The Argentine in the Twentieth CenturyMartínez, Alberto B.
History
The Argentine in the Twentieth Century
Martínez, Alberto B.
Argentina -- Commerce; Argentina -- Economic conditions; Finance -- Argentina
To prevent an erroneous interpretation of the above figures, it should
be stated that this total does not represent the value of the securities
actually held by Frenchmen, but only the securities quoted on the Bourse,
which is a very different matter. For example, the French Bank of the Rio
de la Plata figures in this total to the extent of £2,400,000, the amount
of its capital actually subscribed, although scarcely a quarter of it
circulates in France.
On the other hand there is a very considerable quantity of Argentine
securities belonging to capitalists or investors living in France;
securities which are not quoted on the Bourse and are not deposited in
any bank. We may cite as an example the last loan of £10,000,000, issued
under the title of “Internal Argentine Credit 1909.” Of this amount
£3,400,000 was subscribed in France, yet the bonds of this loan, on
account of a difference with the French Government, have not yet been
quoted on the Paris Bourse.
We are thus justified in concluding that the amount we have given as
representing the value of the stock held by Frenchmen——£78,998,854——is
approximately correct; and that the two factors which affect the matter
in opposite senses may be taken to cancel one another.
We must also note the fact that the majority of Government funds find as
large a market in London as in Paris. For example, the 4 per cent. loan
of 1897-1900, which was entirely issued in London, was only admitted to
quotation on the Bankers’ Exchange of Paris in 1903.
In the banking department, the shares of the Spanish Bank of the Rio de
la Plata and the French Bank of La Plata were only introduced to the
Paris Bourse at the beginning of 1908; the principal market for these
shares is still at Buenos Ayres.
In the transport department, the General Company of the Tramways of
Buenos Ayres, which has a capital of £1,800,000, can only be represented
in France by a very small proportion of this capital; the shares have
been issued principally in Brussels, London and Berlin.
We must remember that French influence in the Argentine has been active
for a long time and in various ways. It was especially the immigration
of the worthy inhabitants of the French Pyrenees which first set in
towards the Rio de la Plata, where the Frenchmen invested their energies
in many remunerative departments of labour; some becoming farmers, some
cattle-breeders, some giving themselves to industrial work, some to trade
in the cities; thus contributing to the development of the wealth of the
country. The French mercantile marine was also the first to establish and
maintain a rapid and easy transport between French and Argentine ports,
thus permanently uniting the two countries.
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