A MIXED GRILL
In the hot months, December, January, and February, it is the proper
thing to move to Mar del Plata. There the rich Argentines disport
themselves with the gorgeousness of the Russians at Yalta in September.
If the ladies do not bathe in pearl necklaces they wear exquisite
"creations"; and propriety insists that the men must wear a costume
which is a cross between a frock coat and a suit of pyjamas. The
Parisian houses have their representatives in the Republic, and an
Argentine lady who does not change expensive dresses five times a day is
out of the fun. There is gold and gambling and dancing at the most
elaborate, though not the gayest--for the Argentine is not gay--seaside
resort in the world. As for the "tango" dance, no respectable Argentine
ever dances it. I have seen it performed in tempestuous manner amongst
those who do not mind whether they are considered respectable or not--a
very different thing from the milk-and-water efforts in London
ballrooms.
It is not quite decided whether the phrase "filthy lucre" comes from the
United States or from Argentina. There is only one dirtier thing in the
world than the American dollar note, and that is the Argentine peso;
but in extenuation of its filth one has to remember it is less than half
the dollar's value. I am convinced that one of the reasons money is held
in small regard in the Argentine is that nobody can have any respect for
a worn, tattered, and evil-smelling piece of paper, even though its
equivalent be a shilling and eightpence. I never appreciated the genuine
value of money till I changed a bilious and decrepit ten peso note for
half-crowns, shillings, and threepenny bits. Of course, the Argentines
have no money but paper and nickel, though you are assured there are
untold millions of gold in the cellars of the national casa. But you
never strike anything but paper. When I drew English gold from the bank
for use on my voyage home, and swaggeringly emptied an envelope of
sovereigns on the table at a luncheon party given by the British
Minister, my lady neighbour gave a little shriek of delight at the
blessed spectacle of a real English sovereign. The only coin which holds
good the world round is the British sovereign.
Now of the cosmopolitan throng exploiting the resources of Argentina it
has been left to the Jews to work on distinctive racial lines. The
Hebrew population numbers 40,000, a community founded and fostered
according to well-defined plans which not only ensure the comfort and
well-being of the thrifty, but mark a revival of agriculture as one of
the industrial arts of the Jews.
Centuries of wandering, of persecution and oppression, of lethargic
waiting for the "return to the promised land," divorced the Hebrew from
his original position as an agriculturist. In the Argentine he is
beginning to rehabilitate himself. Backed by the Jewish Colonisation
Association, and aided by that commercial talent which has become
characteristic of the Jew wherever he may be, the Jewish farmer in South
America represents a new type in the great Israelitish family.
What more natural than that the Argentine should be regarded as one of
the likely homes for the wandering tribes by those who for years have
promoted the Jewish settlement movements? Jewish patriarchs and
philanthropists looked longingly at the map of South America in search
of a goal for racial and religious aspirations. The oppression and
persecution of co-religionists in Russia and Roumania in the early
'nineties called for action as well as ideals. Shelter had to be found
where thrift and enterprise were offered their due reward. Argentina was
fixed upon, and the foundation of to-day's well organised scheme was
inaugurated through the munificence of the late Baron Hirsch. Under his
last will and testament the financial stability of the colonisation
scheme was secured.
A society representative of Israelites in Berlin, London, Frankfort,
Paris, and Brussels, as well as the Anglo-Jewish and other Hebrew
associations, was formed under English jurisdiction. Only the interest
of the fund left by the baron may be spent in assisting Jewish colonists
to the ownership of their farms, and the tiding over of the inevitable
depressions in agriculture. Every two months the executive of this
society meets in Paris and considers the destinies of Jewish colonists
not only in the Argentine, but in the United States, Canada, Asia Minor,
Palestine, Brazil, and Russia.
The memory of Baron Hirsch is perpetuated in Argentina by the prosperous
colony bearing his name in the province of Buenos Aires. Altogether the
Jewish Colonisation Society owns some 250 leagues of land in the
country. The property in the Baron Hirsch Colony alone covers 44 square
leagues, and is served by three important stations.
In many respects the colonisation of the Jews in the Republic sets an
example in thoroughness that might well be copied. The main purpose of
the scheme--to succour the oppressed--is carried out without prejudicing
the financial security of the society. Houses are provided in each of
the Jewish colonies for the new immigrant, and here the family is cared
for till work on one of the farms has been found for the father. Only
those who have fled from oppression are granted the financial assistance
of the Colonisation Society in establishing their own independence. Jews
from Germany and Great Britain are not granted holdings by the society.
The probable explanation of this rule is that the English or German
emigrant arrives forearmed, and is financially equipped for colonial
enterprise before leaving these free countries.
[Illustration: THE ESPLANADE, MAR DEL PLATA.]
The applicant for a holding, roughly 350 acres, must first of all have
had two years' residence in the country, and show that he has had
practical experience in farm work. His application is sent to Buenos
Aires, where the interests of the Jewish Colonisation Society in the
Argentine are watched by a permanent administration. From there a report
is forwarded to the international executive in Paris before the land is
finally allotted to the applicant. The rest follows the ideals of those
who are working at the rural and agricultural problems in Great Britain.
