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THE ARGENTINE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
THE ARGENTINE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Author’s Note xiii Author’s Preface to the Third Edition xv Preface to the First Edition xxv Introduction xli General Plan and Method of this Book 55 The Argentine Nationality 59 General Plan and Method of this Book 55 The Argentine Nationality 59 I. The Geography of the Argentine 71 Climate — Soil —Geographical situation of the Argentine; its boundaries, its area. Climate of various districts. The prevailing winds. Nature of the soil; its fertility; adaptation to the culture of cereals and the
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
AUTHOR’S NOTE
At the outset of this work our thanks are due to Señor J. Romero, ex-Minister of Finance, who has given us the benefit of his experience for this study of current Argentine affairs. Señor Romero is the author of the monetary law of 1881, and was responsible for the arrangement of the foreign Debt of 1892; he is to be numbered among those Ministers who have rendered, in the course of their financial administration, the greatest services to their country. We must also pay tribute to the memory of
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AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
Three years have elapsed since the appearance of the first edition of this book, and we have to-day the satisfaction of being able to state that the development of the country has fully responded to our optimistic forecast. Short as such a period is in the life of a people, it has been extraordinarily full; the ground covered is so considerable that it is of a larger Argentine that we now have to revise the picture, while recording its pacific victories in the economic field. No country in the w
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PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
Twenty years ago M. F. Latzina, Director of Statistics, published in French a very able work on the Geographie de la République Argentine , of which he had issued the first edition in Spanish, and I consented with pleasure to write an Introduction to a book whose object—an object which it fulfilled—was to familiarise European readers with a country whose rapid development is one of the most remarkable facts in the economic history of the nineteenth century. “These results,” I wrote, after having
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
This book, intended to make known in Europe the present situation and the economic future of the Argentine Republic, comes at an opportune moment to fulfil its mission of popularisation. During the last ten years of the nineteenth century the Argentine has suffered all the misfortunes and known all the disasters that can affect a rural and agricultural people. The locust, coming from the Tropics, devoured the crops; anthrax, imported from Europe, decimated the cattle; the threats of a war with C
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GENERAL PLAN AND METHOD OF THIS BOOK
GENERAL PLAN AND METHOD OF THIS BOOK
Before commencing a study of the financial and economic situation in the Argentine Republic, it is important to decide at the outset as to the spirit in which this examination should be pursued, and the method most proper to such an inquiry. We tread upon a novel and peculiar field, and any too rigid comparison with the events of other countries might easily lead us to errors of appreciation. Above all we must practise the philosophical principle nil admirari ; we must be astonished at nothing,
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THE ARGENTINE NATIONALITY[15]
THE ARGENTINE NATIONALITY[15]
Is there an Argentine nationality, and what is its significance in respect of the territory it occupies?—The formation of this nationality. An examination of the qualities of the Argentine people.—Sense of progress; remarkable faculty of assimilation: character essentially practical.—The fusion of the Latin genius with Anglo-Saxon energy. The contrast between the political world, with its instability and lack of organisation, and the economic world, which manifests intense vitality and national
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CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I
Climate — Soil —Geographical situation of the Argentine; its boundaries, its area. Climate of various districts. The prevailing winds. Nature of the soil; its fertility; adaptation to the culture of cereals and the raising of live-stock—Transformation of virgin into fertile land—The Pampa—The cultivable area—Conditions favourable to production—The plagues of locusts. Rivers —Their exceptionally favourable influence—The hydrographic system—Network of navigable river-ways: the Rio de la Plata, the
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CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II
Rapid development of the railway system—Tabulation of its extension in each Province—Table showing the general results of its exploitation—List of the lines actually running. List of railway companies, with the length of their roadways and their returns—The difficulty of obtaining exact figures—The tariffs of the railway companies—Form of concessions, and suppression of guarantees. Comparison of the railway system of the Argentine with the railway systems of other countries—Proportion of mileage
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CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III
Immigration is a vital problem for the Argentine—Table of the population per Province and per Territory. Its sparsity—The Exceptional situation of the Argentine as the objective of European emigration—The poor results hitherto obtained through default of colonisation—The faulty division of the public lands—History of immigration in relation to colonisation—The nationality of immigrants. The economic and financial organisation of the Argentine being now assured, and peace without and within being
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CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I
Natural Conditions — The Constitution of Property —The three principal agricultural districts—The northern, central, and southern districts—The division of crops and their varieties. The constitution of rural property—The division of property—The great estates, called “estancias,” and their dimensions. The drawbacks of large properties—The necessity of a better subdivision of the public lands—The division into lots of large tracts of land, in order to encourage colonisation—The system of exploit
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CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II
The world’s wheat-harvest—Comparison between the statistics of consumption—The conditions of production in Russia and in the Argentine—Comparison with the United States, India and Canada—The prospects of the Argentine export trade in wheat. Having described the progress realised by the Argentine Republic in the course of the last few years, it will be not without interest to inquire what are the resources of those nations which are, or may be, the competitors of the Argentine in the world-market
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CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III
