Castelar, in a speech in the
Chamber of Deputies, in 1872, in regard
to Cuba and Porto Kico, said, " How
these islands are moving away from the
American continent, and drawing near
er to tbe European ! "
Well, indeed, might he make such a
significant exclamation; for the illiberal
commercial policy of Spain, her monopo
lies and tariffs, has been continually re
moving those islands farther and farther
away from the United States. Although
the magnificent island of Cuba — the
pearl of the Antilles — is almost visible
from our own shores, yet for all purposes
of export trade with her she is about as
distant from our country as the Sand
wich Islands. Indeed, for such purposes
she is more distant; for our exports to
the Sandwich Islands, proportionately to
their population, are about eight times
the amount of those to Cuba.
The Spanish West Indies, Cuba and
Porto Rico together, have a population of
a little over two millions. Cuba itself is
seven hundred miles long, with an av
erage breadth of eighty miles, and pos
sesses resources which, if they were de
veloped, would sustain a population of
twelve millions. Its surface, though for
the most part very slightly undulating
and covered with dense forests, is fine
ly diversified. A mountain range runs
through its whole length near the cen
tre, the highest elevations, naked and
rocky, being eight thousand feet above
the sea. It has numerous rivers well

stocked with fish, and many beautiful
and fertile valleys. One of its cascades
is remarkable for beauty. Its hill-sides
and defiles are clothed with a variety of
hard-wood trees of the evergreen spe
cies, of which the more valuable are the
mahogany, which grows there to a huge
size, the lignum vitae, and the ebony.
The palm, " queen of the Cuban for
ests," with its deep green plumage; the
giant -leaved and prolific banana and
plantain, resembling tall Indian corn;
the cocoa, with its weeping foliage; and
the " prim orange," are abundant. Two
hundred sorts of birds are native to the
island. Marble of fine quality is found
in the mountains, and there are valuable
mines of copper. Coffee has been culti
vated on the lower hill slopes with suc
cess, and its production could be largely
extended. The Cuban tobacco has pecul
iar value, and is sought for the world
over, the Americans alone being pur
chasers of over two million dollars' worth
of cigars from there every year. Cuba's
principal crop, however, is sugar, which •
amounts in value to over one hundred
million dollars a year. Her advantage
in its production over Louisiana, for ex
ample, is that in Cuba there is a space
of four or five months, when all the me
chanical work must be done, between
the time when enough cane is ripe to
justify starting the mills and the time
when the cane begins to spoil; whereas
in Louisiana this period is only about
two months. Though some of Cuba's
coast lands are subject to overflow, she

NffG<r

rV

Our Commerce with Cuba, Porto Rioo, and Mexico.

is uncommonly well supplied with fine
harbors. Of her cities, Havana, the
capital, has a population of two hundred
and thirty -five thousand, Santiago de
Cuba forty thousand, and Matanzas thir
ty-seven thousand. The sumptuous mar
ble mansions of its capital, with their
lofty porticoes and long colonnades, in
dicate something of its tropical wealth
and luxury. Its cafe's and restaurants
are said to be but little inferior to those
of Paris.
The United States annually import
from Cuba fifty million dollars' worth of
brown sugar; and as neither that island
nor Porto Bico is able to raise wheat,
yet requires large quantities of wheat
flour for consumption, the United States
ought, by good rights, on account of their
nearness and facilities for supplying the
article, to export annually to those isl
ands ten million dollars' worth of flour.
Assuming that the consumption of flour
in those islands is the same as in other
civilized communities, that is, three quar
ters of a pound of bread per day to each
inhabitant, equivalent to one barrel of
flour a year to each inhabitant, we find
that they would require at least two mill
ion barrels of flour a year, which at six
dollars a barrel would amount to twelve
million dollars. Owing, however, to the
high and virtually prohibitory Spanish
duty on flour, the export of that article
from this country to Cuba and Porto
Rico amounted, for the fiscal year end
ing June 30, 1878, to less than three
hundred thousand dollars.
That high duty applies to flour of
wheat imported into Cuba from foreign
ports in foreign vessels ; and though it
does not expressly, yet it does substan
tially, discriminate against the United
States. And it has long, though in vain,
been complained of. As long ago as
1792, President Washington communi
cated to Congress a report by his sec
retary of state, Thomas Jefferson, in
which the latter, referring to our trade
with the Spanish West Indies, stated
that the Spanish " duty on flour affects'
us very much, and other nations very
little." So one reads, in Niles's Reg
ister of June 17, 1820, that two large

French ships from Spain had arrived at
Havana with cargoes of flour, which
were admitted at such low rates of duty
as would stop the export of flour from
the United States to Cuba if the discrim
ination continued.
From time to time for about a century
back, our presidents, secretaries of state,
envoys, consuls, and political economists
have directed attention to the heavy cus
toms duty, or tariff, laid by Spain on
American flour imported into her West
Indian possessions. Nothing, however,
seems ever to have been done towards
lessening it, especially in late years ;
and the duty at the present time on flour
of wheat imported into Cuba in any
other vessels than Spanish is at the rate
of $5.51 per one hundred kilograms, with
twenty-five per cent, war subsidy addi
tional. This is at the rate of six dollars
and twelve cents duty per barrel, net
weight of one hundred and ninety - six
pounds, and is essentially prohibitory.
The pretended object of the duty is
to give a monopoly to a few traders in
Spain, and to " protect" agriculture in
Spain ; whereas the United States consul
at Barcelona reports, " Farmers are till
ing their lands in the same antiquated
style as handed down to them by their
ancestors, and cannot be persuaded to
use modern American implements."
The tax, which of course is highly op
pressive to the Cubans themselves, seems
all the more unreasonable, because in
modern times the ports of those nations
which are the most advanced in civiliza
tion — certainly those of Great Britain,
Holland, Belgium, Hamburg, and of the
Scandinavian countries — admit flour
free of duty, since it is an article of food
of prime necessity. It is injurious to the
American wheat producers, who in them
selves, as a general rule, unite the qual
ities of proprietor and laborer ; who even
under favorable circumstances seldom
clear more than ordinary wages. And
it seems peculiarly to affect those who
are growing wheat in the Upper Missis
sippi Valley (on the very plains owned
by Spain a century and a quarter ago),
and who naturally think that some of
their products should be shipped down

Our Commerce with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Mexico.

