The above figures, then, give a rough idea of the rewards of the labour market in Argentina. In Rosario also, where there are great railway works which compete with other occupations and so raise the standard of wages, the figures are probably high. But in smaller centres wages are lower and probably the figures before us are somewhat optimistic, for they are compiled with a view to encouraging immigration. It must also be remembered that their advantage is discounted by the cost of living, which is very high everywhere and especially so in Buenos Aires and Rosario. All imported goods are, of course, extremely dear, and in many cases this fact does not affect the labourer, seeing that most of his simple luxuries can be procured in the country, but in the matter of clothes he gets very poor value for his money. Tobacco also is extremely dear. That foreign goods should be expensive is not strange, for not only is it the policy of the Government (hitherto not very successful) to stimulate home manufactures, but also the customs are absolutely necessary for revenue purposes. However, it is surprising that all other articles follow suit. Meat, for example, although Argentina supplies most of the markets of the world in increasing quantities, is nearly as dear as in England, and, in fact, a very tiny sheet of paper would have ample room for a list of the articles that are cheaper in Argentina than in the Old World. The people have not learned to regard the day of small things; they will not take trouble in little matters; in dairy-farming, gardening, cookery, all the little arts that make for comfort, they are extremely negligent; it is too much trouble to put on the market the hundred and one little comforts that are cheap and ever present in England or France. This is, of course, the case with all new countries, but particularly with those of South America.
THE PERMANENT WAY, BUENOS AIRES CENTRAL RAILWAY.
The poorer classes certainly suffer by it, both in being deprived of numerous conveniences and also in the absence of these industries which, in France for example, give a livelihood to more poor people than are contained in the whole of Argentina. House rent also is extraordinarily high. In Buenos Aires this is always attributed to the vast improvements which were made in the Celman times, and which have certainly transformed Buenos Aires from a very dingy into a very fine city. Complaint is made that the better streets and better buildings have sent up the price of rents, that the ramshackle old tenements which were swept away afforded cheap and central lodgings which the poor now lack, and that in all ways splendour, cleanliness, and health have cost money. But in Rosario, where there is ample room for expansion, the same complaints are made, and at Mendoza, which is almost a garden city, site values are doubling in value every few years. The secret probably is imperfect industrial organisation. Labour is scarce and not very efficient, municipal dues weigh upon all classes, every circumstance contributes towards making building a dear operation. It may be added that any man, still more any woman, who would consent to wait at table, would be assured of a comfortable livelihood. Servants are abnormally scarce and dear; a domestic with six months' character is rare treasure, the subject of eager competition, and mistresses (according to their own account) are quite at their mercy.
It cannot be said that Argentina is a poor man's paradise, in the sense that his interests and general well-being are carefully regarded. Indeed the newspapers are full of complaints of the "oligarchies of office" and the scuffle for power among lucky cliques, who appropriate all the good things and leave the uninitiated multitudes to take care of themselves. An inquiry as to why Mendoza had no tramways elicited the reply, "Oh, the people in power here have carriages. As long as they can get about comfortably themselves, they do not care about the others." The authorities squeeze the poor as much as they can, but the latter yield most reluctantly to the process. A standing subject of wrangle is licences, which are like Sydney Smith's taxes; everything is licensed; the most petty trader or porter has to pay handsomely for the right to live, and this licence question is a perpetual source of friction. Besides the cost to the poor, it is excellent matter for the ingenuities of police persecution. Licence regulations are bulky and complicated, and licence-holders are, of course, liable to the attention of the law of street-traffic and the like; consequently the police have powerful weapons to hold in terrorem over the refractory, for it is easy to awaken a sleeping statute and effect an arrest under it. As might have been expected, there is considerable discontent among the working classes, and strikes are frequent. Trades Unions exist, but it does not appear that they are very well organised, and the South American mind is so permeated with politics that industrial strikes tend to become wholly political. About a year ago the whole of Rosario went on strike against the municipal dues, and the movement was by no means unsuccessful. A few months later there were repeated attempts at a universal strike in Buenos Aires, and a considerable amount of bloodshed resulted from the sharp repressive measures which were taken against it. If the poor complain, they have considerable justification.
But it would convey a very false impression to suggest that the condition of the people was miserable, or even that it was unsatisfactory, as far as an observer can judge. The worker is no doubt harassed by petty officials and exactions, but in the Latin countries, whence he came, he probably suffered as much or more; he was therefore acclimatised before he arrived; and he has now, what he seldom had before—a bellyful of food and some pocket-money, and, if he is enterprising, the chance of rising to competence or wealth. If we make allowance for different standards of comfort, it would be correct to say that any man who is willing to work hard with his hands can live in Argentina in as great comfort as the worker in any country in the world, and infinitely better than in most lands. It is a testimony to the prosperity of Argentine labour, that swarms of reapers come from Spain for every harvest, and return with £30 apiece in their pockets. The evils, from a material point of view, are upon the surface, while it is a fact that the working man in Argentina has, besides a fair livelihood, that hope which is at the same time the main factor in individual happiness and the best security for the economic efficiency of the country.
