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ARGENTINA AND HER PEOPLE OF TO-DAY
Works of NEVIN O. WINTER
Mexico and Her People of To-day $3.00
Guatemala and Her People of To-day 3.00
Brazil and Her People of To-day 3.00
Argentina and Her People of To-day 3.00
L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
53 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.
[Illustration: PLAZA DE MAYO, BUENOS AIRES (_See page 35_)]
ARGENTINA AND
HER PEOPLE
OF TO-DAY
AN ACCOUNT OF THE
CUSTOMS, CHARACTERISTICS, AMUSEMENTS,
HISTORY AND ADVANCEMENT
OF THE ARGENTINIANS, AND
THE DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES
OF THEIR COUNTRY
BY
NEVIN O. WINTER
Author of “Mexico and Her People of To-day,”
“Guatemala and Her People of To-day,”
“Brazil and Her People of To-day,” etc.
ILLUSTRATED FROM ORIGINAL AND SELECTED
PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR
[Illustration]
BOSTON
L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY
MDCCCCXI
_Copyright, 1911_,
BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
(INCORPORATED)
_All rights reserved_
First Impression, April, 1911
_Electrotyped and Printed by
THE COLONIAL PRESS
C. H. Simonds & Co., Boston, U.S.A._
TO
Elizabeth Eleanor
AND
Charles Winter
Coyle
PREFACE
The Spaniards who first visited the coast of Argentina, and sailed up
the broad and imposing river that empties into the Atlantic Ocean,
were so impressed with the outlook and prospects, that they named the
country Argentina, which means silvery or silver-like, and bestowed
upon the majestic stream the name Rio de La Plata, which means river
of silver. When their prospectors failed to find the great deposits of
gold and silver, which had been described to them by the natives, this
province lost much of its importance, and soon dwindled into comparative
insignificance. The city, which was founded near the mouth of that river,
continued for more than two centuries a comparatively unimportant place.
It remained for a later age to develop the real wealth of Argentina,
a treasure far greater than mines of gold or silver. The growth of
population, and the increase in manufacturing, to which were devoted the
energies of many European countries, made imperative the development
of new sources of food supplies. The rich pampas of Argentina, which
had heretofore been of comparatively little worth, and of which square
leagues were almost given away by the government to any one who would
pay the taxes, began to attract attention. Experiments showed that the
soil was well adapted to the cultivation of all the cereals grown in
temperate regions. The construction of refrigerator vessels, by means
of which frozen meat could be carried across the equator to Europe, and
delivered there in as good condition as when it was started, stimulated
the live-stock industry to gigantic proportions. The result has been that
Argentina is to-day one of the greatest food-producing countries on the
face of the globe.
At the present time Argentina stands at the head of all the republics
south of the United States in commercial importance. Its imports and
its exports greatly exceed those of any of the other countries, and its
population is rapidly growing. The people are energetic, resourceful and
ambitious. Its capital is one of the great cities of the world. It has
been the aim of the writer in the preparation of this work to present
a complete treatise upon that country, which shall cover not only its
resources, their present development and the possibilities of the future,
and a brief but comprehensive history of the republic, but a study of the
people and their characteristics, and the new race which is growing up
as a result of the amalgamation of the different elements that are now
pouring into it. In the preparation of the work there has been not only
an extensive first-hand study, but the works of the leading writers upon
that country have been consulted, so that the author’s view-point might
be broadened and a more accurate survey result.
The author wishes to acknowledge his obligation to Hon. Charles Hitchcock
Sherrill, Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary of the United
States to Argentina, for many courtesies received at his hands, to the
Pan-American Union and its able director, and to the Bulletin published
under its auspices, for similar courtesies and permission to use two or
three photographs which appear in this work.
TOLEDO, OHIO, _March, 1911_.
