THE SOUTH AMERICAN SERIES
Edited by Martin Hume
Each Volume Demy 8vo, cloth.
Second Edition
VOL. I.
CHILE
Its History and Development, Natural Features, Products,
Commerce and Present Conditions. By G. F. Scott
Elliott, M.A., F.R.G.S., Author of "A Naturalist in Mid
Africa." With an Introduction by Martin Hume, a Map,
and many Illustrations.
"An exhaustive and interesting account, not only of the turbulent
history of this country but of her present conditions and seeming
prospects." — Westminster Gazette.
VOL. II.
PERU
Its Former and Present Civilisation, History and Exist-
ing Conditions, Topography and Natural Resources,
Commerce and General Development. By C. Reginald
Enock, F.R.G.S., Author of "The Andes and the Amazon."
With an Introduction by Martin Hume, a Map, and
numerous Illustrations.
"An important work. . . . The writer possesses a quick eye and
a keen intelligence ; is many-sided in his interests, and on certain
subjects speaks as an expert. The volume deals fully with the
development of the country, and is written in the same facile and
graphic style as before. Illustrated by a large number of excellent
photographs."— TAe Times.
VOL. III.
Second Edition
MEXICO
Its Ancient and Modern Civilisation, History and Political
Conditions, Topography and Natural Resources, Industries
and General Development. By C. Reginald Enock, F.R.G.S.
With an Introduction by Martin Hume, a Map, and 64
Full-page Illustrations.
" Mr. Enock unites to a terse and vivid literary style the commercial
instinct and trained observation of a shrewd man of affairs." — Aberdeen
Free Press.
"Mr. Enock transmutes the hard material of ancient chronicles into
gleaming romance ; he describes scenery with a poet's skill. Full of
charm he makes his pages, alluring as a fairy tale, an epic stirring and
virile." — Manchester City News.
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN
NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
ARGENTINA
H-Wp^^-^^"^^
ARGENTINA
W\ A^^^HIRST
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
MARTIN HUME, M.A.
WITH A MAP AND SIXTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS
T.
FISHER
UNWIN
LONDON
LEIPSIC
ADELPHI
TERRACE
INSELSTRASSE 20
MCMX
/
!^>^
{All rights reserved.)
PREFACE
In establishing the commercial and industrial greatness
of Argentina my countrymen have co-operated with her
people for a longer time and more efficiently than any
other foreign nation. The land and the people are
therefore a subject of lively interest to Englishmen,
and it is hoped that this sketch, however inadequate,
will help towards a closer knowledge of Argentina. I
have received much valuable assistance from many
sources, but I do not indicate them, because I do not
wish to shift the blame for any inaccuracies that may
be found in these pages. For all such mistakes I am
solely responsible.
April 22, 1910.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2007 with funding from
IVIicrosoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/argentinaOOhirsuoft
