TABLE SHOWING VALUE OF IMPORTS INTO CUBA BY TARIFF CLASSES FOR THE LAST NORMAL YEAR, 1895-96 In conjunction with the above table, the following recapitulation of values of exports and reshipments into Cuba during 1895-96 is given : RECAPITULATION OF VALUES OF EXPORTS AND RESHIPMENTS IN CUBA DURING 1895-96 Grand total.. $35,588,384.27 $39,144,097.57 $22,566,671.07 $15,822,359.62 $113,121,512.53 153,326.30 2,620,645.13 The grand total of the trade of the Cuban ports for the last normal year was nearly $175,000,000. Perhaps with allowance for smuggling and undervaluations, this total may have reached $200,000,000; possibly it may have exceeded those figures. However this may be, Cuba, under a satisfactory government and normal conditions, may be easily said to represent from $200,000,000 to $250,000,000 in the world's commerce. This fact gives some idea of the vast trade possibilities of Cuba after a complete rehabilitation and industrial reconstruction of the Island. In the following table the author has carefully compiled from the several available sources of information the average receipts from 1886 to 1897, inclusive, of the several custom-houses of Cuba: TOTAL CUSTOM-HOUSE RECEIPTS IN ISLAND OF CUBA FROM 1886 TO 1897, INCLUSIVE During the twelve years, it should be stated the largest amount of revenue was collected in 1886, when it was $15,330,778.96, and the smallest amount last year, namely, $9,648,369.94. The receipts show the working of the Reciprocity Treaty with the United States, which, while it greatly added to the prosperity of the Island, decreased the revenues which Spain sought to secure for herself. From the above table it will be seen that the total amount of revenue collected during these twelve years averaged $12,645,894.08 per year; that the custom-house of Havana collected 69.9 per cent, and Cienfuegos-which is an important city, and, in the opinion of the author, the city which, under the new conditions, will show the most rapid development-9 per cent., ranking second. In the customhouse district of Santiago, the average revenue receipts per year have been 5.1 per cent. The inclusion in this district of Guantanamo, Gibara, Manzanillo, and Baracoa will probably increase the collections for the province to nearly ten per cent. of the total revenue of the Island. The following is a similar table to that given above, but gives at a glance the customs receipts from imports and exports at each port: During the war, as already explained, the customs receipts have naturally declined, therefore the year preceding that has been selected as indicating the average revenue from custom-houses, when not disturbed by commercial treaty, such as that made in connection with the McKinley Tariff law of the United States, nor the other disturbances, such as civil war and subsequently the blockade of Cuban ports by the United States navy. The value of the following table is in the fact that it shows customs receipts from the several sources other than those which may be considered strictly import duties. CUSTOM-HOUSE RECEIPTS DURING 1895-96, SPECIFYING TAXES Tariff First Fourth Total Import Duties..... $2,464,392.70 $2,387,357.28 $1,947,152.48 $1,977,028.01 $8,775,930.47 Ten per cent, on Im ports..... 272,162.34 237,673.86 521,216.92 209,483.87 970,536.99 Provisional fifteen per cent. on Imports.. 84,126.55 312,346.57 302,821.71 267,337-93 966,632.76 Export Duties....... 344,850.62 227,858.34 1,301,082.37 Navigation Tax..... 2,539.75 4,635.50 6,232.50 5,305.00 18,712.75 Loading Tax... 254,316.53 Unloading Tax... 140,562.35 128,938.58 129,965.77 112,984.47 512,451.17 Passenger Tax.. 8,925-75 7,808.00 Merchants' Bonds 332.05 143.50 22,496.45 208.56 228.84 912.95 70,814.50 Interest on Promissory Notes... 695.03 695.03 Excise Tax.... 1,123,974.88 Totals.. $3,924,215.85 $3,928,477.62 $3,474,038.69 $3,261,188.41 $14.587,920.57 Having treated as fully as possible on the revenue of Cuba in the past from customs and made such forecasts as to the probable revenue as would seem warranted by the official figures, the next chapter will be devoted to a summary of the schedules of the amended tariff now in force, which will probably remain during United States occupancy the customs revenue law of the Island. |