The transformation of the; old “estancia”—The principal stock-raising establishments: description, extent, number of heads of cattle and favorite breeds—The great “estancias” of the South and Patagonia. Approximate area of the soil devoted to cattle and sheep; general estimate of the numbers of cattle and sheep—Results of the census of 1908—The capital represented by Argentine stock-raising. Having spoken of agriculture and its future, we must mention another industry, which is the second source
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CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV
Difficulties in estimating this value—Principal factors of valuation—Examples taken from lucerne fields and the forests of quebracho—Despite adverse circumstances, and with a few exceptions, there has always been a tendency for the price of land to rise—Alienation of lands acquired by conquest from the Indians; their enormous present value—The rise of value dates from 1902, and has hitherto continued without relapse—The causes of this rise, and its rational principles, according to an authoritat
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CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V
Sugar-cane —Area of plantations—Statistics of production—Legislation affecting sugar—Consumption. Vines —Area of vineyards planted—Production, consumption—Imperfect quality—Competition of foreign imports. Tobacco —Area of plantations—Value of the product—Defective preparation. The Mulberry —The culture of the silk-worm might be established in the Argentine, but at present exists only in an experimental condition. Maté —Large consumption of this product.—Statistics of foreign importation—District
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CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I
The important part played by the foreign trade of the Argentine—Table of imports and exports during recent years—Explanation of their respective movements—Favourable condition of the commercial balance. Method of ascertaining the statistics of exports and imports—Errors in evaluation—Notes on the import duties on various articles—Variations of the customs duties—Export duties; their transitory character—The trade in bullion. Imports —Their classification according to their countries of origin—Va
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CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II
The principal industries of the country are related to agriculture and cattle-breeding. Sugar-planting , Boiling , etc.—Capital engaged—Tucuman the chief centre—Production and exportation—The sugar crisis—The Rosario Refinery. Flour Export Trade —Capital invested—Equipment, steam flour-mills, grain-elevators—Production and exportation. Refrigeration —At present the chief industry of the country—Number of establishments—Table of exports of frozen and chilled meats—Capital invested—Development of
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CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III
The Argentine has not entered the industrial age—She has no coal-mines in operation, no natural motive forces of any importance. Mines —Symptoms of the awakening of the mining industry—Numerous lodes in the Andes—The mines of La Rioja and Catamarca—Mines in other provinces and territories—Mining legislation. Electric Industries —Tramways; their development, their perfected equipment, and their profits—Progress of electric lighting—Telegraphs—Telephones. Various Industries —List of various indust
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CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV
Banks —International character of Argentine banking—Evolution of banking machinery—List of the principal banks, with amount of capital and business done—Conditions peculiar to Argentine banking; the lack of moveable reserves—Rates of interest on account, on deposit, and on advances—Statistics of the deposit accounts of the principal banks—Exchange operations: their decrease since the determination of a fixed monetary ratio—The Clearing House; the importance of its operations. The Bank of the Nat
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CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I
The financial situation—Continual increase of national expenditure—Great and rapid progress since 1891—Insufficiency of the means adopted to moderate this increase—The Budget Extraordinary and the Special Legislation Budget. Causes of this increase of national expenditure—The increase of administrative requirements caused by an increasing population; this is the most natural cause, and that most easily justified—Increase of the public debt—The intervention of the State as the promoter or guarant
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CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II
Statistics of the public debt on the 1st January 1909—History of the public debt—The first loans. The financial crisis—Consolidated loans—The Romero arrangement—Loan for the rescission of guarantees—The internal public debt—The total of the Argentine public debt, and its annual cost in dividends and redemption—The proportion of financial charges as compared to other budgetary expenses. The burden of the public debt is heavy, but not unduly heavy in relation to the productive power of the country
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CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III
The persistence of the double currency—The history of paper money—The origins of the premium on gold, and its almost continual increase—The year 1890 and the depreciation of the currency—The causes of this depreciation; abuses in the issue of paper, caused by a bad financial and administrative policy. Remedies suggested—Rosa’s law fixing the value of paper money and establishing a Caisse de Conversion —Opposition to this law—Its beneficent effect upon agriculture and stock-raising, which had esp
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CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV
The principles on which the establishment of this institution is based—The necessity of a rapid redemption of fiduciary money—The imperfect success of this programme—New issues of notes—New attributes of the Caisse dating from 1899—The exchange of paper for gold and vice versa —The development of this system of exchange—The authority attaching to the Caisse . Among the official institutions which are closely connected with the issue and redemption of paper money, the Caisse de Conversion demands
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CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V
The Inventory of Movable Property or Securities —The capital represented by movable properties, stocks, bonds, shares, etc., is the only kind of capital which lends itself to statistics—The great groups of movable properties: National Funds, Railway Shares, Insurance Companies, Foreign Banks, Mortgage Companies, and agricultural and industrial undertakings. The nominal amount of capital represented by movable values—Table of the annual revenues of the same, and the sinking fund—Division of this
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CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
This volume does not call for a long summary; for we have, we believe, in the course of our enquiry, thrown sufficient light upon the characteristic aspects of the situation of the Argentine to enable the reader to judge of the place it now holds in the world-market among the great producing nations. But what does remain for us to do is to sum up in broad touches the fundamental progress realised in the last few years; a degree of progress to which the country is indebted for its modern prosperi
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