In the writer’s opinion Argentina has little use for a big navy. It cannot be placed on a par with European navies, and it is a big burden of expense. She has only one city on that coast, Bahia Blanca, and has not many vessels engaged in commerce, except on the La Plata and its affluents. Buenos Aires is protected from the Dreadnaughts of other nations because of its shallow harbour. One great item of cost is coal, of which great quantities are consumed, and all of which is imported either from Europe or Australia, the cost per ton being very high. The new Dreadnaughts will have a coal-consuming capacity of sixteen thousand tons per day. The annual expense at the present time of the navy is $7,500,000, and the new ships will increase this by at least $4,000,000. This will make a per capita cost of nearly two dollars for each man, woman and child in the republic. It simply resolves itself into a jealousy of and rivalry with Brazil. If the United States builders will construct Dreadnaughts that will have better armour, greater speed, and more powerful guns than the new Brazilian boats, then American manufacturers can get anything they want in Argentina. CHAPTER XIII RAILROADS AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT In the Argentine railway world Buenos Aires occupies the position of ancient Rome, for all roads lead to it. A glance at the map is sufficient evidence of that fact. It has become the centre of the greatest network of railroads in South America. Like the colossal web of a spider it sends out its strands of steel north to the border of Paraguay and Bolivia, east to the trackless Atlantic, south into Patagonia and west across the Andes with a terminus at Valparaiso. There are at present about sixteen thousand miles of main track in operation in that republic. This is nearly as much as all the rest of the continent combined and shows the progressiveness of the country. All of the railroads, with the exception of the national lines and the Provincia de Santa Fé, which is a French line, were built by British capital and are under British management. Nearly all of the materials and equipment have been brought from that country, and everything has a distinctly John Bull stamp. Only one exception has been made, and that is that the compartments have been abolished in the day coaches. The sleepers, called _dormitorios_, are made into compartments and are called “Pullmans,” but they lack the luxurious qualities of the cars after which they were named. The stations are generally very creditable and show a spirit of enterprise. Two-thirds of the mileage is of the broad gauge, nine and one-half inches broader than our own, which makes the seats and aisles extremely comfortable. The same English regard for safety is evident and every safeguard is applied toward that end. In fact they are English railroads transplanted to the pampas, with just a few concessions demanded by the nature of the country served.