Were the position to begin and end at this point it would be simple enough. Some developments, however, have occurred of late that render the outlook for the future far more complicated. There seems very little doubt that the time will come when England will no longer enjoy the practical monopoly of imported beef. The desire for the admission of this commodity in several of the great European countries is becoming more and more accentuated, and it is highly probable that the agitation that is now being carried on in favour of this new departure will eventually result in the breaking down of the barriers that at present oppose the trade. It is, of course, impossible to estimate the full extent of the consequences of a move of the kind, but that it must cause a rise in the price of beef in the English markets is inevitable. In the face of these possibilities the prospects of the River Plate countries are, of course, more favourable than ever before. With the markets of Europe open to their cattle and meat, the added stimulus to the industries of these countries cannot fail to be enormous. But here again an element has come into being that, although it will have no effect upon the industry, taken as a whole, must necessarily threaten many of the interests involved. The Beef Trust of the United States has been keenly alive to the great pastoral developments in South America. Accurately foreseeing that the importance of the present day is merely a prelude to what is to come, the great corporation has now descended wholesale upon the shores of the River Plate, has already bought up a number of frigorificos, and it will be through no want of endeavour of its own if it does not sooner or later acquire the remainder. I have no desire to tilt against the Beef Trust, which is very probably an excellent institution, but one that, since it openly lays no claim to a purely philanthropical policy, cannot be expected to safeguard the welfare of concerns that do not tend towards its own advancement. Should this corporation, therefore, attain its present object of securing the frigorificos, and the consequent monopoly of the purchase of cattle for export, the actual producers of the live stock will find themselves face to face with a situation of which they have previously had no experience. It is quite possible that it will suit the corporation to buy the cattle at prices similar to those which now obtain--or it may not, since it is well known that the estanciero continued to exist in a more or less affluent fashion when his cattle sold at lower rates than is the case at the present day.