ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



Julio A. Roca. The Vice-President is Norberto 

 Quirno Costa. The Cabinet at the beginning of 

 1902 was composed as follows: Minister of the 

 Interior, Joaquin Gonzalez; Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs, Dr. Amancio Alcorta; Minister of Fi- 

 nance. M. Avellaneda; Minister of Justice and 

 Public Worship, Dr. J. Seru; Minister of War, 

 ( 'o!. Pablo Riccheri; Minister of Marine, Capt. 



0. Betheder; Minister of Agriculture, Dr. W. Es- 

 c;ihmtc; .Minister of Public Works, Dr. Emilio 

 Chit. 



Area and Population. The area of the re- 

 public is 1,113,849 square miles, that of the 14 

 provinces being U22.9i!i square miles and that of 

 tin- territories 490,880 square miles. The total 

 population was estimated on Dec. 31, 1900, at 

 4,7<4,149, being 7.4 to the square mile, and on 

 Dec. 1, 1901, the increase for the year was esti- 

 mated at 100,000. There were about 50,000 Ar- 

 gentinians living or traveling in foreign coun- 

 tries. The number of Indians was about 30,000. 

 The number of marriages registered in 1900 was 

 28,103; of births, 173,719; of deaths, 88,656; ex- 

 cess of births, 85,063. The number of immigrants 

 arriving by sea in 1900 was 105,902, comprising 

 52.143 Italians, 20,383 Spaniards, 3,160 French, 

 2.119 Russians, 2,024 Austrians and Hungarians, 

 1,583 Syrians, 760 Germans, 431 British, 355 

 S\\ i-s. and 205 Portuguese. The total immigra- 

 tion since 1856 was 2,670,293. In 1901 the num- 

 ber of arrivals was 160,000 and of departures 

 112.000. Buenos Ayres, the capital, had on July 



1, 1901, a population of 836,395. The next largest 

 city is Rosario, with 112,461 inhabitants, and 

 after it La Plata, which has about 61,000, and 

 Tucuman, with 50,000 inhabitants. Education is 

 free, secular, and compulsory. There were 3,055 

 public and 1,076 private primary schools in 1899, 

 with 13,103 teachers and 326,752 scholars; 16 

 (iuvcniment lyceums, with 450 teachers and 

 4,103 scholars; and 2 national and 3 provincial 

 universities, with over 3,000 students. 



Finances. The revenue of the National Gov- 

 ernment in 1900 was $36,632,346 in gold and 

 'iiooo in paper, and the expenditure was 

 s 19,979 in gold and $94,271,310 in paper. 

 Under the conversion law of 1899 paper dollars 

 are redeemable in gold at 44 per cent, of their 

 par value. The revenue for 1901 was estimated 

 :it *37,99 1,000 in gold and $62,300,000 in paper, 

 and expenditure at $26,025,175 in gold and $92,- 

 4ii;.i;o.-) in paper. The actual receipts were $38,- . 

 2-U.C.3S in gold and $62,341,306 in paper, and the 

 expenditures were $23,835,857 in gold and $91,- 

 lun.-J27 in paper. For 1902 the estimated re- 

 ceipts were $40,013,347 in gold and $64,290,000 in 

 paper. The revenues collected in gold are $30,- 

 000,000 from import duties, $2,800,000 from ex- 

 port clutie-. s-_'. 7 r>r>. (MM) from port and navigation 

 dues, $4(50,000 from consular dues and fines, and 

 $8,937,747 from debt services. The expenditures 

 for 1902 were reckoned at $32,438,189 in gold 

 and $9(5,198,813 in paper. The estimates under 

 the several heads were $2,566,380 in paper for 

 Congress, $13,941,222 in paper for the Interior 

 Department, $309,381 in gold and $1,165,720 in 

 papi-r for foreign affairs and worship, $7,671,102 

 in paper for the Ministry of Finance, $23,984,124 

 in gold and $12,093,810 in paper for the public 

 <leht. $12,0(56,164 in paper for justice and edu- 

 cation. $15.875,000 in paper for the Ministry of 

 War. $12.188 in gold and $10.050.584 in paper for 

 the Ministry of Marine, $3.301,3(50 in paper for 

 the Ministry of Agriculture, $300.000 in gold and 

 $10,669,100 in paper for public works, $5.498,371 

 in paper for pensions, and $71832.496 in gold and 

 $1.300,000 in paj>er for extraordinary purposes. 



