£5,263,560. Issued by Messrs. Baring Bros. & Co. and Messrs. C. de Murrieta & Co. at 90 per cent. for the purpose of repaying the Six per Cent. Bonds of 1871 and 1882, and the Buenos Ayres Six per Cent. Bonds of 1870 and 1873. Redeemable by 1 per cent. Accumulative Sinking Fund. I 1889.-Three and a-Half per Cent. External Sterling Bonds. Issued by Messrs. Stern Bros. in exchange for the outstanding Six per Cent. Internal (Hard Dollar) Bonds of 1863 and 1872. Rate £20. 10s. of the New, to every $100 Old Bonds. £2,659,500 were given in exchange for $12,973,200 of the Internal Bonds. Secured on the general revenues of the Republic. Redeemable by I per cent. Accumulative Sinking Fund by drawings at par, or by tender if under par. 1890.--Northern Central Railway Bonds (2nd Issue). (Lucas Gonzales Bonds) £2,976,000, bearing 5 per cent. interest, and I per cent. Sinking Fund. These Bonds were not issued to the Public until 1903 (see below), but were used as cover for temporary loans. 1890-1.-Owing to the critical condition of the finances of the Republic, a Committee was appointed, under the auspices of the Bank of England, in November, 1890, to examine and report upon the National indebtedness. In the course of their report the Committee made certain recommendations for dealing with the situation, to which effect was given by a Law of the Argentine Congress of 23rd January, 1891, under which the Coupons and Drawn Bonds of the National External Loans falling due between the date of the Law and 1st January, 1894 (with the exception of the Five per Cent. Loan of 1886-7, the service of which was to be continued in cash) were to be exchanged for Bonds of a Six per Cent. Funding Loan, the particulars of which were as follows: Amount authorised, £14,880,000 (afterwards limited to £7,630,680, the whole of which has been issued). Specially secured upon the Customs Receipts, subject to the charges of the 1886-7 Loan. Service to be remitted monthly to London by the National Bank. Coupons receivable for Customs Duties during the year of their currency. Proceeds to be applied exclusively to the service of all External Loans or Obligations contracted by the Nation or (under conditions of the Law of 23rd January, 1891) about to be contracted. It was laid down that, during the years that the External Loan Service was made by these Bonds, no fresh Loans or Guarantees should be contracted, and that the surplus of the revenue should be applied to the annual withdrawal from circulation of $15,000,000 currency, and to a Reserve Fund for the amortisation of this Loan. Redeemable by 1921. 1892.-Port of Buenos Ayres Five per Cent. Debentures.-Amount authorised, £2,000,000. Bonds to the amount of £1,384,700 were issued by the Argentine Government to the Concessionaire of the Port Works in lieu of cash and as security for work done. Secured by first charges on the Port Works, on the revenue produced by them, and on the reclaimed lands and product of these lands when sold. Redeemable by 1 per cent. Accumulative Sinking Fund (see 1899 below). I 1892.-Buenos Ayres Water Supply and Drainage Works Five per Cent. Bonds. Issued by Government on rescission of the original contract, under which rescission the Company surrendered to the Government the work already completed, and bound itself to finish certain other work, the Government giving to the Company £6,324,400 5 per cent. Bonds secured upon these works and their revenue. The Company was in 1893 released by Government from its obligations, and its place was taken by Mr. J. B. Medici, who undertook the contract. The Loan is redeemable by a 1 per cent. Accumulative Sinking Fund. 1893.-In November, 1892, Señor Romero, the Minister of Finance, announced that the financial position of the Argentine Treasury would not, at the expiration of the Moratorium in January, 1894, permit of the payment in full of the Foreign Obligations contracted by the Republic. An Arrangement, known as the "Romero" Arrangement, was effected, in July, 1893, between the National Government and the Bondholders (these latter represented by a Committee appointed ad hoc, of which Lord Rothschild was Chairman). The chief provisions of the Arrangement were : The sum of £1,565,000 to be remitted for five years, from C 12th July, 1893, to 12th July, 1898, to be applied to the payment of interest on the fourteen National External Loans then outstanding at the following rates :— 4 per cent. on the Five per Cent. Loan of 1886-7. 4 per cent. on the Five per Cent. Waterworks Loan of 1892. 5 per cent. on the Six per Cent. Funding Loan of 1891. 