30 



ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



for the careful inspection of animals and less 

 crowding in transit. 



The value of the trade with the principal coun- 

 tries in 1897 is shown in the following table: 



Communications. There were 9,270 miles of 

 railroad in operation in 1897. The capital was 

 $510,643,296 in gold, of which $56,331,063 repre- 

 sented national, $83,859,062 provincial, $113,311,- 

 995 guaranteed, and $257,141,178 private lines. 

 There were 16,044,389 passengers and 9,001,559 

 tons of freight transported in 1897. 



The length of telegraph lines is 25,345 miles, 

 with 59,060 miles of wire. Of the total, 11,023 

 miles, with 23,572 miles of wire, belong to the 

 Federal Government; 7,070 miles, with 18,717 

 miles of wire, to railroads; 4,428 miles, with 7,462 

 miles of wire, to telegraph companies; and 2,824 

 miles, with 9,309 miles of wire, to other concerns. 

 The number of messages in 1896 was 4,953,887. 



The post office in 1896 forwarded 177,641,000 

 pieces of mail matter, of which 24,947,340 were 

 international. Postal and telegraph receipts were 

 $30,069,799; expenses, $27,169,020. 



Political Affairs. The long-standing dispute 

 between the Argentine Republic and Chili over 

 the boundary line in Patagonia was by mutual 

 agreement submitted on Sept. 22, 1898, to the 

 arbitration of the British Government. Another 

 question of boundaries arose in respect to terri- 

 tory in the north, the district of Puiia de Ata- 

 cama, formerly a part of Bolivia, which Chili 

 claimed by right of conquest during the war 

 against Peru and Bolivia and the Argentine Re- 

 public by virtue of cession by Bolivia subsequent 

 to that war. This dispute was referred to an in- 

 ternational commission, with William I. Buchan- 

 an, the United States minister at Buenos Ayres, 

 as arbitrator, which met on March 20, 1899, and 

 in three days concluded the delimitation, recog- 

 nizing part of the Argentine and part of the 

 Chilian boundary lines, and dividing the dis- 

 puted territory between the two states. A colony 

 of Welsh settlers, who have built irrigation 

 works, has done more for the agricultural and 

 pastoral development of the Argentine part of 

 Patagonia than the Argentine people have them- 

 selves. The success of this foreign colony has 

 impelled the Argentine Government to undertake 

 the construction of railroads giving access to the 

 interior of Patagonia. The federal authorities 

 also recognize the necessity of establishing col- 

 onization laws which will prevent the alienation 

 of large blocks of land in this territory, and will 

 encourage immigration and settlement by facili- 

 tating the acquisition of small farms. When the 

 war cloud that has hung over the country for 

 many years was lifted by the definite agreement 

 with Chili for the settlement of the boundary dis- 

 pute the military agent in Europe, who was con- 

 tracting for Krupp cannon, was instructed to 

 change the order, and take railroad material in- 

 stead. Having averted the danger of war and 

 stopped the large expenditures for war material 

 that for several years have been the cause of 

 heavy additional taxation and the piling up of 

 debt at home and in Europe, President Roca has 

 an opportunity of studying the reduction of 



taxes, the improvement of the police, and the 

 question of the administration of justice, which 

 he described in his message as having fallen into 

 such discredit that the material progress of the 

 country demands better guarantees for life, prop- 

 erty, and general rights. Another problem is that 

 of an immigration policy that will attract people 

 from Europe to the vast fertile areas that are 

 adapted in every way for settlement. The Fed- 

 eral Government is hampered in its efforts to 

 bring about reforms in the police and the ju- 

 diciary by the limitations to its powers over 

 these institutions set by the national Constitu- 

 tion, which gives absolute autonomy in local af- 

 fairs to the fourteen states of the republic, which 

 are extremely jealous of their rights, and resent 

 any interference of the national authorities in 

 matters belonging to the local administration. 

 The intervention of the Federal Government is 

 legal only for the prevention of a disturbance of 

 public order or for the purpose of remedying any 

 infraction by one state government of the consti- 

 tutional rights of another. After the provincial 

 elections of March 26 in Buenos Ayres the Presi- 

 dent saw fit to intervene in a local quarrel to 

 put an end to a deadlock. Dr. Irigoyen, the Gov- 

 ernor, refused to recognize the candidates who 

 were declared elected to the provincial Legisla- 

 ture, declaring that their election was obtained 

 by fraudulent practices. The local Chambers, 

 however, asserted that the Governor had no au- 

 thority to decide the matter, and, after scrutiniz- 

 ing the returns, declared the various candidates 

 legally entitled to their seats. Dr. Irigoyen then 

 placed the legislative hall in the care of the po- 

 lice, with orders that no person be allowed to 

 enter. As all sittings of the Chamber were there- 

 by forcibly suspended, the federal authorities de- 

 cided to take possession of the capital for the 

 purpose of inquiring into the merits of the quar- 

 rel and restoring a republican form of govern- 

 ment. The federal commissioner charged with 

 the investigation decided that the elections were 

 void on account of fraud, and on May 26 issued 

 a decree ordering a fresh ballot. One of the first 

 measures brought before Congress was a bill to 

 facilitate judicial procedure. Owing to the an- 

 tiquated constitution of the judiciary, the fed- 

 eral and the provincial courts were clogged with 

 tens of thousands of cases awaiting trial or judg- 

 ment. The increase in the revenue resulting from 

 new taxation and the expansion of the import 

 and export trade, with the cessation of warlike 

 expenditures, prompted the mercantile communi- 

 ty, which is largely composed of foreigners, to 

 begin an agitation for the reduction of taxation. 

 The total revenue national, provincial, and mu- 

 nicipal amounts to about $250,000,000 a year, or 

 $62 per capita. The surtax of 10 per cent, on the 

 customs tariff, imposed to provide ways and 

 means to prepare for the eventualities of a war 

 with Chili, was continued in force, and new taxes 

 had recently been placed on alcohol and other 

 articles of consumption. -The merchants of Bue- 

 nos Ayres in a monster petition prayed for the 

 reduction of duties, the revision of tariff valua- 

 tions, the fixing of taxes for a term of three years, 

 and the reform of the commercial code, especially 

 in regard to the laws of insolvency. A commer- 

 cial treaty with the United States was negotiated 

 and signed in July, according to the provisions 

 of which Argentine wool, hides, and sugar are 

 admitted at minimum tariff rates into the United 

 States in return for reciprocal advantages ex- 

 tended by the Argentine Republic to American 

 canned goods, cereal food preparations, and 

 lumber. 



