The visible supplies on December 31, 1902, were as under:

On shore..........
Afloat

Supplies for foreign markets........

Stocks on the coast..........

Total..........

Pounds. 576, 607, 400 1,071, 617, 000

1, 648, 224, 400 548, 400, 000

2, 196, 624, 400

The smallest number of works in operation in the four years was 44 in February, 1899, and the largest was 78 in December, 1902. The total of the quotas already assigned amounts to 4,041,500,000 pounds, and it will soon be necessary to take into consideration the quotas for several new works now in course of erection.

VALPARAISO, February 20, 1903.

R. E. MANSField,

ARGENTINE TRADE IN 1902.

Consul.

Minister W. P. Lord, of Buenos Ayres, under date of February 5, 1903, transmits some figures* compiled by the legation relative to the foreign commerce of the Argentine Republic during the calendar year 1902, as compared with 1901:

Description.

Dutiable.
Free.

Total

Exports. Imports. Exports, $91,918,445 $71,770,447 $81,617,059 $77,431,531

17,815,823

95,773,161

18,052,712 90,075,590
109,971,157 161,846,037 99,432,882 173,204,692

According to the above figures, the decrease of imports for the year 1902 amounts to $10,538,275 and the increase of exports to $11,358,655, or a net increase in the foreign trade of this Republic of $820, 380 during the year 1902. The following table shows the countries which participated in the imports of Argentina during the two years under comparison:

* The values were given in Argentine gold and changed in the Bureau of Foreign Commerce;

$1 Argentine=961⁄2 cents in United States gold,

The classes of imports for the two years under comparison were:

The following table shows the countries participating in the exports of the Republic during the years 1901 and 1902:

The classes of exports for the two years were:

The following is a list of the principal products exported from the Republic during the year 1902, and the principal countries to which they were exported:

The outlook for the present year, Mr. Lord adds, is hopeful and indicates greater activity in business circles.

7

TRACTION RAILROAD IN HONDURAS.

The Honduras National Congress has recently granted a concession to a resident of the city of Tegucigalpa to construct an automobile line or a traction road for the conveyance of passengers and freight over the new wagon road between Tegucigalpa and the Bay of Fonseca. The line will be about 80 miles in length and is designed, primarily, to connect the capital with the important port of Amapala, on the Pacific.

The enterprise may interest our manufacturers of traction supplies and electrical machinery, as well as our electrical and mechanical engineers. Mr. Daniel Fortin, the concessionary, informs me that he will purchase all his supplies from the United States and will soon visit our country to conclude contracts. The concession carries with it a monopoly of common carriage by means of electricity over the south coast road now in process of construction. The terms of the charter, briefly, are the following:

The right is granted to establish and operate a service of automobiles or traction machines over the road between Tegucigalpa and San Lorenzo (Bay of Fonseca); to import, free of duties, the necessary material; to employ foreign laborers (except Chinese), who shall be exempt for five years from military service or municipal obligations.

The grantee shall open his line to public service within one year after the completion of the wagon road. Transportation rates shall not, without Government consent, exceed 7 centavos (about 2.8 cents) per kilometer (0.62137 mile) for passengers nor 1.5 centavos (0.6 cent) per quintal (220.4 pounds) per kilometer for freight. Each passenger may carry free 22 kilograms (about 50 pounds) of baggage. Persons shipping products of the Republic for exportation shall obtain a 25 per cent rebate. The enterprise shall maintain a regular service, except when interrupted by reason of the act of God or fortuitous circumstances; failing which, it shall be subject to a penalty of from 100 to 300 pesos ($40 to $120), according to the gravity of the occasion.

This concession shall remain in force during twelve years; but the Government reserves the right to conclude it after six years, if it desires to operate the road, by paying the cost of the entire enterprise.

TEGUCIGALPA, March 7, 1903.

ALFRED K. MOE,

Consul.

TRADE NOTES FROM COSTA RICA.

The chief exports of Costa Rica last year were:

Compared with 1901, the total exportation shows an increase of a few thousand dollars. Coffee has a gain of over $350,000; bananas, $300,000; and cacao, $15,000. Mahogany and other woods show a

decrease of $75,000, and rubber a decrease of $16,000. If the item of gold and silver coin is left out of the exports for the two years, the shipments of 1902 exceed those of 1901 by about $600,000. On the same basis of comparison, excluding the coined money from both imports and exports, the exports of 1901 exceeded the imports by over $900,000, while those of 1902 exceeded the imports by about $1,400,000.

Of exports there go to the United States less than 20 per cent of the coffee, all the bananas, more than three-fourths of the hides, more than two-thirds of the rubber, and all the bullion.

The banana industry shows a marked increase, the shipments being the largest in the history of the industry in Costa Rica. The coffee was distributed as follows:

CONCESSION FOR QUARRYING LITHOGRAPHIC STONE IN MEXICO.

A concession has been granted by the Mexican Government to Messrs. H. H. Moran and J. Emilio Meyer for the quarrying and preparation of lithographic stone. The following is an abstract:

The concessionnaires are to work a quarry of lithographic stone, on land belonging to the Government, leasing the land or acquiring it by purchase. Six months after the date of concession, the company shall submit plans of the buildings, machinery, and materials, as well as plans of the territory to be worked. Construction is to commence within one year and to be completed within three years. The Government will appoint an inspector and the company must pay into the treasury $3,000 yearly, for salary and inspection expenses, payments to cease when workshops and machinery shall have been erected. The sum of $100,000 is to be invested

in the enterprise. The company is to import apparatus, materials, tools, etc., free of duty. The plant is to be open to the scholars of the national schools, and the company shall give the students such information as may enable them to pursue their studies intelligently. The capital, buildings, and other property of the company are to be exempt from federal taxation, except the stamp tax. The company is to be Mexican and subject to the jurisdiction of Mexico.

VERACRUZ, March 17, 1903.

WM. W. CANADA,

Consul.