| Land | £1,676,959 |
| Railways | 6,059,791·7 |
| Insurance | 13,593,981·5 |
| Banks | 9,251,958·1 |
| Industry | 7,295,793·2 |
| Commerce | 6,856,762·3 |
| Agriculture and stock-raising | 7,218,579·7 |
| Navigation | 440,000·0 |
| Colonisation and Immigration | 203,996·3 |
| Tramways | 5,113,303·1 |
| Hygiene | 564,759·5 |
| Telephones and telegraphs | 1,349,983·8 |
| Mines | 7,332,286 |
| Mortgage Companies and Real Estate Companies | 4,098,448·1 |
| Gas and electric lighting | 759,249 |
| Savings Banks | 667,598·8 |
| —————— | |
| Total | £72,573,450 |
| =========== |
The mere list of the above investments is enough to convince us that the day of merely speculative companies
is over, when shares were mere travesties, more or less justified, as in the years which preceded the crisis of 1890. Now speculation in land is represented by a sum of less than £1,700,000; while insurance is represented by over 13 millions, banks by more than 9 millions, industry by 7 millions, agriculture by 7 millions, and mines by about the same amount. These latter investments belong to the category of “eruptive” stock, for, like a volcanic eruption, they rise suddenly to great heights, to fall, a little later, leaving nothing but smoke and ashes.
In the matter of company formation, as in the matter of operations of the Bourse, we see that the Argentine has re-entered the normal path of progress. Under these two manifestations, which reflect the economic activity of the country, the tide of affairs continues to increase, but the spirit of speculation no longer turns it aside, no longer undermines the organisation of the nation’s commerce.
PART IV
ARGENTINE FINANCE