ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



31 



bad one. On the contrary, the entire revenue 

 is swallowed up at once for the defrayal of 

 expenses incurred by the introduction of im- 

 provements and the general 'raising up' of 

 the country. "Whenever the revenue falls short 

 of the amount set down beforehand in the es- 

 timates, it becomes necessary to have recourse 

 to a loan, or else all material progress is sus- 

 pended ; the reaction is soon felt in commer- 

 cial circles, and then are observed the height- 

 ened intensity and lengthened duration of 

 those periodical disasters. 



" To prove the urgent necessity of reform in 

 the finances," continues the same writer, u we 

 should also mention the incredible expense 

 attending the collection of the taxes an 

 expense which fully reaches 7 per cent, of 

 the whole imports. Doubtless the political 

 organization of the country presents, in this 

 respect, serious difficulties. Inasmuch as the 

 14 provinces fix their own budgets, and con- 

 sequently raise their own taxes, being in this, 



as in all other respects concerning their in- 

 ternal administration, altogether independent, 

 their interests might appear to be compromised 

 if the central Government, by levying upon 

 their chief resources, collected direct taxes 

 within their jurisdiction. There is, therefore, 

 little ground for apprehending the presentation 

 of any import bills tending to prejudice the 

 provincial tax-system. 



" Again, the vast possessions of the Republic 

 offer secure and simple means for rendering 

 the national finances less dependent upon the 

 custom-house. The nation owns millions of 

 acres of valuable land, which do not as yet 

 produce a dollar, while, if under cultivation, 

 they would contribute largely to swell the 

 national revenue." 



Much, however, still remains to be accom- 

 plished before the country shall regain its 

 wonted financial tone and vigor. Thus turning 

 the public lands to profit necessarily depends 

 upon the influx of a strong tide of immigration, 



BUENOS AYRES. 



and more prompt means must be resorted to. 

 What has hitherto been achieved is rather a 

 mitigation of the symptoms of the evil than 

 the absolute removal of the causes ; and so 

 long as these persist, no reasonable hope can 

 be entertained of positive recovery. Tem- 

 porary relief has been secured by rigid econ- 

 omy ; but the really productive sources of the 

 nation are still in a state of comparative in- 

 activity. Meantime, in the second half of 1877, 

 theories, as discordant as numerous, were 

 hurled in rapid succession along the columns 

 of the public press, or constituted the chief 

 burden of voluminous memorial, as to the 

 means to bring the crisis to an end. Some 

 economists urged the necessity of a still higher 

 tariff on all imports indiscriminately; others 

 admitted the propriety of that measure, but 

 would confine it to spirits and tobacco ; while 

 still others cried it down unconditionally, as 

 not only inopportune, but calculated to ag- 



gravate the evil for which it was proposed as 

 a remedy. When controversy was at its high- 

 est, the Finance Committee, in September, sent 

 in their report on the proposed Custom-House 

 Law for 1878. One of the members of the 

 committee dissented, and for reasons of much 

 interest to the commercial body. Even the 

 majority of the committee admit that the iron 

 hand of necessity alone forces them to sanction 

 the proposed increase of duties, which Senator 

 Lucero strongly opposes. The honorable sen- 

 ator declares that the high customs duties are 

 mainly answerable for the falling off in the im- 

 port trade, and that, if they are raised further, 

 the inevitable result will be a further fulling 

 off in trade. 



The first eight months of 1877 show a serious 

 falling off in the import trade, compared with 

 the same period in 1876, the value being only 

 $18,870,000. It is not alone in Buenos Ayres 

 that this decline is observed. Last year the 



