ARGENTINA

a republic in south america, hav- ing an area of 1,153,119 sq. m., and a population, jan. 1 1924, of 9;293,797- 1.. political 2hstory during the period 1910-25 argentina enjoyed an external and domestic peace such as she had never known throughout a period of similar duration in her history. she was enabled to — consolidate and bring nearer perfection the institutions of the country; give effect to the democratic ideals of her statesmen; and put an end to abuses and systems which, for nearly a century, had disturbed her peace and retarded her progress. in 1910 the republic celebrated the centenary of her first bid for independence, commemorating with a successful international exhibition the events of may 25 1810, when the residents of buenos aires ejected from office the spanish-controlled munici- pal council and deposed the viceroy cisneros. by rog1o, after 100 years of recurrent political disturbance, a new era for argen- tina had opened. there was peace within her frontiers and all! difficulties with her neighbours had been overcome. boundary disputes with brazil, chile and bolivia had been amicably settled, either by the arbitrament of foreign powers—as tn the case of the very serious difference with chile—or by direct negotiation. the pre-war years —dr. roque seenz pefia was installed in office as president in oct. 1910. he gave the closest attention to reforms designed to foster and strengthen public respect for and confidence in the institutions of the country. much of the trouble during the 20 years prior to 1910 had been due to corrupt practices possible under the old system of open voting at elec- tions, and the methods of trickery and force employed through- argentina out the country by powerful “ caudillos,” or political “‘ bosses.” president pefia reformed the electoral law and instituted the secret ballot. this was the outstanding and most valuable of his official actions, and incidentally it is worth noting that the first effect of the reform, at the next presidential elections in 10916, was the defeat of the conservative party to which the author of the new law belonged, and which had enjoyed political control of the country for over a quarter of a century. there was a good deal of industrial trouble in the years 1910-4, due, not to any political unrest, but to economic conditions following the col- lapse of the land and cattle boom of ro1o. early in 1914 dr. pefa was too ill to fulfil his duties, and the presidential mandate was assumed by the vice-president, dr. victorino de la plaza. the war period.—president peia died in 1914. with con- spicuous ability dr. de la plaza was directing the affairs of the nation through a difficult period when the outbreak of the world war occurred. in a country with such a cosmopolitan population the sudden disruption of international relations neces- sarily had an immediate repercussion. all important contracts involving shipping, the exportation of grain and meat and the importation of manufactures, were cancelled and something like a business panic was imminent. it was only averted by the declaration of a moratorium. the banks closed their doors for a week, and time was given for an examination of the general situation. the strict neutrality of argentina was proclaimed. it was recognised early that the republic would play an impor- tant part in the provisioning of europe, and out of a moment of threatened panic the country emerged in a spirit of confidence that at least it could not be adversely affected by the war. the general outlook of the argentine people on the causes of the war and its subsequent conduct was one largely of indiffer- ence until the events of early 1918. there was a fairly pronounced sympathy with the allies, and particularly with belgium and ‘france, but germany’s preliminary successes rather impressed the people, and the vigour with which she entered upon propa- ganda in argentina had its effect. a german newspaper in the spanish language was established in buenos aires and was widely circulated gratis throughout the country. the allies were very slow in countering this propaganda, and argentine public opinion at first held that the central empires would prove successiul. this opinion was strengthened by the news of the annihilation of admiral cradock’s squadron off coronel, chile, by the german squadron commanded by admiral von spee, but its effect was quickly overcome by the more convincing destruc- tion of the german fleet in the battle of the falklands. mean- while buenos aires had had its first glimpse of the war, by the arrival of the german steamer “ elenore wocrmann,” bringing the survivors of the “‘ cap trafalgar” and the cruiser “ ebor,” the former of which—well known in the plate trade—had been sunk by the british armed liner “ carmania.” the great news- paper la nacien was strongly pro-ally, and prominent poets and other writers pronounced themselves vigourously in condem- nation of germany. officially, however, the country remained strictly neutral, though its whole resources were exclusively at the disposal of the allied powers. president irigoyen’s regime.