The Amazing Argentine: A New Land of EnterpriseFraser, John Foster
History
The Amazing Argentine: A New Land of Enterprise
Fraser, John Foster
Argentina -- Description and travel
Few countries have been able to inaugurate home industries under more
favourable auspices. Nothing can deprive Argentina of her agricultural
eminence. But how she will fare when embarking upon the more uncertain
career of a home manufacturer depends upon many things. Necessity is
already driving Argentina seriously to face the problem of producing for
herself her more obvious needs. The comparatively high cost of living is
a growing trouble. Infant though she may be industrially, Argentina has
already experienced the evils of industrial unrest. The principal
manifestations have been in Buenos Aires, which, in addition to being
the port and the centre of national activities, has been the storm
centre of the rush to exploit her resources. It is the pulse of the
Republic. Like other great cities, it is crying out against the
diminishing value of the dollar.
Argentina's readiness for home manufactures is an urgent problem
confronting the Government. The Government wants a more all-round
development of the country's resources. Interwoven with this problem are
important considerations: a more equable distribution of the population;
the provision of more centres for the exchange of commodities; the
relation between taxes for revenue and protective tariffs; the
selection of what industries are to be established at an economic
profit; the extent to which foreign manufacturers can be induced to
start their industries within the Republic.
So far, the only industries that have continued with success are those
producing articles difficult of transport, or of an expensive character.
With a greater mobility of trade in the country, and a more scientific
manipulation of the tariff, there is no reason why Argentina should not
provide herself with many of the things which to-day furnish the labour
agitator with opportunities for tirades against "costly living." Backed
by agricultural wealth, and supported by splendid railway facilities,
Argentina should be able to make advance on particular lines. Take wool
as an illustration. Argentina produces more than sufficient for her own
requirements, and yet she obtains woollen goods from other countries. Is
it to be taken as final that the absence of coal in the country makes
the development of woollen industries at home an economic impossibility?
It is not, perhaps, so much a question of labour and initiative as the
absence of natural advantages.
It is necessary to look farther afield than Buenos Aires in considering
the chances of a new industry. The concentration of trade in the capital
has probably been a hindrance. The congestion of all interests,
commercial, political, and social, in "B.A." has caused land to increase
enormously in value, an important consideration in setting up factories.
In turn, other charges are correspondingly increased. Trade rises and
falls according to the season. There is less stability for the worker,
more fluctuations for the trader.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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