The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-04-14
ARGENTINE SEEKS TO MAKE CAPITAL AN OPERA CENTER
Buenos Aires Prosperity Causes Prediction That It
 Will Be~MuSic Mecca

Buenos Aires, April 14-With the | carnival season now making it's an | nal entry, there are no outward signs | of anything but prosperity in the cap- | ital of the Argentine So far as so- | ciety is concerned, it is exulting over l the favorable prospects for the opera | season whichP the newspapers say. | will make Buenos Aires the center of the operatic world this year.
 The general feeling in business cir l cles regarding economic conditions, | however, is rather pessimistic. The fact is, the price of grain,
 which guages the prosperity of the
 provinces, has fallen precisely when a
 substantial increase in price was an | ticipated. The markets of Great 1 Britain and her allies are practically | the only ones open to Argentine pro- duce, and having organized collosal | corner Great Britain has become the grainery and store house of the group
 She buyes for all, carries for all. pays. for all. By thus doing away with competition between themselves, the
 Allies are in a position to dictate prices rather than have prices dic- tated to them.
 The Argentine producers find that
 while the European demand is aA-
 ways for more, the supply is arranged
 from England by limiting the number
 of steamers available for the River
 Platte trade. All grain must be for
 warded by freighters, the mail boats
 being requistioned for the transport
 of chilled meat The, scarcity of freight vessels has accordingly given rise to serious congestion of the grain ship m rents.
 At Ga1van,- and the stations near Bahia Blanca, the port of shipment for the southern zone, there were at the end of last month 40, 900 tons
 0f WI n stacked in the open awaiting shipment and at intern ediafe stations along the Great Southern Railroad there are 9,50O,0O0 sacks of wheat and oats stacked in the open. Similar. condi- tions prevail along the Great Western and Central Argentine lines. In fact, up to the end of last month, the grain of Nthis years harvest loaded or ready
 for loading was only 123,0Oo tons. For the same period last year the total was
 444, 900 tons. Thus far charters up
 to the 15th of July next for Argentine
 grain aggregate only 55O.000 tons, which is approximately 1,o5o.o0o tons short of the total for the corresp ond= ing period of last year.
 Owing, to the fact that large mum
 Der of Italian harvest hands have gone back to Italy and the general current , of immigration has been m meagre, the grain growers have also had some trouble with labor, there be- ing such a scarcity of workers that high prices had to be paid. It was only through the timely action of the
 department of labor, which organized 1.-the unemployed, and regulated the supply in accordance with the geo
 graphical zones and the actual de- mand, that the harvesting of the crops has, so far, been accom- plished-
 In regard to the grain, the oats are of exceptional quality and quantity. The wheat has yielded heavily, but
 the grain is, generally speaking, light in weight, being from three to four pounds per busheI under the stan
 dard.
 In, regard to corn the outlook is i not 50 favorable. It is estimated that I the actual yield along the Western
 Railroad lines will be~ 50 per cent. less than was officially forecast. The early crop turned out well, but To- custs, hail andg drought accounted for the falling off in the yield The esti- mated output of this grain available for export is given by the Central Argentine Railroad at 1,sOO,Oo0 tons, while last year the same line gave for export 2,4oO,OO0 tons. There is still a, good deal of 1cst> years grain on hand.
 Altogether the situation in the Ar
 genuine and South America. generally is rather ambiguous. With visible
 assets worth millions of dollars on
 hand and with ready markets await ing supplies, these perishable assets
 cannot be forwarded or Hquidated for lack of ,freighters. This handicap is emphasized by the fact that under the | influence of the war in Europe and
 the high prices offered for vessels the
 nascienf mercantile marine of Argen-
 tina has practically vanished from | Si