—the presidential elections in 1916 withdrew all attention from the war to domestic politics. for the first time the elections were to be “ free” under the secret voting system introduced by president pefia. the con- servatives confidently nominated sefior rojas-seru. the radi- cals who had, to use a local expression, ‘“ been in the wilderness ”’ for 30 years, put forward dr. hipdlito irigoyen, and the result was a sensational victory for the latter. dr. irigoyen was com- paratively unknown to the new generation, and came from rela- tive obscurity to the presidency. twenty-five years earlier he had been one of the most vigorous “ caudillos ” in the country, and had suffered exile for his association with leandro n. alem in the revolution of 1893. buenos aires knew little of him, but his power and prestige with his party and in, the country must have been very great throughout the period when he was quietly working for a restoration to power of the radicals. on attaining office in oct. 1916 he followed the custom of transfer- | 209 ring to his partisans every office and position that could possibly be given. it was widely believed that, while the neutrality of argentina in the war would be strictly adhered to, the president was privately rather pro-german. this popular belief received no confirmation by any official act, and it is much more probable that dr. irigoyen entertained no feeling one way or the other, his policy being one of intense nationalism. when in the early part of 1917 the united states entered the war and president wilson appealed to the latin american states to follow her lead, strong influences were brought to bear to change the official attitude of argentina. brazil and other countries declared war on germany; uruguay broke off diplo- matic relations, but president irigoyen permitted no departure from the country’s proclaimed neutrality. a more severe test came when, in pursuance of her unrestricted submarine cam- paign, germany sank several ships flying the argentine flag. national feeling ran‘high. it was intensified by the disclosure that the german minister in buenos aires, using swedish diplo- matic channels for the purpose, had advised his government in dealing with argentine ships, either to spare them or “ sink without a trace.” wild riots ensued in buenos aires. the ger- man club was sacked, and other property damaged. a clamour for war arose, but the president refused to give way. the government contented itself with demanding explanations and obtaining compensation, which was given by germany by way of the transfer to the argentine national transport fleet of certain ships that had lain in port since the outbreak of the war. post-war years.—the conclusion of the war was as entirely unexpected in argentina as its outbreak. the country was en- joying great prosperity, only suffering to a limited extent from shortages of coal and certain manufactures. immediately the armistice was signed there was some confusion, especially as re- gards the condition of the primary industries under war con- tracts, now to be cancelled. industrics that had sprung into being during the war also felt ‘‘ panicky ”’ in face of an expected early resumption of trade with europe in manufactured goods. trade unionism had developed strongly, particularly among the marine and dockside workers. president [rigoyen was reputed to be intensely sympathetic toward the “ proletariat,’ and much of the energies of his cabinet had been devoted to legislation de- signed to ameliorate the conditions of the labouring masses. at this period strikes were rather frequent. early in 1919 occurred the “ tragic week,” of which practically no report reached europe. a prolonged strike at the works of the argentine iron and steel company culminated in a demonstration of the strikers. the police were sent for, and came into conflict with the rioting strikers, several of whom were killed. at the funeral of the victims, which was attended by thousands of workers, further shooting took place. the trouble spread throughout the city of buenos aires, and finally the military took charge of the situa- tion and promptly restored order. actually the affair had no deep political significance, though subversive elements of the cosmo- politan population certainly intruded themselves into it. in- dustrial troubles endured until after the end of dr. irigoyen’s term of office. shipping and the transport systems were most in- volved, and the business of handling the country’s imports and exports suffered severely. in 1922 the port of buenos aires was completely at a standstill for over three months. from the begin- ning of 1923 the position began to improve, coincident with the country’s return to normal conditions of industry, trade and commerce. | | argentina and the league——the republic was one of the first of the latin american states to give its adhesion to the league of nations, which it joined on july 16 1919. the foreign minis- ter (dr. honorio pueyrredon) and a delegation attended the first assembly in 1920, when the minister delivered a striking address and presented a formula for the inclusion of germany and all sovereign states within the league on a basis of absolute equality, and for submitting disputes to an international judicial court. on the rejection by the assembly of this formula, the del- egation withdrew. up to the end of 1925 the republic had taken no active part in the deliberations of the league. for a time no zo dues were paid, but in 1925 congress approved of the nation meeting its obligations in this respect. president alvear’s regime.