This latest publication of Mariluz Urquijo, dealing with a vein of of subject matter that he has ably exploited for some years, is a source book rather than a monograph. With his own introductory comments in each case, he presents a selection of documents—or excerpts from documents—that illustrate contrasting approaches toward government regulation and protection of industry. The industry in question consists principally of artisan activities in the city of Buenos Aires, but coverage is also given to the problems of incipient factories, to those of commerce per se, and even, tangentially, to the situation of agriculture. Likewise, despite the porteño focus, some items do concern the economy of the interior provinces, and especially the impact on them of measures adopted at Buenos Aires. A majority of the documents were chosen because they express particular views and interests on policy issues, but there is no lack of substantive information as well, and a few documents record actual policy decisions in the form of laws or decrees. A few had been published before, most had not. The years of the title, incidentally, are intended to denote the broad period of Argentine history from independence to national consolidation which forms the context of the economic policies discussed, rather than the dates of the documents themselves, which go from 1813 to 1860.
Both documentary selections and compiler’s commentary are significant additions to the published literature on Argentine economic history. If one minor criticism can be made, it is that 28 of the 40 selections are concerned primarily (though not exclusively in every case) with tariff policy. Guilds, including mutual aid societies, are a poor second, with just four entries. It is true that the preponderance of tariff policy is perfectly in line with the critical importance of that issue during the first half century of national life, and room is allowed for the entire range of opinions on that subject to be brought out. One thing often overlooked in the historical literature that becomes crystal clear in this volume is the persistence and strength, throughout the period covered, of protectionist sentiment even in free-trading Buenos Aires, and not just among the artisans and manufacturers with special interests to plead. Even so, virtually all the arguments used on either side were already in evidence during the first few years of debate. By the 1850s, their constant repetition does become monotonous, and therefore a part of the space devoted to tariffs might conceivably have been better used for something else.
