By the operation of the former of these instruments the United States virtually underwrites the political stability and the financial responsibility of the Cuban Government.  That Government cannot borrow any important sums without the consent of the United States, and it has agreed that this country “may exercise the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty, and for discharging the obligations with respect to Cuba imposed by the Treaty of Paris on the United States.”  This assumption of responsibility by the United States inspired confidence on the part of capital, and large sums have been invested in Cuban bonds, and in numerous public and private enterprises.  Railways and trolley lines have been built and many other works of public utility have been undertaken.  The activities of old sugar plantations have been extended under improved conditions, and many new estates with costly modern equipment have been created.  The cultivation of large areas, previously lying waste and idle, afforded both directly and indirectly employment for an increased population, as did the numerous public works.  The other force, perhaps no less effective, appears in the reciprocity treaty of 1903.  This gave to Cuba’s most important crop a large though by no means absolute control of the constantly increasing sugar market of the United States, as far as competition from other foreign countries was concerned.  The sugar industry of the island may be said to have been restored to its normal proportions in 1903.  Our imports for the five-year period 1904-1908 averaged 1,200,000 tons a year.  For the five-year period 1910-1914 they averaged 1,720,000 tons.  In 1914, they were 2,200,000 tons as compared with 1,260,000 tons in 1904.  It is doubtful if the treaty had any appreciable influence on the exports of Cuban tobacco to this country.  We buy Cuba’s special tobacco irrespective of a custom-house advantage that affects the box price only a little, and the price of a single cigar probably not at all.  On the other side of the account, that of our sales to Cuba, there also appears a large increase since the application of the reciprocity treaty.  Using the figures showing exports from the United States to Cuba, instead of Cuba’s records showing imports from this country, it appears that our sales to the island in the fiscal year 1903, immediately preceding the operation of the treaty, amounted to $21,761,638.  In the fiscal year 1913 they were $70,581,000, and in 1914 were $68,884,000.