—dr. irigoyen’s term of office ex- pired in oct. 1922. he was succeeded as president by dr. mar- celo t. de alvear, whose candidature was supported by the re- tiring president as head of the radical party. at the elections the people again gave the radicals their confidence, the conserva- tives and socialists being easily defeated. in the federal capital the socialist party had come into prominence since 1910. in the 1922 presidential elections, the following votes in the electoral college were secured: union civica radical, 335; concentration national (conservative), 60; socialist, 22; democrata . pro- gresista, 10. under the alvear regime substantial progress was made, particularly in the direction of financial reform. the floating debt was greatly reduced, economy in administration effected, the big overdraft in excess of legal authorisation at the banco de la nacien wiped out, and a more rigid control exercised over the affairs of the nation. a more businesslike attention was paid to the exploitation of the state-owned petroleum industry and the administration of the national railways. tn 1925 president alvear had to reorganise his cabinet, follow- ing the resignations of the ministers of the interior and of agriculture. during the first few months of his administration the president and his cabinet were faced with rather difficult economic conditions owing to the heavy fall of cattle values, upon which so much of the prosperity of the country depends. the foreign freezing companies fixed prices according to the demand ruling in european markets, and intense dissatisfaction prevailed amongst the influential cattle brecders. it was pro- posed at one time to nationalise the meat export industry, or alternatively to compel the exporters to pay minimum prices. before any of the varied schemes for rectifying the situation came to fruition, however, values for cattle began to rise, and in 1925 they reached the highest point ever recorded. agricultural and other primary industries were in a flourishing condition in 1928, high prices ruling for most lines of produce. social legislation.—the period 1910-25 was remarkable for the volume of legislation of a social character, most of it passed during the irigoyen regime. the principal acts passed related to employers’ liability; compensation for injured workers and those incapacitated by disease contracted at their work; the early closing of shops and business establishments; restriction of sun- day labour; official control of sweated industries carried on in the home for an outside employer, and the provision of cheap homes for workers, and pensions. a national department of labour was established, with very wide control over every phase of employment and industry. in the immediate post-war years, a rent restriction act was in operation, but it became inoperative in 1924 when the supreme court declared it uncon- stitutional. in 1925 the attempt to enforce a general pensions law, framed somewhat on the lines of the british legislation, proved futile owing to the opposition of both employers and employees, who refused to make the required contributions. this law practically lapsed, though it was not repealed. british royal visit—a notable event in argentine history was the first official visit ever paid to the country by a member of the british royal family, the prince of wales journeying tn h.m.s. ‘ repulse ” to buenos aires at the invitation of the president and nation. the prince reached the federal capital on aug. 18 1925, and received an enthusiastic welcome. after a round of ceremonies he toured the country, and crossed the andes to chile. on his return to argentina he was again shown the greatest hospitality, and spent some days as the personal guest of president alvear. in recognition of the magnificent reception given to the prince, king george v. bestowed the grand cross of the order of the bath upon the president, and conferred high honours upon members of his cabinet and promi- nent officials. (l. ma.) defence.—the army of the republic is a national militia, and service is compulsory for all male citizens from the age of 20 to 45 years; naturalised citizens are exempt for a period of 10 years. for the first 10 years men belong to the permanent forces, 2.e., argentina the first line, for the next 10 years to the national guard, and for the last five to the territorial guard: the period with the per- manent forces includes one year’s continuous service. the army regulations of jan. 1916 laid down the establishment for 1924 as 1,501 officers, 3,160 non-commissioned officers, 1,820 volun- teers and 20,000 conscripts. there is a trained reserve of 300,000 men, half in the first line and half in the special reserve, and a territorial reserve of 100,000 men. a military aviation school has been established at el palomar: in dec. 1924 the air force consisted of a fighting flight, a bombing flight, and an observa- tion flight. the navy consists of two battleships, the “‘ moreno ”’ and “ rivadavia,” four armoured cruisers, one light cruiser, one cruiser, seven destroyers, five torpedo boats, two coast defence vessels and a few training and miscellaneous craft. the battle- ships, launched in 1917, have a displacement of 27,940 tons and a nominal speed of 22-5 knots: their principal armament con- sists of twelve 12-in. and twelve 6-in. guns. under a programme introduced in 1924 for the reconditioning of the battleships and four cruisers, the “ rivadavia ” and “ moreno” were brought up to the post-war