The traffic with Valparaiso, although the extension is a showy scheme, is not likely to pay for many years, and the difficulty of running trains through winter blizzards and snowdrifts will be considerable. The heavy expenditure has had a temporary effect, and the stock has experienced a heavy fall during the last few months. But the Company has placed itself in a position where it has little to fear from competition and where it can secure the full advantages from the future development of Argentina. This railway may be considered one of the most magnificent commercial enterprises in South America. [Illustration: RAILWAY STATION, BUENOS AIRES GREAT SOUTHERN RAILWAY.] The Central Argentine is one of the most prosperous of railways. It has the largest gross receipts and makes the most profit per mile and it is also of very long standing. It began in 1864 with a line from Rosario to Cordoba and for a long time met with severe competition from the Buenos Aires and Rosario line, which worked practically the same districts, but in 1902 an amalgamation was effected. But the Mitre Law has been unfavourable to it, and for some years the Government insisted that the two lines should continue to be worked separately, and it was only last year that their complete union was sanctioned. Rosario is the centre of the system, and here the Company owns extensive dockyards, and lines run both to Tucuman and Cordoba. A port, Villa Constitucion, within 32 miles of Rosario, is also being developed, but competition is feared from Santa Fé, where very large extensions are being made, and although the Central Argentine has access to that port, a French company is in a better position for taking advantage of the facilities. In fact, the line is exposed to very severe competition from two French companies, the Cordoba Central, the Buenos Aires Central, and the Rosario and Western, a light railway, but it is large and wealthy and should have little to fear. It has an enormous grain traffic, but it serves the older and more settled districts, and therefore cannot hope to increase its traffic in the immediate future as rapidly as some of the pioneer railways. However, it has been pointed out in another chapter that the development of the Gran Chaco and extensions into Paraguay and Brazil must ultimately vastly add to the wealth and importance of Rosario and hence to that of the Central Argentine. But this is a matter of the distant future. The Central Argentine pursues a conservative policy in finance and has for many years paid 6 per cent. on the ordinary stock. It is in a very sound position, a most comfortable line, and the management is highly efficient. The length of line is 2,392 miles.