CHAPTER XVIICOMMERCE AND FINANCE

AN ESTANCIERO'S HOUSE.

M. Bernandez, to whose valuable work this chapter is indebted, concludes this subject with the following words: "Thus the moral to be learned from all this would be, that there is no reason why either the coarse or fine wools now produced should be abandoned to any great extent. The coarse can afford to give over a large proportion of its flock to the evolution, because they are in an immense majority; but it would not be prudent to go to the other extreme in this reaction, as the coarse long wool will always have its use, not only in rough goods but also in the warp of fine cloths, which in the great mechanical looms has to be extremely strong—a reason that has prevented the decadence of French wools. The merino, on its side, has its strongest defence in the singular fact that our woollen factoriesimporttheir fine wools in the form of yarn. As soon as spinning-mills are established in the country, and the customs tariff combines the interests of the wool-grower with that of the manufacturer, there will be, in this country alone, more than half a million sterling at hand for the purchase of the wool produced by our Rambouillet flocks. It can thus be seen that there is a field for stock-breeding and industrial art that will cause the development on a colossal scale of all the breeds comprised in our flocks, and that the times are singularly propitious for it, as we have at hand in enormous quantity all the elements tending to good results that can be offered to capital and to the vigorous enterprise of mankind, with greater certainty and more favourable auspices than can be obtained in any other class of business, or in any other part of the world."[102]

ESTANCIA.

The life of the estancia has been described by many pens, and the free, open conditions have always had an attraction for Englishmen. The management is everywhere upon the same principles. The property is divided by wire fences into paddocks varying from 200 to 3,000 acres. Some paddocks are used for breeding, some for fattening, and the head station is situated as nearly in the middle of the Camp as possible. It consists of the houses of the ownersand managers, the labourers' quarters, tool- and store-houses, shearing-sheds, dipping-troughs, and the like. The owner's house is often very large and handsome, and the grounds beautifully laid out. There is generally considerable variety of stock, but where the fattening of steers is the main object few or no sheep are kept. Some estancias have dairies attached. Land was taken up very rapidly by ranchers in the early days of Argentina's prosperity. Now, with the increase of the area of cultivation, the land in the Pampas which is available for grazing is greatly curtailed. It is estimated that nearly a hundred million hectares are still to be disposed of by the State, but this is all far to the north or south, and Chubut and Santa Cruz make up nearly half the total.

ESTANCIA SANTA MARIA.

The dairy industry is now on a gigantic scale. All arrangements were till very lately most primitive and the traveller, did he not know to the contrary, would still believe them to be so; but it is a peculiarity about Argentina that the people hurry to institute a great export trade long before they think of supplying themselves adequately with an article. As late as 1891 the first butter—a few hundred pounds—was exported. Now the exports amount to 8,000 tons. The dairies are provided with the most up-to-date machinery, and the export trade of butter will, no doubt, rapidly increase. The industry is, however, looked upon with some distrust by estancieros, for it is important not to allow the winning of milk to diminish the young animals, either in quantity or quality, upon which the prosperity of Argentina depends.

LEMCO AND OXO PREMISES.

Inseparably connected with the pastoral industry are two great English businesses concerned in the extract of meat. It was in 1884 that the Kemmerich Company purchased some estancias and built a factory at Santa Elena in Entre Rios. The Bovril Company had for some years been obtaining material for its meat extract from Santa Elena, and eventually bought the factory and that of San Javier, together with a block of 438,000 acres, and additional land was leased. These were formed into the Argentine Estates of Bovril, Limited, and hence is obtained a large proportion of the raw material of that well-known beverage. The final stages of manufacture take place in the London factory. The estancias support from 130,000 to 160,000 head of cattle, but even this large number does not supply the whole demand, and every year many cattle continue to be sent by the Kemmerich Company to the Bovril factories. The favourite breed is the hardy Durham. Several thousand head of this fine breed are kept by the Company to level up the remainder of the stock. The Durham, or Shorthorn, has been a brilliant success in the Pampa, both as a pure breed and as a means of raising, by crossing the standard of the criollo, or native animal, and no breed equals it for beef-production in districts where the pasture is rich and the climate temperate. The Bovril Company also keeps Polled Angus, but finds the Durhams unequalled for its purpose.

