Each of the fourteen Provinces of the Republic has its own Constitution, which cannot be in conflict with the Federal Constitution which provides a necessarily limited degree of autonomy in the government of the Provinces. The Federal Constitution prohibits the State Government from usurping such functions of the Federal Government as entering into treaties with foreign Powers, enacting laws affecting interstate or foreign commerce, navigation, citizenship, naturalization, the coining of money, or the establishment of custom houses. The organization of its tribunals and the creation of its own laws and forms of procedure is an absolute State right; but the Federal, Civil, Commercial, Penal and Mining Laws are in force throughout the Republic, the Custom Houses and Tariffs being also under the supreme control of the Federal Government. These restricted autonomous powers were wisely provided to prevent the conflict of laws which is of frequent occurrence under other Federal systems. The protection of the moral and material interests of foreign residents of the Republic, or of foreigners having interests therein, is scrupulously enforced by the Courts according to the Constitution where such questions are involved; and frequent decisions have been given by the Federal Tribunals in that direction in order to maintain the inviolability of the Constitution which was framed in the interest of the Argentine nation and of "all the people of the world who may reside in Argentine territory." THE PROGRESS OF TWO DECADES In the succeeding review of the progress achieved by the Argentine Republic during the past twenty years, by a comparison of the facts and figures relating largely to commercial movement, uniformity of date has been overlooked and particular years have been selected, in some cases, for the reason that official figures have not been available to equalize the comparisons, although most of the figures given are embraced within the period named. The factors which, in a material sense, contribute chiefly to the progress of a nation, are its sources of production, its means of communication both within and beyond its territories, its domestic and fiscal legislation and the labor and enterprise of its people. It is therefore to these matters that it is principally intended to draw attention, in so far as they pertain to the national industries, to home and foreign trade, to railways, to ports and shipping, to finance and to the general advance in all matters of a kindred nature; and as this purpose will be better served by a straight-forward and concise formulation of official figures shorn of all comment which might tend to obscure their real significance, the form in which they are presented will convey, at a glance, the extraordinary growth of the Argentine Republic: AREA UNDER CULTIVATION