the Mississippi and to the West Indian
ports so near its mouth. The tax is felt,
too, by American flour manufacturers,
whose enterprise and skill of late years
have carried their art to great perfec
tion, making it in some localities a pre
dominant industry, and who have to
seek markets for their goods in distant
_ countries. Twenty -five thousand bar
rels of flour are now shipped every week
from the mills of Minneapolis alone, —
a greater quantity than was exported
from the United States to Cuba during
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1878.
The average cost of shipping flour from
Minneapolis or St. Paul to Boston or
New York by rail is sixty cents a barrel.
From the latter cities to Havana by
steamer — a voyage of five days — the
freight is fifty cents a barrel. The
choicest quality of the Minnesota " pa
tent " flour is now quoted in the New
York and Boston markets at eight dol
lars per barrel at wholesale. It may be
supposed that the average price of flour
shipped to Havana is now six dollars a
barrel, so that when it reaches that city
it is met with a custom tax nearly or
quite equal to its cost, with freight add
ed. This forcibly illustrates the absurd
ly excessive rate of the duty.
There are other goods, such as provis
ions, which the United States, more read
ily than any other country, could furnish
to Cuba, but upon which, considering that
they are necessaries, the duties are quite
high. The duty on lard imported from
the United States into Cuba in Ameri
can vessels is six cents per pound; on
butter eight cents per pound; on cheese
from five to fifteen cents per pound, ac
cording to class and quality. Even in
Porto Rico, where the duties have usually
been lower than in Cuba, the duty on
American pork amounts to $2.50 per
barrel. The duty on common cotton
prints or calicoes imported into Cuba
from the United States in American ves
sels is 34J$ cents per kilogram, and the
twenty-five per cent, war subsidy in ad
dition, which is at the rate of 2£ cents
a yard of twenty - four inches in width.
On calf-skin boots and shoes for men the
duty is $1.20 a pair. The duty on the

same goods would be about twenty-five
per cent, less when imported from Eu
ropean or other ports in Spanish ves
sels. Naturally, the heavy discrimina
tion which Spain makes against our flour
and certain other goods tends to preju
dice our export of cotton manufactures
to Cuba. During the year ending June
30, 1878, the total value of the exports of
manufactures of cotton from the United
States to Cuba and Porto Rico togeth
er was only $95,246. During the year
1877, nearly a corresponding period,
Great Britain exported to Cuba and
Porto Rico cotton manufactures of the
value of £1,184,991, or very nearly six
million dollars' worth; in fact, sixty times
as much as were exported to those isl
ands from the United States.
Another class of Americans, besides
agriculturists and manufacturers, who
are injured by Spanish monopoly in Cuba
is that of seamen. To foster our coast
ing trade has always been regarded as
a matter of high national importance.
Our trade with Cuba lies in the very
path from our Atlantic to our Gulf ports.
It belongs to the coasting trade. And
what is more, a part of it belongs to our
coasting sail-shipping, which should al
ways be favored, but which has so de
clined of late that those who a few years
ago were masters of good vessels are now
glad to take the position of mate !
Not only is our trade with Cuba bur
dened by high duties, but it suffers still
further obstruction from the irregular
and oppressive manner in which the du
ties are estimated and collected. The
American flag is in such poor favor at
Havana that vessels carrying it have to
pay considerably higher tonnage duties
than are paid by vessels under other
flags, and particularly those of Great
Britain and Germany, although such
duties purport to apply equally to all
countries. This statement would seem
incredible, were it not vouched for by
the United States consul-general at Ha
vana, an officer who has had ten years'
experience at his post. In a commu
nication to the department of state,
dated November 2, 1877, he illustrates
the " gross injustice " done our shipping

Our Commerce with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Mexico.

interests by the system of assessing ton
nage duties at Havana. He gives exam
ples of it as it was applied to eighteen
fishing vessels — the humblest of our
crafts, and such as, if any, would be like
ly to receive fair treatment — out of
thirty of these vessels which habitually
trade between Key West and Havana.
He states, —
" The aggregate of the sums paid by
these eighteen vessels to the Havana
custom-house for tonnage dues during
the year 1876 was $8934.93. The same
number of Spanish vessels of the same
tonnage, and making an equal or a
greater number of voyages to the United
States, would have paid there during
the same period $190.80, or $1 to $46.83
paid by the American vessels in Cuba.
" The aggregate register tonnage of
these vessels is 635.92 tons. In the ab
sence of a reciprocal arrangement be
tween the United States and Spain, the
Spanish admeasurers of Havana, in read-
measuring these vessels, augmented their
aggregate tonnage 216.42 tons, or about
thirty-four per cent, over their American
tonnage; a gross injustice, against which
all ihe remonstrances of this office and of
the masters were at that time of no avail.
At the same time the vessels of Ger
many, Great Britain, and other countries
whose systems of admeasurements are
the same as those of the United States
were admitted to entry upon their regis
ters. Thus, had these vessels been under
the British or German flag, they would
have paid thirty - four per cent, less in
tonnage dues than was paid by the
American vessels."
The consul-general, Mr. Hall, adds:
" There are many other difficulties un
der which our vessels labor in the ports
of Cuba, which have been brought to
the notice of the department frequently
during the past ten years." In view of
the facts just quoted, the secretary of
state, Mr. Evarts, on the 13th of Novem
ber, 1877, instructed the United States
minister at Madrid that " the burden of
these excessive and increasing exactions
. . is becoming well-nigh unbearable to
our shippers and merchants." .
It appears that the evil of the system

of readmeasurement became partially
remedied by a royal order, which was
adopted "provisionally"! But, judg
ing from the slight satisfaction which
hitherto has been accorded to complaints
against the system of "fines" at Ha
vana, we fear the evil is not remedied.
The practice by the revenue officers at
Havana of imposing fines or penalties
on vessels for slight and technical errors
found in the manifests of cargoes is a
burden which has long been complained
of. These fines have been exacted often
in a frivolous, arbitrary, and vexatious
manner, and such as to prove in some
cases almost ruinous to shippers. The
most trifling mistake or omission, a mere
verbal inaccuracy, has exposed them to
heavy penalties. For example, a fine
would be imposed because hoops were
not described in the manifest as "wood
en ' ' hoops ; because nails were not stat
ed to be " iron " nails; for a failure to
express numbers, weights and measures
Jn letters and figures ; for the slightest
error in converting American weights
and measures into Spanish denomina
tions. Fines have been imposed in one
Cuban port for stating in a manifest that
which in another Cuban port fines were
imposed for omitting. This unreasona
ble practice of revenue fines had become
so burdensome that in January, 1873,
seventy - nine commercial firms of New
York and Boston presented a memorial
to the government of the United States,
asking for its intervention to secure re
lief from the system. The matter was
deemed of so much importance by our
government that it procured the coop
eration of the British, German, and
Swedish-Norwegian governments in sec
onding its efforts for a reform of the
abuse. But in spite of all that has been
done, the abuse exists to a considerable
extent. Our consul-general at Havana,
at the close of his before-cited commu
nication of November 2, 1877, states that
among "the many difficulties" which
affect our vessels in Cuban ports " the
principal one, that of fines imposed for
trivial and sometimes for mere technical
informalities, is still a source of complaint
on the part of our ship-masters."

Our Commerce with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Mexico.