All the best parts of the beef are used to make Bovril, and the preliminary process takes place in the Argentine factories, where 80,000 to 100,000 cattle are slaughtered annually. The hides and tallow are also prepared at Santa Elena, sold at Buenos Aires, and shipped to Europe and the United States. The rapid growth of this business and the skill and enterprise of the Company in importing good stock are very characteristic of English methods in Argentina.

The other Company is considerably older. The Lemco and Oxo Company[103]illustrates the history of an ideawhich occurred in 1850 to Baron Justus von Liebig, who suggested that, instead of killing cattle for their hides and tallow and leaving the carcases to rot on the ground, ranchers might do well to devise an economical process of obtaining an extract of meat from the neglected beef. In 1865 the idea was at last put into practice. Baron Liebig says: "In 1862 I received a visit from Herr Giebert, an engineer of Hamburg, who had spent many years in South America and Uruguay, where hundreds of thousands of sheep and oxen are killed solely for the hides and fat. He told me that directly he saw my account of the preparation of this extract he came to Munich with the intention of learning the process and then returning to South America in order to undertake its manufacture on a large scale. I therefore recommended Herr Giebert to Professor Pettenkofer, who willingly made him familiar with every detail of the process. He then returned to Uruguay in the summer of 1863, but, owing to many difficulties which generally hinder the introduction and management of a new business, it was almost a year before he could actually commence the manufacture." It was arranged that the extract should be called Liebig, and in due course the first sample of about 80 lbs. of beef extract arrived at Munich, and was pronounced highly satisfactory, considering that it was "a product from the flesh of half-wild animals."

These pioneer attempts were quickly absorbed by Lemco and Oxo. The beginning was made in Uruguay, but now the Company owns ten estancias in Argentina, nine in Paraguay, and seven in Uruguay.[104]The chief Argentine estancia is at Colon in Entre Rios, about 180 miles north of Buenos Aires, but there are many others, both in that Province and Corrientes, including La Luisa, Jubileo, Chacra, and Curuzu Laurel, as well as numerous hired farms. The total area of the estates very nearly equals that of Kent and Surrey put together. Some of the estancias are larger than the Isle of Wight. The soil is fertile, the climate genial, there is an inexhaustible water supply, and an ample rainfall. All products can be shipped direct from Colon. The great feature of Camp conditions and the main element of success in the meat industry is the splendid open-air and free life which, with abundance of sweet grass, is the deadly enemy of the tubercle bacillus. In the whole of Argentina the cattle that come to the freezing and preserving establishments show usually an average of under 1 per cent. afflicted with tuberculosis. These results are not surprising, seeing that the one known remedy for consumption is the open-air life.

PURE BRED HEREFORD BULL (OXO).

As was seen, the Bovril cattle are Durhams, and this may be attributed to the fact that they are largely fed on lucerne. The stock on the Lemco and Oxo estancias is grass-fed, and therefore a different breed finds favour. In place of the "half-wild animals" of forty-five years ago, the estates are grazed by beautiful herds of almost pure-bred Herefords.[105]Many well-known breeders ofthat county, and also H.M. King Edward, have contributed to the Company's stock. The noble, white-faced beasts, standing deep in the rich grass, are a glorious spectacle.

GROUP OF HEREFORDS.

The Hereford is the second favourite in Argentina, but breeders only pay about half as much for them as for good Durham bulls. Where the surroundings do not conduce to early maturity and where lucerne cannot be had, the Hereford is excellent. It is slow in maturing, and at three years of age is said to be 15 per cent. lighter than its rival, but the popularity of the Hereford is steadily increasing.

The factory at Colon is only seven years old and is splendidly equipped. Every process follows the other in geographical order, and each departmental factory duly delivers its produce into the vast shipping wharf. Behind stand the houses of the Company's servants, stores, schools for the children, and a club. Standing by a mighty river, in a green country, the industry presents none of the dingy conditions and ugliness which are associated with European wealth-production. It is rather a palace of health.

