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
But, with railways linking up the interior with the coast, there is now
no necessity for the drama of Argentina's commerce to be confined to a
single theatre. There must be more centres of exchange, fresh districts
for production and manufacture. If the auxiliary industries to corn
growing and cattle raising were better fostered there would be no
necessity for inland towns to go to Buenos Aires for vegetables, eggs,
cheese, butter, and poultry. The market garden, the dairy, the poultry
farm, the orchard, and the auxiliary factories would pour their products
into the provincial centres. Local needs would be met locally. The
surplus would be sent on with the grain and the cattle to the markets at
Buenos Aires.
These, after all, are probably the safest lines upon which a new country
can travel in her march to greater economic independence. First the
purely agricultural; then the by-products of agriculture as a
supplement; then gradually the establishment of whatever manufactures
are practicable and profitable. For the present Argentina has greater
need for cheaper eatables than for cheaper motor-cars.
Countries doing a big trade with the Argentine are beginning to see the
force of providing goods on the spot. The crowding of agents in the
principal towns has increased competition to a point at which the next
move by certain competitors must be in the direction of producing in
the country or losing the trade entirely. This will be all the better
for Argentina. She has long had justifiable cause for complaint against
those who are sent to Buenos Aires and other parts to barter for her
trade. A well-worn lament in the reports of the British Consul concerns
the English trader's lack of adaptability to the peculiar conditions of
Argentina. Mention is made of quotations in English, the sending of
representatives unacquainted with the language and business terms of the
country, the adherence to methods applicable only to England.
On the other hand, the British exporter has grumbled at economic
conditions calling for long and sometimes exaggerated credit; the taxes
levied on commercial travellers; the difficulty of dealing direct with
customers. Between the two points of view is the fact that commercial
enterprise has stopped with the arrival of trade representatives in
Buenos Aires.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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