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION ...... XV
CHAPTER
I. THE COUNTRY — ITS FOUR DIVISIONS — THE RIVERS
— THE CLIMATE . . . .1
II. EARLIEST HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY . . l6
III. THE EUROPEAN CONQUEST . . . . 24
IV. THE SPANISH DOMINION • • • 33
V. THE SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM . . -49
VI. THE ENGLISH FAILURE IN ARGENTINA. . 65
VU. THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE . . - 1^
VIII. ANARCHY AND DESPOTISM — THE WAR WITH
PARAGUAY ..... 87
IX. MODERN ARGENTINA — SETTLEMENT AND PROGRESS 99
X. THE CONSTITUTION — THE ARMY AND NAVY —
GENERAL POLITICAL CONDITIONS . .Ill
XI. CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE — WAGES AND COST
OF LIVING — IMMIGRATION . . . - 12$
ix
X CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAOB
XII. BUENOS AIRES ..... I39
XIII. ARGENTINE LIFE IN TOWN AND COUNTRY . I52
XIV. RELIGION — EDUCATION — JOURNALISM AND LITERA-
TURE . . . . . .158
XV. INDUSTRIAL ARGENTINA — RAILWAYS AND MINOR .
ENTERPRISES .... I78
XVI. THE PASTORAL INDUSTRIES OF ARGENTINA . I96
XVII. COMMERCE AND FINANCE . . . 2IO
XVIII. AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL PRODUCTS . . 225
XIX. BAHIA BLANCA AND PATAGONIA . . 238
XX. ACROSS THE CONTINENT TO MENDOZA UNDER
THE ANDES ..... 254
XXI. THE PARANA, ROSARIO, AND SANTA FE . 265
XXII. THE GRAN CHACO AND THE NORTHERN TOWNS . 275
XXIII. INFORMATION FOR ENGLISH TRAVELLERS . 284
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..... 295
INDEX . . . . . . 303
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PLAZA DE MAYO, BUENOS AIRES . . . .Frontispiece
Photo kindly lent by the Proprietors of La Argentina
FACING PAGE
PLATELAYERS, BUENOS AIRES CENTRAL RAILWAY . . .5
Photo kindly lent by the Buenos Aires Central Railway
ACONCAGUA ....... 9
Photo kindly lent by the Buenos Aires PaciHc Railway
A LONELY SCENE, SIERRA DE LA VENTANA . . .12
Photo kindly lent by the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway
ANDINE PASS . . ...... 15
Photo kindly lent by the South American Misnionary Society
TROOP OF MARES . . . . . . .27
La Argentina photo
RIVER LANDING STAGE . . . . . .29
Photo kindly lent by Bovril, Ltd.
BULL CALF . . . . . . .29
Bovril, Ltd. photo
PATAGONIANS . . . . . .43
S. A. M. S. photo
THE RIVER URUGUAY . . . . . -73
Photo kindly lent by Lemco & Ozo
BOUNDARY LINE IN THE ANDES . . . . .82
La Argentina photo
A SHEEP RUN . . . . . . .87
La Argentina photo
PASEO AL BOSQUE, LA PLATA (PROVINCIAL CAPITAL) . . lOI
La Argentina photo
Xll
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ESTANCIA .......
B. A. G. S. R. photo
STATUE OF CHRIST .....
B. A. P. R. photo
RACECOURSE, LA PLATA .....
B. A. G. S. R. photo
CRUISER, SAir MARTIN .....
La Argentina photo
THE PERMANENT WAY, BUENOS AIRES CENTRAL RAILWAY
B. A. C. R. photo
PALERMO PARK, BUENOS AIRES ....
B. A. P. R. photo
FACING PAGE
. I02
109
III
. 120
. 129
. 145
IMPORTED STALLION, " CYLLENE, WINNER OF THE ASCOT CUP . I47
Photo kindly lent by Mr. Clarence Hailey, High-street, Newmarket
IMPORTED STALLION, "DIAMOND JUBILEE," LATE PROPERTY OF
H.M. KING EDWARD VII. ....
Mr. Clarence Hailey's photo
CATTLE DRINKING ......
Lemco & Oxo photo
THE PAMPAS .
B. A. G. S. R. photo I
GOVERNMENT HOUSE, CORDOBA ... *
La Argentina photo
MAR DEL PLATA ......
B. A. G. S. R. photo
FREIGHT TRAIN FOR ENTRE RIOS CROSSING NEW BRIDGE
B. A. C. R. photo
LOCOMOTIVE, BUENOS AIRES GREAT SOUTHERN RAILWAY
B. A. G. S. R. photo
RAILWAY STATION, BUENOS AIRES GREAT SOUTHERN RAILWAY
B. A. G. S. R. photo
RAILWAY CARRIAGE, BUENOS AIRES CENTRAL RAILWAY .
B. A. C. R. photo
ABERDEEN ANGUS CATTLE, SANTA MARIA, ENTRE RIOS .