One, and perhaps a sufficient, expla
nation of the continuance of such an un
warrantable and injurious system is that
the revenue officers of Cuba are not
properly remunerated for their services
by the Spanish government, and that
they resort to this unjustifiable imposi
tion of penalties as a source of compen
sation. Our commerce with Cuba has been
prejudiced by still another class of evils.
Our shipping has been harassed and our
flag insulted on repeated occasions by
Spanish officials and Spanish cruisers.
A more arrogant and wanton proceed
ing than the seizure of the Black Warrior
— a merchant steamer regularly trad
ing between New York and Mobile, call
ing also at Havana for the delivery of
the mail and passengers — could hardly
be imagined. It was a proceeding cal
culated to turn our shipping away from
Cuban ports. The seizure of the Vir-
ginius on the high seas was in violation
of public law; and the summary execu
tion of fifty-three of the persons found
on board of her, many of them citizens
of the United States, and several of
them mere boys, without lawful trial, and
thus directly in violation of our treaty
with Spain, was a flagraift insult to the
authority and the dignity of the United
States, as well as an outrage against hu
manity. Spain apologized; but instead
of punishing the general who ordered the
executions, she in due time promoted
him! As full indemnity for the affair
the United States received of Spain the
sum of eighty thousand dollars, which
was at the rate of not exceeding twenty-
five hundred dollars to the family of each
person executed. The pacific course
which our government pursued in the
matter sufficiently refutes the statement,
frequently heard from Europeans, that
the United States are in the habit of
"bullying " and " worrying " Spain in
her management of Cuba.
To come dfiwn to a still later period:
the attention of our government was
called to the following three cases of out
rage on American vessels, committed near
Cuba by Spanish guard-boats, in 1877.
In May of that year the whaling schooner

Ellen Rizpah, of Newburyport, Massa
chusetts, while in the peaceful pursuit of
her voyage, was .forcibly attacked by an
armed Spanish guard-boat, twenty miles
distant from Cuba; her captain was de
tained prisoner on board the guard-boat
for four days, exposed much of the time
to very inclement weather in wet cloth
ing; and when at the end of that time a
Spanish steamer arrived and his papers
were examined, which from the first he
frankly offered to exhibit, he was rudely
ordered to go about his business. At
tempting to do so, and while preparing
to capture some whales then in sight, he
was again chased a distance of twenty
miles hy another but similar armed cruis
er. These acts deterred him from prose
cuting his voyage.
On the 23d of the same month, the
whaling schooner Rising Sun, of Prov-
incetown, Massachusetts, being off the
South Keys of Cuba, and three miles
from the Keys (which are uninhabited
and destitute of vegetation) and about
twenty miles from the coast of Cuba, had
her two boats out in pursuit of whales.
One of the boats was commanded by her
captain, the other by the mate. While
thus visibly and properly engaged in their
calling, and three or four miles distant
from the schooner, they were fired at by
a Spanish guard-boat with blank car
tridge from a rifled cannon, followed im
mediately by two rounds with solid shot.
The captain of the Rising Sun steered
for his vessel, but was fired upon with
three volleys from small arms. His -steers
man, a Portuguese, heard them declare
on the guard-boat that they meant to
take the schooner and sink her. The
captain, as ordered, went on board the
guard-boat, where he was told that he
would be detained till a gun-boat should
come from Cuba "to search his vessel
and examine his papers." After some
time he was permitted to return to his
vessel on condition that his mate came
aboard in his place. The mate was de
tained five days without change of cloth
ing, although he came on board the Span
ish vessel in his wet whaling suit. When,
on the fifth day, the Spanish gun-boat
arrived, an officer from that vessel went

6

Our Commerce with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Mexico.

on board the Rising Sun, examined her
papers, and mustered her crew aft to an
swer to their names. Her captain in
quired why his vessel was detained, and
was answered in English: " There are a
good many scamps in the world, and we
don't know whom to trust." During all
these proceedings the flag of the United
States was flying from the Rising Sun.
The detention put an end to her voyage.
The other case occurred during the
same spring, and was of no less aggra
vated character. The whaling schooner
Edward Lee, of Provineetown, Massa
chusetts, having scarcely arrived in the
same waters, and while cruising for
whales, was cnased by a Spanish gun
boat, fired into, at rirst with solid shot,
then with grape, and finally with shell,
and by such violence driven from those
waters. It may be urged that the existence of
an insurrection in Cuba was some ex
cuse for these Spanish armed cruisers
taking the law into their own hands.
Not at all. There could be no pretense
but these American vessels were pursu
ing their proper and legitimate calling.
And, besides, it was well known that
the government of the United States had
at pains and expense uniformly and suc
cessfully enforced the neutrality laws,
and prevented the fitting out and depart
ure from our ports of vessels intending
to aid the insurgents in Cuba. This un-
deviating course of our government should
have made Spanish officials all the more
scrupulous and courteous in their treat
ment of American vessels.
And here it may be stated that the
great leading principle or rule which the
United States have long maintained, and
which most other maritime powers now
acknowledge, is that a vessel on the high
seas, in time of peace, bearing its proper
flag, is under the jurisdiction of the coun
try to which it belongs; and therefore
any visitation, molestation, or detention
of such vessel by force, or by the exhi
bition of force, on the part of a foreign
power, is in derogation of the sovereign
ty of that country.
Under these circumstances, it is not
surprising that the secretary of state of

the United States, in his note of Novem
ber 13, 1877, in regard to the outrages
on the three whaling schooners just above
mentioned, should use the following ear
nest language: —
" The frequent recurrence, of late, of
these unfriendly, and, as they must be
considered by this government, clear
ly unwarrantable, visitations from the
armed vessels of the Spanish naval force
to the unarmed merchant vessels of the
United States has nevertheless caused
the president much anxiety for the con
sequences which may at any moment,
and must sooner or later, if continued,
result to the peace of the two nations,
unless the most energetic and effective
measures are speedily adopted and put
in force to prevent a possible recurrence
of such incidents as I have, with every
feeling but that of pleasure, felt obliged
to bring thus plainly to the notice of the
Spanish government." The aggregate
amount of indemnity which was demand
ed of Spain by our government, on ac
count of damage suffered by the owners
and officers and crews of the three ves
sels, Ellen Rizpah, Rising Sun, and Ed
ward Lee, for the breaking up of their voy
ages, etc., was $19,500. It was officially
stated that the cases had been examined
into with care, and that our government
was " satisfied " that the respective
claims for damages were ' ' equitable and
reasonable." The' Spanish government,
with reasonable promptitude, offered to
pay ten thousand dollars as full satisfac
tion of the claims of the owners and of
ficers of the Ellen Rizpah and Rising
Sun, leaving the claim of six thousand
dollars on account of the Edward Lee for
further investigation. The fact that the
government of the United States prompt
ly acquiesced in such settlement, on
terms so much more favorable than first
demanded, ought to satisfy every Span
iard, if further proof were necessary,
that the United States do not wish to
pick a quarrel in regard to Cuba.
The foregoing facts have been stated
for two objects : first, to show the hin
drances and injuries our shipping suf
fers from the Spanish administration of
Cuba; and, secondly, to show the pa-

Our Commerce with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Mexico.