[Illustration: MAP of ARGENTINA]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
PREFACE vii
I. THE COUNTRY 1
II. THE METROPOLIS OF THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 22
III. THE CAMP 48
IV. THE RIVER OF SILVER 74
V. THE GARDEN OF THE REPUBLIC 99
VI. THE PROVINCE OF GOOD AIRS 121
VII. THE MYSTERIOUS LAND OF THE PATA-GOAS 136
VIII. CROSSING THE CONTINENT 158
IX. THE PEOPLE AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS 189
X. THE PEOPLE AT PLAY 209
XI. EDUCATION AND THE ARTS 230
XII. THE FORCES OF DEFENCE 246
XIII. RAILROADS AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT 260
XIV. RELIGIOUS FORCES 287
XV. THE STRUGGLE AGAINST OPPRESSION 298
XVI. THE ERA OF DEVELOPMENT 329
XVII. TRADE CONDITIONS IN SOUTH AMERICA 361
XVIII. A PROMISING REPUBLIC 377
APPENDICES 405
INDEX 415
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
PLAZA DE MAYO, BUENOS AIRES (see page 35) _Frontispiece_
MAP OF ARGENTINA _facing_ ix
ON THE UPPER PARANÁ RIVER 4
“GIANT CRANES ARE SWINGING” 25
“THEY FILE AROUND AND AROUND BETWEEN THE PALMS” 29
“THE BROAD AND IMPOSING AVENIDA DE MAYO” 34
THE AVENIDA ALVEAR 35
ONE OF THE PALATIAL HOMES OF BUENOS AIRES 38
“COWS ARE BROUGHT TO THE DOOR” 41
THE RICOLETA CEMETERY 43
“AGRICULTURE HAS SPREAD FAR AND WIDE” 51
THRESHING GRAIN ON AN ESTANCIA 52
“NOT A HANDSOME STRUCTURE, BUT ... RATHER STRIKING” 54
A HERD OF HALF-WILD HORSES 63
“THE HARVESTING MACHINES ARE USUALLY PROPELLED FROM THE REAR” 65
A GAUCHO AND HIS WIFE ON AN OUTING 67
GAUCHOS BRANDING CATTLE 71
A FOREST IN THE GRAN CHACO 90
AN INDIAN WOMAN OF THE GRAN CHACO 95
AMONG THE HILLS OF CORDOBA 109
“A SOMNOLENT ATMOSPHERE SEEMS TO PREVAIL” 124
THE LEGISLATIVE PALACE, LA PLATA 126
PUERTO GALVAN, BAHIA BLANCA 131
A SHEEP DIP 143
NATIVE INDIANS OF PATAGONIA 148
USELESS BAY, TIERRA DEL FUEGO 151
A GLIMPSE OF THE ANDES FROM MENDOZA 167
CROSSING THE ANDES 175
“THE CHRIST OF THE ANDES” 176
A GROUP OF PEONS 193
ONE OF ARGENTINA’S DAUGHTERS 200
BLACK-HAIRED CHILDREN OF ARGENTINA 203
THE HIPPODROMO, BUENOS AIRES 210
A SUMMER COTTAGE AT EL TIGRE 216
“IMPOSING CREEPER-CLAD COTTAGES ARE DOTTED ALONG THE BANK” 217
MAR DEL PLATA 222
ON THE BEACH, MAR DEL PLATA 227
A SECONDARY SCHOOL 232
THE COLUMBUS THEATRE, BUENOS AIRES 245
A POLICEMAN OF ARGENTINA 248
THE ARMOURED CRUISER, “PUEYRREDON” 257
BRIDGE OF THE INCAS 267
RAILWAY STATION, SANTA FÉ 274
CHURCH IN CORRIENTES, BUILT IN 1588 289
SAN MARTIN AND O’HIGGINS AT LA CUMBRE, CROSSING THE ANDES
INTO CHILE 316
TYPICAL WAGONS OF THE PAMPAS 341
ROLLS OF PAPER FROM GERMANY 364
CONGRESS PALACE AND THE PLAZA, BUENOS AIRES 381
SHIPPING HIDES TO THE UNITED STATES 394
ARGENTINA AND HER PEOPLE OF TO-DAY
CHAPTER I
THE COUNTRY
With the single exception of Brazil, Argentina is the largest country in
South America. It is about one-third the size of the United States. It
is as large as the United States east of the Mississippi River, with a
state the size of Texas added. The area is one million one hundred and
thirty-eight thousand square miles. It is twelve times as extensive as
the British Isles and five times the size of France. Argentina extends
over thirty-three degrees of latitude, its northern limit being one
degree within the Tropic of Capricorn. Buenos Aires, the capital, is
about as far south of the equator as Atlanta is north, and is as far
east of Washington as Newfoundland. It has a frontage on the Atlantic
of sixteen hundred miles, almost as long as our own Atlantic shore.
