The estimated population of the city of Buenos Ayres was, in September, 1882, 295,000; and those of other important cities as follows: Córdoba, 39,651; Rosario, 32,204; Tucuman, 24,237. Immigration. By the terms of the "homestead law," enacted Oct. 6, 1876, inducements were offered with a view to attract Europeans to the shores of the republic.* In pursuance of a new decree of May 16, 1883, passage-money was advanced to 135 immigrants in that year. A new and prosperous colony in the fertile region surrounding Bahía Blanca, in southern Buenos Ayres, bids fair to make of that seaport at no distant day "one of the great centers of Argentine commerce." The already rapid growth of the settlement will be materially enhanced on the completion of the railway between Buenos Ayres city and Bahía Blanca, the northern half of which line is now in operation to Olavarria. Of the older colonies may be mentioned those of Santa Fé, sixty-eight in all, with an aggregate population of 55,143 (in 1883); and Entre-Rios, numbering seventeen, with 9,905 inhabitants. The Santa Fé colonists, besides other products, harvested upward of 1,000,000 bushels of wheat in 1882. The following table exhibits the nationality and number of the immigrants who landed at Buenos Ayres in 1879, 1880, 1881, and 1882: 1879. 1880. 1881. 1882. 29,587 8,520 NATIONALITIES. Italians.. Swiss. Germans. Austrians. Portuguese. Belgians 826 943 22,774 18,416 20,506 2,149 2,175 8,612 8,382 783 583 1,149 717 581 635 490 445 591 1,128 1,760 879 495 672 The number of arrivals for 1883 was 63,325. Government, Public Officers, etc.-The President of the Republic is Lieut.-Gen. Don Julio A. Roca (inaugurated Oct. 12, 1880), and the VicePresident, Don Francisco Madero. The Cabinet was composed of the following Ministers: Interior, Don Bernardo de Irigoyen; Foreign Affairs, Don Francisco Ortiz; Finance, Don Victorino de la Plaza; Justice, Public Worship, and Public Instruction, Dr. Eduardo Wilde; War and the Navy, Gen. Don Benja The Argentine Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States is Dr. Don Luis L. Dominguez (accredited in 1882); and the Argentine Consul-General (at New York) for the American Union, is Don Cárlos Carranza. The United States Minister Resident in the Argentine Republic is Gen. Thomas O. Osborn; and the United States Consul at Buenos Ayres is Mr. E. L. Baker. Army. The Argentine army in June, 1883, comprised, exclusive of the National Guard, 6,787 men, as follows: 3,500 foot, 2,474 horse, and 815 artillery. There were 4 lieutenantgenerals, 14 generals of division, 50 colonels, 127 lieutenant-colonels, 142 majors, and 742 officers of other grades. The National Guard was 315,850 strong. The military academy had, in 1882, 14 teachers and 123 students; and the military school (for non-commissioned officers) 6 teachers and 68 pupils. Navy. The navy, in June, 1883, was composed of 39 vessels, namely: 3 steam-ironclads, 6 gunboats, 7 torpedoes, 2 steam-transports, 3 cruisers, 6 other steam-vessels, and 12 sailof-the-line, with an aggregate tonnage of 12,630, and an armament of 55 guns, and manned with 1 rear-admiral, 2 chiefs of squadron, 3 colonels, 9 lieutenant-colonels, 9 majors, 20 captains, 32 lieutenants, 45 second-lieutenants, 63 students, 23 midshipmen, 20 paymasters, 48 engineers, 23 physicians, 2 almoners, 20 pilots, 1,505 seamen, 1,737 marines (including officers), and a torpedo division 137 strong. In the foregoing enumeration is not included the flotilla of the Rio Negro, comprising 3 steamers and 3 steam-launches. The naval school had, in 1882, 17 teachers and 69 students; and another school, for seamen, had 9 teachers and 43 pupils. The navy, like the army, is recruited by voluntary enlistment for a fixed period. Education. The cause of popular education continues to be zealously fostered by the Argentine Government, than which none has displayed more untiring energy in its efforts to insure the benefits of rudimentary instruction to the youth of all classes of society. In the budget for 1883 the cost of this department to the state was estimated at $2,190,430.88. There were in the republic, in 1882, 2,023 educational establishments of all grades, with an aggregate of 4,097 teachers, and a total of 136,928 pupils. Primary instruction was given, in 1881, at 1,985 schools, national, provincial, An abstract of this "homestead law," or "colonization municipal, and private, by 3,544 teachers to bill," was given in our volume for 1877, p. 29. 