tience, forbearance, and firm policy of
peace which the government of the
United States has steadily pursued with
reference to that island.
There is Cuba, with an area six times
greater than that of Massachusetts, so
near to us that by taking a steamer at
our own port of Key West after supper
we can be landed at Havana the next
morning before breakfast, — there she
is, with splendid resources, and ought
to be a most valuable customer for Amer
ican products; yet, owing to Spanish mo
nopoly, — an almost prohibitory tariff of
over six dollars a barrel on flour, ren
dered additionally oppressive by venal
administration, — American merchants
are excluded from the benefits of a mu
tual and fair commerce with her. What,
then, is the remedy, if any, for such a
state of things ?
Should our government endeavor to
acquire possession of Cuba, and if so,
how? Or should it seek to obviate the
evils by a commercial treaty and the cul
tivation of more cordial relations with
Spain and Cuba.
Manifest destiny, said President Bu
chanan, requires that the United States
should acquire possession of Cuba. A
good deal has been written and said dur
ing the past thirty years in regard to its
acquisition. President Fillmore, in a pri
vate letter to Daniel Webster about the
time of the Lopez expedition, expressed
a decided opinion that it would be against
the interest of the United States to ac
quire it. He naturally apprehended
that its acquisition would intensify the
slavery question. It was probably a
knowledge of his individual views, to
gether with the effect of the Lopez ex
pedition (Lopez, a Cuban, had the year
before, in spite of the United States au
thorities, got out of New Orleans and
landed at Cuba a military force of sev
eral hundred men, among whom was the
ill-fated Crittenden), that led Great Brit
ain and France to propose to the United
States, in 1852, to engage by treaty to
discountenance all attempt to obtain pos
session of the island of Cuba on the part
_f any power or individual whatever.

The British and French ministers at
Washington severally urged that Brit
ish and French subjects, as well as the
French government, were on different ac
counts creditors of Spain for large sums
of money; that the expense of keeping
up an armed force in Cuba of twenty-
five thousand men obstructed the govern
ment of Spain in its efforts to fulfill its
pecuniary engagements ; and that under
the existing state of things it could not
be expected that Spain would lower her
tariff at Havana. Mr. Everett, who had
lately succeeded Mr. Webster as secre
tary of state, in his reply of December
1, 1852, pointed out the reasons which led
the government of the United States to
decline entering into such negotiations.
In the first place, he in a polite manner
gave those powers to understand that it
was a matter which very little concerned
them. The president, he stated, consid
ered the condition of Cuba as mainly an
American question. That island lay at
our doors, commanded the approach to
the Gulf of Mexico, and kept watch at
the door- way of our intercourse with Cal
ifornia by the Isthmus route. Territo
rially and commercially, it would in our
hands be an extremely valuable posses
sion. Under certain contingencies, it
might be almost essential to our safety.
Still, for domestic reasons, the president
thought that the incorporation of the isl
and into the Union at that time, although
effected with the consent of Spain, would
be a hazardous measure; and he would
consider its acquisition by force, except
in 'a just war with Spain (should an
event so greatly to be deprecated take
place) , as disgraceful. The president had
thrown the whole force of his constitu
tional power against all illegal attacks
upon the island; and the proposed com
pact, instead of helping to prevent illegal
enterprises against it, would give a new
and powerful impulse to them. Thus
ended that intrusive proposal.
In about two years after this was held
the Ostend Conference. In October,
1854, James Buchanan, John Y. Mason,
and Pierre Soul., ministers respectively
of the United States at London, Paris,
and Madrid, acting under instructions of

Our Commerce with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Mexico.

the Pierce administration, met at Ostend,
in Belgium, to consult as to negotiations
for the purchase of Cuba. They drew up
and signed (October 18th) a joint com
munication to their government, in which
they set forth, among other things, that
they had arrived at the conclusion, and
were thoroughly convinced, that an im
mediate and earnest effort ought to be
made by the government of the United
States to purchase Cuba from Spain at.
any price for which it could be obtained,
not exceeding the sum of  dollars.
The maximum sum they thought should
be paid was one hundred and twenty
million dollars; and they made a strong
point in their paper by referring to the
benefits that would accrue to Spain by
the use of the larger part of such a sum
in building railroads and developing her
resources. The susceptibilities of Spain,
however, were such that the negotiations
thus recommended were never ventured
upon by our government. Yet at that
very time Cuba was, and since has con
tinued to be, a pecuniary burden on the
Spanish government, and Spain's best
bonds were being sold upon her own
bourse at about one third of their par
value. At that time the duty on Amer
ican flour imported into Cuba in Amer
ican vessels was $9.87 a barrel! and
Spain had haughtily refused to treat for
the alleviation of our commerce with
that island. Mr. Soule, in a dispatch of
November 10, 1853, to our government,
says the Spanish minister of state "is
averse to let Spain enter into any com
mercial treaty with us, and makes no se
cret of his stern antipathies in that re
spect." Furthermore, the new captain-
general who about that time was sent to
Cuba was selected " mostly on account
of the violent prejudices he was supposed,
and with truth, to entertain against us; "
and went out with ' ' increased powers, in
case of another Lopez expedition, to put
under arrest all Americans residing there,
without excepting even the consul."
A peaceful termination of our then
critical relations with Spain and the im
provement of our commerce might well
have been the leading motives for the
Ostend Conference, but the suspicion

that the main object of the proposed pur
chase of Cuba was the extension of the
slave power threw odium upon it.
No very important step towards the
acquisition of the island has since been
taken. The Thirty Million Bill, with a
view to its purchase, was introduced in
the senate by Mr. Slidell in 1859, but
did not pass. While General Prim was
regent of Spain, in 1869, a private com
pany, with a view of obtaining Cuba for
the Cubans and afterwards repaying it
self at the expense of the island, offered
seventy-five million dollars for it; and
the proposal was for some time enter
tained by that able soldier and states
man. Probably Spain would now cede
Cuba and Porto Rico both to the United
States for two hundred million dollars
and for no less. Yet assuming that the
United States could borrow that sum at
four per cent., the annual interest on the
amount would be eight million dollars,
which would exceed, perhaps, the yearly
clear profit of commerce with the islands
even with free trade. It would be too
much to give, unless there should be dan
ger (which every friend of humanity
would deprecate) of our having a war
with Spain in consequence of grievances
in connection with Cuba, and of our be
ing obliged to acquire it as security for
future peace. There has been some little
experience in the business in the past,
to which it may be useful to advert. Not
only has Cuba once been conquered, but
it has been conquered with the help of
Americans ! Not only' so, but Cuba has
in its time acted the part of Carthage
(which in some points it to-day resem
bles) to America. It fitted out in 1742
an armament of two thousand troops,
which embarked at Havana under con
voy of a powerful squadron, and which,
after being reinforced by a thousand men
at St. Augustine, invaded Georgia. This
was in the war between England and
Spain. Cuba had been threatened the year
before by a /British fleet under Admiral
Vernon. He had been reinforced by
three thousand six hundred men, chiefly
from the New England colonies ; but he
lingered, inactive, till his forces inglo-

Our Commerce with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Mexico.