standard of their class in the early part of 1926. the personnel of the navy includes 337 officers, 130 en- gineers, 27 electrical engincers and 9,100 men (including 5,000 conscripts); the men have to serve for two years. a corps of coast artillery of some 450 men, a naval school and _ schools for mechanics, artillery and torpedo practice have been established. before 1914 the army was trained and armed on the german pattern; a certain number of argentine officers were sent cach year for 18 months’ training with the german army, and german instructors were provided for the argentine army. since 1914, however, certain features of the british, french and united states systems of training have been adopted. il. economic and financial history the area of the republic is 1,153,119 sq. m., divided into one federal district, 14 provinces and 10 territories. the total ’ population on jan. 1 1924 was 9,293,797, an increase of 17:9% over the population in 1914, which was 7,885,237. the increase is well distributed over the whole of the area. the population of the federal capital, buenos aires, increased from 1,575,814 in 1914 to 1,811,745 in 1924. t'rom 1g1o to 1913 inclusive the increase in the population of the country was largely due to 1m- migration, the excess of immigrants over emigrants during the four years being 625,016. irom 1914 to 1918, owing to war con- ditions, immigration almost ceased and emigrants exceeded i1m- migrants. after the end of the world war the flow of emigrants recommenced: during the years 1922-4, inclusive, the net annual increase, 7.e., of immigrants over emigrants, averaged 114,000. in 1925 this average was not maintained, the excess of arrivals over departures dropping to 75,525. argentina is not a suitable country for anglo-saxon immigrants of the labouring classes, the conditions being more favourable to italians, spaniards and other people of southern europe. limited opportunities in farm- ing, dairying, and similar agricultural pursuits, are presented to anglo-saxons with a capital of from {£500 to £1,000; a larger capital is required for stock-raising. labour troubles were prevalent during the war and immediate post-war period, but later the relations between capital and labour improved. national finance—the financial position of the argentine nation at the end of 1925 was quite sound, though in one or two instances among the provinces the situation could not be con- sidered satisfactory. during 1925 the federal authority worked with marked success to rectify the national finances and put an end to a drift that had threatened to become serious. there had been an accumulation of budget deficits since 1913, with the exception of 1920, the total of these deficits amounting at the be- ginning of 1925 to about $1,000,000,000 paper. by the end of 1925, however, the minister of finance announced a prospective surplus for the year ended march 31 1926 of $50,000,000 paper. in 1923 the total indebtedness of argentina, including national, provincial and municipal obligations, amounted to nearly $3,000,- 000,000 paper (about £261,000,000 at par of exchange). to a 1the argentine dollar is also known as the peso, the two being convertible terms, argentina large extent this debt was incurred for essential public works, generally of a reproductive character, and on projects necessary for the development of the country. | the level of the public securities of argentina is high in the financial world, owing to the regular payment of interest, and the 1% annual amortisation always carried by the nation’s foreign loans. one or two of the provinces have not been so regular in their debt services. the floating debt of the nation stood at $746,81 2,099 on jan. 1 1925. by the end of that year the debt had been decreased to $485,197,108 paper. the consolidated debt was $1,523,581,900 paper on jan. 1 1925. by june 30 of the same year it had risen, largely as the result of the adjustment of the floating debt, to $1,673,647,300 paper. if the gross national debt of argentina be taken as approximately (on june 30 1925) $2,275,000,000 paper, and accepting an estimated population on the same date of 9,500,000, the per capita indebtedness was $239.47, or nearly f2r. such a debt is lower than that of the great majority of nations of similar economic capacity. the bud- get for 1926 foreshadowed a national expenditure of $674,983,500 and a cash revenue of $695 ,000,000. provision was also made for special expenditure, mainly on public works, of an additional $138,996,000 against which it was proposed to issue internal bonds for $1 50,000,000. produciton.