We must remember that French influence in the Argentine has been active for a long time and in various ways. It was especially the immigration of the worthy inhabitants of the French Pyrenees which first set in towards the Rio de la Plata, where the Frenchmen invested their energies in many remunerative departments of labour; some becoming farmers, some cattle-breeders, some giving themselves to industrial work, some to trade in the cities; thus contributing to the development of the wealth of the country. The French mercantile marine was also the first to establish and maintain a rapid and easy transport between French and Argentine ports, thus permanently uniting the two countries.
As for French commerce, it retained, as lately as 1884, a place in the first rank with regard to the exchange of manufactured articles or the products of the soil, the trade being carried on especially through the medium of the Rio da la Plata; indeed there was a time when French commerce represented 51 per cent. of the total trade of the Argentine, while now it is responsible for only 20·7 per cent. of the total value of Argentine imports and exports united.
We may therefore consider that the part played by French capital in Argentine affairs is much too small as compared to the function of English capital, and we must regret that France is not more deeply interested in the great movement towards national prosperity.
After France the European nation which has invested the largest amount of capital in the Argentine, and which has fully understood the true importance of the latter country, is Germany.
In the remarkable increase and expansion of her industries Germany has not forgotten the shores of the Rio de la Plata. She has entered upon a struggle with England; all her electrical and chemical undertakings have taken root; factories have sprung up due entirely to German capital; a German Transatlantic Bank has been established in Buenos
Ayres; the Hamburg South American Company flies its ensign on the ocean, swiftly carrying passengers and merchandise between the two continents; a German electrical company has established its power-houses in the Argentine capital; an extract of meat company is drawing its profits from the live-stock industry; several quebracho mills have been founded; many other factories have been established, and the Germans have thus absorbed a large proportion of the Argentine export trade.[114] The commercial relations between Germany and the Argentine increase each day. Twenty years ago the exchanges between the two countries represented hardly 19·4 per cent. of the general foreign trade of the Argentine—at a time when France possessed 51 per cent. instead of her present 20·7 per cent. of the trade—while in 1908 the exchanges with Germany amounted to 23·4 per cent. of the entire trade.
[114] In the course of the year 1908 there left Buenos Ayres, in the vessels of various lines, 10,805 first-class passengers for Europe, of whom 2750 left by the German Company of Hamburg; 2041 by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Co.; 1193 by the Messageries Maritimes; 791 by the Transports Maritimes à vapeur; 711 by the General Italian Navigation Co.; 688 by La Véloce; 588 by the Italia; 556 by the Lloyd Sabando; 377 by the Lloyd Italiano; 340 by the Spanish Transatlantic; and the rest by vessels of various less important lines.
What is the total value of the German capital invested in the Argentine Republic? It is not easy to say with strict accuracy; but according to the very authentic information of certain Buenos Ayres bankers we may reckon that the German capital employed in the banks, commercial houses, estancias, and industrial concerns, and in the German Electrical Company, the electric tramways, etc., etc., amounts to £40,000,000. If to this capital we add that represented by the vessels under the German flag, which maintain an active communication with the Rio de la Plata, obtaining a large proportion of the best clients, the total of the German capital employed in the Argentine amounts to some £60,000,000.
With these data in hand, and an approximate knowledge of the amount of foreign capital invested in this country in shares, bonds, and other securities, namely some £384,000,000, as well as its approximate revenue, which in round figures is about £18,000,000, plus £1,600,000 as the general sinking
fund charge, or in all about £19,600,000, we may draw the following conclusions:—