34 



ARGENTINE KEPUBLIC. 



other hand, many vessels load in the Uruguay 

 River, in Uruguayan ports, but, before setting 

 sail for Europe or for North America, com- 

 plete their cargoes with Argentine produc- 

 tions, which is all the easier, as most of these 

 ports are situated opposite Argentine river 

 ports. Thus, the exporting merchants in these 

 latter find it more advantageous to dispatch 

 their goods on board the foreign vessel on 

 the other side of the river, than to send them 

 to the more distant market of Buenos Ayres, 

 where freight and local expenses are much 

 higher. 



Chili also sends goods of European manufac- 

 ture to the Argentine Eepublic. The Chilian 

 markets offer to the provinces of Mendoza, 

 San Juan, and Salta, greater advantages for 

 the acquisition of certain articles than through 

 Argentine ports ; and, although it is requisite 



to transport them across the Cordilleras on 

 mules, the transportation is in this way effected 

 more rapidly and at much lower rates. This 

 state of things will be notably changed on the 

 completion of the principal railways; and 

 even now a diminution of imports from Chili 

 may be remarked, due to the increased facility 

 of communication between Argentine ports 

 and the cities of the interior. 



We must yet remark, in reference to the 

 column of totals in our statistics, that the 

 values are not based upon the real cost of the 

 merchandise imported or exported, but at an 

 average of from 30 to 35 per cent, below the 

 real value. 



The total value of the imports and exports, 

 and the names of the countries with which 

 trade was carried on during the years 1870-'74, 

 are exhibited in the following table: 



The imports, and countries whence shipped, were as follows for the same quinquennial period ; 



The total value of the imports in 1875 and 

 1876 was $55,765,627 and $34,910,000 respect- 

 ively. 



Tna subjoined report of the foreign trade 

 carried on at the very flourishing river port 

 of Rosario is from Dr. Plaza's Memoria to the 

 Congress of 1877: 



