Cuba, Old and New | Page 7

Century.
At the bottom of Cuba's several little uprisings, and at the bottom of its
final revolt in 1895, lay the same cause of offence. In those earlier
years, it was held that colonies existed solely for the benefit of the
mother-country. In 1497, almost at the very beginning of Spain's
colonial enterprises in the New World, a royal decree was issued under
which the exclusive privilege to carry on trade with the colonies was
granted to the port of Seville. This monopoly was transferred to the
port of Cadiz in 1717, but it continued, in somewhat modified form in
later years, until Spain had no colonies left.
While Santiago was the capital of the island, from 1522 to 1552, trade
between Spain and the island could be carried on only through that port.
When Havana became the capital, in 1552, the exclusive privilege of
trade was transferred to that city. With the exception of the years 1762
and 1763, when the British occupied Havana and declared it open to all
trade, the commerce of the island could only be done through Havana
with Seville, until 1717, and afterward with Cadiz. Baracoa, or

Santiago, or Trinidad, or any other Cuban city, could not send goods to
Santander, or Malaga, or Barcelona, or any other Spanish market, or
receive goods directly from them. The law prohibited trade between
Cuba and all other countries, and limited all trade between the island
and the mother-country to the port of Havana, at one end, and to Seville
or Cadiz, according to the time of the control of those ports, at the other
end. Even intercolonial commerce was prohibited. At times, and for
brief periods, the system was modified to the extent of special trade
licences, and, occasionally, by international treaties. But the general
system of trade restriction was maintained throughout all of Spain's
colonial experience. Between 1778 and 1803, most of Cuba's ports
were opened to trade with Spain. The European wars of the early years
of the 19th Century led to modification of the trade laws, but in 1809
foreign commerce with Spanish American ports was again prohibited.
A few years later, Spain had lost nearly all its American colonies. A
new plan was adopted in 1818. Under that, Spain sought to hold the
trade of Cuba and Porto Rico by tariffs so highly favorable to
merchandise from the mother-country as to be effectively prohibitive
with regard to many products from other countries. This, in general
outline, is the cause of Cuba's slow progress until the 19th Century, and
the explanation of its failure to make more rapid progress during that
century.
Naturally, under such conditions, bribery of officials and smuggling
became active and lucrative enterprises. It may be said, in strict
confidence between writer and reader, that Americans were frequently
the parties of the other part in these transactions. In search through a
considerable number of American histories, I have been unable to find
definite references to trade with Cuba, yet there seems to be abundant
reason for belief that such trade was carried on. There are many
references to trade with the West Indies as far back as 1640 and even a
year or two earlier, but allusions to trade with Cuba do not appear,
doubtless for the reason that it was contraband, a violation of both
Spanish and British laws. There was evidently some relaxation toward
the close of the 18th Century. There are no records of the commerce of
the American colonies, and only fragmentary records between 1776
and 1789. The more elaborate records of 1789 and following years

show shipments of fish, whale oil, spermaceti candles, lumber, staves
and heading, and other articles to the "Spanish West Indies," in which
group Cuba was presumably included. The records of the time are
somewhat unreliable. It was a custom for the small vessels engaged in
that trade to take out clearance papers for the West Indies. The cargo
might be distributed in a number of ports, and the return cargo might be
similarly collected. For the year 1795, the records of the United States
show total imports from the Spanish West Indies as valued at
$1,740,000, and exports to that area as valued at $1,390,000. In 1800,
the imports were $10,588,000, and the exports $8,270,000. Just how
much of this was trade with Cuba, does not appear. Because of the
trade increase at that time, and because of other events that, soon
afterward, brought Cuba into more prominent notice, this period has
been chosen as the line of division between the Old and the New Cuba.
Compared with the wonderful fertility of Cuba, New England is a
sterile area. Yet in 1790, a hundred and seventy years after its
settlement, the latter had a population a little exceeding a million, while
the