In 1907 there were 303 flour-mills turning out 699,000 tons of flour. There are also 77 tobacco factories producing an output valued at about 2½ millions sterling. All kinds of textiles are produced, but there are only two cotton-spinning mills and 62 weaving factories. There are also numbers of miscellaneous industries, the most important of which perhaps are paper, matches, glass-ware, tanning, clothing, and building material. In general the factories are fitted up with the very best English machinery, and there is a determination to leave nothing undone to secure success. That they will continue to prosper cannot be doubted, for they have still a much larger home market than they are capable of supplying. A considerable number of the manufacturing industries, notably the sugar factories of Tucuman, are in English hands, and an enterprising Scotch firm has forsaken the United Kingdom and is engaged in manufacturing cheap shoes of imported hemp, which are exported largely to Japan. The high tariff wall is a luxury much appreciated by manufacturers, but not to-day or to-morrow will Argentina compete with Manchester or Bradford in the world's markets. Want of coal is a capital hindrance, and that very protection which confers local prosperity helps to make the establishment and upkeep of factories very costly. In this respect Argentina is but a beginner, and no one can say what her manufacturing future will be.
[92] Valuable articles appeared on this subject in the Economist, beginning No. 3,457, November 30, 1909.
[93] The following figures show the progress of railway construction:--
1866 73 miles 1874 150 " 1884 2,290 " 1890 5,745 " 1899 10,285 " 1908 15,476 "
In 1909 the railways carried 50,810,000 passengers. The gross receipts were about £20,715,000, the net profits about £8,200,000.
[94] The following are the principal lines:--
Argentine Great Western. Argentine North-Eastern. Bahia Blanca and North-Western. Buenos Aires Central. Buenos Aires Great Southern. Buenos Aires Midland. Buenos Aires and Pacific. Buenos Aires and Rosario. Buenos Aires Western. Central Argentine. Cordoba Central. Cordoba Central Buenos Aires Extension. Cordoba and Rosario. Entre Rios. Villa Maria and Rufino.