For a number of years practically all im ports were sent to Buenos Aires, and thence forwarded to the centres of consumption. That made necessary the joining of Buenos Aires with all the interior districts by a num ber of radiating main lines. These help to develop the agricultural districts they influence, which in turn give them a large amount of traffic. Secondary lines are then intercon nected and the points where such lines cross the original lines become in turn new centres. Subsequently, .radiating lines were constructed from other important places also, such as Bahia Blanca, Rosario and Santa Fe, the shipping facilities of these foci being increased to accommodate the growing traffic. The result is seen in the present logically developed system which is uncommonly efficient and capable of almost indefinite expansion. Up to the beginning of the year 1914 there had been constructed and, as a rule, very well equipped, 20,502 miles of railways. Of these, 6,226 miles were of narrow gauge; 1,611 miles of standard gauge and 12,967 miles of broad gauge. Private corporations owned 17,351 miles, while 3,454 miles belonged to the state. The railway system was extended 391 miles during the year 1913. In 1915 there were open 22,688 miles of railways, of which 4,136 miles belong to the state. This railway expansion places Argentina in the ninth position, with respect to length of railways, among the countries of the world; more extensive sys tems exist only in the United States, Germany, Russia, France, India, Great Britain, Austria Hungary and Canada. «The nation has real ized," says the 'Argentine Handbook,' °that to have a population to develop the rich soil of the country, the railway must go in advance of settlement. Surveys have therefore been encouraged and actual construction has been hastened into regions practically unvisited by man until then?' A phase of the railway development during 1913 was the practical com pletion of the line westward from the Port of San Antonio, in Rio Negro Territory, to Lake Nauhal Huape; the plan being to extend this road into Chile through the neighboring Cordillera. The Southern Railway also has continued construction from Neuquen toward the Andes, and the intention is to cross into Chile not far from Valdivia.
The provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and C6rdoba excel in the development of their railway systems; but each large political sub division, except Los Andes and Tierra del Fuego, has at least some line built or building. The government by its plan of extension has carried its own lines into Jujuy, and thus to the Bolivian frontier, where connection is to be established with La Paz. Of international interest also was the inauguration and opera tion (1913) of a through passenger and freight service between Buenos Aires and Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay. A law passed by the Argentine Congress in 1915 pro vides for the collection of a pension fund for railway employees. In 1912 a law was passed providing for the canalization of the Upper Uruguay; the work to be carried out jointly by Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. A ferry boat service was also projected between Paraguay and Argentina at Posadas and Encarnacien.
The so-called Mitre law, which went into effect 1 April 1908, is of great importance to investors in Argentine railways. Article 8 of that law states, with regard to railways: The materials and articles for construction and operation which are imported into the country shall be exempt from import taxes, and this exemption shall be effective until 1 Jan. 1947. The company shall pay, during the same period, regardless of the date of its concession, a single contribution [tax], equiv alent to 3 per cent of the net earnings of its lines, being exempted during same period from all other national, provincial, or muni cipal taxes.
In 1906 the national Supreme Court decided that this law exempted the railway companies from the payment of any tax except the 3 per cent of their net earnings, the net earnings being -assumed to be 40 per cent of the gross earnings; but it has recently revised its de cision, and the municipalities are now attempt ing to compel the railway companies to pay several years' back taxes for paving, lighting, etc. Some of the railway companies are pay ing the municipal taxes under protest. The principal railway companies operating in the republic have asked Congress to pass a resolu tion enjoining the municipalities and provinces from collecting these taxes, and it is expected that the present Congress will decide definitely what interpretation is to be placed on the law.
The 3 per cent tax is expended on im provement to highways leading to the stations of the railway paying the tax.
The organization of posts and telegraphs was established by law in 1878. Argentina is a member of the Universal Postal Union, and the parcel-post convention with the United States was signed in September 1915. The mails receive systematic attention, and delivery is made to every place in the country. The number of permanent employees is about 13,500 and about 1,250,000,000 pieces are carried annually by railways, steamers, stage-coaches and mounted messengers. In May 1913, there were 43,202 miles of telegraph, with about 2,600 telegraph offices, employing more than 10,000 persons in the service. The revenue of the Postal Department was $4,967,910. for 1914-15. The government owns about one-half of the telegraph system and the provinces of Buenos Aires and Entre Rios have lines. Cable serv ice between Argentina and other countries is chiefly in the hands of private companies. By agreement with Bolivia, Paraguay and Uru guay, the charges to those countries are the same as the Argentine inland rates. Argen tina was the first of South American states to adopt wireless telegraphy. There are 12 sta tions for wireless telegraphy. All ships with a crew of over 50 and touching at Argentine ports are compelled by law to be provided with wireless equipment.
Bibliography.—Killik, S. H. M., of Argentine Railways); Pan-American Union, (Washington 1916) ; Martinez, A. B., of the Argentine (4th ed., New York and London 1916). See Bibliographies under AGRICULTURE, ETC.