Argentina Part 15

[96] When the term _dollar_ is used, it invariably means the gold dollar at five to the English 1.

[97] "Stables and stalls are replacing the old-fashioned 'corral.' The wealthy proprietor arrives at his estancia from the railway station in a carriage; the old rustic homestead is converted into a veritable country-house, sometimes into a mansion, with park and garden. There are estancias a hundred leagues from Buenos Aires which we once knew as plains deserted and in the hands of the Indians, and where now carriages, equipped in English fashion, pa.s.s over the plain and people dine in the evening in sumptuous establishments. The European stock-raisers have made the gaucho retreat to the vast tracts situated on the confines of the desert" (Martinez et Lewandowski, "L'Argentine," p. 132).

[98] The statement of the "Encyclopedia Britannica," that Argentina had a hundred million sheep in 1866 is quite incredible. Mulhall estimates, no doubt accurately, the number in 1870 at forty-one millions.

[99] In 1569 Don Juan Ortiz de Zarate arranged for the importation of four thousand merinos to the River Plate. In 1660 Buenos Aires shipped its first cargo of wool--about a ton. When we condemn Spanish restrictiveness we must remember the enlightened efforts of various Viceroys to improve the industry of wool and hides.

[100] "In some respects we are so backward that our wool cannot compete in the great markets of the world, so far as regards the quality, with any other country which is a great producer. The bad habit of our breeders to separate their sheep into large flocks--sometimes above five thousand heads--is the princ.i.p.al obstacle to the improvement of our wool, because large flocks do not admit of the necessary attentions" (Napp, "The Argentine Republic," p. 303).

[101] "Of every twenty estancias in the South fifteen belong to Englishmen" (Bernandez, "The Argentine Estancia," p. 45).

[102] "The Argentine Estancia," p. 52.

[103] For some of my information I am indebted to an article in the _Lancet_ of October 24, 1908.

[104] The following table shows the progress of the Company:--

Acreage of Farms. Stock of Cattle.

1868 28,494 12,000 1878 37,961 19,036 1888 126,984 36,685 1898 254,133 66,435 1908 1,302,386 224,406 1910 1,527,720 274,500

[105] There are also some fine specimens of Aberdeen Angus. This is a useful breed, for it "nicks" well with Herefords and Durhams, and is a better milker than the Hereford. Its colour, usually black, is unpopular, and Argentines are fastidious in that respect. But they stand the cold well and their beef is of high quality, and some breeders pin their faith to them.

CHAPTER XVII

COMMERCE AND FINANCE

In dealing with this subject it will be necessary to make use of a considerable number of statistics, for there is no other way by which to express the unprecedented development of this great Republic.

Her genial climate, her fertile soil, her vast waterways, potent alike to fertilise the country and bring produce to the sea, and now her unequalled railways and excellent docks, have caused the trade of Argentina to be surprisingly large in proportion to her population, and, unfortunately, wealth seems likely to multiply more rapidly than men. As has been said before, the importance of Argentina as a world State is purely industrial and commercial; her politics, literature, and people are interesting, but they still belong to the day of small things. Her exports of wheat and pastoral products, her railway share list and her bonds are scrutinised eagerly at every commercial centre, and Buenos Aires is an increasingly important member of the delicate system of international commerce.

In 1908[106] the imports were 54,594,547.

" exports " 73,201,068.[107]

The princ.i.p.al items of import were as follows:--

Textiles 9,980,267 Railway carriages and vehicles 6,140,067 Iron (including manufactures) 6,015,096 Pottery 4,979,580 Foodstuffs 4,709,819 Building materials 4,276,485 Agricultural implements 3,167,967 Wine, &c. 2,655,956 Oils 2,610,344