Lemco & Oxo photo
LINCOLN CHAMPION. EXHIBITED BY MR. M. J. COBO
La Argentina photo
150
162
176
178
183
185
188
196
201
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii
AN ESTANCIERO S HOUSE
B. A. G. 8. R. photo
LEMCO AND OXO PREMISES .
Lemco & Oxo photo
PURE BRED HEREFORD BULL (OXO)
Lemco & Oxo photo
PEDIGREE COW AND CALF .
Lemco and Oxo photo
ESTANCIA SANTA MARIA
Lemco and Oxo photo
GROUP OF HEREFORDS
Lemco & Oxo photo
LA CROZE TRAMWAY, NEAR BUENOS AIRES
B. A. C. R. photo
COUNTRY LIFE IN ARGENTINA
B. A. C, R. photo
THE PRINCIPAL STREET OF MENDOZA
B. A. P. R. photo
A MENDOZA VINEYARD
B. A. P. R. photo
BULLOCK-BREAKING IN JUJUY
S. A. M. S. photo
AN OSTRICH . . . . .
Bovril, Ltd. photo
LA VENTANA . . . . .
B. A. G. S. R. photo
TANDIL ROCKING-STONE
B. A. G. S. R. photo
CHUBUT VALLEY . . . .
Photo kindly lent by the Chubut Railway
AMONG THE CACTUS . . . .
S. A. M. S. photo
ST. DAVID'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, CHUBUT .
S. A. M. S. photo
INDIAN CHILD . . . .
S. A. M. S. photo
FACIKG PAGE
. 203
. 205
. 207
. 208
. 210
. 210
. 221
. 227
. 229
. 229
• 234
• 234
. 238
. 241
.245
. 250
. 250
. 250
XIV
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A VIEW OF TIERRA DEL FUEGO
La Argentina photo
GUANACOS IN THE PARK OF MR. HECTOR COBO
La Argentina photo
RIVER MENDOZA ....
B. A. P. R. photo
THE HOTEL, PUENTE DEL INCA
B. A. P. R. photo
PUENTE DEL INCA ....
B. A. P. R. photo
VIEW OF MARSHY COUNTRY, BUENOS AIRES CENTRAL RAILWAY
B. A. C. R. photo
QUAY ON THE RIVER URUGUAY
Lemco & Oxo photo
COLON, ENTRE RIOS
Lemco & Oxo photo
ROSARIO, THE LAW COURTS.
La Argentina photo
CALLE CORDOBA, ROSARIO .
La Argentina photo
THE IGUAZU FALLS ....
La Argentina photo
CHIRIGUANOS AND MATACOS
S. A. M. S. photo
CAMP TRAVEL ....
S. A. M. S, photo
TUCUMAN .....
La Argentina photo
PACKET STEAM NAVIGATION CO.'S ORCOMA
Photo kindly lent by the Pacific Steam Navigation Co.
FACING PAGE
• 254
. 256
. 258
. 261
. 263
. 266
. 266
. 268
. 271
. 274
. 276
. 276
. 282
.285
INTRODUCTION
The most stupendous achievement ever attained by a
nation in so short a time was the discovery, conquest,
and settlement of Mexico and South America by Spain
within the compass of a century. To fix indelibly and
for ever upon the peoples of a vast continent the
language, religion, customs, polity, and laws of a nation
on the other side of the globe called for qualities, which
could only be temporarily evoked by an irresistible
common sentiment. The sentiment which gave to
Spain for a time the potency to carry through simul-
taneously the tasks of imposing religious orthodoxy
upon Christendom and founding her great colonial
empire was pride : pride of religion, race, and person,
deliberately fostered by rulers for political ends. This
origin of the delusive strength that carried the Con-
quistadores through an untracked continent regardless of
perils and sufferings, and made South America Spanish,
rendered inevitable that the rewards, national and indi-
vidual, should disappoint the recipients. For pride and
its concomitant covetousness are never satisfied ; and
the frenzied thirst for rapid riches and distinction that
spurred the Spanish explorers and conquerors onward
rarely ended in the idle luxurious dignity that was their
goal, and it ultimately brought to the mother country
nought but penury and degradation.
