FOREIGN COMMERCE, FIRST QUARTER OF 1904.

The returns for the foreign commerce of the Argentine Republic for the first three months of 1904 show import valuations to the amount of $43,300,622, as compared with $33,539,498 in the corresponding period of the preceding year, and export values of $73,234,446, as compared with $69,351,190 in the first quarter of 1903. These figures are exclusive of bullion exports of $727,516 and bullion imports worth $14,231,002, which items figured in the commercial returns of the first three months of 1903 for $234,684 and $7,448,438, respectively. The excess of exports over imports (excluding gold) during the quarter was $29,933,824, gold; while in the first quarter of 1903 the excess was $35,811,601, the imports having increased by $9,761,124 and the exports by $3,883,247. The surplus importation of gold amounted to $13,503,486 against a surplus of $7,213,754 in the first three months of 1903, the rates of exchange being such as to make it advantageous for foreign bankers to remit gold in payment of the bills drawn for exports from the country.

The trade with the different countries was represented by the following figures:

As regards the exports of Argentine produce, the United Kingdom is the best customer for frozen meat, having taken 32,400 tons, against 5,900 sent to all other countries. Of wool it received only 2,989, while Germany took 22,025, Belgium 9,053, the United States 5,745, and France 30,719 tons. The United Kingdom was the only customer for butter, taking 1,863 tons; also buying 5,414 tons of tallow, which was two-thirds of the total exportation. The quantities of grain shipped to Great Britain were linseed, 39,430 tons; maize, 59,522, and wheat, 58,921. The exports "for orders" mainly on British account were: Linseed, 225,321 tons; maize, 115,419; wheat, 526,802, and quebracho, 41,271 tons. Germany headed the list in salted oxhides, horsehides, and nutria skins. It also received 40,921 tons of linseed, 12,814 tons of maize, and 15,781 tons of wheat. Brazil took 10,066 steers and 4,194 sheep. The United States imported 248,609 kilograms of horsehides and 193,540 kilograms of goatskins. Of the bones exported, 3,029

tons, or two-thirds of the total, was shipped to the United States, as was also 1,158 tons of quebracho extract. Of sugar, 1,059 tons went to Germany, 1,661 to Uruguay, and 1,866 to other places.

The classification of exports and their values were as follows:

The relative rank of the countries sending articles for import is as follows: The United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the United States, France, Belgium, Brazil, and Spain.

The augmentation of imports was general, the diminution having occurred chiefly in oils, cigars, and agricultural machinery. The customs duties on imports amounted in the three months to $11,191,142 gold, being $1,549,897 more than in the first quarter of 1903, the export duties being $947,358, an increase of $39,748. The total customs revenue for the quarter was $13,208,184 gold and $137,703 paper, an increase of $1,805,100 gold and $13,028 paper over 1903. The classification of imports was as follows:

The percentages of the total trade for the principal countries engaged in Argentine commerce were as follows:

A comparative statement of the agricultural exports from the Argentine Republic during the first quarter of 1904 and of 1903 shows the following figures:

According to the report of the Department of Immigration forwarded to the Minister of Agriculture of the Argentine Republic, 155,150 persons entered the country during 1903 and 117,626 left it, the balance in favor of the immigration rate of the Republic being 37,524 persons. The immigrants comprised 75,227 persons and the emigrants 40,653. The Italians head the list of immigrants with 42,358, followed by the Spaniards with 21,917, the French with 2,491, the Germans with 1,000, and the English with 560. The returns are not considered entirely satisfactory by the authorities.

EXPORTS FOR FOUR MONTHS OF 1904.

The principal exports from the Argentine Republic during the first four months of 1904, as compared with the same period of 1903, were as follows:

PORT MOVEMENTS, FIRST QUARTER OF 1904.

BAHIA BLANCA.

During the month of March, and the first three months of 1904, 22 and 36 steamships, respectively, sailed from the port of Bahia Blanca, carrying merchandise to the destinations noted:

Eleven steamships and 1 sailing vessel cleared from the port of San Nicolas during the month of March, and 23 steamships and 2 sailing vessels during the first three months of 1904. The following merchandise was carried by them to the different countries noted:

LA PLATA.

During the month of March 31 steamships and 2 sailing vessels cleared from the port of La Plata, and 66 steamships and 2 sailing vessels during the first three months of 1904, carrying the following merchandise:

ADVANCING TRADE RELATIONS WITH GREAT BRITAIN.

The returns of the British Board of Trade for May, 1904, give striking evidence of the advance in trade relations between the Argentine Republic and Great Britain, especially in the matter of wheat received from the former country. The "South American Journal" for June 11, 1904, in commenting on the fact that a decline was noted in the British receipts of wheat and flour from the United States, adds that this deficit was made up largely, so far as wheat was concerned, from the Argentine Republic. The statistics on the subject give the following results:

In May, 1902, wheat from the United States was imported at British ports to the amount of 4,792,688 hundredweight. In the same month of 1903 the imports were 2,725,069 hundredweight, whereas in May, 1904, only 495,900 hundredweight of United States wheat was received. The total amounts of wheat imported by Great Britain in the years 1902, 1903, and 1904 were 8,354,061 hundredweight, 6,618,295, and 8,842,900, respectively, so that it appears that while the total imports for the last-named month were in excess of those for May, 1902, the amount furnished by the United States fell from nearly 5,000,000 hundredweight to less than 500,000 hundredweight. The countries supplying this deficit were the Argentine Republic, whose granaries furnished 2,650,300 hundredweight, as against 1,006,630 in 1902; Australia, the receipts being 1,398,000 hundredweight as against 601,392 in 1902; Russia, which supplied 2,056,000 hundredweight, as compared with 349,927 in May, 1902, and India, which sent 1,700,000 hundredweight, as against 250,174 in 1902. At the present time the principal wheat shipments to Great Britian are from the Argentine Republic, whose fertile fields and comparatively small population render her future possibilities of great value in the grain market.

In its summary of the estimated wheat crop throughout the world in 1904 the "Statist" reports that the Argentine Republic, since January 1, 1904, has already exported 40 per cent more wheat than dur