On the other hand, it must be remembered that the volume of traffic steadily increases, and that wheat alone will be exported on a scale greater than anything which has yet been seen in any country in the world. The area of cultivation expands yearly, and when a more intensive scheme of tillage is adopted the yield will increase and with it the goods traffic. Pasturage is being driven further afield by the husbandmen, and as more farmers settle within the railway area the import trade will expand in sympathy with their growing wants and purchasing power. There is no reason to doubt that the railways will continue to share in the increasing prosperity of the country, and will be enabled to take advantage of the vast scope for development both north and south.
Manufacturers in Argentina are heavily protected, but they have as yet made no great progress. Writers who deal with the business side of Argentine life usually treat them in a very cursory manner and devote themselves to the vast pastoral and agricultural production and other characteristic industries, but the question of manufactures is worth consideration, for it is a sign of the times that every nation is anxious to supply itself with home-made goods and is straining every nerve to encourage home production. A large proportion, indeed, of the Argentine factories are merely auxiliary to the production of raw material, being creameries, butter factories, freezing establishments, cheese-making factories, and the like.
Brewing and distilling are both important, and there are said to be 130 distilleries and 32 breweries in Argentina. The sugar factories of Tucuman turn out a great quantity of rum. As sugar-planting is being successfully pursued in the Territories of Misiones, Chaco, and Formosa, the manufacture of that article is naturally increasing. The cost of planting one hectare with cane is about £10. It was estimated that the Republic produced about 120,000 tons of sugar annually, and this amount is not quite sufficient for domestic needs, but when the Gran Chaco is opened up there can be no doubt that not only will enough be produced to supply the increasing population but that there will also be a large export.
In 1907 there were 303 flour-mills turning out 699,000 tons of flour. There are also 77 tobacco factories producing an output valued at about 2½ millions sterling. All kinds of textiles are produced, but there are only two cotton-spinning mills and 62 weaving factories. There are also numbers of miscellaneous industries, the most important of which perhaps are paper, matches, glass-ware, tanning, clothing, and building material. In general the factories are fitted up with the very best English machinery, and there is a determination to leave nothing undone to secure success. That they will continue to prosper cannot be doubted, for they have still a much larger home market than they are capable of supplying. A considerable number of the manufacturing industries, notably the sugar factories of Tucuman, are in English hands, and an enterprising Scotch firm has forsaken the United Kingdom and is engaged in manufacturing cheap shoes of imported hemp, which are exported largely to Japan. The high tariff wall is a luxury much appreciated by manufacturers, but not to-day or to-morrow will Argentina compete with Manchester or Bradford in the world's markets. Want of coal is a capital hindrance, and that very protection which confers local prosperity helps to make the establishment and upkeep of factories very costly. In this respect Argentina is but a beginner, and no one can say what her manufacturing future will be.
CHAPTER XVI
THE PASTORAL INDUSTRIES OF ARGENTINA
This is, on the whole, the most striking of the many very remarkable industrial features of Argentina. To begin with, some figures should be given. No doubt they are dry bones, but a body cannot be made without bones, and for the understanding of industrial phenomena it is necessary to have a skeleton map in the form of figures to guide us. If we keep a few round figures before us, we can form an idea of the progress of a country in industrial matters and its position in regard to other nations. It is impossible indeed to carry long tables of statistics in the head, but a few essential figures can be remembered, and along with them the increases and decreases (though of decreases we seldom hear in Argentina) as compared with a period of ten years ago and also the relative production or export of Argentine staples as compared with the figures of other countries in those articles.
ABERDEEN ANGUS CATTLE, SANTA MARIA, ENTRE RIOS.