PEDIGREE COW AND CALF.

The killing season opens in January and ends in June, and usually about a quarter of a million beasts are slain—hecatombs as much exceeding the etymological sense of the word as the Homeric phrase doubtless fell below it. They are a stupendous yearly sacrifice to Æsculapius. It should be added that the factory at Colon is constantly inspected by a representative of the Cattle Inspection Department of the Ministry of the Argentine Republic, and he is required to certify each month that he has not allowed any animal to be killed that was not sound and free from disease. Nothing that the bounty of Nature or the skill of man can achieve is left undone to secure the perfect condition of all the products.

That statesman is proverbially the wisest who can make two blades of corn grow where one grew before. In like manner, the men who can transmute scrubby sheep and big-boned, lean cattle into well-proportioned animals with heavy fleeces and fat stock is a benefactor to the human race. In Argentina, at least, to say nothing of other lands, this work has been most effectually accomplished by private effort, and in reviewing the pastoral industries of Argentina we must admire the enterprise which has scattered plenty over the land. The old poets associated wealth and peace with great herds of cattle and flocks of sheep.

"One way a band select from forage drivesA herd of beeves, fair oxen and fair kine,From a fat meadow ground; or fleecy flock,Ewes and their bleating lambs over the plain."

It is these, created by skill and enterprise and drawing the vigour and virtue from our English counties, that have made Argentina a great country.

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 principal items of import were as follows:—

Textiles£9,980,267Railway carriages and vehicles6,140,067Iron (including manufactures)6,015,096Pottery4,979,580Foodstuffs4,709,819Building materials4,276,485Agricultural implements3,167,967Wine, &c.2,655,956Oils2,610,344

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-class 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 principal importing countries all sent slightly smaller quantities. Of the imports England has 34·2 per cent., Germany 13·9, the United States 13·2. The figures are:—

England£18,371,396Germany7,569,415United States7,119,400France5,295,383Italy4,982,649Belgium2,550,674

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 passed from small to great things in matters of trade.

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

1795£1,400,00018372,400,00018504,300,000187015,300,000188020,100,000188327,200,000189134,086,000190053,617,0001908127,700,000

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£48,013,032Pastoral products27,023,691Forest products1,269,446Fish and Game99,726

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, 21·4; Belgium, 9·8; Germany 9·5; France, 7·9; Brazil, 4·1; United States, 3·6.

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

Imports into England.Wheat£8,044,636Maize5,000,219Fresh Mutton2,360,565Fresh Beef4,308,273Linseed1,977,466Wool1,689,639Exports from England.Cotton£2,752,251Woollens1,080,795Iron and Manufactures3,511,803Machinery2,458,180Railway Carriages1,769,780Coal1,761,467

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 theHome 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 isfirst 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:—

Steamships131Tonnage55,561Sailing ships161Tonnage40,581Total29296,142

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.Revenue.Dollars Paper.Import duties51,930,000Public works (in bonds)5,000,000Additional duties3,100,000Spirits and beer19,800,000Port dues, &c.5,230,000Tobacco17,400,000Consular dues, fines, &c.930,000Sanitary works7,100,000Buenos Aires Provincial Debt983,429Stamps9,450,000National Bank Service347,004Posts and telegraphs9,700,000Railways9,000,000Various12,529,31962,520,43389,979,319

Below are given the figures since 1903:—

Revenue.Expenditure.Gold.Paper.Gold.Paper.190346,615,85565,466,01032,139,16093,072,572190452,254,42870,004,83425,597,625104,177,150190553,076,06784,778,28282,813,587136,065,516190661,616,09088,835,79030,128,828174,688,551190764,527,98397,153,87025,521,412186,107,107