It is clear from this table that Argentina still relies on the foreigner for most of her manufactures. Her policy of high Protection has not yet enabled her to produce high-cla.s.s goods, but it would be rash to say that success will never come, when we consider the position of the United States and the enormous advantage which an industrial start of some fifty years gives a country. The imports show a decline from the previous year of some two and a half million sterling, doubtless in sympathy with the prevailing depression, and the princ.i.p.al importing countries all sent slightly smaller quant.i.ties. Of the imports England has 342 per cent., Germany 139, the United States 132. The figures are:--

England 18,371,396 Germany 7,569,415 United States 7,119,400 France 5,295,383 Italy 4,982,649 Belgium 2,550,674

A remarkable feature in the history of Argentine trade returns is the enormous advance of Germany. In 1874 she sent to Argentina 160,000, in 1882, 920,000. England's figures for those two years are 1,040,000 and 1,480,000. Those of the United States are 380,000 and 580,000. But it should also be remarked that the advance of our own country has been even more rapid, and here, as elsewhere, the absurdity is demonstrated of those who declare that English trade is vanishing. Everything has been done to write down England and to write up Germany, and at the end of it all John Bull can beat Germany with one hand, the United States with the other, and has still an ample margin of strength to beat Belgium as well. We are handsomely above the Two Power standard in the Plate district. France makes steady progress, and Italy shows a large increase, as is only to be expected, because the emigration from Italy has long been very large. It may be added that French goods make their way by sheer merit, for France has in her own land ample scope for her scanty population. Some advantage may be obtained by her as the head of the Latin race, but wherever there are women and luxury there will French trade flourish, and further, in machinery of many kinds France, if equalled by any other nation for excellence, is equalled by England alone.

It is very interesting to see how Argentina has pa.s.sed from small to great things in matters of trade.

The following table shows in round figures her progress during a s.p.a.ce of more than a hundred years. They refer to her total foreign trade.

1795 1,400,000 1837 2,400,000 1850 4,300,000 1870 15,300,000 1880 20,100,000 1883 27,200,000 1891 34,086,000 1900 53,617,000 1908 127,700,000

Thus, in eight years, the foreign trade has far more than doubled. In former days the results of feverish development were by no means an unmixed benefit. Immense sums had been invested in railways and other enterprises, and the Mortgage Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires recklessly lent money upon land and credit was inflated. Everybody thought that unbounded riches were either in their possession or within reach, and the inevitable collapse followed. The difficulties were aggravated by the fluctuating state of the currency. At present the paper dollar circulates with a tolerably steady value of about 1s.

9d. There is a scheme for establishing a gold currency, and the gold held by the Conversion Office amounts to 132,769,134 dollars gold. The note circulation is over 500,000,000 dollars paper. In December, 1891, the Banco de La Nacion Argentina was opened with a capital of 50,000,000 dollars, now increased to 90,000,000. The Bank may lend money to the National Government, but the total amount is not to exceed 6,000,000 dollars, and it has no authority to place loans in other quarters.

The exports now demand our consideration. In 1908 the main items were:--

Agricultural products 48,013,032 Pastoral products 27,023,691 Forest products 1,269,446 Fish and Game 99,726

A more detailed investigation of the figures shows that of wheat 3,636,294 tons were exported, of maize 1,711,804, of linseed 1,055,650, of oats 440,041. The shipments of wool were 175,538 tons, of frozen beef 180,915, of jerked beef 6,650. Quebracho wood stood at 254,571 tons, quebracho at 48,162, and hay at 32,078. Hides were largely exported.

For 1908 the following is the percentage of imports received by various countries: England, 214; Belgium, 98; Germany 95; France, 79; Brazil, 41; United States, 36.

The following table shows our reciprocal trade with Argentina in 1907[108]:--

IMPORTS INTO ENGLAND.

Wheat 8,044,636 Maize 5,000,219 Fresh Mutton 2,360,565 Fresh Beef 4,308,273 Linseed 1,977,466 Wool 1,689,639

EXPORTS FROM ENGLAND.

Cotton 2,752,251 Woollens 1,080,795 Iron and Manufactures 3,511,803 Machinery 2,458,180 Railway Carriages 1,769,780 Coal 1,761,467

The various industries of this Republic, which supply the materials for the rapidly increasing commerce, are dealt with in other chapters.