Its width varies greatly. The widest place is about nine hundred miles,
and then it decreases again to the south until the mainland at its
southernmost point is only one hundred and fifty miles across. The
Argentine portion of Tierra del Fuego is a triangle about fifty-five
miles on each side. The most of its limitations are natural boundaries,
either of rivers or mountains. The national boundary between Chile
and Argentina, which has been the cause of so much contention, is the
backbone of the continent, and its longitude is still east of New York.
The topography of Argentina is very varied. Some, perhaps, think of it
only as a flat and level country. This is true of the pampas, where for
hundreds of miles there is scarcely a rise as high as a barn. Argentina
probably contains the greatest stretch of level and fertile plains in the
world, whose possibilities have hardly been touched upon. But Argentina
is not all level. It contains within its borders the very highest
mountain peak in the world outside of the Himalayas, mighty Aconcagua,
which pierces the ether up to a height of twenty-four thousand feet. It
also possesses Tupungato, another lofty peak of the Andean range. The
pampas are entirely treeless except for groves which have been planted by
man. But Argentina does not lack timber, for there are tracts larger than
many European kingdoms which are covered with fine forests. The climate
is equally diversified. One may broil in the wilderness of the Chaco,
and shiver with the cold in Southern Patagonia. In fact there is almost
as much difference in the climate as you would find between Sicily and
Iceland. On the Andes slopes there is very little rain, but up in the
territory of Misiones you reach the region of tropical downpours. Thus it
is that you can find a representative type of almost any kind of climate
and almost every variety of soil.
The Rio de la Plata is the second largest river system in the world. It
is one of the three main outlets from the interior of South America to
the sea, and carries almost twice as much water as the Mississippi. At
its mouth the river is one hundred and eighty miles across from Cape San
Antonio, Uruguay, to Cape Santa Maria, in Argentina. A little further
inland, which some consider as the real mouth, the distance is one
hundred and forty miles. Opposite Montevideo the width has narrowed down
to sixty-five miles, and at Buenos Aires it is about twenty-eight miles
from shore to shore. Just above Buenos Aires the river is divided into a
number of forks, which form an extensive delta through which the great
branches run and a number of islands have been created. The principal
branches of this river in Argentina are the Paraná, Uruguay and Paraguay.
The Uruguay River rises in Brazil, less than one hundred miles from the
Atlantic Ocean, and has a length of one thousand miles. The Paraguay
and Paraná Rivers also have their sources in Brazil, near the centre of
the continent, and the former has a length of seventeen hundred miles
before its waters mingle with the latter. It has two tributaries, the
Pilcomayo and Bermejo, which are navigable for small craft. Each of these
rivers is more than five hundred miles long, but they are exceedingly
tortuous, so that navigation is rather difficult and uncertain. The
Paraná River reaches way up into Brazil. It has its source only a few
miles from one of the principal tributaries of the Amazon, over a stretch
of swampy ground of which a part of the water flows into one river and
part into the other. All of these rivers carry down immense quantities
of mud. In places the deposit on the river bottom is from thirteen to
twenty-five feet deep, and it has many banks and shoals. The problem of
keeping channels open to Buenos Aires is a big one, and many dredges are
kept constantly at work. It is generally believed that the interior of
Argentina was at one time a vast inland sea, and that the flat plains
have been formed by the soil which has been deposited by these rivers
during the prehistoric geological ages. The waters of the Atlantic are
coloured by this mud long before the mouth of the river is reached. The
water in the bath-tub looks almost like thin pea soup.