9

riously melted away by disease. Of the
New England recruits scarcely one man
in fifty survived, and the calamity, we are
told, " overspread America with mourn
ing." A successful campaign under Lord
Albemarle was made nineteen years
later. The expedition consisted of nine
teen ships of the line, eighteen small
war vessels, about one hundred and fifty
transports, and a force of about ten thou
sand troops. Admiral Pococke, fresh
from two naval victories in the East,
commanded the naval forces. He passed
through the straits of Bahama in eleven
days, and early in June (1762) the siege
of Fort. Moro was commenced. That
fortification, guarding Havana, even then
was quite strong. Its ditch, cut out of
solid rock, was eighty feet deep by forty
feet wide. It was defended by fourteen
Spanish ships of the line. The besiegers
had the assistance of two thousand or
more blacks from the neighboring British
islands, in fatigue work. The labors
and hardships of the whole command
were of course severe. At one time
five thousand men of the land forces
and three thousand sailors were unfit for
duty. Reinforcements of Americans,
numbering three or four thousand men,
principally from New York and New
England, — and among whom was the
afterwards famous Putnam, of Connect
icut, — began to arrive about the 20th
of July. The Spaniards made a gallant
resistance, but had to yield on the 10th
of August, when Fort Moro was taken,
and as a consequence the island of Cuba.
The splendid victory made a great im
pression at the time; yet in the negotia
tions, which shortly afterwards termi
nated in peace, Spain declared, and was
supported by France, that without the
restitution of Cuba peace could be of no
service to her, and she would rather haz
ard the continuance of war. Cuba was
therefore restored to Spain. ,
A century and a quarter has passed
since that event ; and it would now re
quire more extensive operations and
much larger land and naval forces to
take Cuba. It should be borne in mind
that in such a conflict the sympathy of

foreign nations, in itself a great moral
support, would not be on the side of the
United States, unless the provocation
given by Spain were unmistakably suffi
cient to justify our course. Spain has
not only extended and strengthened her
fortifications there, but she defends them
with a respectable naval force. She re
gards the retention of Cuba as a matter
of honor, — at least pretends to. She is
a country of sixteen million inhabitants,
with much pride, military experience,
and ardor. It may be taken for granted
that she would make an obstinate re
sistance to our operations. She might
even make some damaging aggressive
movements. Indeed, the Spaniards think
they could get a few Alabamas, and make
us cry quit. Mr. Caleb Cushing stated,
August, 1874, that although the naval
force of Spain was nominally formida
ble, yet its available force was relative
ly small. For the defense of Cuba and
Porto Rico she keeps a fleet of thirty-five
gun-boats, all of the same size, — one hun
dred and seven feet long, twenty-two and
a half feet beam, eight feet depth of hold,
and drawing about five feet of water.
They are screw steamers, each one carry
ing a one-hundred-pounder pivot gun at
the bow. We would have to take the
fortifications at Havana by as protract
ed a siege as that of Vicksburg. Be
sides, there would have to be, probably,
one or two serious naval engagements.
When, in the early part of the war of
the rebellion, Sherman, as commanding
general in Kentucky, declared that two
hundred thousand men were required
for effective operation, people said he
was insane; and such was the popular
and official delusion that he was removed
from his command ! It would require the
enlistment of one hundred and fifty thou
sand men — perhaps more — to conquer
Cuba. As the stronger party, it might
naturally be supposed that we would ul
timately accomplish our object. Mean
time, Spain would have suffered injury
which she could hardly outgrow in a
quarter of a century ; and our own coun
try, its shipping, and perhaps some of
its ports would have suffered a great
amount of damage. From ten to twenty

10

Our Commerce with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Mexico.

thousand of our land and naval forces
would have perished by disease, half as
many more in battle ; and with the ex
pense of transports, of costly ammunition
for siege firing, the pay, clothing, and sub
sistence of the forces, and the millions
that would eventually have to be paid in
pensions, the aggregate pecuniary cost of
the war, without taking into account the
destruction of human life, would possi
bly exceed two hundred million dollars.
There are some social objections to
incorporating Cuba into the American
Union. " For a century," said the Lon
don Times six years ago, " Cuba has
been advancing rapidly in her colored
population, in wealth, in enterprise, and
in most material respects, with an al
most utter absence of the higher and
nobler elements generally supposed nec
essary to consolidation and order."
"We have regular mails to Havana,"
said the Times, " yet Cuba is like Great
Britain in the days of George II. and
Rob Roy."
The white population there numbers
seven hundred and thirty thousand, of
whom say one hundred and thirty thou
sand include native Spaniards, who hold
the offices, or who have immigrated to
get rich in other ways. The 'other six
hundred thousand are native Cubans,
called Creoles. The native Spaniards,
having enjoyed a monopoly of govern
ment, and having exercised their priv
ileges in a haughty, domineering man
ner, are said to be cordially hated by the
Creoles. It is thought by some that in
the event of Cuban independence these
Spaniards would quit the island and re
turn home. Both classes, however, share
in a common dislike for the home gov
ernment. The free colored population
amounts to two hundred and forty thou
sand, the number of slaves, three hun
dred and sixty thousand, — for slavery
exists, reinforced by the atrocious slave
/ trade, — of Asiatics, thirty-four thou
sand. The blacks thrive better there
than any other race; and though if left
entirely to themselves they would be
about as improvident as white men of
similar intelligence, yet it is found that
even the slaves work as well when stimu

lated by a bounty for extra work as when
impelled by coercive means. The blacks
are employed principally on the sugar
estates, of which there are about fifteen
hundred, owned by nearly the same num
ber of slave-holders. The slaves are sub
jected to many cruelties, and suicides
are frequent among them. Of the slave
holders say twelve hundred realize a
clear income of four per cent, on their
capital, and the others from six to eight
per cent. About three hundred sugar
planters are wealthy, of whom one hun
dred and fifty are in very independent
circumstances; while say twelve hun
dred are comparatively poor, burdened
with debts and mortgages. The planters
concede that slavery must be abolished
in Cuba, and a few years ago they pro
mulgated a scheme of immediate eman
cipation, with the condition that the
slaves should be apprenticed a certain
number of years at a certain rate of
wages ; the planters, meantime, to raise a
considerable sum by voluntary subscrip
tion for the importation of additional
free labor. It is claimed that this scheme
would financially ruin the twelve hun
dred poor planters, who could only pull
through by receiving pay for their slaves.
By a law of July 4, 1870, Spain practi
cally committed herself to the abolition
of slavery in Cuba, and her government
has repeatedly pledged itself speedily to
carry out that measure; but while the
slave-holders pretend to be in favor of
abolition, they seem to have influence
enough at Madrid to prevent its consum
mation. The Chinese were imported,
of course, for work on plantations, but
partly from lack of strength they have
not proved efficient field hands. More
over, they have been cheated in their
contracts, and have been reduced to a
condition of gwasi-servitude. They have
resented the lash with revengeful acts of
violence, and as a natural consequence of
the general bad treatment they have suf
fered they are a good deal demoralized
and scattered over the island.
On the whole, the population and so
cial condition of Cuba are hardly such
as to make its society a desirable acqui
sition to the United States. This coun-

