Cuban imports in 1828, $19,534,922; exports, $13,414,362; revenue, $9,086,406.
Cuban imports in 1847, $32,389,117; exports, $27,998,770; revenues, $12,808,713.
Cuban imports in 1848, $20,346,516; exports, $20,461,934; revenue, $11,635,052.
These statistics of the imports and exports of Cuba are divided according to the chief countries concerned:
United States $10,892,335 $8,880,040 Spain 7,088,750 6,780,058 England 6,389,936 7,240,880 France 1,349,683 1,940,535
United States $6,933,538 $8,285,928 Spain 7,088,750 3,927,007 England 4,974,545 1,184,201
Entries and clearings of vessels from Cuba were as follows:
United States 2,012 1722 1733 1611 Spain 819 751 875 747 England 563 489 670 348 France 99 81 85 63
Copper was at this time greatly exported from Cuba. Since its discovery in 1530 comparatively little had been done until three centuries later. In 1830 an English company commenced operating the copper mines and from that time to 1870 had extracted this ore to the value of $50,000,000.
Sugar had long been the greatest source of Cuban wealth. It was always the sugar planter who had social as well as financial prestige on the island. Up to the middle of the nineteenth century even the poorest and smallest of sugar plantations had yielded a profit of $100,000 a year while the larger and more prosperous ones had cleared even as high as $200,000 annually. And all this had been accomplished with a minimum of effort. Vast areas of Cuba at this period were given over to these plantations. Some estates devoted themselves exclusively to raising the cane, while others ran mills which ground the cane and prepared the product for sale as sugar. Particularly with the soil as it was then, unravished by revolution, with its original fertility unimpaired, it was rarely necessary to replant the sugar cane. The old sprouts came up year after year, yielding at least two crops a year without any necessity for disturbing or enriching the soil. In 1800 Cuba exported 41,000 tons of sugar; and in 1850 no less than 223,000 tons.
From 1836 Cuba had no representation in the Cortes. Although Spain had promised Cuba "special laws," these were not enacted, and such laws as were put on the books were inimical to Cuban interests. Without representation, Cubans were also denied free speech. To speak one's mind against Spain meant to be thrown into a dungeon. If two or more persons signed a petition to secure some slight betterment in conditions, it was termed treason, and they were promptly apprehended. Business was under control of the Captain-General. It had to pay him large sums to be allowed to live, and it was compelled to conduct its affairs in accordance with his ideas. The "Junta de Fomento" established by Arango was no longer a factor in the improvement of Cuban affairs, but was packed with creatures of the Captain-General, with favorites of the court, and was used as a means of obtaining information and extorting money from Cubans who were suspected of disloyalty to Spain. The public offices were used to support additional taxation, and to strengthen the despotic rule of the Captain-General.