[Illustration: ON THE UPPER PARANÁ RIVER]
The range of temperature and climatic conditions is very great. In
the extreme northern provinces the temperature is similar to that of
Mexico and Florida. On the central pampas the summer heat is connatural
with that of Southern California and Tennessee, while the winter
temperature resembles that of the Ohio Valley. The thermometric range
between the extremes of heat and cold, however, is much less than in
the corresponding latitudes of the northern hemisphere. In general the
climate of the central pampas may be said to correspond roughly with
that of the great cereal producing sections of North America, although
the yearly average is rather higher and the fluctuations are somewhat
less violent. It is better adapted for the growth of grain and raising
of stock then the newly opened provinces of Canada and is more habitable
for man. In fact the name of Buenos Aires (good airs), applied to a city
and province, is not a misnomer. North of Buenos Aires snow is rare and
frost unusual, except in the higher altitudes. South of there it grows
progressively colder as one travels towards Cape Horn.
In the matter of rainfall, also, there are great variations in different
sections. The zonal distribution of rainfall runs in belts from east
to west. This is due to the prevailing winds. The great agricultural
district receives from twenty to forty inches annually, or about the same
as the region around the Great Lakes of the United States. West of this
is a narrow strip that receives only about half of this amount of rain,
and then along the slopes of the Andes is a belt which does not receive
to exceed ten inches. This would favourably compare with New Mexico and
Arizona. In Patagonia the conditions are reversed and the arid belt is
along the Atlantic coast, while the districts near the Andes receive
a fair amount of rainfall. This distribution of rainfall is of utmost
importance in the development of the country. As agriculture extends it
occupies the watered area, and the pastoral industry is driven little
by little farther into the more arid sections. Sheep and cattle are
gradually moving west and southwest into the semi-arid districts. The
province of Buenos Aires, which a few years ago was the pastoral centre,
is now one of the most important agricultural sections. As the process
continues it will become increasingly necessary to open up more southerly
ports for the shipment of animal products, while the northerly ports will
remain the chief exporters of grain.
There are at least a half billion acres of fertile arable land in
Argentina, that can be turned to the cultivation of products for the
sustenance of man. All of this land is easily accessible to the Atlantic.
There are no natural barriers such as transverse ranges of mountains.
The northern provinces can reach Rosario or Buenos Aires by the La Plata
system of waterways, while the rest of the country can, by the simplest
railway construction, be joined up with one of those ports, or with
Bahia Blanca, or one of the new ports in Patagonia. At present these
three ports are the only ones needed, or that will be until Patagonia
has undergone greater development. Only the upper edge of the country is
within the tropics. From there as far south as Buenos Aires the climate
is almost that of the Gulf States, while that city has a climate very
similar to Los Angeles. The heat in summer is sometimes oppressive, but
not more so than in New York or Chicago. It is doubtful whether there are
so many of those oppressive humid days in the southern as in the northern
metropolis. It is never so cold in winter as to prevent out-of-door
life. Even in Tierra del Fuego the winter climate is no more severe than
that of Northern Michigan. The pampas of middle Argentina probably have
less rain than our own middle west. Water is, however, not far below the
surface, and wells are easy to construct for the windmills, which form
so prominent a feature of the landscape on the _estancias_. In Misiones
the landscape is Brazilian, and in parts of Patagonia it resembles
Arizona, only they do not have such extreme drouths. Anything that can
be successfully raised in the United States can be grown in Argentina,
and generally much cheaper. The country, however, lacks our great
mineral wealth. Iron is scarcer than gold, and coal is imported by the
millions of tons each year. Great discoveries may be made in the future,
but Argentina will never be a great competitor of the United States in
mineral products.