At practically cost price the land is sold to the new tenant farmer. The
rate of interest charged by the society is 4 per cent. Twenty years for
repayment of the capital is fixed as a minimum as well as a maximum
period. However successful the farmer may be, he is not allowed to
receive the title deeds of his allotment until twenty years have
elapsed. The value of this precaution has often been proved. For one
thing, it hinders any tendency to traffic in the land and to raise
mortgages on the slightest provocation. The successful tenant can always
find use for his year's surplus in developing and improving the estate
which is one day to be his own. On the other hand, the rapid increase in
land values leaves the society on the safe side should the tenant
purchaser be unfortunate or lacking in enterprise. Apart from the land,
the society advances the tenant 3,000 dollars in the form of horses,
machinery, and equipment. In the event of the farmer failing to make his
way, the society only stands to lose a year or two's interest on the
capital outlay. And the natural increase in the value of the land, as I
have before shown, is sufficient to cover any such deficit. A variation
of these conditions operates in the Baron Hirsch Colony. Here, instead
of being advanced the value of 3,000 dollars, the applicant for a farm
has to prove possession of such a sum before he is qualified to take
over an allotment.
With wise foresight the Jewish colonies have been set up in various
parts of the Republic. This prevents the scheme from being dedicated to
one class of agriculture, and enables the colonist to try his hand, say,
at cattle rearing if crop-raising does not prove to his liking. In the
northern colonies the industry is chiefly in cattle, corn, and olive
growing, while in the south the cultivation is chiefly in wheat, rye,
and oats.
A good year sees the industrious farmer with a surplus of anything from
10,000 to 20,000 dollars (Argentine). Should bad weather or working
misfortunes turn the account the other way he has only to apply to the
administration in Buenos Aires, and the money advanced is simply added
to the purchase price of his holding.
On the whole the Jewish colonists are thrifty and prosperous. They have
their own co-operative societies for the purchase of necessities and the
distribution of their products; they have their sick funds and local
hospitals; religious freedom has enabled them to establish their own
tabernacles and to observe the Jewish feasts. They have set a splendid
example in citizenship to their neighbouring colonists. In the
Argentine, perhaps more than elsewhere, the Jews are on the high road to
a restoration of their ancient virility, and are best fulfilling
their destiny as a great race.
With the exception of the Welsh settlements already alluded to, the Jews
stand alone as colonists on purely racial lines. The effectiveness of
their organisation is the measure of their contentment and prosperity.
We have the contrast in the case of other immigrants. Many of them are
captured by the political agitator. They are taught to see in revolt and
industrial uprising the short cut to affluence and ease. Strikes are
frequent, discontent is sown, and time is devoted to attacks upon
authority which might be better employed in individual effort. Politics
are so inseparable from the daily affairs of the country that discontent
in the main becomes wholly political. Its manifestations have no bearing
upon the social and commercial possibilities of the Argentine. With wise
and tolerant government on the one hand, and patience and perseverance
on the other, much of the friction that now arises would disappear.
For it has to be admitted that some of the attacks upon the bureaucracy
are not altogether inexcusable. With the influence of officialdom
forcing itself upon every interest of the working classes, the
inevitable increase in the cost of living, and the instances of
bureaucratic tyranny frequently brought to light, it is not to be
wondered that the unorganised labourer adopts the exaggerated point of
view of the agitator, and sees in revolution alone the pathway to
reform.
In Buenos Aires, for example, the cost of living is greater than
elsewhere, though the scale of wages is also higher. Imported goods are
dear, rent high, efficient labour scarce, and municipal rates heavy. The
result is that even the highly paid worker finds himself with only a
moderate balance when all charges are met.
With the agriculturist things are not so bad. He can produce for himself
most of the necessaries of life, and can avoid many of the burdens of
the townsman in the way of expensive clothing and other imported
luxuries. Strange as it may appear in a country supplying most of the
world's markets, meat in Buenos Aires is nearly as dear as in England.
The same applies to many other commodities produced or producible in the
country. A comparative list shows few things cheaper in the Argentine
than in the Old World.
The cost of the breakfast table might be reduced considerably if more
trouble were taken with what one might describe as the by-products of
agriculture. The people are invariably out for the big deal in cattle or
corn. Insufficient attention is paid to dairy-farming, poultry rearing,
gardening, fruit-growing, and the production of those little comforts
that are now part and parcel of agriculture in England and France. The
cultivator's first and, in the majority of cases, only thought is the
land and its direct yield. With the same opportunities many an English
small-holder would make a quick fortune in Argentina. In this oversight
the Argentine has gone the way of most new countries. The question of
"agricultural smalls," however, as I have shown, is now being considered
in conjunction with the increased cost of living.
