ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



round, and the approval of the survey by the 



while DOW count, thirty-eight rail- 

 way*; BiM of which are in operation, the uni- 

 form gaoxe being 5* feet; twenty-nine ap, in 

 eoww of oonstraetlOB or eonoeded, all of eit her 

 ft) feet or 4.8$ (knee, except five, which arc 



RWMt 



Th pMHBmr tad freight traffic per mile, of 

 BiM HUM already working, U w follow* : 



6.000 



-. ." 



i 



The running expene* of the Northern and 

 Southern amount to very little over one-half 

 the ffro** receipt*. 



The toUl length of the lines In operation is 

 679& mile*, at an average cost of $46,00' ' 

 mile; the maximum coot being $1)0,000, and 

 the minimum $21,000. 



( ine of the nurrow-punie line*, the Trans- 

 andine, by t'apallatu or Ixw Patot PASS, is to be 

 140 mile* in length, and the oust per mile is 

 started at fl" 



i to the foregoing, rorveys have 

 been made for eleven other line*, for which, 

 h ivevr, no concession* have as yet boon 



The work* on the Tocnman Railway were in 

 coon* of prosecution, and one section of the 

 road wan completed before May ; the first sec- 

 tion of the Eastern A r/oni inu was to bo finished 

 AogiMt; the bnildinz the Port Campana 

 llulway WMcotnmenred early in the year; bat 

 nothing has M yet been dime in the matter of 

 the projected line from San Juan into Chili (at 

 M p,. r mile). 



The flrst section of tho Bolgrano tramway 

 has been opened to public traffic, and prom- 

 be* to prove remuncr . 



The groM receipts of the Western Railway 

 (the property of the Government) f.ir 1872 

 were 139.0.16,01 1; the working expense* 

 Miovatad to 66 per cent. : leaving a net in- 

 come of |9. H |9.$o7, equivalent to 6} per 

 OB the capital. This decrease, as nun; 

 with the vear before, I* owing rather to the 

 ofwain* or nnn-mnnerative extensions thin to 

 a decline of IraftV on tho main line. The Lobos 

 liae b reported as showing a dead losa. 



'..,-. . .. .,; ;;.;.. ,, ,.].i. 



ope*, ao far. from Haenos Ay re* to that ; 

 a dtoUaee of S5 mile*. The traffic for the 

 mositb of April la* WU M follow.: mm,'., r 

 of nisiMsrs. 54,075; amount, $18.224.25. 



^WJlW1*l **,/|W, WUVUUfc, VI<),*Y*V. 



The Onvemmeat hat decreed the expropria- 



. ., 



Frnm a report of the Central Nr.-.-niin- 

 K*)|war Co tipny, preente<l July 25th. it np- 

 PMT* tht the director* propo**! t 

 on Interim dividend of a per nt.. hut thnt it 

 --...' irth-r x 

 pauiltnre of $1.000.000, In n-Miti-m to the 

 $904,000 provided for the preceding year) to 



raise the capital to $10,000,000, or $1.600,- 

 000 above the sum originally estimated and 

 guaranteed by the Government. Tin- report 

 give* no information respecting the relations 

 between the company and tho Central (iov- 

 i-rtinifnt in the matter of tin- 7 |T rent. 

 guarantee. ThedtosetowoontempUted tnkinj; 

 powers for borrowing on debentures the ad<li- 

 tion.il sum above referred to. 



All the U-lejiraph-lines loft unfinished at the 

 end of 1U72 have been completed in the jmst 

 year, and there are 4,000 miles of wires in 

 active operation in the republic, i where four 

 year* ago there were not 400 miles. These 

 line* have not proved iviminenitive so far, 

 owing to the low taritV adopted with a view to 

 accustom the people to tcle^r.-ipliy. Govern- 

 mental correspondence is, in a? far as possible, 

 transmitted by telegraph. Concessions for ad- 

 ditional lines in the provinces were solicited ; 

 but the Central Government refused to grant 

 them, on the ground that, to increase their 

 number at present, would be hurtful to public 

 interests, 



The 660 miles of the Transandine Telegraph 

 have a subsidy from Government. 



The uniform rate for telegrams is 2~> rents 



u words, to points within the repuhlie. 



The relation between postal and telegraphic 



communication, in 1872, was one of the former 



to ten of tho latter. 



Telegraphic communication already exists 

 between Buenos Ayres and Montevideo, 

 whence a cable will be laid by the Monte- 

 videan and Brazilian Telegraph Company, rw 

 Maldonmlo, and rosichinir totlio Brazilian fron- 

 tier. From that point another cable to Para, 

 ria Rio de Janeiro and other lar^'e interme- 

 diate ports, will establish communication along 

 the whole eastern coast of the cuntim-nt ; and, 

 lastly, a cable from Para to St. Thomas will open 

 up hourly intercourse between New York mid 

 Buenos Ayres. and Rive a new stiinnhi- to the 

 commercial relation- between tho two conn- 

 tries hitherto trammeled by a tardy exchange- 

 of adviecx by mail once every five or six eeks, 



The mining interest* of tho country have 

 commanded an extensive share of attention 

 during the second half of the year. It i- a 

 sorted, on the faith of recent explorers, that 

 the province of C6rdoba is likely to prove as 

 rich in auriferous formations as California or 

 rali.i, and the gold-field of San Luis is 

 Mppo d 1 mpriso I" 11 square l.-a-.-ncs. 



Among the more important papers laid be- 

 fore the (iovernmcnt, on tho opening of Con- 

 gress, was one, prepared by order of the Min- 

 >f Kin. m (. concerning the material de- 

 velopment of the provinec ,,f Cordolia, next 



now Ayres one of the most inter,' 

 in tho republic, having an extremely ad- 

 vantageous geographical position, and forming, 

 n it doe*, the centre of the ( 'oiifi'dcration, and 

 destined to become the chief mart and com- 

 mercial highway of the interior. Next in im- 

 portance after the capital of this province, 