Argentina is a land of big things. Farms are reckoned by the square
league, consisting of nearly six thousand acres, instead of by the paltry
acre. All grains are measured and sold by the metric ton of twenty-two
hundred and five pounds, instead of by the diminutive bushel. That
country is now the greatest flax-producing country in the world, and
ranks third in wheat and second in corn. It has more horses than any
country except Russia and the United States, more sheep than any country
except Australia, and is exceeded in the number of cattle only by the
United States. If all the sheep in Argentina were marched across the
United States two abreast they would form a solid column reaching from
Sandy Hook to the Golden Gate. Argentina contains within her borders the
largest city in the southern hemisphere, and the second Latin city in
the world. She probably exports more foodstuffs than any nation on the
globe, if you include both meat and grains. And yet the real resources
of the country have only been scratched on the surface. It is predicted
by good authority that the United States will have to import meat from
foreign markets before a not very distant day. There is no other country
that can be looked to except Argentina with her millions of sheep and
cattle and thousands of fertile leagues that invite development. A
brilliant future certainly awaits this great republic on South American
soil, and North Americans may well inform themselves upon the country,
its people and resources.
Argentina might be divided into two parts, Buenos Aires and the Camp—the
name given to the country. Buenos Aires is at once the London, New
York and Paris of the republic and dominates the country as no other
capital of the world does. It is the largest Spanish-speaking city in
the world, being more than twice as large as Madrid. In the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, was a far
more important place. It contains most of the factories of the country,
receives the greater part of the foreign trade, does the banking of
the nation through its great moneyed institutions, and is the social
and business centre where the money made by those in the interior of
the republic is spent. It is growing at the rate of nearly one hundred
thousand persons each year. The large admixture of foreigners coming in
keep this city, as well as the nation, up to date. New ideas are thus
brought in from everywhere, and the latest inventions and improvements
follow. The Spanish type has been considerably modified by the foreign
commingling so that this capital is now as cosmopolitan as any in the
world.
Most people are accustomed to think of all the South American republics
as _opera bouffe_ affairs. Unfortunately there has been too much
foundation for that reputation in the past. This has probably been
the greatest obstacle to advancement hitherto. Paraguay is still in
that condition, and Uruguay has its almost annual struggle between the
_blancos_ (whites) and _colorados_ (reds). These uprisings are generally
trivial affairs and do not deserve the importance given them. There are,
as a rule, no great principles involved, and the struggle is primarily
for the control of the government between different leaders. They are
usually of short duration and attended with little bloodshed. They are
due to that mediæval idea so strongly intrenched in the Spanish character
that changes can only be brought about by fighting. The idea of settling
these questions at the ballot box has not been fully developed. The
writer was in Uruguay during one of these revolutions, and Montevideo was
as quiet as one could expect to find a city of that size. A great many
young men had fled for fear of conscription in the army. The only way in
which he was discommoded was by the necessity of going to the authorities
to get a permit to leave the city, as no one could embark on a steamer
without this government passport. This revolution was the most severe one
that they had had for five years. There had been several conflicts in
the interior between the _blancos_ and _colorados_, and some blood shed.
Argentina was blamed by the press for the trouble, as it was alleged that
Argentina wanted to create disorder and then seize the country on the
plea that only in that way could property interests be protected.
