Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/917

ARGENTINA. Of the total revenue, import duties furnish less than one-sixth, the bulk of the revenue beinp derived from excise taxes on spirits, wines, and tobacco (one-fifth), land and stamp taxes (about 7 per cent, of total revenue), proceeds from rail- ways, telegraphs, and posts (about per cent, of revenue), and a number of other taxes. The in- crease of internal taxation took place in the early nineties to close the widening gap in the na- tional finances, created by the growing deficits, and to put the country in a position to resiune pajnnents on the debt. The growth of the Ar- gentine debt during the last three decades of the eenturv was in round figures as follows: 1870, $47,000,000: 1880, $85,000,000: 1800, .$3,53,000,- 000. In 1900. according to the report of the Minister of Finance, the total debt exceeded $440,000,000. and was distributed as follows: External debt, 38fi,004,118 pesos gold; inter- nal debt, 98,751,300 pesos paper, 6,375,000 pesos gold.

The annual service of the debt required more than .$27,000,000 in gold, or nearly one-half the revenue of the country. That the Government was unable to meet its obligations is shown by the large deficit in one of the foregoing tables. According to the agreement entered into by the Argentine Government with Lord Rothschild in 1893. it was practically relieved from payment of interest for five years ( the interest for that period being converted into a new debt), and was to pay interest alone from 1898 to 1901. On .Tanuary 12, 1901, the full payment of interest and sinking funds was to be resumed. Not- withstanding the respite thus secured, the finances of tile Government in 1001 continued to be as little satisfactory as before 1893. The chief items of expenditure are: For the arnij' and navy, service of the public debt, Department of the Interior, Department of Justice and Public Instruction, and Department of Finance, In spite of the cry of economy raised since the great crisis of 1890, the cost of the army and navy has gone up from 11,000,000 pesos in that year lo nearlv 29,000,000 pesos in 1897; pensions, from 1.587.000 to 3,496,000 pesos; justice and public instruction, from 8,303,000 to 14,108,000 pesos; and the administration of the Depart- ment of the Interior, from 19,828,000 to 24,801,- 000 pesos.

MUitari/ Equipment. — See Argentina, under Armies.

}yei(!hts. Measures, and Money. — The metric system was oflieially adopted in 1887. Gold is the standard of value. A gold peso ($) equals 06.5 cents in I'nitcd States money. A peso has 100 centavos. The paper peso is equal to 44 centavos gold money.

Population. The following table shows the population of Argentina by Provinces for 1869 and 1895.

Thus there was an increase of 2.226,424. or 120 per cent, in 26 years. The urban population constituted 34.6 per cent, of the total population of the country in 1869. and 42.8 per cent, in 1895, thus keeping pace with the industrial develop- ment of the coiuitry. Only in three Eurnjiean countries, viz., England, Germany, and Italy, is the percentage of the urban pojjulation greater than in Arsentiiia. In the United States, the urban population constituted 32.9 per cent, of the total in 1890. and 37.3 per cent, in 1900. Of the 3,954.911 persons reported by the census.

I'rovinces. Population 1809. Population 1895. Area in .Square Miles. . Eastern Littoral. Buenos A.vres (cit.T).. Buenos Ajres .346 307.761 80,117 134,271 129,023 ,854 921,168 397.188 292.019 239.618 .777 50,916 28,784 32.580 .Santa V6 Entre Rios Total 1 ,518 ,508 53,294 132.895 ,513,847 .223 81.450 161.502 . Central. Cordoba ,160 28,535 39,764 San Luie Santiago del Estero, Total 2 Western. des. ,697 ,413 60,319 48,746 79,962 ,176 ,136 84,251 69,502 00,161 .502 33.715 34,546 47,531 San Juan Catamarca Total 3 ,440 ,953 88,933 40,379 ,050 ,742 118.016 49,713 Northern. Tuciiman ,926 62.184 18,977 Salta Jujuv Total 4 ,265 ,470 ,163 .829 10.422 Territories (northern). Chaco Total ,414 ,914 ,517 ,241 3,748 1,058 Central. I'anipa Western. Southern. Chubut Los Andes and Tierra del Fuego... ,524 Total 5 1,728,073 ,369 ,054,911 ,000 30,000 Total population Population not returned Indians ,138 Total ,821,211 47,276 ,044,911 60.000 Argentinians abroad Grand Total ,868,487 ,094,911 ,113,849

,088,919 were males, and 1,865,992 females, the great excess of males being a common phenomenon in young countries attracting large numbers of imfnigrants. There were 2,950.384 natives, as against 1,004.527 foreigners, or in other words, more than one-third of the population consisted of immigrants, among whom the proportion of males to females was about 7 to 4. The best represented nationalities among the foreign population were: Italians, 492,030; Spaniards, 198,685; Frenchmen, 94,098; and South Americans (Brazilians, Chileans, etc.), 117,000. Next in order were Englishmen, Germans, Swiss, and Austrians, ranging from 21,788, to 12.803, The Indians seem to be fast dying out, their number having dwindled from more than 93,000 in 1869, to 30,000 in 1895, The density of population increased from 1.6 per square mile in 1869, to 3.7 per square mile in 1895, ranging in the latter