is still pending, but it is expected that it will be completed within a few months. Among the branches of American banks are the National City Bank of New York, the American Foreign Banking Corporation, and the First National Bank of Boston. The National City Bank has a number of branches in all the more important commercial centers of the island. The Canadian banks are The Royal Bank of Canada, the Bank of Nova Scotia, and the Canadian Bank of Commerce. The Royal Bank of Canada has a large number of branches throughout Cuba. Among the more important Cuban commercial banks are the Banco Hispani-Cubano, the Banco del Comercio, and the Banco Comercial de Cuba. The head offices of all these banks are located in Habana. The Cuban budget.-The Cuban budget, containing an estimate of revenues and expenditures for the ensuing year, is voted by the Cuban Congress and sanctioned by the President. Revenue in excess of expenditure is devoted to special objects provided by Congress. The total income of the Cuban Government is obtained from customs duties, port taxes, consular fees, post telegraphs, land tax, State property tax, and various revenues, such as the loan tax and the national lottery. The actual revenues are ordinarily in excess of the budget estimates. Likewise, expenditures usually exceed the estimates since, while the budget provides for the regular expenses, presidential decrees and laws passed by Congress may provide subsequently for additional appropriations. The principal features of the budgets for 1922-23 and 1923-24, together with the estimate for 1924-25, are shown in the following table: The final liquidation of the 1923-24 budget showed that total revenues during the year amounted to $91,603,822 as against total disbursements of $73,951,388. The surplus, amounting to $17,652,435 was employed as follows: $5,503,400 in the amortization of the entire 6 per cent internal debt of 1917, $3,130,000 in the amortization of the $50,000,000 Morgan loan of 1923, $194,650 in the fulfillment of laws voted by Congress, and $567,555 as an advance to the city of Habana. Thus, $6,505,080 was left in the treasury. The above-mentioned amortization of loans accounts for the decreased estimate for service on the public debt in the 1924-25 budget. The principal increases in that budget were in the departments of public works and war and marine. The foreign and internal debt of Cuba.-The foreign and internal debt of Cuba, as of September 30, 1924, is shown in the following statement: The Cuban Debts Commission.-The Cuban Debts Commission was formed in 1920 to investigate claims made against the Cuban Government on contracts made prior to the business collapse of that vear. On December 11, 1924, the commission had passed on claims to the value of $45,518,576. Of this total, claims amounting to $13,467,398 had been rejected and the remainder, $32,031,178, had been approved. There were still pending on that date 42 claims, with a face value of $314,774. CUBAN DUTIES ON IMPORTED FOODSTUFFS The Cuban duties on imported foodstuffs are of particular interest in view of the unique treaty relations existing between the United States and Cuba. Reductions in rates to the United States vary from the usual 20 per cent to as high as 40 per cent. The following table shows the duties on all imported foodstuffs and includes the general rate, the per cent of reduction for imports from the United States, and the actual rates to the United States. Surtaxes are included in the rates given, except for an additional port tax which, in the case of merchandise from the United States, amounts to $0.70. For inclusion at the reduced rates articles of the soil or industry (del suelo o de la industria) of the United States must be invoiced separately from those originating elsewhere, and a sworn declaration as to their origin, certified to by a Cuban consul, must be incorporated in the invoice. There are several bills pending in the Cuban Congress proposing tariff revision. It is unlikely, however, that any of them will be passed in the near future. 1 Cereals not specified are dutiable as follows: Sorghum and kafir corn, No. 255(a); Italian millet (panizo) No. 255(c): millet, No. 255(d); canary seed, No. 267; flour and meal of barley, millet and rye, No. 256(d) 2 To ascertain whether products presented for clearance should be considered as flour or semolina, a sample must be passed through a sieve No. 80, composed of silk fabric with 80 holes to the square inch or square of 27 millimeters. Should the product pass through this sieve, it is dutiable as flour; otherwise as semolina (No. 289). (b) Other. Fish or shellfish, preserved in oil or otherwise, in cans. 23 Preserved food not specially mentioned: Sausages, truffles, sauces, and mustard; food extracts for seasoning purposes.. The food extracts for seasoning purposes referred to in this tariff number are those intended for use as condiments, and not made with alcohol as a base. GROUP 6.--OILS and BeveragES 32.5 32. 5 32.5 32.5 31.25 25 24.375 30 22.75 40 19.5 40 19.5 20 25 28 Chocolates and sweetmeats of all kinds, including the immediate packages. 289 Pastes and starches (feculas) for soups and other alimentary purposes. 2220 2220 220 2220 26 26 Per 100 Per gallon $0.80 .75 Per pound 1.56 Perpound 1.95 20 REGULATIONS IN REGARD TO TARE When neither actual net weight nor actual gross weight is indicated, the dutiable weight is ascertained by deducting from the gross weight a fixed allowance for tare. The following are the regulations as regard to tare which apply to foodstuffs. 1. Coverings and receptacles capable of being used again for packing or for other purposes shall be dutiable according to the appropriate tariff number except in case of goods dutiable on gross weight without tare allowance, for which it is expressly provided that the weight of coverings or receptacles shall, for tariff purposes, be included in the weight of the goods. 2. Coverings and receptacles liable to higher duties than those on their contents shall always be dutiable under their own tariff number. 3. The following articles shall pay duty on gross weight, including coverings and receptacles: Jerked beef (tasajo); oysters of all kinds and shellfish, fresh or dried; rice; wheat and other cereals, flour of all kinds; legumes, dried; vegetables and garden produce, fresh; fruits and chestnuts; seeds (numbers 266, 267, 268); fodder, bran and broom corn. 4. Olive and cottonseed oil, if contained in a single covering or receptacle, shall likewise be dutiable on gross weight without tare allowance; but when packed in two or more coverings or receptacles such oils shall be weighed and an allowance of 10 per cent shall be made for tare. 5. The following articles shall be dutiable on gross weight, including the weight of all coverings or receptacles, with the following tare allowance: Poultry and small game (No. 236) Meat in brine, including beef and pork in No. 237 Meat, dry salted, in cases (No. 237) Lard and other products in Nos. 238-241 Other meats-canned beef (No. 243a). Butter and oleomargarine: In ordinary boxes, tierces, cans, etc. Per cent 40 20 12 12 12 In brine or otherwise packed with wooden, glass, or tin receptacles combined, providing this does not exceed the actual tare.. Cheese (No. 245).. Salt cod and stockfish, herring, mackerel, and salmon (Nos. 247-250): In sacks Eggs (No. 252) Coffee and chicory (No. 286): In sacks In double sacks... In barrels, casks, etc. Cocoa (No. 287): In sacks.. In double sacks. In seroons Ground or in paste- In triple receptacles_ In double receptacles. Common biscuits (No. 290a). Fine biscuits (No. 290b) - RESTRICTIONS AND PROHIBITIONS The importation of condensed skimmed milk is prohibited. The regulations as regards the importation of oleomargarine are as follows: 1. All oleomargarine imported into the island of Cuba must have marked in the most conspicuous place possible on the jar, firkin, or other package containing said article the word "oleomargarine" in clear roman letters not less than onehalf inch square, which designation must be retained on the packages until sold. "The most conspicuous place" should be understood as the side of tin boxes and not the top or bottom. At the beginning and end of the label a dividing mark should be used, so that the label may be readily distinguished. |