—argentina is essentially an agricultural and pas- toral country. during the first quarter of the 20th century she rose from a position of comparative obscurity among the nations of the world to one of considerable importance as a source of cereals and animal products. between 1909 and 1918 the value of her national production more than doubled, while the total area under cultivation increased by over 20%. the climatic conditions, together with the fertile soil, are almost ideal for the production of wheat, maize, oats, barley, linseed and lucerne. the wonderful lucerne crops provide unequalled feed for cattle, which, added to the climatic conditions, makes argentina the finest cattle-raising country in the world. by 1910 she occupied the leading place among the countries of the world as an exporter of beef; on jan. 1 1914 there were 25,866,763 cattle and 43,225,- 452 sheep in the country. in roro the republic experienced a ‘boom ” in cattle and land. excessive speculation led to a collapse, and from the beginning of 1912 until the outbreak of the world war a severe depression prevailed. the world war greatly influenced the development of ar- gentina. while on the one hand she suffered by the cessation of developmental works that depended upon the provision of foreign capital and material, by the sudden stoppage of emigra- tion from southern europe, and by a dearth of the manufactured goods she required, she gained immensely by the increased de- mand, at higher prices than had hitherto been known, for her primary products. so far as the shortage of manufactured goods was concerned argentina found a substantial source of supply in the united states. the national wealth increased substantially during the war, the high prices obtained for foodstuffs more than compensating for any loss the country suffered by the adverse effect of the war in retarding the normal development programme. the production of most cereals was enormously increased, and the pastoral industry became more prosperous than ever it had been before. the wheat crop was of great importance to great britain and other wheat-importing countries. good crops were obtained in 1915 and 1916, but that of 1917 was poor. towards the end of 1917 the allied governments entered into negotiations for the purchase of argentine cereals. an agreement was concluded in jan, 1918 whereby the british and french governments agreed to buy the surplus of wheat and other cereals to an approximate amount of 2,500,000 tons, at a minimum price of $12.50 (paper) for every 100 kilos of wheat, $7 (paper) for every 100 kilos of oats and $15 (paper) for every 100 kilos of linseed, f.o.b. the argentine government agreed to open credits in favour of both the british and french governments up to $100,000,000 (gold or equivalent in paper), the amounts drawn under these credits to carry intcrest at 5 %. the linseed crop was adversely affected by war conditions, due to the loss of markets and the difhculty of obtaining cargo space. in 1914-5 the crop amounted to 11,432,000 quintals, but in 1916-7 it only totalled 1,015,000 quintals. ‘the scarcity prevented adequate marketing, and growers had great difficulty in disposing of their 2it produce, attempts were made to establish factories for crushing the seed in argentina, in order to export the oil, which took up less cargo space than the seed. these attempts were not very successful, however, largely owing to the difficulty of obtaining the necessary machinery. the production of linseed was necessarily curtailed and normal production could not be resumed until the conclusion of peace. during the period r9rg-25 argentina has contributed over 50°, of the world’s supply of linseed. other important agricultural products are lucerne (alfalfa), cotton, rice, rye, barley, sugar cane, tobacco, potatoes, peanuts, rapes and olives. the development in cotton cultivation since 1909 ias been very considerable, production increasing from 1,390 tons in 1909-10 to 10,000 tons in igi19-20 and to some 45,000 tons in 1924-5. the general trend in cultivation, particularly of cereals, is for more intensive methods to be adopted. the yield per hectare is rising, and since 1922 great progress, under the direction of the ministry of agriculture, has been made in scientific seed selection and in improved mcthods of cultivation. the following table gives the production, in quintals, of wheat, maize, oats and linseed for each of the war years, and the average crop for the immediate pre-war and post-war periods: wheat maize oats linseed ce eee ee —— period average for 1909- 10 to 1913-4 | 40,023,358 | 48,694,000} 7,874,980! 7,904,062 1914-5 46,040,000 | 87,320,303 | 7,170,000 | 11,432,000 1915 6 46,000,000 | 40,930,000 | 10,927,000] 8,951,000 iqi16-7 21,804,010 | 14,946,000] 4,613,000} 1,015,000 1917-8 59:7 30,000 | 43,350,000} 9,962,450} 4,975,780 1918-9 . | 46,702,880] 56,961,500! 4,900,560] 7,817,400 average for 1919 - 20 to 1924-5 . 54,381,113 55,224,161 7,207,985 12,557,003 pastoral products—the chief feature of the period 1910-25 was the development of the canned, frozen and chilled meat traffic. the transition from the trade in live animals to this traf- fic was greatly accelerated during the war period, and has been of immense advantage to the country. important meat refrigerat- ing and packing industries have sprung up and a large trade has developed in valuable by-products such as hides, hair, wool, bones, manures, tallow and fat. the export of canned meat in- creased from 13,590 tons in 1913 to 102,153 tons in 1917. the post-war slump resulted in a great depression in the industry, but by 1925 conditions had largely improved under the influence of increased demand and higher prices. the livestock census of dec. 31 1922 gave the number of cattle as 37,064,850 and of sheep as 36,208, 981: these figures, when compared with those for 1914, show an increase of 11,198,087 cattle, but a decrease of 7,021,471 sheep. during 1924, 3,812,890 cattle and 4,421,010 sheep were killed in the slaughtering yards of the large “‘ frigori- ficos”’ or meat refrigerating and exporting companies; over 1,000,000 tons of meat were exported during the year. dairying and cheese-making are increasing in importance. manufactures and fuel.