SHIPMENTS OF LIVE STOCK.

The shipments of live stock from the ports of Buenos Ayres and La Plata from January 1 to July 31, 1904, were as follows:

Under date of August 10, 1904, United States Minister A. M. BEAUPRÉ sent from Buenos Ayres, Argentine Republic, the following data covering the details of foreign commerce of the Republic for the first half of the calendar year 1904, general reference to which has been made in the MONTHLY BULLETIN for September. The statistics are taken from the official report of the Argentine National Bureau of Statisties, and the figures for the corresponding period of 1903 are also furnished for purposes of comparison:

SUMMARY OF EXPORTS AND IMPORTS.

Value of exports and imports of the Argentine Republic (other than metals) in the first six months of 1903 and 1904.

The unit of value used throughout this report is the Argentine gold dollar, which is equivalent to 96.5 cents United States currency.

This statement shows an increase of 12 per cent in the general export trade for the first six months of 1904 over that for the corresponding six months of 1903.

The increase in imports is out of all proportion to the increase in exports, for while the exports are one and a half times as great as the imports the increase in the latter is approximately double the increase in the former. Accordingly the balance of trade shows a decrease of $14,227,198, or 21 per cent, for the six months of 1904, compared with the first six months of 1903.

Metals form a separate item not included in the foregoing.

Value of imports and exports of metals into and from the Argentine Republic in the first six months of 1903 and 1904.

Aside from an increase of some twenty-five millions in exports of uncertain destination (shipped for transshipment) the increase in exports is distributed among four countries, all other countries showing decreases.

Exports of the Argentine Republic in the first six months of 1903 and 1904, by countries.

a These are the figures of the Argentine Bureau of Statistics for the exports to Cuba. Doctor Dolz, the Cuban chargé d'affaires and consul-general, gives me the following figures for the same months, taken from the consular invoices of his office. He has asked the bureau for an explanation of the discrepancy, and is informed that the greater part of the jerked beef invoiced and exported to Cuba is reported by customs officials as exported to Uruguay. There is no doubt that Doctor Dolz's figures are correct: Jerked beef, $163,091.31; maize, $3,364.08; bran, $1,979.54; bird seed, $1,676.60; beans, $520; total, $170,631.53.

It is noteworthy that the exports to the United States have advanced from the sixth to the fifth place in 1904, owing to the great decrease of some 51 per cent in the trade with Africa; the percentage of increase of the export trade with the United States is third, that of the export trade with Paraguay and Brazil exceeding it.

IMPORTS BY COUNTRIES.

The imports from but two countries, Uruguay and Africa, have fallen off. In neither case do we have far to look for the cause. The United States has advanced a point in the value of her exports, being now number 3 instead of number 4 in 1903; while, disregarding several smaller and nearer countries, it stands second to Germany alone in the percentage of increase of its trade. Germany's rate of increase surpasses that of the United States by but 2 per cent.

Imports of the Argentine Republic in the first six months of 1903 and 1904, by countries.

In the total trade with the Argentine Republic, including exports and imports, during the first six months of 1904, the United States is fourth, being surpassed by Great Britain, Germany, and France only, while it is one of the six countries with a balance of trade in its favor. Of these six countries, Cuba (according to the official figures), Italy, Paraguay, and Spain have a higher percentage of trade in their favor, while Great Britain has a lower. Of the entire trade of the United States with the Argentine Republic, amounting to $16,286,796 (Argentine gold), there is a balance of $6,017,374, or 37 per cent, in favor of the United States. Great Britain has a balance of $14,089,509 in its favor, which, however, is but 28 per cent of its entire trade; while

the two other countries that surpass the United States in the bulk of trade done with the Argentine Republic, namely, Germany and France, show balances in favor of the Argentine Republic of $5,372,381 and $11,188,918, or 18 and 25.7 per cent, respectively. The figures are as follows:

Value of total trade of the Argentine Republic with the several countries during the first six months of 1904, and excess of the exports or imports.

a Doctor Dolz's figures give the total trade with Cuba as $488,432, and the balance against the Argentine Republic as $147,160.

EXPORTS BY ARTICLES.

The most important items of export are grazing and agricultural products, which represent, respectively, 41.7 and 55.8 per cent, or, together, 97.5 per cent of the total exports. Noteworthy here is the falling off during the first six months of 1904 in the exports of all animal products, the various classes of which show decreases of from 2 to 55 per cent, the total decrease being $5,395,931, which is 8.2 per cent of the total value of the exports of animal products in the first six months of 1903. Had the animal exports, instead of decreasing, increased at the rate of 12.06 per cent-the general rate of increase in the export trade for 1904-they would have amounted to $73,493,914 instead of $60,188,501, and the general decrease in the excess of exports would have been but $921,785 instead of $14,277,198; so that the cause of this bad showing in the general exports is to be found in the conditions that have affected the exportation of animal products.

Exports from the Argentine Republic in the first six months of 1903 and 1904, by articles.

The dominating classes of imports are textile fabrics and iron and iron products, which constitute, respectively, 31.7 and 21.2 per cent, or together, 52.9 per cent of the whole imports. No class of imports shows a decrease. Attention has already been called to the remarkable general increase of 48 per cent in all imports.

Imports of the Argentine Republic in the first six months of 1903 and 1904, by articles.