Our Commerce with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Mexico. 11

try has no prestige there, nor do the
Cubans appear to sympathize with us.
The annexation of Cuba to the United
States would of course involve the im
mediate abolition of slavery. And what
would be the effect ? Some imagine, and
the special correspondent of the Lon
don Times among them, that the indus
try of the island would receive a terri
ble shock and set-back, and that there
would even be a war of races. A war of
races, it was predicted, would occur in
the States of the South, as a consequence
of freedom and suffrage; yet the good
conduct of the blacks has falsified the
doleful prophecy, notwithstanding the
United States neglected the duty of pro
viding them with instruction. A benefi
cent act like that of emancipation cer
tainly ought not to set people to cutting
each other's throats. With a represent
ative government justly administered, a
moderate property qualification for suf
frage, reasonable precautions against va
grancy, and a reasonable police force to
aid in executing the laws, emancipation
might take place in a day in Cuba with
out any unusual danger or disorder,
whether she remained as a colony of
Spain, or was admitted into the Union
of the North American States. Possibly
there would be for a few years some de
cline in the sugar production ; for it is
not to be supposed that a free man will
work in a hot sugar-mill eighteen hours
every day in the week, Sundays includ
ed, without uncommonly good pay; yet
the general prosperity would increase.
The opinion is frequently expressed
by the Times special correspondent,
writing in 1873, that the climate of
Cuba is unsuited for white men. One is
reluctant to concede that the descend
ants of the Anglo-Saxons cannot prosper
in that beautiful island, and perhaps
the future will show that they can, with
due observance of sanitary precautions.
These are matters which even under the
best administered governments are too
often neglected. In Cuba they are ig
nored. Cuba's constitution is a "royal
order" which clothes the captain-gen
eral with the fullest powers. The gov
ernment is, in short, a despotism, and

is administered by Spanish officials who
have come to amass fortunes. They
are badly paid, are insubordinate to the
home government, and resort to irreg
ular exactions to increase their gains.
Even the priests come over to get rich,
and are allowed to charge and collect
exorbitant fees, — such, for example, as
seventeen dollars a head for baptizing
children. It would be absurd to sup
pose that such a government would
adopt needful measures for the preser
vation of health. On the contrary, it
tolerates evils which aggravate the nat
ural dangers of the climate. The heat
has been increased by an indiscriminate
cutting of timber over a large area of
level land. The Times correspondent
found Havana a city of smells and noises.
He describes the streets in the older part
¦of the city as crowded and narrow, and
" flanked on each side by fetid gutters."
In the newer part of the city the streets,
though wide, are unpaved, and contain
"dismal holes and quagmires." The
celebrated harbor emits poisonous exha
lations from having for over a century
been the reservoir of the city drains.
Now, if the sanitary condition of Cuba
is so bad, is it not improper to attrib
ute the degeneracy of the whites there
to the climate? Mr. R. H. Dana, who
visited Cuba in 1859, writes: "As to
the climate, I have no doubt that in the
interior, especially on the red earth, it is
healthy and delightful in summer as well
as in winter. ' ' White people have lived
in Cuba for more than a century ; and
under a good government, with whole
some sanitary institutions rigorously en
forced, and with cheap markets for the
purchase of the necessaries of life, it is
to be hoped they will live there without
degenerating. " The natural process for Cuba," wrote
Mr. Dana, " is an amelioration of her in
stitutions under Spanish auspices." This
seems a wise view of the matter. Equal
ly sound is the opinion expressed by the
London Times in an editorial four years
ago, namely: "To prevent separation
from Spain a large degree of administra
tive and legislative freedom should be
granted to Cuba." The United States

12

Our Commerce with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Mexico.

will be satisfied if Spain will confer upon
Cuba a similar government to that of
Canada, but with hardly anything less;
and they ought to make suitable efforts
to accomplish such an improvement. But
public opinion in Spain is such that
extraordinary efforts will have to be
put forth to obtain such a result in any
reasonable time. "Half of Spain,"
General Cushing when United States en
voy at Madrid informed our govern
ment, "though not distinctly republi
can, still is liberal; and another half of
Spain is hardly less intensely Catholic
and monarchical than it was in the time
of Philip II." That interesting coun
try has made considerable progress since
Mr. Buckle, in his most eloquent sum
ming up, portrayed her as "the sole
representative now remaining of the feel
ings and knowledge of the Middle Ages."
But although the views of the Spanish
people on administrative and commercial
policy are by no means so advanced as
those of the people of Northwestern Eu
rope, still it should not be difficult even
now to convince them that their best in
terests equally with their honor would be
promoted by conferring on their West
Indian possessions a government similar
to that of Canada. There is no doubt
but some of the leading European pow
ers would, if applied to by our govern
ment, sincerely and earnestly exert their
influence upon Spain to initiate such a
reform ; and for the good reason that they
are enlightened enough to comprehend
that the introduction into Cuba of con
tent, peaceful industry, and freer trade
would to some extent benefit their own
commercial interests. Exactly the Can
adian system may not be the preferable
one. What would probably give con
tent to Cuba would be a government in
the hands of the intelligent middle class,
— substantial self-government, free, and
moderately conservative.
The United States should not neglect,
meantime, anything that can properly
contribute to their moral influence in the
matter. While careful not to give cause
of offense, it would perhaps be in the in
terest of peace if we were more exacting
than we have hitherto been, in case of

any future insults to our flag by Span
ish officials. We need not add a dollar
to our naval expenditures on account of
Cuba. But as we have a powerful for
tress (Taylor) at Key West, just across
from Havana, which cost two million
dollars, — where also is a fine harbor ac
cessible to vessels drawing twenty-two
feet of water, and a town of nine thou
sand inhabitants, — probably it would be
advisable for strategetic purposes, since
it is entirely practicable, to build a rail
road to connect with it, to remain under
control of the government. Such an im
provement would. make a strong impres
sion on Spain with reference to her pol
icy in Cuba.
What the United States immediately
require, besides the abolition of slavery
in Cuba, is the abolition of the prohibit
ory duties on flour, and a very consider
able reduction of the duties on produce
and other articles which Cuba could
most conveniently obtain from this coun
try. In asking these ameliorations of
Spain, is there any concession which the
United States can offer in return? Un
doubtedly there is. We can reduce our
duty on sugar imported from Cuba and
Porto Rico. The present customs duty
on raw or brown sugar imported into the
United States averages two cents and a
half per pound. The importation of
brown sugar into the United States in
1877 from Cuba was nine hundred and
twenty-six million pounds, of the value
of fifty- two million dollars; from Porto
Rico sixty -two million pounds, of the
value of three million dollars; and to
gether nine hundred and eighty-eight
million pounds, of the value of fifty-five
million dollars. The total duty on that
importation amounted to say twenty-
three million dollars, a tax which bears'
about equally on the American consum
er and the West Indian producer. We
could reduce this rate, in negotiating for
mutual trade, to one cent a pound. If it
be urged that the revenue cannot be dis
pensed with (and indeed our "spoils"
system of administration requires high
taxation), then let the deficiency be sup
plied by transferring to coffee the tax
taken from sugar. It is unreasonable to

Our Commerce with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Mexico.