Buenos Aires from very early times has had a brisk trade. Even in the seventeenth century the traffic in hides excited the admiration of travellers, and at the end of the eighteenth century the new and liberal commercial policy pursued by the Home Government resulted in a promising development which was roughly checked by the Revolution.

From 1825 to 1842 the foreign trade per inhabitant positively diminished, and by 1850 it was only 4 8s. per head as against 3 12s.

in 1795. Now it is some 20. Obviously the slow progress after the Revolution was due to the sinister tyranny of Rosas, which stifled the development of communications and all other progress. A traveller,[109]

who visited the Pampas in 1848, says: "The soil is good for agriculture, yet flour is either imported from the United States, or obtained from the northern provinces; and its price is enhanced by the cost of land-carriage several hundred miles." He concludes his interesting work with these words[110]: "But while our own colonies of Australia and New Zealand offer such rich and boundless fields for the profitable employment of capital among our own countrymen, there is less inducement than ever for merchants to risk their capital and energies amongst a race of people where the wealth of nature is wasted by the combined operation of ignorance, unstable government, and interminable warfare."

Very different has been Argentina's commercial history for the last sixty years, and the only check was afforded by the Celman crash.

Now[111] "the producing capacity of the country is steadily increasing, and in cereal production its status is evidenced by the fact that as a corn [_i.e._, maize] exporter the Argentine Republic took first rank in 1908, occupying the place formerly held by the United States. In the production[112] of this foodstuff the country ranks third, and as a wheat-grower fifth. It is first as an exporter of frozen meat, and second as a shipper of wool. In the number of its cattle the Republic holds third place among the nations, being ranked by India and the United States. Russia and the United States exceed it in number of horses, and Australia alone has a greater number of sheep."

As a complement to this description of the commerce, a few words should be said about the industries which directly nourish it.

Elsewhere will be found an account of the foreign steamship lines which connect Argentina with the outer world.[113] Here it is necessary to give the figures of her modest mercantile marine as far as they can be ascertained:--

Steamships 131 Tonnage 55,561 Sailing ships 161 Tonnage 40,581 ---- ------- Total 292 96,142

It has already been said that the Argentines are not a seafaring nation, but no doubt, in course of time, the exigencies of national defence and the growth of her trade will turn the energies of her people to the sea.

There are in Argentina four banks with their offices in London. First comes the London and River Plate Bank, which was the only one of the four doing business in the country at the time of the Celman catastrophes, and this British Bank was the only banking firm of any description that weathered the storm. It has branches in Buenos Aires, Rosario, Mendoza, Concordia, Bahia Blanca, and Barracas. The other three, though younger, are sound and prosperous. The Anglo-South American Bank (formerly Tarapaca) has branches in Buenos Aires, Mendoza, and Bahia Blanca. The British Bank of South America has branches in Buenos Aires and Rosario, and the same is the case with the London and Brazilian Bank. There are, of course, many foreign and Argentine banks, and of these the Spanish River Plate Bank is said to be the best. It was recently stated that the United States does not possess a single bank in the whole of South America.

The financial position of the Republic may be briefly stated. It is generally believed that the fiscal management is somewhat wasteful, and the competence of Congress to produce a satisfactory budget is questioned. Men of eminent business ability are, of course, found in the pursuits that make wealth rather than in Congress. But the finances are flourishing, as the following figures[114] will show:--

ESTIMATES FOR 1909.

-----------------------------+-------------- Revenue. Dollars Gold.

-----------------------------+-------------- Import duties 51,930,000 Additional duties 3,100,000 Port dues, &c. 5,230,000 Consular dues, fines, &c. 930,000 Buenos Aires Provincial Debt 983,429 National Bank Service 347,004 +-------------- 62,520,433 -----------------------------+--------------

-----------------------------+-------------- Revenue. Dollars Paper.