Argentina in times past went through the same performances. Revolution
followed revolution and dictator followed dictator; but that time has
passed. The principal reminder left is the despotic and arbitrary rule
of the prevailing party. The “elections” are controlled and manipulated
by the party in power. It is always easy to foretell who will be the
successful candidate by looking at his support. A political campaign was
in progress during the writer’s visit, so that he had an opportunity
to observe the trend. The billboards and fences were covered with
proclamations of the candidates and announcements of their policies,
mass meetings were held in the Plaza de Mayo, and other public places,
but the administration had selected its own successor and there never
was the slightest doubt as to the result. Although these high-handed
methods still prevail, it is daily growing less possible for serious
disturbances to arise. The building of railroads and telegraphs has
brought the different sections into touch with each other. The great
investment of foreign capital has had a steadying influence toward more
stable conditions, and has compelled the leaders to appreciate the
necessity for improved political conditions because of the country’s need
for additional foreign gold in developing its natural resources. They
realize that such aid can only be secured by carefully safeguarding
the financial, commercial and industrial interests, and they have set
themselves at work to provide the necessary guarantees of good behaviour.
The Argentine Republic consists of fourteen provinces, ten territories
and the Federal District. The provinces are autonomous in their interior
government, while the territories are ruled by a governor who is
appointed by the President. The Federal District, which includes Buenos
Aires, is administered by an _intendente_, or mayor, appointed by the
President, and assisted by a municipal council elected by the people. The
Argentine Republic has established the federal idea of a union of states
as its form of government. The constitution, which was adopted in 1860,
is modelled closely after that of the United States. The only changes
since that time have been some amplifications of the original articles.
The legislative power is invested in a National Congress which consists
of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. There are thirty senators and one
hundred and twenty deputies. They receive a salary of eighteen thousand
dollars per year in paper money. Senators are elected by the legislatures
of the provinces, which are really states, for a term of nine years, and
to be eligible for election the candidate must be thirty years of age
and have an annual income of two thousand dollars. Each state and the
Federal District is entitled to two senators. One-third of the Senate is
elected every three years. Deputies are elected for a term of four years
by direct popular vote in the proportion of one to every thirty-three
thousand inhabitants, and one-half are elected every two years. They must
be twenty-five years of age and have been citizens of the republic for
four years. The President is elected by electors who are chosen by the
people for a term of six years. Neither the President, nor Vice-President
are eligible to succeed themselves without one term intervening. The
President is assisted by a cabinet of eight members, who are designated
as follows: Interior, Foreign Affairs and Worship, Finance, Justice and
Public Instruction, War, Marine, Public Works, and Agriculture. The
Vice-President is also president of the Senate. Each province has its own
courts, but there are national courts of appeal and first instance as
well. The Supreme Court consists of five judges, who are appointed for
life by the President.
The centralization, or nationalization, of the nation has gone ahead
rapidly in recent years. The forcible separation of the city of Buenos
Aires from the province of the same name was one of the best things ever
done by the government. In removing the preponderance of Buenos Aires
the constant friction between that province, on the one hand, and all
the other provinces, on the other, was removed. Railroads have been
subsidized and immigration encouraged by the national government, in the
effort to develop the country. The post-office has been brought to great
efficiency, and its service is rapid and trustworthy. The telegraph lines
are nearly all controlled by the government, although private ownership
is not prohibited. Of the thirty-five thousand miles of telegraph wires,
enough to go around the globe once and a quarter times, perhaps one-half
are owned by the national government and one-fourth by the provinces. The
greater part of the income is from customs receipts, and the national
government also contributes toward the support of the provinces and
territories in order to equalize taxation. The government has learned
lessons from former experiences in the fluctuation of money values, so
that the paper dollar, or peso, has been officially fixed at forty-four
cents gold. Exchange does not vary more than a fraction of a cent from
that rate at the present time.
The first European navigator to discover the Rio de la Plata was Juan de
Solis, a Spanish captain, in the year 1508, while in search of a passage
to the Pacific Ocean. Magellan did not visit these shores until 1520. A
chronicler who was with Magellan says that the “gigantic natives called
canibali ate de Solis and sixty men who had gone to discover land, and
trusted too much to them.” The first settlement was established at Buenos
Aires in 1536 by Pedro de Mendoza, who has been termed a freebooter, and
who was made governor by the Spanish Crown. This settlement was destroyed
shortly afterward by the hostile Indians, and no permanent settlement was
established on the mud flats of the “river of silver” until nearly forty
years later.