The foreign debts on July 1, 1901, amounted 

 to 86,984,201 sterling, consisting of 45,453,744 

 of national loans outstanding, 31,384,147 of 

 provincial loans and other debts assumed by the 

 Federal Government, and 10,146,310 of cedulas. 

 The funded internal debts on Jan. 1, 1901, 

 amounted to $17,937,500 in gold and $93,463,983 

 payable in paper. On April 1, 1902, the external 

 debts amounted to $386,451,295 in gold and the 

 consolidated internal debt to $89,610,983 in paper 

 and $17,863,000 in gold. The municipal indebted- 

 ness is $24,596,422 in gold. The paper money in 

 circulation on Jan. 1, 1901, amounted to $291,- 

 004,259. The mint up to Dec. 31, 1897, had 

 coined $31,716,545 of gold, $2,805,840 of silver, 

 $2,748,375 of nickel, and $82,704 of copper coins. 



The Army. The standing army consists of 

 1,340 officers and 7,297 men. The war strength 

 of the regular army is about 30,000 of all ranks. 

 There are 471,912 men enrolled in the National 

 Guard, of whom the younger members receive 

 two months of military instruction. A law au- 

 thorizing compulsory military service was passed 

 by Congress in 1901. 



The Navy. The Argentine naval force con- 

 sists of the new coast-defense arrnor-clads the 

 Libertad and Independencia, of 2,336 tons, hav- 

 ing a speed of 14J knots, 8 inches of armor, and 

 a battery of 2 10-inch breech-loaders and 4 4.7- 

 inch quick-firing guns; the old coast-guards An- 

 des and Plata; the central-battery ship Almirante 

 Brown, of 4,267 tons, having 9 inches of side 

 armor and carrying 10 5.9-inch and 6 4.7-inch 

 quick firers; the Garibaldi, of 6,840 tons, and 

 Pueyrredon, of 6,882 tons, carrying 2 10-inch 

 rifles and 10 6-inch and 6 4.7-inch quick firers, 

 and the San Martin and Gen. Belgrano, of 6,882 

 tons, the former armed with 4 8-inch, 10 6-inch, 

 and 4 4.7-inch quick firers, the latter with 2 10- 

 inch rifles and 14 6-inch and 2 3-inch quick firers, 

 all 4 cruisers having 6 inches of armor and a 

 nominal speed of 20 knots, built originally for 

 the Italian Government; the 9 de Julio, 25 de 

 Maio, and Buenos Ayres, strongly armed and 

 swift second-class cruisers built in England; 



5 converted cruisers of 3,403 to 4,218 tons, pur- 

 chased from Italian and Spanish steamship com- 

 panies; the English-built destroyers Corrientes, 

 Missiones, and Entre Rios, which at their trials 

 exceeded the contract speed of 26 knots, and the 

 one built to replace the Santa F6, which was 

 lost; and 12 first-class and 10 second-class tor- 

 pedo-boats. 



Commerce and Production. There are over 

 15,000,000 acres in cultivation, yet that is only 



6 per cent, of the available land. Wheat in 1901 

 covered 8,449,372 acres, on which 2,871,440 tons 

 were grown; the yield of flax from 1,518,380 

 acres was 390,000 tons; and the corn-crop was 

 in the neighborhood of 2,000.000 tons. The wool- 

 clip of 1902 was valued at $40.000.000, the wheat- 

 crop at $120,000,000, the corn-crop at $100.000,000. 

 The quantity of sugar produced in 1889 \\;is 

 103,112 tons, four-fifths of it in Tucuman prov- 

 ince. Alfalfa is grown extensively for feeding 

 stock. There were 89.000 acres of vineyards in 

 1900. The number of cattle in 1900 was e>1i- 

 mated at 28.000.000; of sheep, 110.000.000. 

 There were 329.400 cattle slaughtered in 1WO. 

 The wool-clip of 1901 was 250,000 tons. Coal 

 and petroleum are found, and some gold is mined 

 on the slope of the Andes, the output of I'.'OO 

 having been 2.112 ounces. The existence of foot- 

 and-mouth disease in Argentina put an end to 

 the oxporl:itic>n of live stock to Great Britain. 

 In May, 1902. the disease was officially declared 

 to be exterminated, and negotiations were begun 