xvi INTRODUCTION
It was ignorance of economic truth that led Spaniards
in the sixteenth century to regard the possession of the
precious metals as wealth, regardless of circumstances :
and the error coloured the whole domination of Spain
in the New World. That the nation and the individual
should hope to become permanently powerful and rich
by obtaining vast stores of the metallic medium whilst
discouraging productive industry appears to modern
ideas ridiculous, but to the discoverers of America it
was regarded as quite the natural course of events. The
effect is seen in the rapid subjection and development of
the regions believed to be rich in the precious metals,
and the comparative neglect of the vast territories where
patience and the labour of man were needed to win
nature's abundant bounty from the fertile soil.
The west side of the South American Continent,
though furthest from Europe, therefore took precedence
of the eastern coast in the efforts and regards of the
conquerors. When the piled-up riches of the Incas
and the inexhaustible mines of the Peruvian Andes
beckoned to the greedy adventurers from the mother
country, the endless alluvial pampas and dense primeval
forests of the east might call in vain. From Panama
down the Pacific Coast, therefore, the main tide of con-
quest and empire flowed, drawn by the magnet gold ;
and on the northern continent a similar course was
taken. The Aztec empire with its accumulated treasures
absorbed an ever-increasing stream of Spaniards, whilst
the more northern territories now included in the
United States were left later to English settlers, whose
hopes were not centred upon wringing yellow metal
from the earth, but upon founding a free new agricultural
England across the sea.
Thus it happened that to navigators in search of the
short cut to Asia rather than to the typical Conquistador
I
INTRODUCTION
xvu
was left the first exploration of what we now know is the
coming emporium of the South American Continent and
its permanent centre of productive prosperity. Domingo
de Solis, chief pilot of Spain, was sent by Charles V.
to South America not as a settler, or primarily as a gold-
seeker, but as an explorer ; and when in 1508 he entered
the noble Bay of Rio Janeiro it seemed at last that the
object of his quest was gained, and that here was the
coveted waterway to the East. But he soon found out
his mistake, and when, sailing further south, he crossed
the wide estuary of the River Plate, his hopes again rose
that this tremendous volume of water, a hundred and
fifty miles wide at the mouth, was not a river merely, but
the ocean channel to the Pacific. Returning home with
his hopes still high Solis, was authorised by his sovereign
to explore his important discovery, and in 15 16 he sailed
into the delta of the great network of streams that have
brought down upon their bosoms from the far Andes in
the course of ages a large portion of the continent as
we now know it.
To the Spaniard's eyes the land was not inviting. Far
stretching plains of waving grasses, great expanses of
marsh and swamp, league after league. No palaces and
temples of hewn stone, like those of Peru and Mexico,
met the eye here ; no promise of gold in the fat alluvial
soil ; no cities where the arts were practised and treasure
accumulated. Such Indians as there were differed vastly
from the mild serfs of the Incas. Nomad savages were
these ; robust, stout, and hardy, elusive of pursuit and
impossible of subjection in their wandering disunity.
For three hundred miles through the endless pampa-
country Solis sailed onward up the stream, his hopes that
this way led to the Indies gradually fading as he pro-
gressed, until he and his men fell into a trap laid for
them by the pampa Indians and were slaughtered.
xviii INTRODUCTION
Four years afterwards Magellan on his epoch-making
voyage sailed up the great river ; but he too fell a victim
to the perils of the way in the Asiatic seas, and never
returned to Spain to tell of his discoveries in the heart of
South America. Then Sebastian Cabot, the Englishman
in the service of Spain, was sent to explore, and if
possible to take possession of the land for Charles V. ;
for the Portuguese claimed indefinite territory in this
direction under the convention of Tordesillas, and it
behoved Spain to assert ownership before it was too late.
