ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



In the foregoing statements are not included 

 the municipal taxes of Buenos Ayres, or the 

 local taxes of the thirteen other provinces. It 

 is, however, sufficient to remark that the city 

 of Buenos Ayres paid thirty-five times as much 

 per capita as the other provinces, than which 

 circumstance none can more satisfactorily ex- 

 plain the wish of the Buenos Ayreans to get 

 rid of so much government. "The cause of 

 such heavy taxation," observes an Argentine 

 economist, " is the extra liberality of the Brit- 

 ish public in lending us money," and indeed the 

 interest and sinking fund of the following loan 

 constitute a heavy yearly drain : 



In this table are not comprised the Buschen- 

 thal loan of 1863, the foreign indemnity bond, 

 the 1876 loan of 500,000,000 pesos current 

 money (about $20,000,000), the Lottery loan of 

 1878, nor such minor matters as the loans to 

 Santa Fe and Entre-Rios. If the railway guaran- 

 tees be excepted, the whole indebtedment of the 

 republic and of Buenos Ayres is about $100,- 

 000,000, or a little over $10 per capita of the 

 population of the country, and one fourth of the 

 Australian average. If the finances be carefully 

 handled, snys the writer last referred to, the 

 country will retrieve itself in ten or fifteen years. 

 It is a pity that the public men are violent 

 protectionists, and paralyze the imports with 

 an impost of 50 per cent, ad valorem for the 

 purpose of protecting manufactures. In this 

 way "good sheep farmers are being converted 

 into bad bootmakers and execrable tailors," 

 and the exports for 1878 showed a decline of 

 20 per cent, from those of the year immediately 

 preceding, particularly in wool, tallow, and 

 hides. At the close of 1877 the price of Ar- 

 gentine bonds in the London market (tak- 

 ing those of 1S68 for a guide) was 70 ; at the 

 end of 1879 it was 90 to 92 ; and in December, 

 1880, some were, for the first time, sold at par. 

 Here is an evident indication of financial pros- 

 perity. Yet one great drawback still proves 

 a heavy drag on the financial and commercial 

 prosperity of the country, namely, a depreciated 

 currency which calls aloud for remedial meas- 

 ures. Gold, the "shuttle-cock of the bolsa," 

 is still at a high premium. With the large in- 

 flux of gold from Great Britain in 1879, and 

 the confidence felt in the stability of the Gov- 

 ernment, there ought to be but little difficulty 

 in reestablishing the Oficina de Cambios, mak- 

 ing paper a legal tender at the former rate of 

 122| pesos to the pound sterling, a financial 

 achievement which would favor the flow of 

 capital into the republic, and render commer- 

 cial transactions safe and steady. As things 

 have been for a number of years past, however, 



there is too much of the gambling element ; 

 and a country whose foreign securities have 

 almost attained par value, ought not to be ex- 

 posed to the humiliation of a depreciated cur- 

 rency at home. 



The great feature in Argentine history dur- 

 ing the past few years is the increase of pro- 

 duction, and the marked excess in the value of 

 the exports over that of the imports, the reverse 

 of which condition was formerly the rule. The 

 appended tables show the values, sources, and 

 destinations, respectively, of the imports and 

 exports for 1879 : 



IMPORTS. 



From. Values. 



Belgium $3,081 ,000 



Brazil 2,224,000 



Chili 321,000 



France 9,105,000 



Germany 2,218,000 



Great Britain 12,033,000 



Holland 296,000 



Italy 2,631,000 



Paraguay 724,000 



Spain 2,177,000 



United States 3,794,000 



Uruguay 2,116,000 



West Indies 128,000 



Other countries 943,000 



In transitu 3,076,000 



Total $44,867,000 



EXPORTS. 



Destinations. Values. 



Belgium $13,870,000 



Brazil . . 



Chili 



France 



Germany 



Great Britain 



Italy 



Paraguay 



Spain 



United States 



Uruguay 



West Indies 



Other countries 



In transitu 



3,279,000 

 1,180,000 

 11,621,000 

 1,536,000 

 8,753,000 

 1,602,000 

 464,000 

 736,000 

 3,791.000 

 1,436,000 

 1,018,000 

 475,000 

 3,004,000 



Total $47,765,000 



The values of the principal commodities ex- 

 ported in the same year were as follows : wool 

 (91,951,094 kilogrammes), $21,610,000 ; ox- 

 hides (2,336,799 kilogrammes), $8,149,000 ; 

 horse-hides (317,429 kilogrammes), $292,000 ; 

 sheep-skins (25,088,878 kilogrammes), $3,965,- 

 000 ; tallow (15,538,289 kilogrammes), $2,033,- 

 000; salt beef (32,309,577 kilogrammes), $2,- 

 812,000; animals (297,073), $2,130,000; hair 

 (2,372,962 kilogrammes), $766,000; bones, 

 $506,000 ; various skins, not above enumer- 

 ated, $789,000. According to statistics, Buenos 

 Ayres owned at the commencement of 1880, 

 5,116,029 head of cattle, or 936 for every 100 

 inhabitants; and 46,600,000 sheep, or 8,275 

 for every 100 inhabitants; which last figures 

 are without a parallel elsewhere, though, sin- 

 gularly enough, the number of cattle in Uru- 

 guay was 6,000,000, or 1,385 per 100 inhab- 

 itants, while the number of the sheep was but 

 12,000,000. 



No returns of shipping movements at the 

 various ports of the republic have been pub- 

 lished of a later date than those given in the 

 "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1879. 



