agents of the rapid and extraordinary progress of Argentine stock-raising, especially in all that relates to the selection of breeds and the best manner of feeding.

Among the industrial undertakings, that which has of late years assumed the greatest importance is the frozen or chilled-meat industry—the refrigerating industry. There are now nine refrigerating establishments, with a subscribed capital of £3,993,915. Other industrial undertakings, such as sugar factories, breweries, quebracho mills, and mines, are beginning to take a significant place in the list of Argentine securities.

The nominal total of all movable values being estimated, at the end of 1908, at £474,396,933, the question which now occurs is, What is the annual yield of these securities? This is the most difficult point of our inquiry, and one we can answer only by approximate estimates.

While it is simplicity itself to calculate the interest on the bonds of the public debt, whether external or domestic, it is anything but easy to calculate in all cases the dividends paid by each company to its shareholders. Some companies do not publish balance-sheets, and others confound the profits realised in the Argentine with the profits earned by their foreign houses or headquarters.

As far as our present knowledge goes, the revenue of the securities we have mentioned may be estimated to be as follows:—

Annual Revenue, of the Securities of the Argentine Republic, 31st December 1908.

Name or Nature of Securities.Revenue in Pounds Sterling.
External National Debt£3,209,727·2
Internal National Debt843,879·4
Municipal Debt of Buenos Ayres196,135·4
Municipal Debt of Santa Fé1,636·0
Municipal Debt of Rosario120,000·0
Municipal Debt of Córdoba19,500·0
Municipal Debt of Bahia Blanca6,600·0
External Debt of the Province of Buenos Ayres368,928·0
Internal Debt of the Province of Buenos Ayres255,904·0
Cedulas of the National Mortgage Bank872,051·6
Debts of the Provinces of Tucuman and Entre Rios29,013·4
Debt of the Province of Santa Fé67,745·0
Railway Companies8,423,510·8
National Banks of the Capital1,131,499·6
Anglo-Saxon Banks of the Capital788,680·8
Local Provincial Banks53,725·6
Mortgage and Agricultural Loan Companies1,044,847·2
Tramway Companies907,603·8
Gas and Electric Companies804,578·2
Telegraph and Telephone Companies97,478·6
Harbours, Docks and Quays293,447·8
Savings Banks, Building Societies, Annuity and Insurance Companies254,852·2
Agricultural and Stock-raising Companies496,309·2
Forestal Exploitation Companies188,505·0
Refrigerating Companies229,654·2
Markets165,243·8
Mining Companies23,816·8
National Insurance Companies192,040·4
Sugar Refineries165,154·6
Breweries174,249·0
Dairy Companies31,882·6
Metallurgical Companies40,605·0
Transport Companies251,783·2
Hotel and Theatre Companies59,332·6
Mills and Granaries33,765·2
Various Industries169,253·8
General Commercial Companies141,957·2
——————
£22,144,939·2
===========

Now what, approximately, are the amounts of securities or movable values belonging to foreigners and to natives of the Argentine? Such is the question we must now set ourselves, as one of the most important relating to the country’s future. Blessed with an immense area of territory, mistress of enormous and unexhausted natural wealth, and peopled by only 6 millions of inhabitants, the Argentine is a nation still in process of formation. She attracts men and money from all quarters of the globe; for she promises generous payment for initiative and for labour.

From the economic standpoint, then, it is of enormous importance for the Argentine whether the revenue of her securities goes to persons residing in the country, or whether,

on the other hand, it goes abroad, thus unfavourably affecting the result of her commercial transactions, and threatening to upset the balance of international payments.