High up the river Paraguay Cabot found a country with
different features and peopled by another race. Silver
ornaments, too, he found in plenty amongst these
Guaranies, to whom distant echoes of Inca influence had
reached across the wastes and mountains to the west.
But here, many hundreds of miles from the ocean and
far from any base of supplies, it was impracticable for
Cabot with the resources at his disposal to effect a settle-
ment, and he also returned to Spain with his story of
silver as an incentive for further expeditions.
This was in 1527, and in the following year the first
attempt to establish a permanent footing on the Plate
was made by the building of a fort at Rosario, but this
was soon abandoned for a site on the sea coast of what
is now a part of Brazil to the north of the river. In the
meantime the Portuguese were busy advancing their
posts to the north of the delta in order to assert their
claims ; and in face of this, rather than because remuner-
ative metallic treasure from the new territory was to be
expected, Charles V. authorised an extensive colonising
experiment to be made and the great waterway and its
banks claimed for Spain. The stirring history of Men-
doza's attempts to found a settlement on the Parana, the
establishment of Buenos Aires and its abandonment
again and again, the fateful colonisation of Asuncion,
I
INTRODUCTION xk
far up the river in the heart of the continent, the heroic
adventures of Irala, Ayolas, and Cabeza de Vaca, and the
reconquest of the river territories down to the sea from
the isolated Spanish post of Asuncion eight hundred miles
up stream, is adequately told in Mr. Hirst's pages, and
need not be related here.
The permanent fixing of the flag of Spain on the
territory east of the Andes was not less heroic an
achievement than the more showy conquests of Peru
and Mexico ; for in the former case the incentive of
easily won gold was absent, and the object was more
purely national than was the case elsewhere. But,
though it was necessary for Spain to assert her owner-
ship over these endless pampas and the unexplored
wastes beyond, the new territory was always subordinated
to the gold-producing viceroyalty of Peru across the
Andes. A glance at the map will show the almost in-
credible obstacles wilfully interposed by the home
authorities upon the River Plate colonies in forcing the
latter not only to be subject in government to the
Viceroy of Peru, but to carry on most of their com-
mercial communications with the mother country across
the wide continent from the Pacific coast by way of
Panama and Peru. The law was, of course, extensively
evaded,*and the luxuriant fertility of the pampa both for
agriculture and grazing made the River Plate colonies
prosperous in spite of Government restrictions.
The English slave-traders and adventurers made no
scruple of braving the King of Spain's edicts ; and the
estuary of the Plate, within a few weeks' sail of Europe,
saw many a cargo welcomed upon a mere pretence of
force by the colonists whose lives were rendered doubly
hard by the obstacles placed in their way by their own
Government. In 1586 the Earl of Cumberland's ships
on a privateering expedition to capture every Spanish
XX INTRODUCTION
and Portuguese vessel they encountered sailed into the
River Plate and learnt some interesting particulars of the
settlements from one of the unfortunate shipmasters
they had plundered. These give a good idea of the
difficulties under which traffic was then carried on.
*' He told me that the town of Buenos Aires is from the
Green island about seventy leagues' standing on the south
side of the river, and from thence to Santa Fe is one
hundred leagues, standing on the same side also. At
which town their ships do discharge all their goods into
smalls barks, v/hich row and tow up the river to another
town called Asuncion, which is from Santa Fe a hundred
and fifty leagues, where the boats discharge on shore,
and so pass all their goods by carts and horses to
Tucuman, which is in Peru." The commerce here re-
ferred to was probably the contraband trade done in
spite of the Spanish regulations, for it was found that
even to the far distant towns in the interior, like Tucu-
man and Mendoza, it was easier and cheaper thus to
convey goods from Europe by the eastern coast than
from the Pacific across the almost impassable Andes.