In conclusion, the important subject of tariffs demands notice. The Republic has long adopted a highly protective fiscal policy. The object is to create as many industries as possible, and therefore to discourage foreign competition by the imposition of heavy duties. The high cost of living is usually attributed to this system, and undoubtedly many articles would be cheaper if the tariff was lower; but its effect is probably exaggerated, and even under complete Free Trade Argentina would still be a dear country. It is the comparative lack ofdevelopment and enterprise, and also the unwillingness to take trouble over small things, which are the main causes of dearness; and this is the characteristic of all new countries. That Protection is unpopular it would be rash to affirm. It is the direct imposts, and above all the municipal, that give rise to complaining in the streets. The immigrants come from highly protected countries, and are accustomed to heavy indirect taxes; they would, in all probability, angrily resent direct taxation, even if it were much lower than the present scale of imposts. As the table above shows, the customs are the sheet-anchor of the Exchequer, and Ministers could not possibly dispense with them, nor would manufacturers hear of such a thing. "Every one," says an experienced resident in Buenos Aires, "as soon as he starts a business, looks about for higher tariffs in his line."

A good many among the intellectual classes have academic leanings towards Free Trade, and the opinion is sometimes expressed that in the end the Government would raise more revenue by a general duty of about 20 per cent. But the manufacturing interest, which already complains that it cannot compete with English and French goods, is an insuperable obstacle.

The accomplished Dr. Martin Garcia Mérou remarks: "The situation of the United States is unique in the world. The amazing prosperity of this country is based upon the producing and consuming power of her forty-five independent States, which stretch over an immense continent, and of which some differ in climate and conditions as widely as Spain differs from Norway, but they all have a single system of land and river communication which is without rival and without precedent. The absence of fiscal barriers between those different States is the permanent and fruitful cause of theirgreatness and prosperity. In this manner a country, which is apparently the most Protectionist in the world, is the very one which demonstrates in the most practical and visible fashion the incalculable benefits of free commerce."

This conviction is gaining ground, and there are many persons, intimately conversant with trade and industry, who wish for changes in a liberal direction. Señor Ricardo Pillado, the able chief of the Agricultural Department, has penned many minutes urging a reduction of tariffs, but it is doubtful whether the opinions of a few men, however accomplished, will ever penetrate among an ill-informed population; and even if their views were understood it is most unlikely that they would have power to eradicate the ingrained protective opinions of the masses and to create a feeling among them powerful enough to overcome the resistance of vast interests whose policy is now in complete accord with the feelings of the masses.

Señor Pillado says[115]: "For a considerable number of years Protection has been a heavy obstacle to the progress and expansion of our country. Most sincerely do I declare that we all ought to use our utmost efforts to reform a financial system which is grounded in such fundamental errors as protective tariffs."

It was in 1883 that the Republic first decided upon Protection. By the tariff of 1884 a duty of 50 per cent. was imposed upon arms, powder, alcohol, cards, perfumery, tobacco, snuff, and wax matches. A duty of 40 per cent. was imposed upon clothing, hats, shoes, harness, carriages, furniture, rockets, and wooden matches. Many articles necessary to production, such as coal, thread, ploughs, wire, agricultural machinery, printing presses, books, sacking, steam engines, iron, lumber,rock-salt, and paper, were taxed only 5 or 10 per cent. Similar articles, which were even less likely to be produced at home or were still more urgently needed as the raw material of industry, were admitted free. Among these were machinery for factories or shipping, live cattle or fish, plants, seeds, railway material, metal pipes of at least 30 inches diameter, blasting powder, and sheep-wash. It will be seen, therefore, that an attempt at a scientific tariff was made, and it has proved so acceptable to the Argentines that it has been greatly elaborated and extended. Nor does the nominal figure of the duty represent the whole of the increased cost, for the customs officials are required to add to the declared value of the articles the freight and other expenses, and to raise the duty in proportion. Consequently the imposts are subject to large and arbitrary enhancements. The following summary will give a rough notion of the present fiscal system:—