128,919 children. But as, from a bare statement of the number of primary schools, no precise idea of the status of rudimentary education can be derived, the following comparative statistics are transcribed from the report of the Minister of Public Instruction for 1882: Assuming the population of the republic to be 2,500,000, and the proportion of the children between the ages of six and fifteen to be 20 per cent., we should have: 99,963 mary schools 100,000 Estimated number home-taught 10,000 Total number possessing or acquiring primary education.. 209.963 Total number illiterate Total......... 290,087 500,000 500,000 Yet these figures attest a notable improvement when compared with those for 1872, in which year but 81,183 children, out of a total of 468,987, attended school. Finance.- Contrary to the almost general rule in Spanish America-witness Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, and principally Peru-the Argentine Republic, while rapidly extending her already considerable railway and telegraph systems, and otherwise facilitating transportation to and from the seaboard, not only accomplishes this without sacrifice to the nation al credit, but seldom fails to render such material improvements subservient to the financial prosperity of the country. Thanks to this system, and to punctuality in the service of the national debt and in the payment of interest thereon, Argentine bonds, first quoted at a premium in December, 1881, have rarely descended below par since that year. The budget estimates for 1883 were: revenue, $29,576,000; expenditure, $31,224,749, whereby there would be a deficit of $1,648, 749. The subjoined tables, which are transcribed from official returns published this year, exhibit the branches of the national revenue and expenditure, and the amounts of each, as estiinated in the budget for 1884: $21,270,388 The actual showing of the Finance Department for 1882 was unusually favorable; for, as Gen. Roca observes in his message to Congress in May, of a revenue of $26,763,985.27, but $25,354,996.76 were required for the ordinary expenditure of the administration. "The surplus, $1,408,988.51, together with $3,712,962.54, the proceeds of the treasury notes issued under the law of Nov. 3, 1881, the $2,312,704.16 balance in the treasury at the end of that year, and other funds resulting from successful credit operations, was applied to reduce the balance overdue on our debt, thus placing the treasury in a position to discharge within dated national debt, according to the Presia few days all our old accounts." The consolident's statement, amounted on Dec. 31, 1881, to $82,048,004.50, and to $94,565,787.90 at the end of 1882, in which latter year the principal of the debt was reduced by $3,625,257.13, and increased by new emissions to the amount of $14,283,788.50. Gen. Roca affirms that the reduction just alluded to was a real diminution of the country's indebtedness, while the fourtransformation of existing debts or the defrayteen million increase represented only the al of productive outlays on works the yield of which would be more than sufficient for the amortization of the bonds emitted. "At the President, "the 6 per cent. consolidated debt, end of the present year" (1883), adds the with a small portion at 8 and 9 per cent., will have been reduced to $75,418,201.31. The amount paid annually on the national debt (principal and interest) is $8,979,061.51. Congress last year be sanctioned, we should Should the conversion* which I proposed to only require to dispose of 5 per cent. bonds to the amount of $88,727,295.66, at the price of 85 per cent. (the rate taken as a basis by the committee on ways and means), for the extinction of those debts. And if the emission were made without a sinking fund for a term 500,000 of twenty or twenty-five years, the annual ser1,500,000 vice would only call for $4,436,364.78. The 1,1:0,000 advantages accruing from either of these plans 560,000 are apparent, and would enable us to carry on 200,000 numberless works of public utility without 20,000 burdening future generations with such debts 10,000 as have been handed down to us and were con270,000 tracted to defray the expenses of wars abroad 2,567,000 600,000 and internecine strife." The President referred 100,000 to the urgent need of a national bank law 10,000 300,000 similar to that existing in the United States. 