Statement showing the commerce, by countries, of the Argentine Republic for seven years— 1870 to 1876.*

Total special and general..

47, 539, 948 44, 157, 258 59, 599, 143 71, 065, 199 55, 961, 177 55, 756, 627 34, 910, 290

*Compiled and arranged in Bureau of Statistics, Department of State, from official publications.

Statement showing the percentage of each country in the commerce of the Argentine Republic during the year 1876.

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

VIENNA, November 1, 1877. (Received January 18, 1878.) Report upon the agriculture, manufactures, aud commerce of AustriaHungary for the year 1876.

THE DANUBE, PAST AND PRESENT.

The Danube, from its source to its entrance into the Black Sea, is 1,826 miles long, and, with its tributaries, drains an area of over 300,000 square miles. Entering Austria-Hungary on the western border, the Danube flows eastward to the center of the monarchy, thence in a southerly direction through the fertile plains of Hungary to the great gorge in the Carpathian Mountains on the southeastern frontier, through which it makes its exit toward the Black Sea after having traversed, in its course through this empire, a distance of 828 miles. With the exception of those in Bohemia, Galicia, and in the narrow strip of country toward the Adriatic, south of the Carnic and Rhetian Alps, every spring in the country finds an outlet in the Danube, and contributes to swell the volume of the waters of this mighty river. The Austro-Hungarian rivers Inn, Traun, Euns, Ips, March, Raab, Waag, Drave, Theiss, Save, and Temes empty into the Danube, and the surface thus drained is 162,000 square miles, or more than two thirds of the monarchy. The Danubian Navigation Company have upon these rivers 700 steamers and tow-boats, and innumerable flat-boats and rafts float down from the smaller tributaries. Not only within the empire, but from Orsova to the Black Sea the steamers of this Austro-Hungarian company are the principal means of communication and commerce for the Danubian principalities, and they are a connecting link in that great route of travel from Central Europe to the Bosporus.

The political events which have caused the Lower Danube to be closed to peaceful enterprise throughout the year 1877 have an important bearing on the commercial relations of this country. From the earliest historic period the ebb and flow of contending nations along this great water-course has, from time to time, riveted the attention of the whole world. Before the Christian era Roman legions swept down the valley, conquering and civilizing; and the remains of Trajan's bridge, below the Iron Gate, not yet obliterated by centuries of unceasing friction from the flowing river; the military road, hewn with mallet and chisel, through projecting rocks, still traceable for fifty miles above the bridge; the language spoken in Roumania, all give eloquent testimony to the might of imperial Rome, and to the skill, energy, and courage of her extraordinary people. The tide turned, and for hundreds of years Huns and Ostrogoths, Boians and Vandals, surged westward. Again the human current poured down the valley, when, in the thirteenth century, the religious enthusiasm of Europe was roused in its crusade for the recovery of the Holy Land, and in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the wave of Moslem power, through the same channel, threatened the civilization of Western Europe. The helmet and the battle-ax have been laid aside, but the roar of artillery in this historic valley

proclaims that the conflict goes on as before. Actors change, weapons change, but the destruction and misery which accompany war are always the same. It is not alone that torpedoes have been planted in the Lower Danube, excluding commercial vessels and closing her only great water-course to the sea, nor that starving refugees crowd by thousands across the frontier for assistance and support; it is the fear that some spark from this conflagration on the border may ignite inflammable material within Austria Hungary, which causes timidity and creates uncertainty in business. Besides this external cause for apprehension, there has been, during the whole of this year, an earnest controversy with reference to the agreement between the two parts of the monarchy, especially in connection with the demand of Hungary for a joint con trol of the national bank.

AGRICULTURE.

In the midst of depression, created by apprehension of foreign and domestic complications, it is fortunate that a bountiful harvest has given substantial aid to the sinking industries of the country. Although it is impossible to give exact statistics with reference to the harvest of 1877, it is evident that it has been above the average and has furnished a large surplus for export. The most reliable estimates concerning the results of the harvest of 1877 show that in Hungary there is a surplus of wheat above an average harvest of 3,750,000 hectoliters; in the Austrian provinces the surplus is 1,500,000 hectoliters, and in the whole monarchy the wheat produced more than in an average year amounts to about 5,250,000 hectoliters, or nearly 8,000,000 centners. If in an average year Austria-Hungary can export five or six millions of centners, it is to be assumed that this year the quantity for export, having reference to the flour manufactured from it, would be not less than 13,000,000 or 14,000,000 centners. The quality of the wheat is good. Of rye, Hungary has above the average more than 1,500,000, and the Austrian provinces 1,500,000 hectoliters. The amount produced above the average for the whole monarchy is estimated at from 3,000,000 to 3,500,000 hectoliters, or about 4,500,000 centners; quality good, and amount for export about 5,500,000 centners. In barley the quantity is equal to an average year, but the quality below an average; amount for export from 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 centners. Of oats, there is in Hungary about 500,000 hectoliters more than an average production, and in the Austrian provinces more than 1,000,000 hectoliters. The amount above the average harvest in the whole monarchy is about 1,750,000 hectoliters, equal to 2,500,000 centners, and the amount for export would reach about 3,000,000 centners, without considering the quantity of oats in store, which is very large. Including the oats in store, the monarchy may be said to have 6,000,000 centners of oats for export.

The wine production for the year has been most unsatisfactory. The weather was unfavorable, the quantity produced below an average, and the wine generally sour. The province of Dalmatia is an exception, for the result there was very good, but as for the result of the wine production in the monarchy as a whole, the year 1877 must be classed as one of the worst years. The increase of the phylloxera in France has induced the wine producers in Austria-Hungary to expect an increased export demand for their wine, especially to Switzerland, where the import of wine is necessarily great on account of the large number of foreigners who visit the country.