The Dominion. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1932. THE CRISIS IN ARGENTINA

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 77, 23 December 1932, Page 10

The Dominion. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1932. THE CRISIS IN ARGENTINA

Following the recent report that faimer planning a march upon the capital can a mQve t 0 Argentine Government had ec a j s nio dified form forestall an attempted revolution. - guarantees, muzzles free of martial law which suspends cot - aee n C ies, prohibits meetings speech, censors the newspapers . , ‘ ‘ t asqime extraordinary and enables the President and his Mimstt s to a-..u powers not granted thenl , b y a result of the economic Unrest grips most of South at two others depression. To-day two of the en | - f rom civil war and are on the verge of war, Brazil is; jtt t proportions . Of Chile is threatened with a civil co Colombia—have escaped revoall the republics only aJ C controlled by a lution in the last two years. the seven which resorted to military dictator for severa ,y ea 5 ’ .. /-t ;i„ Ecuador Paraguay and revolution—Argentina, Be.hvia Brazil Chi ’ he jJt t U’e Peru—Argentina has made, the best shcming au g ious one . months. Yet, as events are m icanig- 1 P abundant harvest In retrospect it may be said that it was, o y inc the mOSI of 1930-31 that saved Argentina at what critical moment of her economic history September, 1930, the conditionlntd whiclTtheyhad fallen as a result ofE the failure of the harvest and the subsequent collapse in excha g . nesos (about million). The country, so far, has P unc ™ a > Argentina’s exports, in the twelve months ended June 3U► last expanded in volume by over 27 per cent., but in value by on y 8 pei cent, due to the continued fall in prices of primary products whic is Argentina’s greatest bugbear. The achievement during the same twelve months of an “export” balance of 237 million gold pesos, against an “import” balance of 46 million gold pesos in the preceding twelve monthsf has facilitated the meeting of overseas payments, but has been accompanied by a 37 per cent, decrease in the value of imports and oj the railways (largely Britlsh-owncd), the monthly clearing-house returns of the banks, and the extreme: y bad state of retail trade, all illustrate the extreme depression throuj. which Argentina is passing. In recent months the position has worsened and the Government is faced with a huge Budget deficit. Apart from Customs dues, inland revenue taxes and land tax, Argentina s machinery for collecting direct taxation at short notice is almost non-existent Income tax will probably realise only one-tenth of the estimate and the tax on transactions one-fourth. Excessive import dues have ki ec trade in many lines, and with the trade has disappeared the revenue obtained therefrom in normal times. There has been talk of a moratorium, but until quite recently the Government had set its face against such a course. Nevertheless, as recent events are showing, the situation of the country is exti einely grave. The impoverishment of the farming community by low work, prices and its reactions throughout the community may yet. the state of siege notwithstanding, bring about in Argentina still another revolution.