COTTON TEXTILES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 41 



Where the fabrics are mixed with wool they are classified as woolen 

 goods, and pay duties accordingly. 



I would further state that the duties established by the foregoing 

 tariff' are recharged with an addition of 1 per cent, fixed by the Law of 

 the Estimates (Ley del presupuesto). 



CAUSES OF ENGLISH SUPREMACY IN THE TRADE. 



It will be seen from the statistics I have given in the foregoing tables 

 that the great bulk of the cottons consumed in the Argeatine Republic 

 continues to be imported from Great Britain, and that the United 

 States are still without an assured foothold. The figures, however, of 

 the last ten years show that our cottons trade with this country is gradu- 

 ally growing into proportions which are not only encouraging but which 

 render it well worth our while to make increased efforts for a better 

 showing. From $105,912 of importations in 1878 to $366,695 in 1887 

 proves that there is a movement, although it may be a slow one, in the 

 right direction. There are, however, several very serious obstacles 

 which interfere with our headway, and against which we must continue 

 to contend : 



(1) The cottons trade of the Argentine Republic, through all the 

 years since the establishment of an independent government here, has 

 become so firmly fixed, and is so irresistibly set towards Great Britain 

 that it will require an uncommon effort to divert the steady stream 

 from its present channel or, even in a measure to divide it. 



(2) Great Britain constantly keeps on hand in the bonded warehouses 

 of the Argentine Republic such an oversupply of cotton goods that it 

 will require more than ordinary inducements from outsiders, like our- 

 selves, to obtain orders for more, especially when it is considered that 

 the stocks on hand are not yet paid for. 



(3) The cotton millers of Great Britain are so thoroughly posted in 

 reference to the styles, patterns, make-up, and general details of the 

 Argentine market, a knowledge which they have obtained by long and 

 persistent personal inspection of the field, that they have by long odds 

 the advantage over those who are commercially isolated as we are from 

 the Argentine Republic. 



(4) The trade methods of Great Britain, in the matter of regular steam 

 communication, liberal banking facilities, and branch busines houses 

 here in the Argentine Republic in all of which essentials to a close 

 and reciprocal trade we are so absolutely wanting are so well estab- 

 lished and are of such a permanent and reliable character as to almost 

 defy outside competition. 



THE OUTLOOK OF THE TRADE. 



In spite, however, of these disheartening conditions, the cottons trade 

 of the Argentine Republic is certainly deserving of the serious atten- 

 tion of American manufactures. As I have heretofore said, in a report 