Free.—Most industrial materials, such as railway, mining, or electrical plant and most kinds of machinery; also herbs and seeds. Books and magazines are free.Five per cent. ad valorem.—Other forms of industrial material, as mercury, crude sulphur, china clay, jute, lead, &c. Several kinds of machinery. Jewellery comes under this section.Ten per cent. ad valorem.—Various chemicals for industrial use.Fifteen per cent. ad valorem.—Certain kinds of timber.Twenty per cent. ad valorem.—Steel in bars, plates and sheets; tissues of unbleached cotton or coarse linen cloth.Twenty-five per cent. ad valorem.—All articles not elsewhere specified or exempted.Thirty per cent. ad valorem.—Tissues of wool of any kind, pure or mixed.Thirty-five per cent. ad valorem.—Blankets, jewel cases, iron screws, bolts and nuts.Forty per cent. ad valorem.—Most fancy articles as trunks, perfumery, furniture, boots, and many kinds of clothes.Fifty per cent. ad valorem.—Arms and saddlery.

Free.—Most industrial materials, such as railway, mining, or electrical plant and most kinds of machinery; also herbs and seeds. Books and magazines are free.

Five per cent. ad valorem.—Other forms of industrial material, as mercury, crude sulphur, china clay, jute, lead, &c. Several kinds of machinery. Jewellery comes under this section.

Ten per cent. ad valorem.—Various chemicals for industrial use.

Fifteen per cent. ad valorem.—Certain kinds of timber.

Twenty per cent. ad valorem.—Steel in bars, plates and sheets; tissues of unbleached cotton or coarse linen cloth.

Twenty-five per cent. ad valorem.—All articles not elsewhere specified or exempted.

Thirty per cent. ad valorem.—Tissues of wool of any kind, pure or mixed.

Thirty-five per cent. ad valorem.—Blankets, jewel cases, iron screws, bolts and nuts.

Forty per cent. ad valorem.—Most fancy articles as trunks, perfumery, furniture, boots, and many kinds of clothes.

Fifty per cent. ad valorem.—Arms and saddlery.

Comestibles are specially dealt with, usually by a duty per kilo. The intention and effect, it is needless to say, are protective—e.g., the duty on fruits in syrup is over 5d., that on bacon over 4d. per kilo, that on refined sugar, polarising over 96 degrees, is a little less than 2d., that on sugar below that grade is nearly a half-penny less. A little more than 5d. is the duty on wines per bottle, that on soda-water is the same per dozen bottles, while that on beer is over 2d. per bottle. But it must not be inferred from these figures that the kindly State does not take good care of vintners, brewers, and the like, for the system of enhancements aforesaid adds handsomely to these and all duties. The case of tobacco will illustrate this. The preliminary duties are as follows:—

s.d.Havana cigars in cardboard boxes, about311½per kilo" " in wooden boxes "27½"Cigarettes "19"Tobacco leaf from about 2½d. to12"

But all tobacco that enters Argentina is "evaluated" at a certain sum, and then 20 per cent.ad valoremduty is charged in addition.

There is also a miscellaneous "per kilo" section, which includes matches, paper, and hats, all heavily taxed.

Export duties are insignificant.

It may be observed that the 40 per cent. section and the miscellaneous section between them include almost all the articles likely to be purchased by the ordinary shopper, and they are extremely dear. But English and French goods appear to monopolise the best shops. The following clause embodies the principle which we know as "the most favoured nation clause":"The import duties established by the present Law shall be deemed to be theminimum tariff, and shall be applicable to products and goods of all countries which apply their minimum tariff to exports from the Argentine Republic, which do not increase the previous duties, which do not establish a duty on exempted articles, which do not exceptionally reduce their present tariff for similar goods of any other origin, and which do not impede by restrictive measures the importation of Argentine products."[116]

As an example of Protection both rigorous and effective the case of sugar may be given. Not long after the first tariff of 1883 the sugar duties were enormously increased with the following effect:—

Import of Sugar.188324,000 tons188435,000 "188934,400 "189029,500 "18955,600 "1900458 "

The production of sugar, which was also 24,000 tons in 1884, leaped to 75,000 in 1894. Señor Pillado remarks that this legislation converted Tucuman into an El Dorado. He concludes an able work by quoting the appeal which he made in his minute to the Minister of Agriculture[117]:—

"The trade of the Republic is at present in a condition thus favourable, the wealth hidden in her soil is thus great. She owes this situation to the maintenance of exterior peace, the elimination of fluctuations in paper money, and the establishment ofthose institutions by which she advances with gigantic strides. We watch her progress, and see her offering to the rest of the world the products of her fertile territories, without restrictions and without preferences that take their rise in grasping tariff laws. Our country thus wins a reputation which corresponds to her pastoral and agricultural wealth and the excellence of her products.

