uban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the
protection of life, property, and individual liberty, and for discharging
the obligations with respect to Cuba imposed by the Treaty of Paris on the
United States." This assumption of responsibility by the United States
inspired confidence on the part of capital, and large sums have been
invested in Cuban bonds, and in numerous public and private enterprises.
Railways and trolley lines have been built and many other works of public
utility have been undertaken. The activities of old sugar plantations have
been extended under improved conditions, and many new estates with costly
modern equipment have been created. The cultivation of large areas,
previously lying waste and idle, afforded both directly and indirectly
employment for an increased population, as did the numerous public works.
The other force, perhaps no less effective, appears in the reciprocity
treaty of 1903. This gave to Cuba's most important crop a large though by
no means absolute control of the constantly increasing sugar market of
the United States, as far as competition from other foreign countries
was concerned. The sugar industry of the island may be said to have been
restored to its normal proportions in 1903. Our imports for the five-year
period 1904-1908 averaged 1,200,000 tons a year. For the five-year period
1910-1914 they averaged 1,720,000 tons. In 1914, they were 2,200,000 tons
as compared with 1,260,000 tons in 1904. It is doubtful if the treaty had
any appreciable influence on the exports of Cuban tobacco to this country.
We buy Cuba's special tobacco irrespective of a custom-house advantage
that affects the box price only a little, and the price of a single cigar
probably not at all. On the other side of the account, that of our sales
to Cuba, there also appears a large increase since the application of the
reciprocity treaty. Using the figures showing exports from the United
States to Cuba, instead of Cuba's records showing imports from this
country, it appears that our sales to the island in the fiscal year 1903,
immediately preceding the operation of the treaty, amounted to $21,761,638.
In the fiscal year 1913 they were $70,581,000, and in 1914 were
$68,884,000.

Not all of this quite remarkable gain may properly be credited to the
influence of the reciprocity treaty. The purchases of the island are
determined, broadly, by its sales. As the latter increase, so do the
fo