410,000 Up to March 31, 1883, there were delivered $33,770,333 See the "Annual Cyclopædia" for 1881, p. 25. 8,593,000 650,000 60,000 from the mint 5,755,257 coins (gold, silver, and copper), representing an aggregate of $4,154,519.16, and most of which was to replace the fractional paper currency, the withdrawal of which from circulation was decreed on Nov. 5, 1881. The following tables exhibit the sources, destinations, and values respectively of the Argentine imports and exports for the year 1882: Values. $2,775,735 18,924,128 2,812,409 4,930,417 120,367 In Argentine territory, unburdened by any such tax as Peru used and Chili continues to exact, and with the great additional advantage of ready access to the Atlantic seaboard. November, 1883, Bolivian explorers announced the navigability of the Pilcomayo river throughout, which circumstance, with the completion of the Northern Central Railway, will establish easy communication between the two countries. The export branch of this trade consists chiefly of bismuth, tin, silver, silver-ore, etc., while 128,688 the imports are European manufactures. 2,084,293 15,185 Thus, the foreign commerce of the republic 11,798,701 for 1882 was of the aggregate value of $117,4,610,925 711,271, constituting an increase of $7,612,518 as compared with 1881. On comparing the 2,822,801 value of the imports and exports for each of 1,104,847 85,555 these two years, it will be seen that the balance of trade for 1882 ($829,461) was against, while that for 1881 ($1,039,455) was in favor of the republic. It has been officially objected, 8,839,712 however, that the unfavorable showing for $59.270,866 1882 is rather apparent than real, since of the 54,029,649 value of the imports $4,518,638 were for "ar$5,240,717 ticles of a productive character, such as railway materials, machinery for industrial purValues. $18,901,460 poses, and a large quantity of tools and agricultural implements." Among the more extensive consumers of Argentine products, as shown by 15,869,992 the foregoing table of exports, France stands first, Belgium second, Great Britain third, 7,379,532 65,660 Germany fourth, and the United States fifth. In the table of imports, those same countries 28.780 range in the following order as shippers to the 152,768 republic: Great Britain first, France second, 1,260,562 the United States third, Germany fourth, and 1,982,689 Belgium fifth. The imports from Germany, 1,411,861 the United States, and Great Britain are steadi8,812,223 ly increasing, while those from Belgium and $58.440,905 France fluctuate from year to year; and the exports to Germany and France, and particularly to the former, have increased, while those to the other three countries have fluctuated during the seven years 1876-'82. 818,603 2,092,219 1,463,078 4,648,995 1,620,931 70,841 2,861,209 56,069,104 Increase (in 1882).... $2,371,801 The exports and imports for the first ten months of 1883 were of the respective values of $35,532,486 and $50,176,456, against $34,325,245 and $41,217,972 respectively for the corresponding period of 1882. The trade in transitu for 1882 was as follows: Of the aggregate trade-imports and exports of the republic with all countries for the septennial period 1876-'82, the subjoined table exhibits the proportions represented by each of the five countries just referred to: Chief among the competitors of the United States, as a supplier of the Argentine Republic, is Great Britain. The American articles shipped most extensively to the republic are: lumber ($2,019,216 in 1882, against $157,090 from Great Britain); agricultural instruments ($528,046, the total from all countries having been $727,807); kerosene ($363,139); books and other printed matter ($98,326); machinery ($126,588); manufact 1878. 1876. 1880. 