—owing to the lack of home supplies of coal and iron, argentina has made but little progress as a manufacturing country. the reduction during the war period in foreign supplies of manufactured goods resulted in the de- velopment of home industry. factories for the production of textiles, paper, chemicals, electrical machinery, etc., were estab- lished, but progress was not very rapid owing to the shortage of coal, iron and machine tools. these infant industries were pro- tected by high duties on imports of manufactured goods. their future, however, depends largely upon the development of the oil and water-power resources of the country. petroleum was first discovered in the comodoro rivadavia area in 1907, and in 1913 about 20,000 tons were obtained; production increased to 200,000 tons in 1918 and to 750,000 tons in 1924. govern- ment reserves have been established at comodoro rivadavia and at the smaller field of plaza huincul, near neuquen; the greater part of the output is from these reserves. trade.—although the war period resulted in a great develop- ment in the export of meat and cereals, it partly checked the nor- mal development of the resources of the country, and it is possible that progress would have been greater if the world war had not occurred. one very beneficial effect of the war, however, was that the country was thrown upon its own resources, instead of depending upon foreign assistance, thus compelling increased 252 production and more economic methods of production and finance. the result was that argentina was in a much better position in 1919 than she had been in 1913. the visible balance of trade from 1913 to 1920 inclusive was favourable each year, the value of exports considerably exceeding the value of imports. in 1921, however, owing mainly to the fall in world prices, an adverse balance was recorded; in 1922 and 1923, also, imports exceeded exports, but in 1924 and 1925 a favourable balance was recorded. the following table gives the values of exports and imports, in gold pesos, for 1913, 1918 and from 1920 1019025. imports experts i9i3| 496,000,000 | 519,156,000/1922 | 689,645,000 | 676,003,000 i918| 500,603,000 | 801,466,000/1923 | 868,430,000} 771,861,000 1920| 934,968,000 | 1,04.4,085,000/1924 | 828,710,060 1,01 1,395,000 t921| 749,534,000 71,129,000/1925! | 880,000,000 | 930,000,000 irstimated. the visible adverse balance of trade for 1921-3 was further in- creased by invisible imports, estimated at an annual value of about 200,000,000 gold pesos: the largest items in these imports are interest payments on foreign capital invested in the country and on foreign loans, and payments for shipping and financial services. the outstanding results of the outbreak of war in 1914 were the great falling-off in imports from the united kingdom, the complete cessation of trade with germany, and the great increase in trade with the united states. after 1918, however, trade largely returned to pre-war channels. the following table shows the distribution of the import trade with the principal countries concerned for i913 and 1923:— values in mill. of | percentage of country of origin gold | total . united kingdom 154 207 31 23:8 united states. ; 74 i8i i4-7 20°9 germany. ; . : 84 118 16-9 13:6 italy . 4i 68 8-3 7 france . : : ; 45 59 9-0 6:7 belgium 26 45 5:2 5:2 brazil. ij 46 2-2 5-3 mexico. 2 15 3 [-3 spain 15 30 2-9 3°5 communications —between the completion of the transan- dine railway in 1909 and the year 1925 the railway system of argentina was greatly extended. construction was particularly rapid between 1909 and 1913, the total length of line in the latter year being about 20,000 miles. during the war period, owing largely to the lack of capital, very little progress was made. after 1918 a policy of state railway construction largely replaced the former policy of private enterprise, and a programme, at an estimated cost of £40,000,000, was drawn up. the line linking the system of argentina with that of bolivia was completed, two other transandine lines were commenced, and the system was extended in the southern areas. by 10925 the total mileage reached 22,220, of which about 65% was british owned, 20% state owned and the remainder controlled by french interests. few good roads exist, the total length of roadway in 1925 being only about 10,000 m., less than one-half the railway mileage. a high power wireless station has been erected at monte grande in the province of buenos aires and submarine cable connection with montevideo established. during the early years of war several naval transports were used in the coastal carrying trade, and formed the nucleus of a national freight fleet. ships handed over by the germans as compensation for the sinking of argen- tine vessels were added to the fleet, which was still in being at the end of 1925. | banking and currency —the monetary unit is the gold peso, or dollar, value at par, 47-58 pence. ‘this coin is not in cir- culation, however, the unit of circulating currency being the paper peso, worth -44 of the gold peso. banking facilities have greatly increased during the period t910-25. the central bank, the banco de la nacion argentina, had over 210 branches and agencies throughout the country on jan. 1 1925. private banks are divided into native and foreign banks. in 10 important institutions the capital is wholly argentine: the others, some 20 argetoianu—arizona in all, are either branches of foreign banks or banks founded with foreign capital. a government postal savings bank was estab- lished in rors. biibliography.