Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/1243

 COMMERCE — COMMUNICATIONS

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primitive and hardly as yet remunerative. The immense forests contain valuable timber, both hard and soft, which now finds a market in neigh- bouring countries and in Europe. The New Australia Colony, with 100 colonists (chiefly British subjects), makes an income from cattle and horses which live on the grazing lands. The colony is 30 miles from any river or railway, and has no market for the maize, cassava, beans, sweet potatoes, sugar-cane, bananas, oranges, and peaches which are grown. Still, the enterprise makes progress, having a steam saw-mill, five stores, a grain distillery, and two rum stills. There is another (smaller) English Colony, ' ' Cosme. "



Commerce.

The following is the value of the imports and exports in gold dollar, (5 dollars = £1) : —

—

1907 1908

1909

1910

1911

Imports. Exports.

£ £ 1,572,255 814,591 647,222 773,419

757,590 1,027,328

£

1,196,799 950,239

£

1,295,699

965,782

Import duties in 1909, 597, 656^.; in 1910, 340,387Z.; in 1911, 378,357/.

The chief imports are textiles, provisions, hardware, spirits, drugs, and haberdashery. The chief exports are hides, yerba, oranges, tobacco, timber, and quebracho extract. Of the imports in 1911, textiles were the most important, 342,533Z. ; then foodstufi's, 80,524^. The British imports are considerable, but the exports to Great Britain are of little account.

The British trade passes to some extent through the territories of Brazil and the Argentine Republic. There are no direct imports into the United Kingdom from Paraguay ; the British exports (mostly cottons and iron- work) direct to Paraguay amounted to 147,391Z. in 1911 (according to the Board of Trade statistics). The "most favoured nation treaty" of 1884 between Great Britain and Paraguay is in force.

Communications.

In 1910 380 vessels, chiefly Argentine and Brazilian, with 48,207 tons, entered at the port of Asuncion, and 525 with a tonnage of 57,614 cleared. The steamers are mostly ' liners ' regularly visiting the port. Paraguay is served by sundry steamship companies, the most important of which is that of Nicholas Mihanovich, Ltd., of Buenos Aires.

There is a railway from Asuncion to Encarnacion, on the Rio Albo Parana, a distance of 232 miles. The change of gauge on the Paraguay Central Railway from 5^ ft. to the standard 4 ft. 8^ ins., was efiected in 1910 and the line was opened in July, 1911. A through train service from Asuncion to Buenos Aires has recently (early 1913) been opened. Opposite Encarnacion is Posadas, to which an Argentine line is extended, and the two lines are connected by a ferry. The country roads are in general mere bullock tracks, and transport is difficult and costly. There is a line of telegraph at the side of the railway ; the national telegraph connects Asuncion with Corrientes in the Argentine Republic, and thus with the outside world ; there are altogether 1,960 miles of telegraph line and 64 telegraph offices. The telephone is in operation at Asuncion. Paraguay

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