1881. ured tobacco ($120,339); clocks and watches ($30,347, against $24,006 from France, and $14,926 from Great Britain). Of American musical instruments of all kinds, but $5,939 worth were sent to the republic in 1882. American machinery is fast gaining favor, no fewer than sixty-two locomotives having been ordered of a single Philadelphia firm in 1882, while the total number imported from the United States in the year previous was but seven; and extensive orders for rolling-stock, particularly drawing-room cars, were also given in 1883. Indeed, there is a growing appreciation of things American in the Argentine Republic. The imports of specie in 1882 were $2,683,327, and the exports, $2,225,082; against $4,157,648 and $2,991,305 respectively in 1881. Chief among the Argentine export staples is wool; the quantity shipped in 1882 was 111,009,796 kilogrammes, of the value of $29,033,000, against 89,259,122 in 1876. Next in importance after wool are hides, of which but 1,945,427, of the value of $8,286,000, were exported in 1882, against 2,325,866 in 1876; then follow sheep-skins (22,353,021, of the value of $4,095,000 in 1882, against 27,597,973 for 1876); jerked beef, 26,996,613 kilogrammes, $3,756,000; tallow, $2,699,000; maize, 107,327,155 kilogrammes, $2,141,000; live cattle, 94,649, $1,478,000; linseed, 23,351,794 kilogrammes, $1,650,000; bones, ores, etc. Agriculture, etc.-Until within a few years an importer, the Argentine Republic is now an exporter of wheat in constantly increasing quantities: 1,705,292 kilogrammes in 1882. Sugarculture is rapidly developing in Tucuman, Salta, Jujuy, Santiago, Corrientes, and in parts of the Gran Chaco and Misiones. The total sugar-crop for 1882 was estimated at 11,615,000 kilogrammes. Tucuman now grows 17,500 acres of cane, giving work to thirty-four mills. The vine is extensively cultivated; Catamarca, in 1881, produced 1,200,000 gallons of wine, valued at $108,000; and, in 1882, San Juan produced 5,236,186 gallons, valued at $1,107,275. But the main sources of the country's wealth are cattle rearing and sheep-farming. There were in the republic, at the beginning of 1883, 93,000,000 head of sheep, while Australia's flocks numbered but 72,000,000, and those of the United States, 41,000,000; of horned cattle there were 16,000,000 in the republic; and of horses, about 5,000,000. The statistics of these industries, for the single province of Buenos Ayres, were given in the census returns of Oct. 9, 1881, as follow: Sheep, 57,838,073; horned cattle, 4,754.810; horses, 2,396,469; hogs, 155,134; goats, 7,612. Shipping Movements.-The shipping movements at the various ports of the republic were as below, in 1882: Sailing-vessels, 15,725, Cleared: 6,012, 46 66 66 66 478,465 1,299.588" 500,838 " The distribution of this trade by flags was: Argentine, 57 per cent.; British, 24; French, 9; Uraguayan, 3; Paraguayan, 2; others, 5. "We have no merchant navy," writes a native statistician, "unless that name be given to a few hundred barges, lighters, and schooners, which, with Italian and Austrian crews, ply on our rivers and carry the Argentine flag just as they might carry the Turkish." Railways. The railways in operation, and in process of building, at the end of 1883, were as follow: LINES. Central Argentine (Rosario to Córdoba).. Northern Central (Córdoba to Tucuman). Northern Central (Tucuman to Jujuy).. Northern Central (branch from Frias to Santiago).. Northern Central (branch from Recreo to Chumbicha)*. Andine (Villa Maria to La Paz) Andine (La Paz to San Juan ría Mendoza) Eastern (Concordia to Ceibo).. Transandine + (Mercedes in Buenos Ayres Totals....... Tramways. At the end of 1882 there were in the capital five tramway or horse-car lines, which, covering an aggregate of 95 miles, and with 1,001 employés, carried an average of 51,740 passengers daily. There were also lines in some of the smaller towns of the province of Buenos Ayres; Córdoba city had two lines, and Rosario one. tine telegraph lines at the end of 1882 was 13,Telegraphy. The total length of the Argen543 kilometres, of which 10,772 belonged to the Government; there were 202 offices, and the number of dispatches transmitted throughout the year was 509,928, of which 71,838 From Chumbicha the line is to be extended southwest to La Rioja, and northeast to Catamarca. + This line will open direct communication between Buenos Ayres and Santiago, the capital of Chili, and so between the Atlantic and Pacific Occans. were official. By Dec. 31, 1883, 1,727 additional miles of Government line were completed. Telephone. In December, 1882, there were two telephone companies in Buenos Ayres, with 1,500 subscribers. Post-Office. In 1881 the number of letters that passed through the post-office was 9,723,740, of which 2,380,065 were official; and that of packages of printed matter, 6,132,374, of which 1,191,046 were to or from foreign countries. Improvements.