—w. h. koebel, argentina, past and present (1914); c. m. urien and e. colombo, geografia argentina: estudio histerico, fisico, politico, social, vy econdntico (buenos aires, 1910); a. s. pennington, the argentine republic (1911); j. a. ilammerton, 7%e real argentine (1915); g. j. mills, argentina (london, 1915); a. g. aparicio, gengrafia fisica y econodmica de la repitblica argentina (new ed., (918); -lxuario del comercio exiertor de la repiblica argentina (buenos aires, 1924); s. hl. m. wkillik, manual of argentine railways (annual). see also the reports on the trade and commerce of argentina issued by the british depart- ment of overseas trade and the u.s. department of commerce. cw. h. wi.) argetoianu, constantin (1871- ), rumanian states- man, was born at craiova. he studied law and medicine in paris and was in the diplomatic service from 1907 to rg13. in 1914 he was elected a senator and became minister of justice in gen. averescu’s cabinet in 1918. together with averescu and cantacuzene he formed the people’s league, which became the people’s party in 1920. later on, owing to dissensions, he left the party with a number of followers and joined the nation- alist-democratic party under the presidency of prof. jorga. this group having coalesced with the transylvanian party under jules maniu, argetoianu became a prominent member of the new formation, which is called the national rumanian party. argonne: see victory, advance to. arizona (sce 2.544).—the population in the 1920 census was 334,162 consisting of: whites, 291,449; negroes, 8,005; indians, 32,989; chinese, 1,137; japanese, 550; all others, 32. as com- pared with the census of 1910 this represented an increase of 129,808, or 63°5%. the rural population constituted 64:8% of the whole in 1920 as against 69% in 1910. the population of the capital, phoenix, was 11,134 in 1910 and 28,053 in 1920. history.—in connection with the entrance of arizona into the union a question of national interest was raised. «as pro- vided by the enabling act signed by president taft, june 30 iq10, a convention met at phoenix from oct. 10 to dec. 9 1910 to frame a constitution. the constitution then adopted provided that one-fourth of the electors of a judicial district might, by petition, demand the recall of a judge. if he did not then resign, a special election could be held to determine whether he should be recalled. in aug. 1911 the house of representatives passed a joint resolution providing for the admission of arizona on condition that the constitutional provision for recall be sub- mitted to a vote of the people. president taft had already in- formed congress that he would not sign the bill, and in a mes- sage to that body took the position that he must veto the meas- ure or assume responsibility for the recall of the judges. later in aug. he approved a resolution granting statehood on condi- tion that the provision for recall be struck out. this was done, and on feb. 14 1912 president taft signed the proclamation ad- mitting arizona. after the state was admitted the people amended the consti- tution, inserting the original clause providing for the recall of judges. a second issue of national interest was the alien labour law enacted by the voters of the state in 1914. the act provided that when any corporation, company, partnership or individual employed more than five workers, 80% of them should be quali- fied electors or native-born citizens. the ambassadors of great britain and italy averred that the law violated existing treaties. the united states district court declared the law unconstitu- tional as conflicting with the fourteenth amendment. on appeal the united states supreme court upheld the decision, nov. 1 191s. the final decision was that it had already been established that aliens were entitled to equal protection under the laws of the united states. the election of nov. 1916 resulted in a situation that aroused high party feeling. previously gov. hunt, supported by a dem- ocratic assembly, had been elected for two terms. in 1916 he ran for the third time. on the face of the returns, mr. campbell, the republican candidate was elected; but both candidates came to phoenix in jan. to be inaugurated, and mr. hunt re- arkansas fused to leave the executive office. later he was compelled to ‘surrender the oflice to mr. campbell, but resumed it again in dec. 1947, after the state supreme court had declared him the legally elected governor. the bitter political struggle reflected a tense industrial situation that culminated in a number of strikes, the most important of which was the one at clifton and morenci beginning in sept. 1915. the bisbee deportation in- cident in july 1917, when over 1,100 members of the organisa- tion called the independent workers of the world were deported to columbus, new mexico, produced an even more critical situ- ation. president wilson at once warned the governor of the danger of such a precedent and appointed a committee to inves- tigate and adjust the dispute. the committee found that any adjustment between employers and jabour organisations was impossible, and recommended a jaw making future deportations a federal offence. trrigation.