414
SPAIN.
The government of Cuba is vested in a captain-general, who is supreme military commandant and civil governor of one of the provinces. There is a governor of the other provinces, who has independent civil power, being responsible only to the government of Spain.
The island of Porto-Rico, in point of importance the second Spanish colony, produces, like Cuba, mainly sugar, tobacco, and coffee, besides which there are exported considerable quantities of cotton, molasses, rum, and hides. The exports of the island in each of the years 18G4 and 1865 comprised the following articles: —
Articles
1864
1865
Sugar
Lbs.
110,425,025
157.332,185
Molasses .
. Gallons
3.732,076
5,554,037
Coffee
Lbs.
14,993,831
23,724,624
Tobacco
,,
4,698,729
5,559,569
Hides
„
569,665
722,838
Cotton
„
1,583,187
2,229,766
Rum .
. Quarts
32,055
191,887
The value of the commercial intercourse between Cuba and Porto- dAico and the United Kingdom is shown in the subjoined tabular statement, which gives the value of the total exports of the two pos- sessions to the United Kingdom, and the total imports into these of British produce in the five years 1865 to 1869 : —
Exports from Cuba
Imports of British
Years
and Porto-Rico to
produce into Cuba
Great Britain
and Porto-Rico.
£
£
1865
5.063,839
2,193,677
1866
2,961,338
2,240,975
1867
4,267,684
2,266,624
1868
4,830,295
2,519,271
1869
4,823,331
1,088,517
The staple article of export from Cuba and Porto-Rico to the United Kingdom is unrefined sugar, the value of which was 2,788,484/. in 1865; 1,903,232Z. in 1866: 3,379,549/. in 1867; 3,814,681/. in 1868 ; and 3,996,249/. in 1869. The British im- ports mainly comprise cotton and linen manufactures.
The chief articles of produce of the Philippine Islands are sugar, hemp, and tobacco. The total exports to Great Britain in 1869 were of the value of 1,406,892/., and the imports of British produce of 832,981/. Of these imports the value of 748,952/., or consider- ably more than two-thirds, was represented by cotton fabrics.
