whatever may be the fate of the Government, will in due time be all right again in the markets of the world. I think that the outlook is more encouraging than it has been since the great collapse.

The liquidation which has been in progress here during the last year is one of the best signs that business is gradually assuming a better tone. Not only have all schemes of wild speculation lost their hold upon the people, but the thousand and one joint-stock companies for a thousand and one different "short-cuts" to get rich are in process of being wound up; and, though the process has involved and is involving the ruin of many who invested their money in good faith, yet there is a genuine feeling of relief that these bubbles and financial swindles are being wiped out of existence.

TRADE RETURNS FOR NINE MONTHS OF 1892.

The commercial returns of the country for the nine months ended on the 30th of September, 1892, which have just been published by the Argentine statistical office [continues Mr. Baker], very clearly indicate this feeling of returning confidence in the increased figures of both imports and exports. The first three quarters of this year, compared with those of 1891, give the following figures:

While these figures show an increase of $12,190,855 in imports over those for the corresponding time in 1891, they also exhibit an increase of $9,531,606 in the exports, while there is likewise a trade balance of $20,376,931 in favor of the exports of the country.

The following table gives the imports from and the exports to each country for the first three quarters of 1892:

These returns can not be regarded otherwise than as very satisfactory, and, if the imports continue to be kept down and the exports to increase with an annual balance on the Argentine side of the ledger, there can not fail to be a very marked easing up of the exchange market; and the country will be the better off by the difference.

The following table shows the amount of imports in each branch of trade for the first nine months of 1892, not including gold importations, compared with. the same for the corresponding period in 1891:

And the following table gives the exports in each branch of industry for the first nine months of 1892, compared with those of the same period in 1891:

The promise presented by these figures, especially in the exports of agricultural products, strengthens the belief I have already expressed that the hope of the country is ultimately in great part to be found in the development of its farming interests.

RETURNS FOR THE WHOLE YEAR 1892.

Complete figures for 1892 are given in a report to the British foreign office under date of March 1, 1893, by the British legation at Buenos Aires. From this statement, it appears that the imports in gold dollars for 1892 were: Subject to duty, 77,068,110; free, 14,320,100; bullion, 6,510,798; total, 97,899,008. The exports for 1892 in gold dollars were: Subject to duty, 73,846,039; free, 38,846,909; bullion, 1,974,477; total, 114,667,425. Excess of exports over imports, $16,778,417. The increase in the total volume of trade in 1892, as compared with 1891, was $35,000,000.

The following tables, from the same source,* show the countries from which imports were received, with their amounts, in 1892, and the countries to which the products of the Republic were exported:

*The figures given are in round numbers, and do not differ materially from those contained in the statement for 1892 of the Department of Statistics of the Argentine Republic, which was received after the compilation of this handbook had been completed.

The following table shows the destination of the exports (exclusive of bul

Adding the imports and exports, the total volume of trade with the various countries is shown as follows:

The following table shows the figures representing the values of the principal articles of importation in which there has been a marked increase or decrease:

The importation of iron goods and machinery has more than doubled, and there has been a similar increase in the importation of textiles.

The quantities of the principal articles exported compare with the returns of 1891 as follows:

There has been great increase in the exportation of meat and also of wheat, and the quantity of maize exported in 1892 is more than six times that exported in the previous year. The preceding table shows at a glance the enormous strides made by agriculture in the Argentine Republic during the last year. As has already been pointed out in previous reports, the customs valuation of many articles of trade is much too high, especially as regards the imports, so that the figures representing the total volume of trade can not be regarded as accurate; it is, however, extremely difficult to ascertain to what extent they are exaggerated.

Returns for the first six months of 1893 have been published. According to these, the total imports for that period were