Sugar & Railroads: A Cuban History, 1837-1959

1097 Pages·1998·6.05 MB·English

by  Zanetti Oscar

Sugar & Railroads : A Cuban History, 1837-
title:
1959
Zanetti Lecuona, Oscar.; Garcâia Alvarez,
author:
Alejandro.
publisher: University of North Carolina Press
isbn10 | asin: 0807823856
print isbn13: 9780807823859
ebook isbn13: 9780807866436
language: English
subject Railroads--Cuba--History.
publication date: 1998
lcc: HE2868.Z3613 1998eb
ddc: 385/.097291
subject: Railroads--Cuba--History.
Page iii
Sugar & Railroads
A Cuban History, 1837-1959
Oscar Zanetti
Alejandro García
Translated by
Franklin W. Knight
& Mary Todd
Page iv
Originally published as Caminos para el Azúcar by Editorial de
Ciencias Sociales, 1987
© 1987 Oscar Zanetti and Alejandro García
English translation
© 1998 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
The translation and publication of this book were made possible
through a generous grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to
the Association of Caribbean Historians and the Johns Hopkins
University.
Designed by Heidi Perov
Set in Electra with Compacta Display by
Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
Manufactured in the United States of America
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book
Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Zanetti Lecuona, Oscar, 1946
[Caminos para el azúcar. English]
Sugar and railroads: a Cuban history, 18371959 / by Oscar
Zanetti and Alejandro García; translated by Franklin W. Knight
and Mary Todd.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-8078-2385-6 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN 0-8078-4692-9 (pbk.: alk. paper)
RailroadsCubaHistory. I. García Alvarez, Alejandro.
II. Title.
HE2868.Z3613 1998
385'.097291dc21 97-40299
CIP
02 01 00 99 98 5 4 3 2 1
Page v
Contents
Foreword by Bridget Brereton xiii
Introduction by Franklin W. Knight xv
Preface xix
One. The Problems of Transportation 1
Two. The Güines Railroad 18
Three. The Initial Expansion, 18381852 39
Four. The Years of the Railroad Boom 57
Five. The Island Railroad Network 78
Six. Human Dimensions of Cuban Railroads 105
Seven. Relative Stagnation 125
Eight. The Impact of Structural Changes 146
Nine. Denationalization 166
Ten. U.S. Intervention 194
Eleven. The Ferrocarril Central and Imperial Interests 210
Twelve. British Monopoly in the West 235
Thirteen. War, Sugar, and Railroads 256
Fourteen. U.S. Monopolies and the Tarafa Bill 275
Fifteen. Organization of the Railroad Proletariat 297
Sixteen. The Crisis 322
Seventeen. Temporary Recovery 348
Eighteen. In the Shadow of the Bourgeois State 370
Conclusion 401
Notes 411
Sources 475
Index 483
Page vii
Tables
5.1. Shares in Cuban National Railroad Companies 85
Purchased by the Junta de Fomento, 18401854
5.2. Annual Income per Kilometer for the Fourteen 92
Largest Railroad Companies in Cuba, 18611868
5.3. Annual Expenditures per Kilometer for Eleven Cuban 93
Railroads, 18651868
5.4. Operating Ratio for Thirteen Cuban Railway 94
Companies, 18651868
5.5. Loans Contracted by Cuban Railroads, 18601865 96
5.6. Principal Products of the Jurisdiction of Güines 99
6.1. Status of Asian Day Laborers for the Caminos de 123
Hierro de La Habana
7.1. Cuban Railway Expansion, 18611900 126
7.2. Investment by Two Railroad Companies, 18681878 130
8.1. Volume of Cane Transported by Rail during the 149
Harvest of 1895
8.2. Construction of Private Branch Lines along the Route 153
of Ferrocarriles Unidos de La Habana, 18801890
8.3. Ferrocarril de Sagua La Grande Company Expenses, 158
18651880
8.4. Wage Rates of Ferrocarriles Urbanos de La Habana 160
and Ferrocarril de Sancti Spíritus a Tunas, 18931894
8.5. Comparative Data of the "Economies" Obtained by 164
the Ferrocarril de Matanzas a Sabanillas through Wages
and Daily Rates, 18951896
Page viii
9.1. Increase in the Number of Freight Cars of Four 168
Railroad Companies, 18811897
9.2. Cuban Sugar Production and the Price and Value of 179
Harvests, 18941898
9.3. Troops Lodged in the Regla Warehouses, 1896 187
10.l. Kilometer Distribution and Capital Sources of Cuban 201
Public Service Railroads, 1900
10.2. Yield per Kilometer of the Main Public Service 202
Railroad Companies, 1900
12.1. Foreign Capital in Cuba, 19131914 251
12.2. Western Railroad Companies' Capitalization and 252
Length of Lines
12.3. Capitalization of Ferrocarriles Unidos de La Habana 253
y Almacenes de Regla Ltda. (United Railways), 19001914
13.1. Freight Cars Owned by Four Railroad Companies 260
13.2. Value of Stock and Cash J. M. Tarafa Received from 268
the Cuba Northern Railroad Company
13.3. Passengers and Freight Carried by the Main Railroad270
Companies in Cuba, 19131918
13.4. Income the Main Railroad Companies in Cuba 272
Obtained from Passenger Fares and Freight Charges for
Carrying Sugar, Sugarcane, and Molasses, 1920
15.1. Comparative Data on Daily Wage Rates of the 302
Principal Railroad Companies, 19051906
16.1. Comparative Analysis of Railroad Income, Value of 326
Sugarcane Harvests, and Value of Trade, 19291939
16.2. Income and Tonnage per Kilometer for Railroad 331
Freight in Several Countries, 19361938
17.1. Comparative Data for Passengers Carried by 350
Ferrocarriles Unidos and Ferrocarriles Consolidados, 1940
and 1944
17.2. Volume and Distance of Freight Carried on 351
Ferrocarriles Unidos
17.3. Minimum Wage Increases and General Wage 363
Increases in the Railroad Sector, 19431946
18.1. Comparison of Railroad Income, 19571958 396