16 



ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



power, and a speed of 22$ knots. Her armament 

 consists of 4 6-inch and 8 4f-inch breechloading 

 rifles, 12 3-pounder, and 12 1-pounder rapid- 

 firing guns, 2 machine guns, and 5 torpedo tubes. 

 The navy is manned by 1,530 officers and men. 



Commerce. The total value of the imports of 

 merchandise in 1891 was $67,165,807 in gold, 

 and the total exports amounted to $96,703,325. 

 The imports of textiles and apparel amounted to 

 $17,176,059 ; food substances, $8.223,265 ; iron 

 and manufactures thereof, $4,508,825 ; drink 

 and alcohol, $3,687,195 ; wood and manufactures 

 thereof, $2,359,567; railroad, telegraph, and 

 other material, $17,869,199; coal, coke, oil, etc., 

 $4,139,441 ; chemicals, $2,414,608 ; pottery, 

 glass, etc., $1,202,290. Of the exports, animals 

 and animal products were valued at $58,484,484; 

 agricultural produce, $21,267,314 ; manufactured 

 products, $9,754,664; forest produce, $2,145,- 

 510; minerals, $1,287,594. The following table 

 shows the value of the trade with different coun- 

 tries in 1891 : 



The first six months of 1892 showed an in- 

 crease over the same period in 1891 of $4,500,000 

 in imports, and $4,000,000 in exports, indicating 

 a gradual recovery from the crisis of 1890-'91. 



Navigation. During 1891 were entered at 

 the ports of the Argentine Republic 3,496 sail- 

 ing vessels, of 697,517 tons, and 7,369 steamers, 

 of 4,577,575 tons, and were cleared 2.643 sailing 

 vessels, of 62,108 tons, and 6,547 steamers, of 

 4.052,759 tons. 



Communications. The total length of rail- 

 roads open for traffic in 1892 was 7.676 miles. 

 Concessions were granted for 3,170 miles more, 

 of which a part is under construction. 



The length of telegraph lines in 1891 was 20,- 

 415 miles, of which 11,250 miles belong to the 

 Government. 8,050 miles to railroad companies, 

 and 1,115 miles to cable companies. The postal 

 correspondence of the country has increased in 

 five years over 300 per cent., and as to the 

 amount per inhabitant it stands high even in 

 comparison with European countries. 



Boundary Treaty with Chili. A protocol 

 providing for the settlement of the difference 

 between the two countries regarding the inter- 

 national boundary was negotiated with Chili at 

 Santiago by Dr. Villarosa, acting as a special 

 commissioner. It was signed on May 2, 1893, 

 and ratified in September. By its terms Chili is 

 to claim no territory east of the Andes, and the 

 Argentine Republic abandons its claim to a 

 port on the Pacific coast. 



Jewish Colony. Pursuant to Baron Hirsch's 

 scheme for founding colonies of Russian Jews in 

 the republic, large tracts of land were purchased 

 at a very low price with the depreciated cur- 

 rency, and a colony has been founded about nine 



miles from Palacios station, on the Buenos Ayres 

 and Rosario Railroad. The colony, which has 

 been named MoTses Ville, received its first set- 

 tlers early in 1891, the party consisting entirely 

 of Russian Jews, and numbering 220 people, in- 

 cluding women and children. In this tract 

 there are 180 lots, of 100 hectares, divided into 

 concessions of 25 hectares. Of 2,850 Jews, prin- 

 cipally from Russia, who arrived during the 

 year, 462 have been settled in this colony. The 

 concessions are allotted on six years' time to 

 purchase at the price of about $350. Interest at 

 5 per cent, will be charged after the first crop 

 has been raised and marketed. Food, imple- 

 ments, cattle, seed, etc., are allotted to the colo- 

 nists on the same terms as the land. The affairs 

 of the colony are administered by a committee 

 of four. About 90 adobe dwellings, with 

 thatched roofs and earthen floors, have been 

 built. The language is Russian and German, 

 though many of the colonists speak Spanish, 

 and nearly all understand it. They preserve 

 their traditional habits, and their rabbi has 

 much influence over them. Some have proved 

 unfit for the work and have been returned to 

 Europe, others taking their places. A syna- 

 gogue, schools, and various other improvements 

 are projected. 



Revolutionary Movements. The adminis- 

 tration of President Luis Saenz Pefia has been a 

 troubled one from the beginning. Nominated 

 by a coalition between that wing of the National 

 party which adhered to Gen. Roca, as against 

 the wing headed by Dr. Roque Saenz Pefia, and 

 that portion of the Union Civica led by Gen. 

 Mitre, as against the Radical wing led by Dr. 

 Alem, Dr. Luis Saenz Pefia was elected through 

 a violent suppression of the Radical vote, caused 

 by the arrest and imprisonment of the Radical 

 leaders, under a state of siege decreed by the 

 Pelligrini Government on the eve of the elec- 

 tion. The Radicals, thus disfranchised, looked 

 to revolutionary methods for redress, and began 

 to lay plans for revolts in the different prov- 

 inces, their apparent object being to secure con- 

 trol of the provincial governments and force 

 President Saenz Pefia to resign. They did not 

 contemplate an overthrow of the republic or the 

 secession of any province therefrom. From the 

 manner of his elevation to the office it was ex- 

 pected that Dr. Saenz Pefia would govern with 

 a coalition of the Roca and Mitre parties ; but it 

 was observed, soon after his inauguration, in Oc- 

 tober, 1892, that the new President, presumably 

 influenced by his son, Dr. Roqu Saenz Pefia, 

 showed a disposition to ignore Gen. Roca and 

 his friends and to govern with the Mitre party 

 and the adherents of Roque Saenz Pefia, and a 

 war of political intrigue was thus begun. A 

 revolution was started in Santiago del Estro, 

 where followers of Gen. Roca were turned out 

 and adherents of Roque Saenz Pefia installed in 

 their places. This was a direct attack upon 

 Gen. Roca. He was a member of the national 

 Senate, had been President of the republic, and 

 was probably capable of commanding more in- 

 fluence than any other man in the country. 

 His support would have been a tower of strength 

 to the Executive, but thenceforth he held him- 

 self aloof from the Administration. Differences 

 arose in the Cabinet within two months after 



