The Amazing Argentine: A New Land of Enterprise

by John Foster Fraser

Few countries have been able to inaugurate home industries under more favourable auspices. Nothing can deprive Argentina of her agricultural eminence. But how she will fare when embarking upon the more uncertain career of a home manufacturer depends upon many things. Necessity is already driving Argentina seriously to face the problem of producing for herself her more obvious needs. The comparatively high cost of living is a growing trouble. Infant though she may be industrially, Argentina has already experienced the evils of industrial unrest. The principal manifestations have been in Buenos Aires, which, in addition to being the port and the centre of national activities, has been the storm centre of the rush to exploit her resources. It is the pulse of the Republic. Like other great cities, it is crying out against the diminishing value of the dollar.

Argentina's readiness for home manufactures is an urgent problem confronting the Government. The Government wants a more all-round development of the country's resources. Interwoven with this problem are important considerations: a more equable distribution of the population; the provision of more centres for the exchange of commodities; the relation between taxes for revenue and protective tariffs; the selection of what industries are to be established at an economic profit; the extent to which foreign manufacturers can be induced to start their industries within the Republic.

So far, the only industries that have continued with success are those producing articles difficult of transport, or of an expensive character. With a greater mobility of trade in the country, and a more scientific manipulation of the tariff, there is no reason why Argentina should not provide herself with many of the things which to-day furnish the labour agitator with opportunities for tirades against "costly living." Backed by agricultural wealth, and supported by splendid railway facilities, Argentina should be able to make advance on particular lines. Take wool as an illustration. Argentina produces more than sufficient for her own requirements, and yet she obtains woollen goods from other countries. Is it to be taken as final that the absence of coal in the country makes the development of woollen industries at home an economic impossibility? It is not, perhaps, so much a question of labour and initiative as the absence of natural advantages.

It is necessary to look farther afield than Buenos Aires in considering the chances of a new industry. The concentration of trade in the capital has probably been a hindrance. The congestion of all interests, commercial, political, and social, in "B.A." has caused land to increase enormously in value, an important consideration in setting up factories. In turn, other charges are correspondingly increased. Trade rises and falls according to the season. There is less stability for the worker, more fluctuations for the trader.

But, with railways linking up the interior with the coast, there is now no necessity for the drama of Argentina's commerce to be confined to a single theatre. There must be more centres of exchange, fresh districts for production and manufacture. If the auxiliary industries to corn growing and cattle raising were better fostered there would be no necessity for inland towns to go to Buenos Aires for vegetables, eggs, cheese, butter, and poultry. The market garden, the dairy, the poultry farm, the orchard, and the auxiliary factories would pour their products into the provincial centres. Local needs would be met locally. The surplus would be sent on with the grain and the cattle to the markets at Buenos Aires.

These, after all, are probably the safest lines upon which a new country can travel in her march to greater economic independence. First the purely agricultural; then the by-products of agriculture as a supplement; then gradually the establishment of whatever manufactures are practicable and profitable. For the present Argentina has greater need for cheaper eatables than for cheaper motor-cars.

Countries doing a big trade with the Argentine are beginning to see the force of providing goods on the spot. The crowding of agents in the principal towns has increased competition to a point at which the next move by certain competitors must be in the direction of producing in the country or losing the trade entirely. This will be all the better for Argentina. She has long had justifiable cause for complaint against those who are sent to Buenos Aires and other parts to barter for her trade. A well-worn lament in the reports of the British Consul concerns the English trader's lack of adaptability to the peculiar conditions of Argentina. Mention is made of quotations in English, the sending of representatives unacquainted with the language and business terms of the country, the adherence to methods applicable only to England.

On the other hand, the British exporter has grumbled at economic conditions calling for long and sometimes exaggerated credit; the taxes levied on commercial travellers; the difficulty of dealing direct with customers. Between the two points of view is the fact that commercial enterprise has stopped with the arrival of trade representatives in Buenos Aires.

The Argentine has already made shots at industry building. Tangible signs of an industrial future were visible on many occasions during my tour. Tall and smoking chimneys and busy factories for tinned meats, clothing, and boots were evidences of the start already made. Before, however, an advance can go towards full development there must be a more definite scheme of working, and a clearer apprehension of the end in view. There are, for example, greater possibilities for brewing and distilling. A recent census showed that these two activities engaged about 160 factories. Sugar, too, has proved for itself that when worked on proper lines it is a most profitable industry. Sugar-canes, formerly exported for others to refine, are now refined in the country, where the product finds a ready market.

It would be well-nigh hopeless for Argentina to attempt the introduction of industries to compete in her own market with well-established foreign industries of the same kind without the aid of tariff protection. This might mean a temporary loss in revenue by checking imports; but compensation would come through the success of the home industry. At the present time Argentina exports in raw wool over £10,000,000 worth annually. She imports woollen goods worth nearly £3,000,000. Her imports are increasing and her export of raw material decreasing. In ten years the latter fell considerably in actual bulk, through the rush to make quicker money from meat. Meanwhile, the question arises as to why Argentina should not prepare and manufacture woollen goods for home needs? The existing market is a large one. Textile industries already exist. They are few, but the fact that the number of establishments has increased is a clear proof that textile industries can be profitable. The opportunities here presented for the investment of capital are invaluable. There is room for new and increasing enterprises in a growing country with many years of growth before it.