"What, sir, would be our rate of progress if the law of our custom-house, which sets up a prohibitive tariff wall against the goods which our people demand and which act as a stimulus to our great industries, were more lenient, more just, and more in accordance with the principles of liberty which we have inherited with our charter of independence!"

But, in fact, all influences of to-day seem to be on the side of further restrictions in trade as they have long been on the side of further restrictions in social matters. The principles of liberty are considered by most people as very excellent for themselves but hardly suitable to the rest of the world; but from Manchester to Shanghai the ideal of every trader is Free Trade for the whole world and Protection for himself. As all pull one way, the result is almost everywhere the same, and no country seems less likely to abandon Protection than Argentina.

Argentina is now one of the leading agricultural countries of the world, and her importance is likely to be enhanced in the near future, because the United States and other sources of food supply are rapidly diminishing their exportable surplus, while in South America population is unable to keep pace with natural production. Wheat, as is well known, is the most important crop. Unlike the pastoral industry, arable cultivation is comparatively modern. In 1854 there were only 375,000 acres under tillage of all kinds, and the area increased very slowly until the beginning of the present generation. The promise of the country was always recognised, but it was long before foreign capital ventured to trust itself to a land possessing the political reputation of Argentina; and thus, without railway development, the export of agricultural produce was impossible. "All the cereals," says a pamphlet published in the sixties, "do remarkably well, and such is the fertility of the soil that double crops are often taken from the same land. In Santiago del Estero the wheat produced is of the most excellent quality, and although but little care is bestowed in cultivation, it generally yields eightyfold." The encouragement of emigration and the introduction of capital, and thus of improved methods of communication, caused progressto be very rapid; and whereas in 1874 the wheat area was only 271,000 acres, in 1884 it was 1,717,000. By 1899 this had expanded to 5,500,000 acres, and now it is about 14,000,000. The following figures will show the progress of recent years:—

Production in Tons.Exportation.19021,534,400704,06019032,823,9001,790,38819043,529,1002,467,29719054,102,6003,083,37819063,672,2002,438,61619074,245,4002,867,46419085,238,7003,802,619

It is anticipated that before long the wheat export will amount to 5,000,000, and that Argentina will thus lead the world.[118]This cannot be called a rash estimate, for when we examine the figures we shall find that population is not keeping pace with production. The exportation figures of 1908 were 55 per cent. better than those of 1906, while the figures of production showed a rise of only 42 per cent. This is a satisfactory condition of things for the trader, but less so from a national standpoint. In general, the farmer is not rooted to the soil; he merely pays a percentage of his crops to the landlord as rent, and after a bad season is apt to move elsewhere. It is desirable that a scheme of intensive cultivation should be introduced, which promises much greater national benefit in the future in every way than can be obtained by hasty and slovenly methods. A Government publication, apologising for the present system and remarking that in old countries intensive agriculture is no virtue, while in new countries extensive agriculture is no vice, adds: "Wherever there is much ground with few inhabitants it is impossible that the number of proprietors be very large; and if the comparative figure demonstrates that the number of renters isrelativelyvery large, the investigation of the facts will show that it is here that thequalitativeinfluence of the divisor intervenes. In general, he who seeks his fortune in agricultural work lacks the necessary capital for purchasing land, and it is notorious that the immigrants we can count on to colonise our lands arrive completely destitute of means. At the very best they can hope to rent the land, counting on the shrewd liberality of the landholder who requires of them only a certain share of the crop in pay for the rent, and in this manner by the results of their labour they may finally become proprietors. There are, therefore, two consecutive subdivisions: that of the working of the land by leasing, and that of ownership by the eventual purchase."

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