Art. 9th.—The payments stipulated in the present convention are specially assigned upon the products of the rents of the public lands of the State, excepting those belonging to the Municipalities, and in case of deficiency this shall be made up from the general rents of the State, or from the special resources created by the Legislature for the purpose.
The conduct of Buenos Ayres statesmen in respect to the obligations referred to was fully appreciated in this country, and the bonds gradually rose up to par value, holding even during the great monetary crisis a good position; nor must it be lost sight of that, although the original debt was incurred for the benefit of the entire Confederation, yet the Province of Buenos Ayres alone took upon itself the sole responsibility; and, up to the present confederation with the other Argentine provinces, always paid the interest out of its provincial resources.
Subsequent to the settlement of the English debt, what is known as the National Government was formed, and the internal debt of the entire provinces has been consolidated into a national stock, bearing interest at 6 per cent., which is punctually paid, and the stock, from being worth 30 to 40 a few years back, has latterly risen to 55, subject, of course, to fluctuations generally caused by speculation on the Bolsa of Buenos Ayres, where, for a long period, gambling in paper money was the chief business, until a wise measure of Governor Alsina, in establishing an Exchange Office, and fixing a paper value for gold, put a stop to this element of financial and social disturbance.
As already mentioned, there is a provincial revenue and a national revenue, as well as expenditure; that of Buenos Ayres being the most important, from its great commercial wealth. Until recently, the only bonds known here were those of Buenos Ayres. Now we have what are called Argentine bonds, lately issued on the security of the National Government; and in order to show the nature of this latter security, as well as the progressive state of the national revenue, I cannot do better than quote the following figures, issued by their able representative Minister, his Excellency Don Norberto de la Riestra, in a circular dated 1st June last, at the time he was negotiating this important transaction:—
| In 1864 the General National Revenue amounted to | $7,005,328 | or | £1,401,065 |
| In 1865 it reached | 8,295,071 | or | 1,659,014 |
| In 1866 | 9,568,554 | or | 1,913,711 |
| In 1867 the yield is estimated at | 2,600,000 |
it having produced in the first eight months of the year $8,981,430.
| The Revenue estimates for 1868 amount to | 2,647,200 |
as follows:—
| Ordinary Import Duties | $7,650,000 | ||
| Ordinary Export Duties | 2,070,000 | ||
| Storage Dues | 350,000 | ||
| Stamps | 160,000 | ||
| Post Office and Miscellaneous | 206,000 | ||
| $10,436,000 | |||
| Additional Customs' Duties | 2,800,000 | ||
| $13,236,000 | or | £2,647,200 | |
| The Budget of ordinary expenditure for 1868 amounts to | £1,581,649 |
as follows:—