36 



ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



interest of 4 per cent, per annum on the present 

 V. DE LA PLAZA, 



E. VAKELA. 



The above contract is hereby approved in every 

 particular. AVELLANEDA. 



(For the amount of the national debt refer- 

 'ence may be made to the ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA 

 for 1875, to which amount is to be added the 

 $10,000,000 of the new loan.) 



The total value and the destination of the ex- 

 ports for 1875 are given in the following table : 



T0 EXPORTS. Valua 



Germany $1,227,391 



West Indies 67o,264 



Belgium 15,491,372 



BoHvia 367.299 



Brazil "0,727 



Chili .. 8,581,306 



Spain 1,912,899 



T/ruguay 1,016,939 



United States 8,055.205 



Franco 9,366,643 



Holland 263,869 



India 3,460 



Great Britain 7.619,049 



Italy 1,74(5,698 



Paraguay 493,066 



Portugal. 51,806 



Peru" 130,954 



Other nations 251,553 



Total ...$47,981,000 

 Intransitu 2,350,400 



Grand total $50,881,400 



This table shows an increase of nearly eight 

 millions as compared with 1874. 



The total value of the imports for 1875 was 

 $55,765,627, against $49,377,129 (according to 

 the Memoria of the Minister of Finance, $55,- 

 961,177) ; from which it is apparent that the 

 balance of trade is still largely and progressive- 

 ly in favor of foreign countries and against the 

 Argentine Republic. 



Encouraging views are entertained that the 

 existing state of adversity must ere long be 

 modified, and we quote a recent writer on the 

 subject, a resident of Buenos Ayres : 



For the last two or three years the value of Argen- 

 tine exports has been seriously depressed, and this 

 has, of course, reacted on the general resources ; 

 but the quantity, far from diminishing, is rapidly 

 increasing. Any improvement in prices of wool, 

 hides, and tallow, in European markets, would soon 

 be felt in renewed activity of trade at Buenos Ayres, 

 and a larger national revenue. Another source of 

 wealth, which has lately come into operation, con- 

 sists of wheat and Indian-corn, both being now ex- 

 ported to Brazil and other countries, besides sup- 

 plying food which formerly had to be imported. 

 From Chili alone the supply of wheat amounted to 

 five million dollars, which are now saved. There 

 are other sources of traffic opening up for the ex- 

 port of Argentine products : a steamer, called the 

 Frigorifique, built and fitted out at Rouen, sailed in 

 October for the Plate, to bring back a cargo of meat 

 preserved on a new principle, which promises to be 

 a success. A large number of horses have recently 

 been exported to France, and are likely to be fol- 

 lowed by still larger droves, for the French caval- 

 ry. They were sold at very remunerative prices. 



Railway enterprise, in which a very considerable 

 amount of capital has already been embarked, is 

 one of the means by which Argentine resources are 

 becoming largely developed, and the result of their 

 working traffic proves incontestably the profits de- 



rived from this new source of locomotion. Some 

 lines, constructed under Government guarantee, and 

 only just completed, are for a time a charge upon 

 the national revenue, but this will not long con- 

 tinue, while the lines successfully in operation are 

 yielding large returns, even under the present de- 

 pression of trade. The very depth of the financial 

 and commercial crisis, which has so long existed in 

 the Plate, is certain to produce a great reaction when 

 once people are satisfied that the worst is over. 



A postal treaty with England, and an extra- 

 dition treaty with Belgium, were among the 

 more important events in the foreign policy of 

 the Argentine Government in 1876. 



The following summary of the report of the 

 Minister of the Interior will serve as a rapid 

 review of the state of the various interests de- 

 pendent upon that department : 



Owing to the crisis, there has been such a decline 

 of revenue as to oblige us to cut down the public 

 expenditure in a remarkable manner. 



As the Government railways now approach com- 

 pletion, we intend next to occupy the engineers in 

 studies of the Upper Parana and Uruguay, to im- 

 prove navigation; also to examine the project of 

 making a port for Buenos Ayres, and to draw a map 

 of all the new railways we shall require when a 

 healthy financial condition shall once more return. 



Three new railways were opened to traffic last 

 year (1875), the Mercedes, East Argentine, and 

 Campana lines. The Tucuman line will be com- 

 pleted in 1876, and then we shall have 2,260 kilo- 

 metres, or 1,412 miles English, as follows: 



Kilometres. 



Central Argentine 397 



Tucuman 549 



Andine 255 



East Argentine 155 



Great Southern 435 



Western 296 



Ensenada 58 



Northern 80 



Campana 76 



Port Kuiz 10 . 



Total. 



, 2,260 



As regards the Tucuman line, we have to recog- 

 nize the perseverance, energy, and good-will of 

 Messrs. Telfener, who have aided us in every man- 

 ner, accepting whatever delays or postponements 

 when the Treasury was unable to pay for the works 

 executed ; and carrying on the works in spite of war, 

 crisis, and the adverse elements. The contractors 

 have already opened to traffic 416 kilometres, and 

 Mr. Telfener notifies us of another section now 

 ready. The prompt completion of this great work 

 is a matter of national honor. The rails are already 

 within ten or twelve leagues of Tucuman, but the 

 traveler finds more difficulty in this short interval 

 than in the hundred leagues of the railway. We 

 propose a saving of $300,000 in the works not yet 

 completed, especially in the stations. The certifi- 

 cate of the Department of Enaineers shows the 

 value of works already done by Messrs. Telfener to 

 reach $7,518,869, equal to 1,505,000. We have 

 made a contract with Telfener to work the line for 

 80 per cent, of gross receipts, but he has sent in a 

 request to cancel the agreement. 



The Andine Railway was opened last October, 

 and Mr. Rogers works it for four years at 80 per 

 cent, of the gross receipts during three years, and 

 75 per cent, of those of the fourth year. 



The Central Argentine line (which was opened in 

 May, 1870) earned last year a surplus of 32,200 

 sterling over the guarantee of 7 per cent. Mr. W. 

 Thompson, who succeeds Mr. Armstrong as direc- 

 tor, has paid in the above surplus to the Government. 



Last year we paid Messrs. Wanklyn and Lezica 



