38 



ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



The Argentine foreign trade was distributed 

 in 1884 as follows (in thousands of dollars) 



The goods shipped were: 



Wool tons 114,345 Cattle, head. . 



Minerals, value.. 



Bones, tons 



Linseed, tons 



Wheat, tons 



Indian corn, tons. 



Ostrich-feathers, 



number 



147,035 

 $1.024.000 

 88,255 

 83,992 

 108,499 

 113,710 



81 



Hides, number .... 2,349,709 



Sheep-skins 24,939 



Horse-hides, num- 

 ber 281,451 



Other skins, value. $1,897,000 



Tallow, tons 14.336 



Horse-hair, tons .. 1,738 



Jerked beef, tons.. 18,870 



Wool showed in 1885 an increase of exporta- 

 tion of 14,000,000 kilogrammes, and in value 

 $3,945,000 ; jerked beef increased $2,300,000 

 worth, and linseed $1,600,000. During the 

 wool-clip of 1885-'86 the export from Buenos 

 Ayres, from Oct. 1, 1885, to July 31, 1886, was 

 259,328 bales, against 286,512 bales the previ- 

 ous season. During the first seven months of 

 1886 there were imported into Euenos Ayres 

 $55,197,899 worth of merchandise, compared 

 with $42,098,126, during the corresponding pe- 

 riod of the preceding year ; the export through 

 Jibe same port was $41,208,987 and $40,829,- 

 050, respectively. The River Plate slaughter- 

 ings of cattle were : 



The American trade with the Argentine Re- 

 public is shown in the following table: 



gramme changed to an ad valorem duty of 45 

 per cent. The duty on stearine and paraffine 

 candles was raised from 10 to 15 cents per kilo- 

 gramme, and on stearine from 8 to 12 cents. 



Education. In 1869, out of 413,465 children 

 old enough to attend school, only 82,671 were 

 being taught in public or private schools, the 

 percentage receiving instruction being 19. 

 In 1885, 168,378 out of a total of 503,691 at- 

 tended school, or about 34 per cent.; there 

 were in the latter years 1,741 educational estab- 

 lishments, the number of teachers therein being 

 3,698. In 1883 the number of schools was 

 1,473; of teachers, 2,602; of pupils, 107,961. 

 The progress in the last two years was, there- 

 fore, more striking still than what had been 

 accomplished since 1869. In 1886 many pri- 

 mary schools were in course of construction. 



Immigration. In 1885, 108,722 immigrants 

 landed at Buenos Ayres, and 21,500 cabin- 

 passengers, constituting a total of 130,222 new- 

 comers an increase of 30,918 over the pre- 

 vious year. Of the immigrants, only 30 per 

 cent, were agriculturists. 



Colonization. -There are in a flourishing condi- 

 tion in the province of Santa Fe alone 98 settle- 

 ments, occupying an area of 748,585 square 

 cuadras, 251,600 of which are under cultiva- 

 tion. Of these, 158,800 are under wheat-cult- 

 ure; 45,300 produce flax, and 47,500 Indian 

 corn and other cereals. 



The Government did not feel induced to 

 push in 1885 its system of official colonization, 

 although experience had demonstrated its ad- 

 vantages. It considers sufficient for the time 

 being the 18 Government settlements extant, 

 11 of these being on Government lands; 5 in 

 the province of C6rdoba, and 2 in Entre-Rios. 



On the other hand, a beginning has been 

 made with Government land-sales, and the re- 

 sult has been satisfactory. Thus there were 

 sold 516 leagues of pastures in the Territory of 

 Neuguen, half cash and the balance payable in 

 annual installments. The amount realized was 

 $1,106,222, $173,789 being paid in cash. The 

 average price obtained per league was $2,019, 

 and the expense of surveying the lands at the 

 charge of buyers. In the Chaco district there 

 were sold small farms for agricultural purposes 

 to the extent of $15,118, $3,024 being paid in 

 cash. There were sold altogether $66,489 

 worth of farming-lands. The land-sales dur- 

 ing the second quarter of 1886 were as follow : 



Change of Duties. Dating from Jan. 1 the new 

 export duties were 4^ per cent, on wool and 

 sheep-skins, and 3 T V per cent, or, hides, tallow, 

 horns, and bones, there being added 15 per 

 cent, to each of these rates. Changes in im- 

 port duties also becoming operative on Jan. 

 1, were as follows : Yerba mate, or Paraguay 

 tea, had the specific duty of 7 cents per kilo- 



The Government is the owner of 126,125 

 square miles of public lands ; but these com- 



