Part 10

The original shares of the Company were £10 each. It was decided in 1897 to reduce them to £7 fully paid, which placed the capital at £612,500. Shortly afterwards each £7 share was converted into seven shares of £1 each.

In 1906 the shareholders authorised the creation of £200,000 of fresh capital, which was issued to them in two blocks of £154,000 in 1906 and £46,000 in 1907.

Fresh capital was authorised in 1908, viz., £187,500, of which £161,608 was issued in 1909, and further lots have since been issued, bringing the total amount of authorised capital to £1,000,000, and of issued capital at 30th June, 1910, to £982,347.

An issue of £50,000 Six per Cent. Debentures was made in January, 1904; and the whole amount was redeemed on the 1st July, 1909.

BAZAN LANDS.

Part of the area sold to the Company consisted of a block of approximately 88 Spanish leagues, or 530,000 English acres, which became the subject of negotiations and lawsuits between this Company, the Provincial Government of Santa Fé, and other parties, lasting for more than twenty-five years. The area in question lay to the West of the Rio Salado, and, at the time when this Company was formed, was supposed to be included in the Province of Santa Fé. Soon afterwards the Province of Santiago del Estero put forward a claim to the lands on the ground that the boundaries of that Province extended eastwards to the Rio Salado, and it therefore disputed the right of the Province of Santa Fé to sell the lands to Messrs. Murrieta & Co. in 1882.

By an Agreement with the Government of the Province of Santa Fé, the Santa Fé Land Company took proceedings in the Supreme Courts of the Province to establish its rights to the land in dispute on the understanding that if the Company failed to establish its claim, the Government of the Province of Santa Fé would indemnify it for its loss. In the result the Company was evicted from the lands, and entered into negotiations with the Government of the Province of Santa Fé for indemnification. These negotiations went on for some years without coming to any practical conclusion, and at last the Company commenced a lawsuit against the Province and won it. After further delays and negotiations the Government agreed to issue bonds in respect of the Company's claim, and, in July, 1909, the Company agreed to accept $3,212,000 paper Bonds of the Province, carrying interest at 3-1/2 per cent., with an amortisation of 1/2 per cent., the coupons being available for payment of land tax. The Government further undertook to ratify the original titles of the Company, and to make a survey at the joint expense of both parties, for the purpose of ascertaining the exact area comprised in the original transfer. Any lands found to be in excess were to be paid for by the Company to the Government at the rate of $13.50, paper, per hectarea (about 8s. an acre). The price of such excess lands was to be recouped by the Government from the Bonds issued to the Company, and the Government retained $712,000 Bonds for this purpose, pending the result of the survey.

RAILWAY COMMUNICATION.

At the time of the formation of the Company, the nearest railway was that belonging to the Central Argentine Railway, and the nearest railway station was Rosario, but some years later, the lines now belonging to the French Railway Company of the Province of Santa Fé were laid between Santa Fé and San Cristobal. Subsequently the Central Norte Railway, which stretches northwards from San Cristobal to Tucuman, was built by the National Government, and in 1907, the National Government built a line from Santa Fé to San Cristobal via San Justo.

The Company have built a railway from a point north of Vera running into their forests, and extend it from time to time as the development of the wood industry demands. They further own a line from Margarita to La Gallareta, where the extract factory of the Compania Tanin de Santa Fé is situated. The Company propose to build a railway from San Cristobal to penetrate to their northern properties, and have applied to the Argentine National Government for a railway concession in connection therewith.

ADMINISTRATION.

After various changes of centre the administration offices of the Company were, in the year 1902, divided between San Cristobal for the cattle and lands department, and Vera for the woods department, but, in 1906, the woods department was placed under the supervision of the General Manager of the Company, who lived at San Cristobal, and, in 1908, the central offices were moved from San Cristobal to Buenos Aires. Through the latter office all the work of the Company in Argentina passes on to the London office, the managers at San Cristobal, Vera, Santa Catalina, and La Barrancosa, having to concern themselves only with the technical and administrative work carried on under them respectively.