The Earl of Cumberland's factor gives also an account
of the Spanish settlements then (1586) existing on the
River Plate.^ " There are in the river five towns, some of
seventy households, some of more. The first town was
about fifty leagues up the river and called Buenos Aires,
the rest some forty or fifty leagues from one another, so
that the uppermost town, called Tucuman, is two hundred
and thirty leagues from the entrance to the river .2 In
' Hakluyt.
* It need hardly be mentioned that Tucuman, which had been
founded by the Spaniards from the Peru side some twenty years
before, is not on the river at all, but nearly five hundred miles distant
across the still almost unknown Gran Chaco. Tucuman is now
reached by railway from the south by way of Cordoba.
INTRODUCTION xxi
these towns is great store of corn, cattle, wine and
sundry fruits, but no money of gold or silver. They
make a certain kind of slight cloth, which they
give in truck for sugar, rice, marmalade, and sucket,
which were the commodities this ship (/.^., the prize)
had."
Thus with everything against it except its irrepressible
natural advantages of soil and climate and its lack of
mineral wealth, the colony grew in prosperity in spite of
man's shortsightedness. There was no temptation here,
even if it had been possible, for the Spaniards to exter-
minate the aborigines by forced work in unhealthy mines.
The innumerable herds of cattle and horses that in a
very few years peopled the pampa from the few animals
brought from Europe and abandoned by the first settlers
provided sustenance, even wealth, with comparatively easy
labour to the mixed race of Indians and Spaniards, which
took kindly to the half-wild pastoral life in harmony
with the nomadic traditions of the natives ; and thus
with much less hardship and cruelty than in other South
American regions the Argentines gradually grew into a
homogeneous people, whose pastoral and agricultural
pursuits brought them to a higher level of general well-
being than populations elsewhere in South America.
But great as is the actual and potential wealth of the
Argentine from its favoured soil, it is not that alone that
has made its capital the greatest in South America, and
has brought to the development of the Republic citizens
and resources from all the progressive nations of the
world. It is also as the main highway to the remote
recesses of the vast continent that the Argentine region
has appealed to the imaginations of men. The noble
waterways, navigable far into the interior, provide cheap
and easy transport for the products of distant provinces
possessing infinite possibilities as yet hardly known.
xxii INTRODUCTION
The unbroken plains, extending from the Atlantic sea-
board to the foot of the Andes eight hundred miles
away, offer unrivalled facilities for the construction of
railways to convey to the ports food supplies for the
Old World from this, the greatest undeveloped grain
and pasture region in temperate climes. It is this
character of a thoroughfare offering easy access to
the coming continent that ensures for Buenos Aires its
future position as a world emporium, and to the States
of the Argentine Republic readily accessible markets for
their abundant and varied natural products. And to add
to this advantage the opening of the Transandine tunnel,
now at last an accomplished fact, makes the Argentine
the natural highway for passengers and fine goods to the
cities of Chile and the Pacific Coast, saving the tedious
and costly voyage round Cape Horn or through the
Straits of Magellan.
The greatest admirers of the old Spanish colonial
system will hardly deny that the prodigious develop-
ment effected since the declaration of Argentine inde-
pendence, of the resources of the country, thanks largely
to the influx of foreign immigrants and capital, would
have been impossible under the Spanish domination.
That a new people, unaccustomed to, and perhaps as
yet unprepared for, self-government and political eman-
cipation should have had to work out its own problems
during a period of turbulence was inevitable. It is no
reproach to the Argentine people that this natural pro-
cess, necessary to fit them for a stable political existence,
has in the past caused violence and lawlessness. The
constant introduction of men of other races into the
Argentine is giving to the population new features and
qualities which will render the racial stock of the future
one of the most interesting ethnological problems in the
world; and this abundant admixture of foreign blood,
I
INTRODUCTION xxiii
readily assimilated as it is by the native stock, certainly
makes for increasing stability.