During the succeeding centuries the Spaniards did all that they could
to exploit this country and check all advancement. The only aborigines
were wild and nomadic Indians. Argentina was for a long time subject
to the vice-regency of Peru, and many of the settlements were made by
explorers who came across the Andes. In this way Tucuman was founded in
1565, Cordoba in 1573 and Santa Fé in the same year. The Jesuits spread
their settlements along the rivers far up into Paraguay and Brazil, and
laid the foundation of that mighty power which lasted for two centuries.
They subdued the Indians and turned them into peons or labourers,
but otherwise treated them kindly. For a long while the history of
Argentina is merely a record of the internecine struggles of a loosely
connected province. The settlements were wide apart and there was no
homogeneity. Portugal and Spain fought with each other for supremacy
and the settlement of the lines of demarkation. It was not until the
time of our own declaration of independence that Spain finally realized
the importance of this colony and made it a vice-regency, Dom Pedro de
Cevallos being named as the first viceroy. The Jesuits were expelled and
much of their property confiscated. Some good grew out of this change, as
a number of the viceroys were men of ability and integrity. The spirit of
independence, however, grew and the feeling of revolt steadily increased.
In 1805 Great Britain, then at war with Spain, attempted to capture
the city of Buenos Aires, which had already become an important trade
centre, but was repulsed on several occasions. This was done by the
provincials with scarcely any help from Spain, and success gave them
confidence in themselves. On the 25th of May, 1810, independence from
Spain was formally declared, and this patriotic movement did not cease
until actual independence was achieved several years later. The first
Congress was summoned in 1816, and the United Provinces of the La Plata
River were formally organized. The first president was elected in 1825,
and Don Bernardo Rivadavia was chosen to that position. Uruguay was at
one time forcibly annexed by Brazil, and this action precipitated a war
with Brazil. Argentina championed the smaller state, as a result of which
the independence of Uruguay was guaranteed. Internal wars and revolutions
were numerous in the early days of the republic, for ambitious leaders
were everywhere fighting each other. In 1820 there were a dozen changes
of government. The services of several progressive and able presidents
brought order out of chaos, established the country’s credit and set the
country onward toward the era of progress and prosperity which she has
now enjoyed for a number of years.
From this it will be seen that the early history of the Argentine
Republic is permeated with the smell of blood, and that there has been
much human sacrifice. After studying the history of the many wars and
conditions one can readily read the disappointment and sadness of heart
contained in the political document left by General Bolivar, which
concludes with the words, “I have ploughed in the sea.” Europe at one
time went through similar conditions, but it is doubtful whether in
their worst stage the middle ages equalled the first half-century of the
history of the Latin-American republics. Out of the troublous times of
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Europe emerged nations which had
been strengthened by the lessons of adversity learned in the internecine
struggles of that period, in which principle was opposed to oppression in
every form. The iniquitous policy of the Inquisition superimposed upon
excessive taxation brought about revolt among the Spanish colonies. In
their struggles the colonists have our deepest sympathies, for it was a
revolt against tyranny in its worst form. After freedom, however, the
colonists were still Spaniards, and a turbulent nature had been inherited.
To this inherited trait can be traced the revolutions, civil wars and
political turmoils that have followed. To this fact can be attributed the
tardy economic development of many of the South American republics, and
even of Argentina until the last quarter of a century. This spirit has
now been almost eliminated in Argentina, which has probably progressed
farther in this respect than any of her sister republics. The signs that
the old Spanish character is losing its baneful grip on this country
are multiplying each day. It has been a long and hard lesson for the
Argentinians to learn that political freedom does not mean unrestrained
license, but it is being more clearly interpreted each year. The
conditions are better understood when compared with Uruguay, Paraguay or
Venezuela, where political conditions are still as they were in Argentina
a half-century ago. Travel is safe, investments are secure, and perhaps
the most severe criticism that one can make is that so great a dependence
is placed upon a material prosperity.