The productive industries of the island have already been reviewed in other chapters.  The development of Cuba’s commerce since the withdrawal of Spain, and the substitution of a modern fiscal policy for an antiquated and indefensible system, has been notable.  It is, however, a mistake to contrast the present condition with the condition existing at the time of the American occupation, in 1899.  The exact accuracy of the record is questionable, but the returns for the year 1894, the year preceding the revolution, show the total imports of the island as $77,000,000, and the total exports as $99,000,000.  The probability is that a proper valuation would show a considerable advance in the value of the imports.  The statement of export values may be accepted.  It may be assumed that had there been no disorder, the trade of the island, by natural growth, would have reached $90,000,000 for imports and $120,000,000, for exports, in 1900.  That may be regarded as a fair normal.  As it was, the imports of that year were $72,000,000, and the exports, by reason of the general wreck of the sugar business, were only $45,000,000.  With peace and order fairly assured, recovery came quickly.  The exports of 1905, at $99,000,000, equalled those of 1894, while the imports materially exceeded those of the earlier year.  In 1913, the exports reached $165,207,000, and the imports $132,290,000.  This growth of Cuba’s commerce and industry is due mainly to the economic requirements of the American people.  We need Cuba’s sugar and we want its tobacco.  These two commodities represent about 90 per cent, of the total exports of the island.  We buy nearly all of its sugar, under normal conditions, and about 60 per cent, of its tobacco and cigars.  On the basis of the total commerce of the island, the records of recent years show this country as the source of supply for about 53 per cent, of Cuba’s total imports, and as the market for about 83 per cent, of its exports.  A comparison of the years 1903 and 1913 shows a gain of about $87,000,000 in Cuba’s total exports.  Of this, about $75,000,000 is represented by sugar.  The crop of 1894 a little exceeded a million tons.  Such a quantity was not again produced until 1903.  With yearly variations, due to weather conditions, later years show an enormous and unprecedented increase.  The crops of 1913 and 1914 were, approximately, 2,500,000 tons each.  The tobacco industry shows only a modest gain.  The average value of the exports of that commodity has risen, in ten years, from about $25,000,000 to about $30,000,000.  The increase in the industry appears largely in the shipment of leaf tobacco.  The cigar business shows practically no change, in that time, as far as values are concerned.  This resume affords a fair idea of Cuba’s trade expansion under the conditions established through the change in government.  That event opened new and larger doors of opportunity, and the Cubans and others have been prompt in taking advantage of them.  Toward the great increase shown, two forces have operated effectively.  One is the treaty by which the provisions of the so-called Platt Amendment to the Cuban Constitution are made permanently effective.  The other is the reciprocity treaty of 1903.