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Andes, which are over 13,000 ft. above sea-level. Speaking generally of the railways, they are well constructed, although it is a very difficult matter to get good ballast in such great plains as the Argentine, which are lacking so much in the necessary material, stone and gravel-pits. The cars are very much like those employed in North America. There are comfortable sleepers and fine dining-cars on all through trains. The total length of telegraph-lines in the Argentine is close on thirty thousand miles. About twelve thousand five hundred miles of this belongs to the Government; the Western Union Company alone has 192,705 miles. With regard to the general industries of the country, the main products are agricultural, while others are developing fairly rapidly. Sugar may be classed as an agricultural product; they have forty-one sugar-mills in the Argentine. In 1870 the Argentine imported 22,000 tons of sugar, while in 1899 the tables were turned, when she exported nearly 60,000 tons of sugar. It was estimated that there is about $55,000,000 gold invested in the sugar industries in the Argentine. They have sixty-two breweries in the republic, which brew about 450,000 gallons annually. Alcohol is also manufactured in large quantities. They have in the country between 180 and 185 distilleries; the annual product turned out is something over 3,000,000 gallons. The wine industry is also an important one. The soil is very suitable for grapes, and vineyards cover vast areas of land. Along the great slopes of mountains such as San Juan and Neau Dosa, which lie west of Buenos Aires City, are to seen perhaps the best districts for wine-growing. In 1901 the Argentine had over 90,000 acres in vines, which was valued at about $10,500,000 gold. In 1903 she had 51,625 hectares under vines. In 1901 the stock of wine in the wine-ware-houses or bodegas (bond) was about 871,000 gallons. In 1902 the importation of foreign wines was greatly diminished, and the increase over the 1901 production was enormous; 1903 figures could not be obtained, but the crop was a large one. Although a good deal of machinery is imported into the country, the iron and steel industries are going ahead very fast; and although there is practically no coal and not much ore in the country, it opens one's eyes to see how important this industry is becoming. They have in the Argentine over two hundred iron-foundries, and 158 repair-shops. They manufacture nearly every class of machinery, including engines, boilers, &c. A large number of the railway-carriages and tram-cars are manufactured in the country; the only parts imported are the wheels. Steel safes are also made locally and are rapidly taking the place of the imported article. So far as the iron industry is concerned, the imports into the country since 1899 have decreased nearly 50 per cent. The capital invested in these industries is between $16,000,000 and $20,000,000 gold. The excise tax on tobacco and its products amounts to over $10,000,000 gold in 190~1. In 1903 no less than 167,000 tons of tobacco was exported. It is called " quebracho "in Spanish. About $4,500,000 are invested in textile manufactures, which, including hat-factories and woollen-factories, give labour to upwards of 8,500 persons. They import 8,500,000 dollars' worth of linen which might be manufactured in the country. As to mining in the Argentine, it is claimed they have valuable copper-mines, many of which contain silver and gold. They have also lately discovered rich veins of gold and also iron-ore. I may add, however, that these products have not been developed to any extent. There is also borax, lead, and marble in the country. It is believed that the rivers of the Argentine are rich in gold and that dredging will shortly become a paying industry, but if they meet with the same experience as most dredging undertakings in our colony I should not care to invest very heavily in the new shares. They have formed a gold-dredging company in Buenos Aires, with the object of exploring and working the auriferous sands of the various rivers. One thing which is certain is that they will not meet with such obstructions as timber and rocks or boulders in the beds of the Argentine rivers, which are nearly all composed of sandy bottoms. The Constitution and Civil Rights of the Country. The National Constitution of the Argentine Republic is based upon the broadest principles of liberty and justice, and affords the most ample guarantees for the enjoyment of full civil rights by and for the protection of the material interests of all the inhabitants. In one of its first articles its principal objects are declared to be "to create national unity, to consolidate justice and internal peace, to provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and to assure the benefits of liberty to us, to our descendants, and to all the people of the world who may reside in Argentine territory." In this instrument, provision is made for a separate but correlative existence of the powers forming the Federal and the Provincial Governments, the constitutions of the various provinces being based upon the same republican representative federal system in accordance with the principles, declarations, and guarantees of the National Constitution. Thus, all the public Acts and judicial proceedings of one province have the full force of law and authority in the others. Act 20 of the National Constitution declares "that foreigners may freely exercise their callings of any profession for which they are qualified, navigate the rivers and coasts, make testamentary dispositions, marry in accordance with the laws of the republic, own and deal in real estate, and, exempt from differential taxation, travel, associate for lawful purposes, petition, and do all such things as may be legally done by born citizens of the State. They may obtain naturalisation papers on completing a term of two years' residence in the country, or such lesser term as may be fixed by the Executive Government in cases of proof of service to the State, such naturalised citizens being immune for a period of ten years from date of naturalisation fiom compulsory military service." Other articles of the Constitution provide for the free exercise of all religions, and establish the principle of official encouragement to European immigrants, especially laying down that the Government shall at no time limit, or reduce, or charge with taxes.