Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/913

ARGENTINA. driven mills from 18(1 in 18S8 to -.234 in 1895, acfoni]):>nie(l by ;i shutting-down of mill-i driven by animal power, which numbered l~'A in 1888 and only 50 in 1895. It is the only industry, too, in which the proportion of native owners is comparativelv high — viz., 344 out of a total of G59.

These facts illustrate the direction taken by the development of the Argentine industry — viz., the building-up of those branches of manu- facture in which the natural products of the country can be converted into more valuable finished or half-finished products. As a con- sequence, the country is being gradually relieved of the necessity of paying a tribute to foreign nations for articles of prime necessity; and what is equally important, employment is pro- vided in the country for a large and steadily increasing number of people, nearly equal to that engaged in agriculture. The growth of the sugar-refining industry is another case in point. Previous to 1870 the country imported annually .some 22,000 tons of sugar, and hardly produced 1000 tons at home; in the decade of 1870-80 the imports increased to about 30,000 tons, but the home jiroduction increased to some 8000 tons per annum. In the following decade the imports remained stationary, while the home product rose to 40.000 tons per year; and this figure subsequently increased to 70,000 tons. Among the industries carried on on a large scale, the manufacture of gas .should be men- tioned. It is almost exclusively in foreign hands (largely English), and in 1895 there was invested in it a rapital of nearly .$40,000,000. Electric-lighting plants have made nuich less progress, the capital invested in such i)lants in 1895 being only $1,000,000. The more distinc- tive native numufactures are those of baskets from the willows of the Parana Islands : the homespun cotton and woolen cloths, blankets, rugs, laces, and embroideries of the northwestern highland ])rovinces; the tanned leather, wooden ware, laces, blankets, etc., of Cordoba; and the harness, belts, ponchos, horse-blankets, ropes, etc., of the Indians in various States. The growth and diversification of Argentine indus- tries are best brouglit out by the following table, showing the absolute and relative values of the products of the various industries exported from the country at three different periods : Value in gold pesos (96.5 cents)

Products Pesos lThe. iniall Industry. Apric'iture All other Industries Total.... ,340,000 98.000 Per ct. Pesos Per ct. Pesos

.7: 71.070,OOOj 70.9J 74.630,000 41.4.50,000 ,4; 16.300,000 16,3 2,332,000: 4.9| 12,730,000 12.8 ,770,0001100.0,100,100,000 100.0 Per ct. ,1
 * )4,5

i ,070.000 100.0

Thus the value of animal prodiu'ts, which formerly made up nearly the entire amount of its exports, has dwindled to less than two-thirds, while agricultural products have risen from next to nothing to over one-third the total value. The small exports of manufactured products does not indicate lack of industrial progress, since the manufactures go mainly to satisfy the home market, and do not appear in the above table.Commerce. Being an agricultural country, with the manufacturing industry still in its infancy, Argentina nuist on the one liand import most of the numufacturcd products needed by its people, and on the other hand seek to dispose of its enormous agricultural surplus to the nations of Europe. f the total imports brought into the country, manufactured articles of all kinds, including textiles, metal ware, chemicals, paints, and liquors, constitute more than 86 per cent., while vegetable and animal substances constitute less than 13 per cent.; and even these include many manufactured products, such as refined sugar, cigars and cigarettes, dried fruit, manu- factures of rul)ber, and preserved meats. Jlak- ing allowance for such articles, the value of really crude products of the farm barely exceeds 1 per cent, of the total imports ; on the other hand, the only manufactured articles exported from Argentina consist of semi-crude products of the farm and mine, such as refrigerated meat, washed wool, hides and furs, lard, animal oil, linseed oil, flour, copper bars, etc. The imports into Argentina, in the order of importance, are textiles and apparel, iron and iron manufactures, food substances, coal, coke, oil, drinks, wood and wood manufactures, chemicals, paper and paper manufactures, etc. The trade with Europe has been facilitated by the establishment of branches of foreign mercantile houses in Argentina. Since British capital has contributed more to the development of the material resources and the industries of Argentina than the investments of any other nation, (ireat Britain naturally gets the lion's share of Argentina's trade. The prin- cipal countries sharing in the import trade of Argentina are: Great Britain, 34 per cent.; Germany, 15 per cent.; Italy, 13 per cent.; the United States, 12 per cent. ; and France, 10 per cent. Of those taking Argentine products, the most important are: Great Britain, 15 per cent.; Germany, 13 per cent.; France, 12 per cent; Bel- gium, 11.5 per cent.; the United States, 4.5 per cent. The growth of Argentine trade is shown by the following figures: (Millions of Pesos.)

Imports, 38,50 43,10 92,25 142.25 CMillions of Pesos.) Exports. 29,6 54.9 83.9 100.8 Early in 1890 a severe commercial and finan- cial crisis struck the country, from the eflfeets of which it took her several years to recover. The following figures show the downiward movement of the trade within the few years following 1890, and the gradual recovery until in 1894 the ex- ports began to exceed the high-water mark of 1890: Exports. Exports, Imports Peso Imports Peso in equals in equals pesos ,6c. pesos .5c. ,207,000 ,708,000 ,164,000 ,802,000 .899.000 .607,00(1 ,289,000 .169.000 1100,913,000 ,',tnt',,oiit) .429.000 ,829,000  92,789,000 ,2.-|C],0(H) ,850.000 ,918.000  94,849,000 ,937,000  1900 ,485,000 ,600.000

The growth of the trade with the United States during the last half century is shown by the following figures: