34 



ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



England and France stand foremost ^ among 

 the countries exporting to the Argentine Re- 

 public, but the imports from the first, in the first 

 five months of 1874, showed a decline of no 

 less than 50 per cent, as compared with the 

 corresponding period of the year before : 



There are thirteen lines of steamers which 

 ply regularly between Buenos Ayres and Eu- 

 ropean ports, viz. : 



Linee. No. of Steatncn. 



Royal Mail (British) 6 



Lamport & Holt (British) 26 



Glasgow 



Belgian 1 



French 25 



Genoa 12 



Hamburg 5 



The principal imports from the United 

 States are lumber (70,000,000 feet in 1873), 

 kerosene-oil, lard, starch, marine stores, agri- 

 cultural implements, street and railway^ cars, 

 hardware, and tobacco ; and the trade is de- 

 cidedly on the increase ; but, until direct steam 

 communication is established between the two 

 countries, the commercial exchanges must of 

 necessity remain restricted. 



Belgium takes the largest quantity of Argen- 

 tine produce, most of the wool being sent to 

 Antwerp; next in order is Great Britain, 

 which, like the United States (but more exten- 

 sively), receives hides and tallow ; then comes 

 France, taking sheepskins, partly in exchange 

 for fancy wares, silks, wines, etc. ; the jerked- 

 beef goes to Brazil and Cuba ; and live cattle 

 are driven over the Andes into Chili. 



Wool, hides, jerked-beef, .and tallow, are the 

 staple articles 'of export. The farms of the 

 province of Buenos Ayres alone have an ag- 

 gregate stock of 60,000,000 sheep, yielding 

 some 200,000,000 pounds of wool annually, 

 which is in advance of the total clip of Aus- 

 tralia. The farming stock of ' the fourteen 

 provinces is estimated at 15,000,000 horned 

 cattle, 4,000,000 horses, and 80,000,000 sheep, 

 valued at $150,000,000 approximately, and 

 yielding in exported produce about $45,000,000 

 per annum. 



The exports to the United States in the year 

 ending September 30, 1873, were as follows : 



Total number of steamers. 



Rosario, now the second city in importance 

 in the republic, with respect to population, 

 geographical position, commerce, and indus- 

 try, has fairly entered upon a career of pros- 

 perity not equaled by any town in the South- 

 ern Continent. It is the natural key to the 

 whole interior north of the province of Buenos 

 Ayres to the Bolivian frontier, and west of the 

 Parana to the Chilian Andes. Although 350 

 miles from the ocean, it can be reached by the 

 largest vessels, which can moor close to the 

 town, and are discharged and reloaded with 

 great facility. The Central Argentine Railway, 

 opened to traffic between this place and Cordo- 

 ba in 1870, and shortly to be completed to Tu- 

 cuman, was the first element of good fortune 

 for Rosario, and the feature mainly instrumen- 

 tal in placing it in direct contact with the At- 

 lantic world. 



The direct foreign commerce for this port in 

 the three years 1870-'72, is officially reported 

 as follows : 



From the foregoing statistics it is seen that 

 both exports and imports have wellnigh dou- 

 bled jn the course of the triennium referred to. 



The following table presents the direct for- 

 eign shipping movement (including entries and 

 clearances) for the same period : 



The value of the trade between Rosario and 

 other Argentine ports, in 1872, was $6,498,287, 

 of which $3,629,531 were for imports ; and the- 

 carrying was accomplished by 1,372 vessels en- 

 tered, with an aggregate of 111,797 tons, and 

 1,379 cleared, with 117,990 tons. These ves- 

 sels are small craft manned and owned by 

 Italians, and sailing under the national colors ; 

 and packet-steamers, one of which, the Ed- 

 ward Everett, flies the United States flag, by 

 special permission from the Argentine Govern- 

 ment. 



Railway interests are fast advancing in the 

 Argentine Republic ; the following lines are al- 

 ready open to public traffic : 