Labour is so scarce in some parts that the introduction of Chinese or
Japanese colonists has been suggested. Such a step, however, would
arouse as fierce a criticism as did the introduction of Chinese coolies
on the South African Rand mines. They were tried in Chili, and are by no
means liked. The lumber trade of Posados still requires thousands of
workers. The natives cannot be kept at work to any extent, and to meet
the demand Russians, Poles, and Finns have been brought over in
thousands. Timber for railway sleepers is the principal product. Each
year some two million logs are sent down the Parana River to be used in
railway construction at home and abroad.
The lessons of the great coal strike in England during 1912 were quickly
grasped by the Government of Argentina. Like other countries depending
upon Great Britain for coal supplies, Argentina had to consider the
disastrous consequences of any disorganisation of her transport service.
Substitutes for coal fuel had to be counted. The crisis of this period
proved a blessing in disguise. Government attention was directed towards
the discovery of oil in widely separated districts of the Republic. A
law has now been passed reserving to the Government 12,500 acres of the
petroleum zone of Comodora Rivadavia, and prohibiting the issue of any
mining or proprietary rights. To displace coal, Argentina would require
2,000,000 tons of oil fuel and about 150 wells. A start has been made in
the south, where fresh wells are being sunk at Comodora Rivadavia. Five
wells produced 18,000 tons of petroleum in a year of experiment. In 1913
it rose to 28,000 tons. When the Argentine can turn its attention from
the sources of wealth now being tapped, who knows what will follow the
enterprise in oil? But nothing has been found which would warrant a
"boom" in Argentine oil.
Meanwhile, an annual increase of 1,000,000 tons in the shipping trade of
Buenos Aires has left Argentina, like Oliver Twist, asking for more. The
cattle-breeding industry responds to each stimulus given by the
provision of more refrigerating vessels. The supply of meat is always
greater than the means of distribution. Already America is looking to
the Argentine for meat to augment her own supplies. It is the only
country to which she can turn with confidence. Other parts of the world
have for years been fed from here. The dependence of the outer world
upon the meat and cereals of Argentina almost suggests that the country
was pre-ordained to be the larder of the human family.
For the hunter and traveller, Argentina and its bordering lands have
their full share of attractions. The plains and mountains of the Andean
land are the haunts of the jaguar, puma, wild cat, and various breeds of
wild deer. Its birds include the vulture, hawk, albatross, penguin,
snipe, bustard, partridges of several kinds, as well as singing birds in
great variety. In fact, many of the birds of the mountain and forest
are still unclassified, and are the study of ornithologists and
naturalists from all parts of the world. The martinetta, a big grouse,
brings into sport something of a novelty. It is slow to fly, and is
often caught by snares into which it is driven. For variation, however,
it is forced to take wing by means of a rope dragged by riders across
the path. The rope pulls the martinetta off its feet. As soon as it
flies the third huntsman behind the rope fires. Three are necessary to
form a party, and the turn with the gun is arranged.
A peculiar type of llama is found in these parts. In shape the long neck
and head resemble those of the giraffe and camel respectively. The body
is like that of a donkey and the legs are as graceful as those of a
deer. Their voracity makes them unpopular with sheep breeders, except
for the value of their skins, for it has been estimated that one
guanaco--as they are called--will eat as much grass as nine sheep. The
beautiful humming bird is found in parts of the Argentine as well as in
the Andes. Many of the vultures are also to be seen. The condor is a
bird of such immense size as to be worthy of special mention. From wing
to wing it measures 9 feet. To hatch its eggs it seeks the remote crags
of the Andes, and has been found at an altitude of 20,000 feet.
In Patagonia we are able to revive memories of the schoolroom, and to
see how far juvenile fancy has exaggerated the stature of what the
teacher said were the biggest men in the world. Their actual height is
from 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet 4 inches, but their stature is rendered
more impressive on account of their huge arms and massive chests. As the
name implies, and as the school-reader reminded us, the Patagonians have
huge flat feet. Their adoption of such civilised habiliments as boots
would mean a revolution in the standards of the boot-making industry.
Among travellers the Patagonian has a good reputation for honesty,
amiability, and kindness to his womenfolk. The people have no idols, but
believe in witchcraft.
Patagonia is almost virgin land, and Santa Cruz is, perhaps, the most
dreary region of the country. It is considered, however, to have a
future, and some promising settlements have already been established.
The Patagonian pastures have not as yet been bothered about by
Argentines, because they are still wanting more workers to develop the
enormous northern areas.
The force of the alliance between good government and good health is
ever present to the traveller in South America. The continent has
witnessed the greatest ravages of leprosy. It is significant that the
greater number of lepers are found where governments are unstable and
administration uncertain. In Chili and Argentina, where government is
something more than a symbol, lepers are relatively few, and are
practically disappearing. Farther north the position is worse, and again
there comes the analogy between bad government and disease. Venezuela,
Colombo, and Ecuador, where the life of no government is certain for
above twenty-four hours, are among the worst areas of leprosy. Complete
segregation is the only effective method of coping with the disease.
This can only be accomplished with firm and effective administration.