The Argentine in the Twentieth Century

by Alberto B. Martínez; Maurice Lewandowski

“It glides amid the snows and the tempests, crossing abysses thousands of feet in depth, and ending at a height of 15,000 feet. The highest of its towers is as high as the summit of Mont Blanc, and the mines, into whose bowels it enters, will take their place, like those of Rio Tinto and Bilbao, in the commerce of the world, as the agricultural products of the Argentine have already done; thus drawing all eyes to this privileged country, which is set apart for the most brilliant destiny.”

If we now consider the part played by the railways in the general development of the Argentine, we are forced to recognise that in a country so essentially agricultural, the railroad is an indispensable auxiliary of production.[28] The Argentine Republic is a large country, containing 1,155,000 square miles of territory, and is barely peopled by its 6,000,000 inhabitants; it will therefore be understood that instead of following the population, as in Europe, in the Argentine the railway precedes the population. In the Argentine the railway is like a magic talisman, for wherever it goes it entirely transforms the economic and productive conditions of the country.

[28] Among matters still under consideration in the Argentine, we may mention the concession for the port and railway of Samborombon, which would connect with a system of narrow-gauge railways leaving Samborombon, which would be a great Atlantic port, and running to the end of the Territory of Pampa Central, thus facilitating the export of its products.

We have seen that in the matter of transport agriculture will shortly enjoy improved conditions; there will be greater facilities for bringing its products to the ports of embarkation, and placing them in the centres of consumption. But what are these conditions at present? What is the precise relation between the railways and agriculture? Are they sufficient for the rapid transport of the harvests? This inquiry, which is of immediate interest, has been made by M. Emile Lahitte, Director of the Division of Statistics in the Ministry of Agriculture, with his usual competence and practical good sense. We will take certain useful data from this source, without prejudice to other data which we have collected, while profiting by the experience of other personalities equally well informed.

One of the most characteristic peculiarities of agricultural

production in the Argentine is the fact that, conversely to the production of the United States, about 80 per cent. of the harvest, and perhaps even more, goes to fill foreign markets, leaving only 20 per cent. for home consumption; and not only is it necessary to export this surplus, but it has to be exported with as little delay as possible. In the United States the annual cereal harvest amounts to about 4000 millions of bushels, of which scarcely 10 per cent, or 12 per cent. are destined for export. The rest remains in the granaries, and is manipulated, during the rest of the year, in response to the needs of a population of 80 million inhabitants. But in the Argentine, supposing the harvest of wheat, flax, and maize to amount to 400 million bushels, one might count upon the exportation of 320 millions, the 80 millions remaining for home consumption.

From the commercial point of view, agricultural production thus depends chiefly on the importing markets. This is so far the case that if we look into the monthly figures of exportation, remembering that threshing begins at the end of December and continues sometimes into March or April, we shall find that by June three-quarters of the year’s export has already been shipped. The exportation of wheat in 1907 amounted to 100 million bushels, and by the end of June 79 million bushels, or 79 per cent., had already been shipped. The quantity of maize exported during the same year was 48 million bushels, and in October, that is, five months after the harvest, 40 millions had already been shipped; that is, 84 per cent. The statistics of the carriage of cereals by railroad also clearly prove the pressure and congestion existing in the months following the harvest.

From this peculiarity it follows that there is always a struggle latent between the exporters of agricultural produce and the transport companies. In some cases, as in 1905, this struggle took the form of judicial protest; the chief export houses sued the “Great Southern of Buenos Ayres” for damages in respect of unjustifiable delay in the transport of cereals.

It must be admitted, however, that the railway companies are not always the cause of such delays in export; there are other factors also which we must take into account and consider in relation to the national production.