60 per cent. of the full amount on the remaining eleven Loans, viz., the Six per Cent. Railway Loan of 1881, the Six per Cent. Buenos Ayres Loan of 1824, the Five per Cent. Loan of 1884, the Five per Cent. North Central Railway Extension Loan (two issues), the Five per Cent. Treasury Conversion Loan of 1887, the Five per Cent. Banco Nacional (German) Loan of 1887, the Five per Cent. Buenos Ayres Port Loan, the Four and a-Half per Cent. Internal Loan, 1888 (quoted in London), the Four and a-Half per Cent. Sterling External Conversion Loan, and the Three and a-Half per Cent. External Conversion Loan. From 12th July, 1898, to 12th July, 1899, the full interest on all the Loans to be remitted, to be applied, during that year, as follows: Five per Cent. (or full interest) on the 1886-7 Loan. The remaining thirteen Loans to receive interest at the same rate as in the previous five years as above. The surplus to be devoted, first, to recoup to the holders of the 1886-7 Loan the interest (I per cent.) deducted during the five years from 1893 to 1898, and the balance remaining unappropriated towards repayment to the holders of the Six per Cent. Funding Loan of the interest deducted (1 per cent.) during the same period (see below). From 12th July, 1899, to 12th January, 1901, the full interest on all the Loans to be paid, and after 12th January, 1901, the full interest and Sinking Fund to be resumed. [NOTE. The resumption of full payment of interest under the Arrangement was anticipated by one year-see below.] 1896-9.-Four per Cent. (Railway Guarantees Rescission) Bonds. Authorised by the Laws of 14th January, 1896, and 9th January, 1899, to settle the claims arising out of the National Railway Guarantees, and to purchase two of the Guaranteed Lines. A total amount of £11,607,100 of Bonds has been issued. There is a cumulative Sinking Fund of per cent. applicable by drawing or tender, and it is provided that the Bonds are to be exchangeable for Unified Bonds when such are issued. When all the Companies holding guarantees have been settled with, the balance of Bonds is to be used to complete the Central Northern and other Railways owned by the Government. 1897-9.—In an Executive Decree of 27th March, 1897, the Argentine Government announced its intention to anticipate by one year the dates at which, under the "Romero" Arrangement of 1893, full interest was to be resumed on the Loans included therein. The operation of this Decree commenced in 1898 and was completed in 1899. 1898.—The Certificates representing the I per cent. deferred interest on the Five per Cent. Loan of 1886-7 and the Six per Cent. Funding Loan of 1891 were redeemed in this year, the former at 100 and the latter at 83 per cent. of their face value. 1897-1900.-Four per Cent. (Provincial and Municipal Debts) Bonds, issued in respect of the arrangements made between the various Provinces and Municipalities and their creditors. These Bonds bear 4 per cent. interest, payable in April and October, and per cent. accumulative Sinking Fund, applicable by drawings or by purchase when below par. The latter commences in 1901, with the exception of Entre Rios, in which case it does not commence till 1905. In the event of any unification of the National Debt, these Bonds are to be exchangeable into the Unified Bonds. The following issues have been authorised : : 1897.-Province of Buenos Ayres.-Original amount, $34,000,000 (£6,746,032 sterling). These Bonds are in sterling (payable also in Germany, in marks, at a fixed exchange). The Province undertakes to pay the whole service on them to the National Government, and assigns to it, as security, 30 per cent. gross of the taxes on stamped paper and "guias"; 40 per cent. of the duty on patents; 30 per cent. of the "contribucion directa," and, specially, the works, lands, and appurtenances of the La Plata Port: any surplus realised may be applied to extraordinary amortisation. Power is reserved to the National Government to take over the La Plata Port at an agreed valuation in case of default by the Province. The sums thus payable and the guarantees thus given for the payment thereof are to be considered as specially affected to the service of the Bonds, and cannot in any case be applied by the National Government to the service of any other Debt or payment whatsoever. 1898. City of Buenos Ayres.-This issue was made to cancel the obligations contracted by the City of Buenos Ayres and the National Bank towards the holders of the Buenos Ayres Municipal Loan of 1884-8. Original amount, £1,527,778. No special securities are assigned by the Province to the National Government, but the whole of the service is undertaken by the National Bank. 1899. Province of Santa Fé. - Original amount, $15,300,109.82 gold (£3,035,736 sterling). No special securities are assigned by the Province to the National Government. 1899. Province of Entre Rios. $14,255,715 (£2,828,515 sterling). Original amount, During the five years 1900 to 1904, the Province binds itself to contribute $470,000 gold in annual amounts rising from $30,000 to $200,000 towards the interest on the Four per Cent. National Bonds, and, from 1905, $256,103 per annum. The Sinking Fund in this case commences in 1905. 1899.-Province of Santa Fé (Conversion of Railway Loans). Original amount, $4,874,688 (£967,200 sterling). Issued in connection with the settlement of the Loans of the Western and Central Colonies Railways of Santa Fé and the Santa Fé and Reconquista Railway. The Province binds itself to pay to the National Government $220,458 gold per annum for the service of the National Bonds, the "contribucion directa" being assigned as special security for the payment undertaken. 1899.-Province of Tucuman.-Original amount, $3,332,250 (£661,160 sterling). 1899-1900. Province of Cordoba. Original amount, $11,000,000 (£2,182,539 sterling). These Bonds are of |