—in 1919 arizona adopted a comprehensive code of water laws providing for the adjudication and control of water rights, and creating a state water commissioner. after 1920 especial attention centred in the colorado river problem. (see colorado.) the utilisation of this river presents many diffi- culties, involving international as well as interstate interests in the water supply, and rouses controversy, not only as to the location of a dam or dams, but also as to whether the construc- tion shall be by the federal govt. or by private corporations. the estimates for dam construction vary from $13,000,000 to $55,000,000, according to the location. the colorado river compact, formed nov. 1922, in accordance with the provisions of an act passed by congress in the previous year, attempted to secure a division of the water among the seven states in the colorado basin. the compact was rejected by the arizona legislature in 1923. two years later it was accepted with res- ervations by the arizona legislature, but vetoed by the gover- nor. the objection to the compact is that, if accepted, arizona surrenders present rights to water and power. a conference of the states of the “ lower basin ” met on aug. 17 1925 to discuss the possibility of agreement as to the division of water among these states, but it broke up immediately because of the uncom- promising attitude of the states interested. education—in 1916 a high school of the state was for the first time admitted to the north central association of colleges and secondary schools. in 1925, 27 of the 52 high schools of the states were in the association. the growth of the normal schools at tempe and flagstaff kept pace in enrolment and equipment with the growth of the public schools, and in 1925 they were created into state teachers’ colleges with four-year courses lead- ing to the bachelor degree. in 1910 a state school for the deaf was organised, at first affiliated with the university and under its direction, but later separated, with its own organisation. the university of arizona increased from an enrolment of 84 regular college students in 1910-1 to one of 1,416 in 1923-4. the institution in 1925 was composed of five colleges on the campus at tucson—college of agriculture, college of education, college of law, college of letters, arts and sciences, college of mines and engineering. the agricultural experiment station, the stewart observatory, the arizona bureau of mines, the state pure food laboratory and the state museum were also on the campus. in 1916 the university of arizona was admitted to the north central assn.; in 1919 it became a member of the assn. of american colleges, and in nov. 1924 the assn. of amer- ican universities voted that it should be added to the list of approved institutions. agriculture —during the decade ending in 1920 the number of acres irrigatecl increased from 320,051 in 1910 to 467,565 in 1920, a gain of 46-1%. almost a third of this gain was in yuma co. asa result of the construction of the laguna dam; the greater portion of the remainder was irrigated by pumping. ‘the world war produced great changes in dairy-farming and cotton-grow- ing. in 1916 the dairy industry reached its height when the number of dairy cattle in the salt river valley was estimated ac 60,000. this number was reduced to about 8,o00 at the end of 1920, when the high price of long staple cotton led to the in- og we creased production of that commodity. later the fall in the price of long staple cotton caused the dairy industry to develop, and the dairy cattle in the valley in 1925 numbered about 24,000. the number of acres under cotton rose from 13,300 ac. in 1914 to 180,000 ac. in 1920. the low price of long staple in 1921 turned the farmers to the production of short staple, but the rise in price of long staple in 1924 again tended to increase the production of that variety. horticulture greatly developed, and the production of orchard and subtropical fruits increased. the most important of the latter are grapefruit, oranges and dates. afinerals—in 1910 the production of copper was 207,250,538 pounds. ‘this rose to 615,493,561 lb. in 1923, representing 42°89 % of the total in the united states. the tendency during 1910~25 was toward the development of low-grade deposits, but the older companies were still working high-grade deposits in 1925. the stripping of sacramento hill, near bisbee, was practically completed in 1920. the plant for handling this huge low-grade deposit began operations april 2 1923, and by the end of the year had treated 615,177 tons of ore, averaging 1-83°% copper. gold production in the state increased from 152,350 oz. in 1910 to 296,437 oz. in 1923, and silver from 2,566,528 oz. in 1910 to 4.246.532 oz. if. 1023. bibliography.—mining: publications of the u.s. geologtcal survey and bureau of the mint (1920); w. h. weed, the mtres ilandbook, vol. 16. recall of judges: congressional record, vol. 47, pt. 4, pp. 3, 964-66; cases: hlunt v. campbell, pacific reporter 169; arizona's alien labour law, 219 federal, and 239 l’.s.; bisbee deportation, u. s. labour department, report on bisbee deporta- tion (1918). colorado river compact: transactions of the amer, soc. c.e., vol. 88, pp. 306-427; g. e. p. smith, experiment station bulletin, nos. 95, 100. histories: c. a. beard, contemporary amer- wcan itistory (1914); j. h. meclintock, arizona, the youngest state (1916). 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