-The much-needed work of improving the condition of the ports, which is "still almost the same as at the arrival of the first Spanish settlers," says President Roca, was continued actively during the past year. The canalization of the Riachuelo, at Buenos Ayres, was sufficiently far advanced in January, 1883, to admit vessels of 1,120 tons register, and the intention is to prepare the harbor for craft of all sizes. ARIZONA. Territorial Government.-The following were the Territorial officers during the year: Governor, Frederick A. Tritle; Secretary, H. M. Van Arnam; Chief-Justice of Supreme Court, Charles G. W. French; Associate Justices, Wilson W. Hoover and Daniel H. Pinney. General Condition.-During the past two years the advancement of the Territory, both with regard to wealth in the development of profitable industries and increase of population, has been remarkable. The Territory can now claim 75,000 people and over $20,000,000 of taxable property; and while the progress of its civilization and the development of its resources have been opposed by most serious difficulties, it is now safe to say that those dangerous and disturbing elements are well under control. During the past two years exceptional development has been made in all industries, mining, grazing, and agricultural; extensive railroad enterprises have been successfully completed; and the affairs of the Territory generally are exceedingly prosperous. The great natural facilities of the country for stock-raising and wool-growing are beginning to be understood, and large droves of cattle and sheep are being driven in from the neighboring States and Territories. The valleys along the principal water-courses yield magnificent crops of grain, fruits, and vegetables, and even the mesa or table-lands adjacent will grow almost everything with a sufficient water-supply. The valleys of the Gila and Salt river are being rapidly settled. Beyond the making of flour and lumber the manufacturing interests of the Territory are in their infancy. Some of the native plants furnish excellent material for the manufacture of paper, coarse cloths, mats, ropes, and other articles. No attempt has been made to utilize this raw material, although it is known that the aborigines have succeeded, in their crude way, in making ropes of fair quality. The estimated yield for 1883 has been placed at from 20,000,000 to 25,000,000 pounds. The combined value of the silver and copper product for 1883 will be between fifteen and sixteen million dollars. Agriculture and Grazing.-Irrigation is necessary to the raising of a crop in Arizona. It is estimated that there are at the present time between 60,000 and 70,000 acres under cultivation in the Territory, and that the quantity of grain (wheat, barley, and corn) produced during the year was nearly 60,000,000 pounds. In the valleys of the Gila and Salt rivers alone there are 400,000 acres which can be brought under cultivation, of which only about one tenth is now utilized. Two crops a year can be grown. After the wheat or barley is harvested, corn is planted. There are at present about 30,000 acres under cultivation along the Salt river, yielding, in 1883, 14,000,000 pounds of wheat, and 18,000,000 pounds of barley. Of fruit-trees there are nearly 40,000, and over 300,000 vines in bearing. Alfalfa is sown extensively, and yields three cuttings during the season, averaging two tons to the acre at a cutting. The number of cattle in the Territory is about 280,000, an increase of more than 300 per cent. during the past two years. It is estimated that the area of grazing-land in the Territory will reach 60,000 square miles. The country north of the thirty-fourth parallel is well adapted to the raising of sheep. The number of sheep in the Territory is placed at 300,000, and the yearly clip at 2,400,000 pounds. As near as can be ascertained, the number of horses, mules, and hogs in the several counties is as follows: |