A COMING COUNTRY.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10573, 30 September 1910, Page 6

A COMING COUNTRY.

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC, j Mr W. A. Hirst lias written a new volurnV, "Argentina." in the South American Series, edited by the late Major Martin Hume, who has also contributed an - introduction. The editor says that no country known to him impresses a visitor from Europe so forcibly as the Argentine. He considers that the greatest admirers, or the old Spanish colonial system will hardly deny that the prodigious development effected since the declaration of Argentine independence, of the resources of the country, thanks largely to the miiiix of foreign immigrants and capital, wuiijd have been impossible under the Spanish domination. The pastoral industries of Argentina -re the most remarkable feature of the country., These lire progressing with leaps and hounds, as the following i;.'ures show:—The number of cattle m the Republic- is '29.001),U00, of sheep G7 00=),000. <>f horses 7.500,000 and of .-oats 3.-245.000. The total value of the domestic animals is 045,000,000 dollars "old (live to the English £1). I here i„-c more cattle (71,207,000) in the United States, but considerably lewer sh.ep and goats. Australia has more sheep—Bß.ooo,ooo—but far fewer horses and cattle. Chili has probably hardly more than 2,000.000 sheep. Argentina has fewer hogs, mules, and donkeys -than Spain, hut on the whole she eotials. if she does not surpass, any other iiatiou in the number and variety |of her live stock. One of the duel industries of the country is meat. in 1007 the exports ofjieef ami mutton umm „,tecl to 222,273 tons. InJSJfe the oiiaiititv of wool shipped was l.owdb ton'--' The'dairv industry is carried on upon a great scale. In 1891 only a tew hundred pounds of butter were exported Now 8000 tons are exported. Connected with the pastoral muustry is the enterprise of the Bovril company, now called the Argentine. Estates ot Bovril. Limited, from which conies a lai-'o proportion of the raw material ot that well-known beverage. .1 he final of tl»< manufacture take place m factory. All the best parts of the beef are used for BovriL and the preliminary process takes place m the Argentine factories, wliere Iron! 80.0.10, cattle are slaughtered aniHiallv Another, meat extract company; tlie Lemco and Oxo, has made immense progress of late years. -\i-.rci,tina is now one ot the leading agricultural countries in tlie world its most important crop being wheat, the area under wheat, which m 1b,4 was only 271.000 acres, had increased to -i 500 noo' in 1809, and is now about 14 000.000 acres. The production in VlirS was nearly 5.000.000 tons, and tne quantity exported 3.800.000 tons. It is I expected that before long the wheat ex- ! port will be 5.000.000 tons, and that i Amentum will thus lead the world in j wheat. 1» 19D7-S die export ot wheat fro in the chief exporting countries was: Tinted State*. 4.400,000; Argentina. :>.54!i.ll(!0: Russia, 1,051,1100; Canada, >, 530 (no" tiins. The produce of maize : l.'is inercas-.-d enormously of late, being . now 3.450.000 tons. The Republic is by far the largest exporter ul luiscoo in' the w;.Hd. the prociuctioii m 100b ; being 2.025.000 tons. Locusts are very : destructive to all crops. ; The total population of the Argentine : Republic is estimated at over 0.300,000. 'l'lie number of immigrants has in-ci-ea*"d great Iv of late years, being in 10!IH 255 7!O. 'ln 1857 there were only : Jiioo Between 1.857 and 1803 the immigrants to Argentina included 1.331.530 Italians. 414,073 Spaniards. 170 203 French, 37.053 Austriaus and Hungarians, 35,435 English, 30.699 Oer- ' mans. Englishmen do not emigrate to Argentina in large numbers, and they ji'-e o-tcil warned' against doing -so. The ;.;„,.,;,,;, i,i-ei'er ISrazil. Italians still lead the ' nationalities with 00,000 in 1007. Snaniarus being a good second v. ith'B2.ooo. The amount of English capital invented in Argentina is very large,, the totrl !h : ii'- -£175.340.500. Jc is made up as follows: Railways. £137,845,000: n-ink:. £8.580.000: tramways. £8.n;o.0;-0: sundry enterprises i'20.!.!i:i.580. France comes second her' investments being chiefiy in raili wavs. and amounting to £21.021.01)0. | Carman capital, which is principally in ; hanks ::i:ii tramways. comes to I ■L-V2.000.!i: , :i1. and Belgian capital to £4.ur,!U;o:i. Tlio progress of (■■on.struclioii during the last 30 yer.rI has been wonderful, the figures being : j —r«f):i. 5745 miles ; 1800. 10.285 miles: i !;:':> 15.470 miles. Til lOtlO the rniiJ wavs carried 50.810.000 passengers: the j <toss roeeints were £20.715.00", and •' tii-i net profits about £8.200.000. The j principal' railways are mainly English. 1 and there is an important French line, i the Province of Santa Fe Railway, The i largest of the railways is the Buenos f Aires Great .Southern, which now has ! 2745 miles of Jine. and is the richest | railway company in the Republic. : Among other industrial enterprises there • were in 1007 303 Hour mills, producing : 0P9.000 tens of flour. There are also ' 77 tobacco factories, yielding an output : valued at about £2.500.00!). I Until of late years Argentina was j subirct to v\-ars and revolutions. The ! greatest war was that between Brazil, j Argentina, and "Uruguay on one side. ! and Paraguay on the ether. It was 1 commenced by President Lopez, of j Paraguay, who invaded Argentina, lie J was a man of great energy and ability. I .■■lid managed to prolong the contest for | i: Vl , years, during which time live-sixths j of the population of Paraguay perished. J Th" most notable men among the PreI shunts of Argentina have been Rosas. j a cruel and merciless tyrant. Mitre. j iJoe'a. Saroiionto. and Column. Under \ li'.' rule of the last-named a serious j or-os recurred, accompanied by streetj lighting. in Buenos Aires, in which i about 1.000 persons were killed: a finan- ! ciai panic a.nd suspension of banks. 'For ! several vears something-like revolution i and civil war prevailed, which caused I immense loss to the country." The last iVw yearn have been a period of great i prnMierity in Argentina, and there is a \ good prospect of its continuance, as the i influent-." of the foreign residents is ■ v'-aiTy increasing, and their interests I are opposed to war and revolution. ' Buenos Aires, says Mr Hirst, is a city ;of an unusual type. It is very Spanish, i but entirely without Spanish .sleepiness. | Rustle and stir are. indeed, perhaps, its ! chief characteristics.