We must express our utmost gratitude first of all to Signor Pellegrini, that eminent man who assumed the Presidency of the Republic in a difficult moment of her history. We are greatly honoured in that we are able to associate his name with this book, by publishing, as an Introduction, a most interesting study of the formation of the Argentine Republic, which was one of the last writings of this eminent citizen. And we must not forget the friendly and conscientious assistance rendered us so willingly by one of the most notable figures in the financial world of the Republic: M. Ernest Tornquist, whose death was also most truly a national bereavement. M. Tornquist exercised a considerable influence over the trend of affairs, and he most notably contributed to the work of economic expansion, and financial and monetary reorganisation, of which the Argentine is to-day feeling the beneficial effects. We have profited, in writing this book, by his incontestable competence, and respectfully salute the memory of this willing friend and collaborator. AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION Three years have elapsed since the appearance of the first edition of this book, and we have to-day the satisfaction of being able to state that the development of the country has fully responded to our optimistic forecast. Short as such a period is in the life of a people, it has been extraordinarily full; the ground covered is so considerable that it is of a larger Argentine that we now have to revise the picture, while recording its pacific victories in the economic field. No country in the world has ever in so short a time realised so rapid a progress, in respect of the produce of the soil. In 1904-1905 the area under culture was as yet no more than 22-1/2 millions of acres, while to-day, in the agricultural year of 1908-9, it attains the figure of 35 millions of acres, representing an increase of nearly 75 per cent. In the same period the value of cereals, which was about £1,600,000 in 1904-5, has also increased in very large proportion. Taking as basis the figures furnished by the Division of Rural Economy and Statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture, we may estimate that the harvest of 1908-9 will give a yield of, 13,811,000 (metric) tons,[1] which may be divided as follows: Wheat 5,760,000 tons, flax 1,228,000, oats 823,000, and maize 6,000,000 tons. The value of the harvest, according to the prices ruling in 1908, will amount to 1045 millions of paper piastres, or £92,000,000. [Footnote 1: Reducing the above quantities to bushels of 56 lbs. weight, the cereal harvest is estimated at: wheat, 230,000,000 bushels; oats, 33,000,000; maize, 240,000,000. The metric ton is 34·5 lbs. lighter than the English.]