I. AMERICA.

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC.

Constitution and Government.

THE Constitution of the Argentine Republic bears date May 15, 1853. By its provisions, the executive power is left to a president elected for six years by representatives of the fourteen provinces, 133 in number; while the legislative authority is exercised by a Senate and a House of Deputies, the former numbering 30, and the latter 54 members. A vice-president, elected in the same manner, and at the same time as the president, assists in the discharge of the executive. The president is commander-in-chief of the troops, and appoints to all civil, military, and judicial offices; but he and his ministers are responsible for their acts, and liable to impeachment before the Senate and the House of Representatives.

President of the Republic.-Don Bartolome Mitre, born 1820; entered the army as officer of artillery in Montevideo, 1839; took part in the campaigns against General Oribe and Urquiza, 1840-45; entered the service of Chili, with the rank of colonel, 1846; took the lead in the insurrectionary movement against General Rosas, 1851; appointed commander of the forces of the city of Buenos Ayres, 1852; promoted to the rank of general, 1859; elected governor of the province of Buenos Ayres, 1860; defeated General Urquiza in the battle of Pavon, September 17, 1861; appointed provisionally governor-general of the Argentine Republic, October 1861; elected president of the republic, by a unanimity of votes, October 5, 1862. Vice-President of the Republic.-Colonel Marcos Paz, elected October 5, 1862.

The Ministry, acting under the President, is divided into five departments, namely:

1. The Ministry of the Interior.-Senor Guillermo Rawson. 2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs.-Senor Rufino de Elizalde. 3. The Ministry of Finance.-Don Lucas Gonzales, appointed March 1861.

4. The Ministry of War and Marine.-General Juan Andrés Gelly y Obes.

5. The Ministry of Education and Public Worship.-Dr. Eduardo Costa.

The president of the Republic has a salary of 3,3861., the vicepresident of 1,505l., and each of the five ministers of 1,3177. per

annum.

At the first meeting of the national congress of the Argentine Republic, in May 1862, it was decided that the seat of the new Government should be at the city of Buenos Ayres.

Revenue, Army, and Population.

The revenue and expenditure of the Argentine Republic for each of the three years 1864-66 were as follows :

The revenue of the republic is almost wholly derived from custom house duties, those levied upon imports averaging 20 per cent., and those upon exports 10 per cent. In the year 1865, the imports produced 1,064,3601., and the exports 476,1867. The details of the expenditure of 1865 were :—

The public debt amounted at the commencement of 1867 to 6,496,7427., distributed as follows :—

The above statement of the revenue and expenditure of the Argentine Republic refers to the national or general government, called upon to defray the expenses of the army and navy, of the Foreign Department, and to meet other obligations imposed upon it by the constitution. Each of the fourteen provinces of the Republic has a revenue of its own, which is derived by the imposition of local taxes. Buenos Ayres, the most important province of the Confederation, requires annually about 400,000l. to meet the expenses of its government, law courts, chambers, militia, country schools-the number of which in 1867 amounted to 274-the university, academy of medicine, museum, library, and other public institutions.

The army, now in course of reorganisation, consists of about 10,700 men, exclusive of the militia and the national guard of Buenos Ayres, numbering 19,867 men. The navy comprises seven steamers and ten sailing vessels.

The following table contains a list of the fourteen provinces actually composing the Argentine Republic, the number of inhabitants of each, and their superficial extent, according to returns of the 1866:

year

:

The increase of population by immigration has amounted for the last few years to about 10,000 per annum.

Trade and Industry.

The imports of the republic average 4,000,000l. in value, of which England supplies one-fourth, and France two-ninths. The

commercial intercourse between the Argentine Republic and the United Kingdom is shown in the subjoined tabular statement, which gives the total value of the imports of the republic into the United Kingdom, and of the exports of British and Irish produce and manufactures into the Argentine Republic in each of the five years 1862 to 1866 :

The two staple articles of Argentine imports into the United Kingdom are hides and wool, the former averaging 400,000l., and the latter about 300,000l. per annum. The exports of Great Britain to the Argentine Republic consist chiefly in cotton and woollen manufactures. The mining interests of the country are every year assuming greater importance, especially in the districts of San Juan, Cordova, and Catamarca.

A network of railways, constructed chiefly at the expense of the State, has been in progress for several years. The following statement gives the names of the various lines, amount of capital subscribed, and amount of interest guaranteed by the Govern

Nearly the whole of the capital for the construction of the lines has been subscribed in England.