26 



ARGENTINE CONFEDERATION. 



took a wide range, and every variety of opin- 

 ion prevailing in the Church was represented. 

 Free discussion was the object sought. In this 

 respect the result of the meeting was satisfac- 

 tory to those who were interested in it. 



ARGENTINE CONFEDERATION,* a Re- 

 public of South America. President, from 1868 

 to 1874, Domingo F. Sarmiento ; Vice-Presi- 

 dent, Dr. A. Alsina. Aggregate area of the 

 fourteen provinces, 603,000 square miles ; popu- 

 lation in 1869, 1,736,922. Adding to this the 

 territory of the Gran Chaco Argentine, of 

 Patagonia, and the Pampas Argentinas, all of 

 which are claimed by the Argentine Confed- 

 eration, the area would amount to 1,322,000 

 square miles ; and the population, inclusive of 

 an army of 6,220 men, to 1,833,212. Population 

 of the capital, Buenos Ayres, 177,787, of whom 

 88,126 were foreigners. The governors of the 

 fourteen provinces in 1871 were as follows : 



Buenos Ayres Dr. E. Castro. 



Catamarca F. Galindos. 



Cordova S. A. Alvarez. 



Corrientes 8. Baivienne. 



Entre Eics E. Duportal. 



Jusuy P. S. Portal. 



Mendoza P. Qordillo. 



La Rioja N. Villanueva. 



Salta Zorrilla. 



San Juan N. Videla. 



San Luis J. R. Lucera y Sosa. 



San Fcde Dr. S. de Triando. 



Santiago del Estero M. Taboada. 



Tucumaii Dr. Frias. 



The importance of foreign immigration is 

 fully estimated, and the number of immigrants 

 is steadily increasing. During the last twenty- 

 two years it has been as follows : Yearly aver- 

 age, 1858-'62, 5,613 persons ; ] 863-'67, 14,000 : 

 1868, 29,284^1869,37,934; 1870,39,667. 



Among the immigrants who arrived in 1870, 

 there were 15,584 who came via Montevideo ; 

 14,045 were Italians, 3,388 Spaniards, 2,395 

 Frenchmen, 499 Swiss, 453 Englishmen, 147 

 Germans, 320 of other, and 2,836 of unknown 

 nationalities. The number of immigrants who 

 in the course of the year 1870 landed in ports 

 of the interior being estimated at 2,400, the 

 aggregate of all the immigrants would amount 

 to 41,000 persons. 



The budget for 1870-1871 estimates reve- 

 nues and expenditures as follows : 



Regular Revenues. Peso , f nfrtf . 



Import dutie, ll^S 



Export duties 1 618 000 



Storage, postal eervice, stamp tax, niisceilanc- ' 



Interest on ' 17,666' shares' of ' tlie' Central Rail' 67 ' 000 

 road -__116,620 



Total .14,078,620 



Regular Expenditures. Pesoa fnprtp. 



Department of the Interior i 404 fno 



Foreign Affairs \ 



Finances 



Public debt 



Justice and Instruction... 



W.r and Navy ^.^'.'^ 



Total 14.486,995 



* For a biography of President Sarmiento, detailed 

 accounts of the area, of population and capital of each 



?hT*2S!^J i f th ? " my anT1 Iiavy ' and ful1 statics of 



1870 colonies, see ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 



The consolidated debt, on December 81, 

 1868, consisted of: foreign debt, 23,916,762 

 pesos fuertes ; consolidated national fund at 6 

 per cent, interest, and 1 per cent, amortiza- 

 tion, 11,740,706 ; consolidated national funds 

 at 6 per cent, interest, and 2^ per cent, amor- 

 tization, 2,268,243. 



On the 3d of April, 1871, the republic con- 

 tracted a loan in London with Murrieta & Co., 

 for 30,000,000 silver dollars, at 88 per cent., 

 which is intended for the building of railways, 

 the construction of a port at Buenos Ayres, 

 and for the redemption of an old loan with 

 the Provincial Bank. On the 10th of June, 

 1871, "Wauklyn & Co., of Buenos Ayres, offered 

 the Federal Government a new loan, by pledg- 

 ing themselves to take 6,000,000 pesos fuertes 

 of national funds at 70 per cent. Each of the 

 fourteen provinces also has its own budget. The 

 budget of the most important province, Buenos 

 Ayres, amounts yearly to 2,000,000 pesos. 



The imports and exports at the port of Bue- 

 nos Ayres, in 1869, to and from the United 

 States, and other countries of America and 

 Europe, were as follows (value expressed in 

 pesos fuertes at $1.02) : 



The exports at all the custom-houses of the 

 republic were announced, in 1865, at 26,490,000 

 pesos fuertes. To the above products must 

 also be added, cattle, horses, mules, etc. (1,- 

 400,000 pesos fuertes), and copper, silver, and 

 gold (600,000 pesos fuertes). 



The movement of shipping at the port of 

 Buenos Ayres was, in 1809, as follows: 