13

tax a necessary like sugar so much, and
allow coffee to be imported entirely free
of duty, as is now, and for a long time
has been, the case. There maybe some
who will urge that this sugar tax must
continue as a " protection " to the sugar
production of Louisiana. One cent per
pound, however, should now be a suffi
cient protection. Any additional protec
tion given to the sugar planters of the
Southern States would be more appro
priate in the shape oLimproved govern
ment and security of life and property.
Let us, then, offer the Spanish West
Indies, at our very door, at least half
as liberal terms as we gave to the dis
tant Sandwich Islands. By the treaty
of June 17, 1876, — a treaty well suited
to the. centennial year, — the United
States agreed to admit into their ports
brown and all other unrefined sugar the
product of the Hawaiian Islands (and
various other articles) free of duty. Re
ciprocally, the Hawaiian Islands agreed
to admit into their ports agricultural im
plements, cotton manufactures, provis
ions, flour, etc., free of , duty. If our
government will only reduce the tax on
brown sugar to one cent a pound, it will
be an important inducement for Spain
to remove her present exorbitant tax on
our wheat flour, and to reduce largely
her duties on the various articles of
provisions which our markets are so well
calculated to furnish to Cuba and Porto
Rico. This accomplished, the way would
be opened for a favorable increase of
our exports of cotton manufactures, ma
chinery, and the like to those islands.
Such is one line of policy. In addi
tion, our government should take in
creased pains to cultivate better rela
tions with Spain, and even with Cuba;
and this by increasing the influenoe of
its diplomatic representative at Madrid,
and of its consul - general at Havana.
The importance of diplomatic missions
varies according to circumstances. Our
representative in Great Britain does not
need to educate the statesmen in that
•ountry up to a liberal commercial policy.
Such work would be quite superfluous
there. But it is different in Spain. We
have those " stern antipathies " there to

overcome. Just at the present time, on
account of Cuba, our mission to Spain
is the most important of all our diplo
matic posts. Let it be supposed that
our representative at Madrid wishes to
impress on the leading minds of Spain
the mutual benefits that would be de
rived from a freer commercial intercourse
between the United States and Cuba.
How would he proceed ? He would not
resort to the columns of the public press,
for that is not allowed, and would impair
his credit. The only way he could affect
public opinion there would be through
social intercourse with the most influen
tial people of the country. To do that
he should he able to maintain continual
hospitality in a manner suited to his
official position. It would be altogether
more economical to enable a diplomatic
agent to accomplish important results
than to leave them unachieved, and run
the hazard of having to vote an extra
four million appropriation to the navy
every time a Virginius steamer should
be seized. Can it be wise, however, to
" haggle and huckster " over an appro
priation for diplomatic service, and vote
fresh millions for the navy (our navy
costs eighteen millions a year) on the
" groundless plea, " as Richard Cobden
well puts it, of " protecting " commerce ?
What has just been said applies with
equal force to our relations with Mexico.
While Congress sparingly sustains diplo
matic service in Mexico, it appropriates
thirty - seven million dollars a year for
the " military establishment," of which
about two millions are required to cover
the expense of suppressing aggressions
on the Mexican frontier that are the re
sult of a spirit of bad neighborhood and
generally precarious relations between
our country and Mexico. There are a
number of things which our government
should require of Mexico in the interest
of commerce, in the interest of peace,
and in the interest of humanity. They
should be done promptly, and if the
United States were to adopt the policy
which experienced and leading Euro
pean states pursue (which sacrifice most
on their contiguous or near neighbors)
they would send as their representative

14

Our Commerce with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Mexico.

to Mexico one of their most distinguished
citizens, and support him in a very lib
eral manner. In these remarks, not the
slightest reflection, of course, is intended
to be made on the present United States
representative to Mexico, who is un
doubtedly a capable and faithful officer.
That officer has lately furnished to his
government a full and instructive report
— published in ' ' papers relating to the
foreign relations of the United States "
— for 1878, in which he shows the diffi
culties and obstacles with which our trade
to Mexico has to contend. The federal
tariff duty on some goods exceeds their
cost price. There are also municipal
and state duties to be paid in addition,
when the goods leave the port of entry
for the interior. In some states this ad
ditional duty is twelve and one' half per
cent, of the federal duty; in others as
high as twenty-five per cent. It is true,
these municipal and state duties are un
lawful, but they are collected neverthe
less, for ' ' necessity knows no law. ' '
There is no bonded system for the intro
duction of goods, nor anything like the
conveniences that obtain in the United
States for importation. Another great
obstacle there to commerce is the inse
curity of person and property, arising
from the revolutionary condition of the
country, as shown by illegal seizures,
" forced loans," and even the frequent
murders of American citizens. In the
latter cases the perpetrators go unpun
ished. "Not a single passenger train
leaves the city of Mexico or Vera Cruz,
the termini of the only completed rail
road in the country, without being es
corted by a company of soldiers to pro
tect it from assault and robbery. The
manufacturers of the city of Mexico who
own factories in the valley within sight
of it, in sending out money to pay the
weekly wages of the operatives, always
accompany it with an armed guard."
Matters are naturally worse at a distance
from the capital. The Belgian consul-
general residing in the United States,
while traveling in Mexico under orders
of his government, was robbed, notwith
standing he had a guard.
But for heavy taxes and insecurity

the Mexican mines would afford a profit
able field for American capitalists. Ag
ricultural implements, engines, mining
machinery, and tools can be imported
into Mexico free of duty, and Mr. Fos
ter, our representative to Mexico, thinks
there are good inducements for Ameri
cans to engage in those branches of trade.
However, long credits, from eight to
twelve months, without interest are com
mon. He states that " the Germans
have fairly earned their predominance
in trade in Mexico by many years of pa
tient study of the country and persistent
application to the business. The Ham
burg merchants establish their branches
in various parts of Mexico, and send
their educated youths out to serve an
apprenticeship in the business and after
wards assume the management of the
branch houses. They become thorough
ly familiar with the condition and prac
tices of the country, and master the in
tricacies of the tariff and interior duties.
Revolutions and changes of government
do not disturb their equanimity. They
become accustomed to ' forced loans '
and ' extraordinary contributions.' Not
withstanding the irregularities of the
custom-house officials and the embarrass
ments of the contraband trade, they
keep the 'even tenor of their way,' and
usually (though not always) in middle
or advanced life are able to go back to
Germany with a competence."
There are not exceeding six English
trading houses in all of Mexico, but En
glish goods are ordered by German and
other merchants. While we are making
a good deal of noise in exporting cattle
to England, the English are quietly
passing our doors with cargoes of man
ufactures to our nearest neighbors. It
is a striking fact that Great Britain
exports annually three million dollars'
worth of cotton manufactures to Mexico,
while the United States export but one
and a half million dohars' worth. This
is owing partly to the force of habit in
trading with England, partly to the fact
that British goods are a little cheaper
than the American (and after all cheap
ness is the great talisman in commerce),
and partly to the fact that freight on

Our Commerce with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Mexico. 15

steamers from Liverpool to Vera Cruz
is relatively lower than on the steamers
from New York to Vera Cruz. The
total exports of domestic merchandise
from the United States to Mexico for
the year ending June 30, 1878, amounted
to $5,811,429. The exports from Great
Britain to Mexico are usually larger in
amount. " No person," says Mr. Fos
ter, ' ' can visit Mexico without being
struck with its marvelous natural1 re
sources, its fertility of soil, its genial cli
mate, and its capacity to sustain a large
population and extensive commerce.
The motto of its patron saint is a rec
ognition of these gifts and capabilities:
' The Lord hath not dealt so with any
nation.' " " It can produce," he adds,
"all the coffee consumed in the United
States. It has a greater area of sugar-
producing lands than Cuba, and of equal
fertility. Its capacity for the produc
tion of vegetable textiles is equal to any
country in the world. Almost all the
tropical fruits of the world can be culti
vated successfully. Its varied climate
admits of the growth of all the cereals of
all the zones. Its ranges afford the wid
est scope and the best conditions for
wool and stock raising. And skillful
American mining engineers, who have
examined the matter, claim that its min
eral wealth, hid away in the recesses of
its mountains, is superior to that of Cali
fornia, .Nevada, or Australia."
What is it, then, that retards the prog
ress of Mexico? Her chronic revolu
tions. A government may be perfect on
paper; but it will prove worthless unless
the people who exercise it have the req
uisite moderation and spirit of compro
mise. A government that permits brig
andage, as Mexico does, can hardly be
called a government. Mexico has a
population of nine millions, of whom two
thirds are Indians. As might be sup
posed, industry is in a depressed con
dition. A sort of slavery called peonage
still exists. The mass of working peo
ple earn only twelve and a half cents
ft day. That the exports of a country
blessed naturally as Mexico is should
amount only to thirty-one million dollars
a year seems in itself evidence of a very

backward state of civilization, or of a
great amount of misgovernment, even
after some allowance is made for its great
extent of territory. Be that as it may,
the fact remains that the United States
have an insignificant share of trade with
her. This is owing largely to the ex
cessive rates of the Mexican tariff, as a
few examples will illustrate. The duty
on cotton cloth, unbleached, is eight cents
a square yard ; ditto, bleached, fourteen
cents; calicoes, twelve cents a square
yard; cassimeres and similar woolen
goods, $1.25 a square yard; cotton thread,
twenty - five cents a pound ; furniture,
seventy -five per cent.; pianos, twenty
cents a pound, gross weight; flour, nine
dollars a barrel; hams, eleven cents a
pound; butter, eleven cents a pound;
canned fruit, twenty-two cents a pound,
cans included ; clothing, ready made, all
kinds, one hundred and thirty-two per
cent. ; leather boots of calf, twenty-sev
en dollars per dozen; leather shoes, com
mon, for men, seven dollars per dozen.
When to these duties are added the ' ' in
terior " customs tax, previously referred
to, and the various fees and charges in
cident to vicious administration, the cost
of goods by the time they reach the cap
ital becomes simply outrageous. From
itemized lists of actual charges, fur
nished by experienced importers, it ap
pears that a cask of three hundred
pounds of hams, costing in New York
thirty-three dollars, costs by the time it
arrives in the city of Mexico, $93.19.
Ten kegs of nails, costing at New York
$22.50, will have cost $141.62 on their
arrival in the oity of Mexico. A barrel
of flour, costing six dollars in New York
or Boston, will have cost $29.03 in Mexi
co. An invoice of furniture, costing in
New York $121.15, after running the
gauntlet of consular fees, freight charges,
loss by exchange, federal, municipal,
and state tariffs, lighterage, brokerage,
commission, etc., and arriving in Mex
ico, will have cost $249.10!
Notwithstanding the enormous tariff .
charges which Mexico imposes, she does
not derive sufficient income to enable
her to pay the interest on her public
debt. She is unable to pay the subsidy

16 Our Commerce with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Mexico.

of two millions promised to the company
which built the railway from Vera Cruz
to the capital, — said to be a fine piece
of engineering, the total ascent being
eight thousand feet. She does not even
pay the salaries of her judicial officers.
The higher tariff duties are, the greater
the temptation for smuggling; and there
is a good deal of illicit trade. Mexican
statesmen ought to see that their coun
try would derive a larger revenue by a
more moderate tariff.
Again, our trade with Mexico would
be promoted if there were better facili
ties of communication. A semi-month
ly steamer runs between New York and
Vera Cruz, and one tri- weekly between
New Orleans and Vera Cruz. Each line
receives a subsidy from Mexico. Where
a subsidy is granted, there should be
strict conditions for securing cheap trans
portation. But this must have been omit
ted as to the railway between Vera Cruz
and Mexico, which charges, a distance
of two hundred and sixty - three miles,
per ton for freight, first class, $76.05',
and by passenger trains $97.77, or ten
times as much as is charged in this
country from the Mississippi River to
New York. Inasmuch as Mexico ad
joins the territory of the United States,
there should be railroad communication
with her. The commercial centres of
the United States now have railroad
communication as far as San Antonio,
Texas, within one hundred and fifty
miles of the Mexican boundary. The
Californians touch the Mexican frontier
with a railroad to the southeast corner
of their State, and another.line is push
ing southward to that frontier through
New Mexico. In return, what is Mexi
co doing to meet us? Absolutely noth
ing. And what is worse, she appears
equally indisposed and unable to do any
thing in that direction. Unhappily there
is a wide - spread, though perhaps not
predominant, feeling among the Mexi
cans that a railroad connection with the
United States would prove subversive of
their independence and lead to the an
nexation of their country to the United
States. Members of the Mexican con
gress are successful in appealing to this

sentiment. In opposing a proposed char
ter for a railroad to the frontier of the
United States, a prominent member, who
has since been elected speaker of the
house at a new session, declared that it
was " a natural law of history that bor
der nations are enemies " (if that is so,
all the more should be done in opening
avenues of trade and the like to promote
a good understanding), that " nations of
the north generally invade the nations
of the south;" hence, "we should al
ways fear the United States." He closed
his speech with the following: "You,
the deputies of the states, would ybu ex
change your poor but beautiful liberty of
the present for the rich subjection which
the railroad could give you? Go and
propose to the lion of the desert to ex
change his cave of rocks for a golden
cage, and the lion of the desert will an
swer you with a roar of liberty." His
rhetoric prevailed. The proposed rail
road charter was defeated by a decided
majority. The fact, too, that it was in
tended for an American company shows
of what account American influence is
in Mexico.
The United States do not want an
inch more of Mexican territory. All
that the United States ask of Mexico is
that she shall align herself with other
civilized nations. They ask that she
shall suppress that marauding which on
a considerable part of their frontier ren
ders life, to use the words of the sec
retary of state, "well-nigh insupport
able;" and they wish that under gov
ernment justly and humanely adminis
tered she may enjoy the tranquillity in
dispensable to business enterprise and
industry, and which will enable her to
attain the social and material prosperity
that will make her a good neighbor.
The United States, having assumed
the right to exclude European inter
ference in Mexican affairs, as shown by
their influence in causing the French
army to withdraw from Mexico, and as
a consequence insuring the fall of Maxi
milian, are all the more bound to help
her along by good example and well-
directed efforts. Mere routine is not
enough.