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Show B ARGENTINE. B "In Buenos Ayres we now have a million and fl a half people," said E. Thorn Ely at the Wedell fl house Friday. Ely is an agent of the American fl exposition in the thriving metropolis of the Amer- fl ican Republic. The exposition is the salesroom fl for all kinds of American goods, from carpet tacks fl to automobiles and portable houses, fl American goods are gaining rapidly in compe- fl tition with German and English goods in Argen- fl tine. Imports of American goods increase about fl 35 per cent a year, German 25 per cent, and En- B glish 20 per cent. It will not be long before fl Americans will have all the best of the market in I our Republic. B There is practically no manufacturing in Ar- B gentine Republic. The land is so fertile and valu- able that it is better to use it for farming pur- poses than manufacturing sites. Wheat shipped to Europe is paid for in gold, which is worth 200 per cent of Argentine money, so our farmers are our most prosperous class' A gentleman sends us the above extract and writes as follows: I "Editor Goodwin's Weekly: Will you kindly elucidate this matter of European 'gold being I worth 200 per cent of Argentine money?' Is Ar- gentina on a silver basis ? What is the current' B coin of the realm paper or silver? Has she free trade or protection ? It is apparent from the growth of Buenos Ayres that Argentina is undis-B undis-B turbed by revolutions at least, we here hardly ever hear of Argentina except in items indicating B that peace and prosperity are the unusual condi-B condi-B tions existing in that portion of the Western hem-B hem-B isphere. It is apparent also from Mr. Ely's state- raent that farming is the principal industry in the I 'silver' republic. Heretofore I thought that cattle-K cattle-K raising and grazing were nearly the predominant H industries with the exportation of beef, hides, horns and beef extract Has Argentina no ex- tensive mining, lumbering or fishing enterprises to fall back upon in case of failure to farming by drought or otherwise? Why is Argentina pros- perous without any manufacturing? I want to B know." B The extract copied by our correspondent is not B very lucid. The idea that in a State twice as B large as California, or three and a half times the B sizo of Utah, there cannot be land enough spared B (it is so fertile) for sites for manufacturing plants B is comical. There are few plants of the kind for B the same reason that there are few in Arkansas It or Florida. The capital is not there, the artisans B are not there, the disposition to engage in that B kind of business is not there. B European gold is like any other: it is of the B same value everywhere. Argentine was formerly fl on a silver T)asis. We believe it is on a metallic B basis now, but the trouble is she has little metallic B money. Her currency is practically paper; and B her credit is so low that it is at a discount of 50 fl Per cent. The country is in the main controlled fl by Great Britain, and the foreign settlements are B on a gold basis. Argentine is not afflicted by rev- B olutions because the controlling people there are fl from Great Britain, though during the past few years a great many thousands of Latins, mostly B from Italy, have gone there. Mr. Ely does not say fl that farming is the principal industry, but the B most profitable. Argentine has millions of wild fl cattle running on her pampas, but the profits frpm fl them are not large, while her wheat in prosper-B prosper-B ous years is a great crop, and brings ready money. B The Italian and the great bulk of English, Scotch B and Irish Immigrants there are not good cowboys; fl they prefer tilling the soil. B Argentine has some gold, silver, copper, salt fl and alum mines in the foothills of the Andes B mountains, but they are a long way from trans- B Portation, and only the first two can be mined B with any profit; she has no extensive timber re- B gions, and no fishing industry of note, fl Argentine is not very prosperous; that is, in B the United States sense of prosperity. The ma- B Jority of her working people are content with a B very small reward. It is more than they received fl to Italy or Ireland or England, but it would not satisfy Americans at all. The State is practically fl bankrupt, fl About thirty years ago Argentine had a great boom. All manner of speculations were entered upon. These were backed by the great house of Barings. But the State was on a silver basis. The demonetization of silver in the United States and Germany brought on the steady decline of the white metal and a like decline in the value of property. This culminated in a general crash. The Barings went down in the great wreck, and since then Argentine has been practically bankrupt. bank-rupt. She is staggering under a great load of debt, and her currency is worth but 50 per cent on the dollar. Her wheat crop was a failure in 1896 and '97, and only a half crop in 1898, while tens and hundreds hun-dreds of thousands of her cattle perished. It will require perhaps thirty years more to place Argentine Ar-gentine on a really prosperous basis. |