Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/914

ARGENTINA. Imports into Exports from Arj^eiitina Arfjentina from the into the United States. United States.

$KOO.0O0 *2,70ll,UIJ0 900,000 4.U0.n00 £,600,000 r..i(in.ouo 1,900,000 6.200,000 8.900,000 6.400,000

The crisis of 1890 had a similar effect on the trade with the United States as it had on the general trade of Argentina, the decline continu- ing for several j'ears. Since 1896, however, the trade has again been increasing as follows:

Imports. Exports. $6,000,000 $9,300,000 6,4011.11110 lO.HIjo.uOO 6.400.000 a.'.WU.OOO 9,000.000 o.lOO.OOO 11.600,000 8.10O.O0O

The trade with the United States increased, not only absolutely, but also relatively. In 189 the imports from the United States constituted 9.9 per cent, of the total imports; in 1897 the}' rose to 10.3 per cent.; in 1898 to 10.4 per cent.; in 1899 they were 13.2 per cent., and in 1900 11.9 per cent. The exports from Argentina to the United States were 4.4 per cent, in 1898, 4.2 per cent, in 1899, and 4.4 per cent, in 1900. The chief articles of import from the United States are machinery and all kinds of tools and imple- ments, having an annual value of some .$4,500,000. The value of agricultural implements alone is rapidly approaching $2,000,000 annualh'; that of oil (illuminating and lubricating) is nearly $1,500,000 ; that of boards, wooden manufactures, and lumber exceeds $1,500,000; and that of manufactures of linen, hemp, and jute is over $1,000,000. The chief articles of export to the United States are wool, valued, in 1900, at more than $4,500,000 (a decline from $20,000,000 in 1897) ; and hides and skins, valued, in 1900, at nearly $1,000,000 (a decline from nearly $0,000,000 in 1890),

Transportation and Communication, Ship- ping. — The increase in shipping facilities has kept pace with commercial progress. In 1869 there was a total of 1698 sailing vessels and steamships in the country. In 1895 there were 2654; but as progress in shipbuilding made it possible to build larger vessels, the total increase in tonnage was much greatei', viz., from 151.177 tons in 1869 to 368,634 in 1895, an increase of 144 per cent. In 1895, 406 of these ships were steamei's, the rest being sailing vessels. The tonnage of the steam- ers, however, was 190,242, or more than one-half of the total. More than 66 per cent, of the steamers and 88 per cent, of the sailing vessels carried the Argentine Hag, English and German vessels being next in importance. The actual shipping done by these vessels is shown by the following figures of foreign trade:

Number. Tons. 13,873 6,340.9.55 10,363 6,064.064 10.184 6.939.567

RAILWAY.S. Perhaps in no other field has the economic progress of Argentina been so well exemplified as in its railway development, Argen- tina has a larger railway mileage than any other country in America south of the United States, although it has only half the area and about one- fourth the population of Brazil, and less than half the population of Mexico. The railway mileage in 1900 aggregated 10,505 miles, being distributed among 26 lines. Four are owned and operated by the nation, six are owned and operated by the provinces, with a mileage of 8 per cent, of the total ; the rest are managed by private companies. The first railway in Argentina was built in 1854, and extended for about 12 miles west of Buenos Ayres. In 1860 there were 19 miles of railway. In 1870 there were 454 miles, including the Central Argentina Railway, extending from Rosario on the Parana River to Cordoba in the heart of the country. Between 1870 and 1880 were constructed the great trunk lines leading north from Cordoba to Tucuman, and from Villa ^laria to Villa Mercedes, bringing the mileage in 1880 up to 1434. The decade that followed eclipsed all previous records, and the mileage was increased four-fold, reaching a total of 5860 in 1890. By that year the countiy was covered with a network of railways branching out from the three great indiistrial centres on the Parana River — Buenos Ayres, Santa Fe and Rosario. On the .south, the railway reached the .sea at Bahi'a Blanca ; on the west, it was extended to Mendoza at the foot of the Andes, and not far from the Chilean boimdary ; on the north, to Salta, also close to Chile. I'lnally, in the decade between 1890 and 1900, the mileage was nearly doubled, one line stretching southward as far as Xeuquen, another, the Trans-Andean, being opened from ilendoza to Punta de las Vacas.

On the economic side Argentina did not escape the experience which has been the lot of all coun- tries where railway building has been allowed to go unchecked under private management. Exces- sive issues of capital stock, over-speculation and kindred abuses accompanying the great railway "boom" of the eighties had their day of reckoning in and contributed in no small share to the great connnercial panic of 1890, when the Government found it impossible to pay interest on railway securities guaranteed by it. It was that experience that led to the gradual withdrawal of guarantees to railways, and the radical reform in railway management which culminated in the creation of a special Ministry of Railways, a sharp super- vision of railway management, and a strong tendency toward Government ownership and management of railways. Of the existing trunk lines of the country five, with a mileage of 1500. were built by the national Government at a cost of 80.000,600 pesos gold (about $76,000,000) ; three lines, with a mileage of 1240, were built by the tlu'ee richest provinces — Buenos Ayres, Santa Fe, and Entre Rios— at a total cost of 56,000,000 pesos ($53,000,000), In a word, more than one-fourth of the total railway mileage of the country has been built by the national and provincial Governments. While the cost of the Government railways has been about 28.650 pesos per kilometre, that of the |u-ivate lines has been 35.320 pesos per kilomeli'e. In all, the Government paid out over $44,000,000 in guarantees for private roads. At the end of 1898 the total capital invested in Argentine railways amounted to 523,000.000 pesos, of which 435,000,000 pesos represented private roads; 55,000.000, national railways; and 33,000,000, provincial railways. The railways emploved over 37,000 men in 1898 as against 20,000 in 1893.

. More than one-half of all the telegraph lines belong to the Government, less than