eace and order fairly
assured, recovery came quickly. The exports of 1905, at $99,000,000,
equalled those of 1894, while the imports materially exceeded those of the
earlier year. In 1913, the exports reached $165,207,000, and the imports
$132,290,000. This growth of Cuba's commerce and industry is due mainly to
the economic requirements of the American people. We need Cuba's sugar and
we want its tobacco. These two commodities represent about 90 per cent,
of the total exports of the island. We buy nearly all of its sugar, under
normal conditions, and about 60 per cent, of its tobacco and cigars. On the
basis of the total commerce of the island, the records of recent years show
this country as the source of supply for about 53 per cent, of Cuba's
total imports, and as the market for about 83 per cent, of its exports. A
comparison of the years 1903 and 1913 shows a gain of about $87,000,000 in
Cuba's total exports. Of this, about $75,000,000 is represented by sugar.
The crop of 1894 a little exceeded a million tons. Such a quantity was
not again produced until 1903. With yearly variations, due to weather
conditions, later years show an enormous and unprecedented increase. The
crops of 1913 and 1914 were, approximately, 2,500,000 tons each. The
tobacco industry shows only a modest gain. The average value of the exports
of that commodity has risen, in ten years, from about $25,000,000 to about
$30,000,000. The increase in the industry appears largely in the shipment
of leaf tobacco. The cigar business shows practically no change, in that
time, as far as values are concerned. This resume affords a fair idea of
Cuba's trade expansion under the conditions established through the change
in government. That event opened new and larger doors of opportunity, and
the Cubans and others have been prompt in taking advantage of them. Toward
the great increase shown, two forces have operated effectively. One is the
treaty by which the provisions of the so-called Platt Amendment to the
Cuban Constitution are made permanently effective. The other is the
reciprocity treaty of 1903.

By the operation of the former of these instruments the United States
virtually underwrites the political stability and the financial
responsibility of the Cuban Government. That Government cannot borrow any
important sums without the consent of the United States, and it has agreed
that this country "may exercise the right to intervene for the preservation
of C