COMPANY'S BUSINESS.

The Company's business has been mainly divided into three branches, viz.: (1) land sales and rentals; (2) cattle industry, and (3) timber trade.

The first two branches are conducted from San Cristobal, situated at the S.W. corner of the Company's original lands, and for many years the site of the central offices of the Company in Argentina, whilst the timber trade is conducted from Vera.

SAN CRISTOBAL DEPARTMENT.

A township was started at San Cristobal in 1884, and now numbers 4,500 persons.

The Administration House and other buildings for the use of the General Manager and Staff of the Cattle and Lands Department were erected about three miles from the town, and the whole now forms a large and handsome establishment, equipped with the most modern requisites for carrying on the work of the estancia.

The cattle lands have been divided up into sections, which are managed by officials of the Company, under the control of the administration at San Cristobal. The office there and the offices on the various sections have recently been connected up by telephone. These sections are Polvareda, Michelot, Los Moyes, and Lucero (which lie to the North and North-East of San Cristobal), and Las Chuñas, which forms the North-Western corner of the Company's lands.

SANTA CATALINA AND LA BARRANCOSA.

In January, 1897, the Company rented the estancia of Santa Catalina, which is situated about five miles from Los Cardos on the Central Argentine Railway and about 150 miles South of San Cristobal. Here the stock which was brought down from San Cristobal was fattened before passing on to the markets. At the same time the Company continued the sowing of alfalfa which had been begun by the proprietor, and ultimately decided to buy the camp and use it as an establishment for breeding fine stock. The terms of the purchase were that the price should be paid by way of an annuity, payable during the joint lifetime of the owner and his wife. In 1909 this method of payment was compounded and satisfied in full by an allotment of shares of the Company.

The practice has been that the male calves born on this estancia should be sent North to the general herds kept at San Cristobal and the adjoining sections, and that the progeny of these animals should in turn be sold as fat cattle.

To facilitate this business the Company found it necessary to acquire a camp specially adapted for fattening purposes in the Southern part of the Province, so that they might be brought into closer touch with the markets of Rosario and Buenos Aires. They accordingly bought the estancia La Barrancosa in 1906, and have been constantly increasing the area there under alfalfa, equipping it with a full complement of wells and fencing. This estancia lies half way between the towns of San Isabel and Venado Tuerto, from the latter of which it is distant about sixteen miles. But, during the year 1909, a new broad-gauge railway line was opened, leading from Rosario to Bahia Blanca. It passes right through the estancia, and by means of a station just outside the boundary the Company have fresh means of despatching their animals to Rosario.

VERA DEPARTMENT.

The headquarters of the Woods Department is situated about eight miles N.W. of the town of Vera, which stands at kilometre 250 north of the City of Santa Fé on the line of the French Railway Company leading from Santa Fé to Resistencia. Sawmills and offices were built, which involved the presence of a considerable number of work-people, for whom houses had to be provided. Consequently, a small village has grown up at the place.

A branch railway was begun in 1905, at a point 13 kilometres north of Vera town, on the French Railway, to penetrate westwards into the Company's forests, and has been extended to a point called Olmos, lying 30 miles away. Along the line two or three hamlets have sprung up, where people connected with the wood industry reside, as well as the Company's officials who control the timber in the neighbourhood.

In 1904 the Company entered into an agreement with Messrs. Albert and Charles Harteneck, Frederick and Charles Portalis, and Hermann Renner, to bring out a Company to work a factory for the manufacture of tannin extract from the wood of the Quebracho Colorado tree, and this factory was ultimately built within the Company's properties at a place called La Gallareta, which is situated 17 kilometres north-west of the Station of Margarita on the French Railway line. The Santa Fé Land Company have also built a branch line from Margarita to this tannin factory.

THE FOLLOWING TABLE SHOWS THE FINANCIAL POSITION OF THE COMPANY FROM 1898 TO THE PRESENT TIME.