The same may be said of the large amount of foreign
capital invested in Argentine enterprises. Argentine
statesmen, taught by experience as they have been, and
keenly awake to the need for foreign aid in developing
their country, are not in the least likely in future to
frighten away capital by dishonest finance or revolu-
tionary methods. Responsibility has already brought
sobriety into Argentine politics, and although the
official procedure and Governmental ethics of the
Spanish races vary from those usually prevalent in
Anglo-Saxon countries, they are in most cases better
suited to the character of the people than those that
commend themselves to us. When we for our own
purposes go to a foreign country, it is unreasonable to
expect, as many Englishmen do, that we can carry with
us and impose upon our hosts our own traditions and
standards.
No country known to me impresses upon a visitor
from Europe so forcibly as the Argentine the unlimited
possibilities of its soil. Travelling hour after hour by a
railway straight as a line over gently undulating or per-
fectly flat plains, stretching on all sides as far as the eye
can reach, the observer is struck by the regular ripple of
the rich grass, like the waves of the sea, as the breeze
blows over it. Here and there little clumps of eucalyp-
tus slightly break the monotony of the landscape, and a
gleam of a bright green alfalfa field occasionally relieves
the eye. Far away at rare intervals gleaming white walls
and turrets surrounded by eucalyptus groves mark the
position of an estancia, and innumerable herds of cattle,
sheep, and almost wild troops of horses everywhere
testify to the richness of the pasture.
From Buenos Aires to Mendoza, almost at the foot
xxiv INTRODUCTION
of the Andes, some six hundred miles away, the scene
hardly changes. Far to the south the pampa is poorer
and more sparse, but still splendid pasture for certain
sorts of cattle, whilst in Entre Rios, the great tract
between the rivers Parana and Uruguay, the country is
wilder and more broken, especially towards the north.
Scattered amongst the vast flocks of sheep upon the
open veldt are many ostriches, now a profitable invest-
ment, whilst great numbers of running partridges seek
cover in the pampa grass from the dreaded hawks that
hover above them. The native grass is flesh-forming but
not fattening, and, to an English grazier, looks poor
food enough for the millions of head of cattle that
thrive upon it. It does not, as does the best English
pasture, entirely cover the surface, but grows in distinct
tufts. The native grass, however, is now rapidly being
supplanted in the rich plains of Central Argentina by
new forms of pasture, mostly English, infinitely richer,
perennial in its luxuriance, and forming upon this
favoured soil the best cattle-grazing in the world.
Of late years, as Mr. Hirst shows in his book, enor-
mous tracts of land, especially to the south of Buenos
Aires and high up the Parana, are being broken up for
wheat-growing, and Bahia Blanca, the ambitious port
south of Buenos Aires, bids fair soon to become a
great centre of grain export. Vast quantities of maize
are also raised in the country on the banks of the
Parana, and are mainly exported from Rosario. Which-
ever way one turns fresh evidences of fertility are forced
upon the attention. Cattle standing knee-deep in pas-
ture, sheep growing fat at fifty to the acre, leagues of
ripening corn, equal to any on earth, growing upon
virgin soil ; flowers to which we are accustomed in
England as tender shrubs developing here into robust
blossoming trees; and fruit orchards flourishing, solid
INTRODUCTION xxv
miles of them, prolific beyond belief, within a short
distance of Buenos Aires, where only a few years ago
nothing but wild scrub and tangled forest existed.
The extension of railways in every direction has now
to a great extent destroyed or modified the old free life
upon the pampas of Argentina. The estancias, except
in remote districts, are often large establishments where
all the comforts and some of the luxuries of life are to
be found, instead of the walled semi-fortresses of olden
times. The white-domed well, with its shady ombu-tree,
still stands near the principal entrance to the courtyard,
and the high palenque, the hitching-post for horses, still
flanks the gateway, but the picturesque gaucho who goes
loping over the plain, his lasso at his saddle-bow, his
naked feet thrust into his big leather horseskin brogues,
and his poncho fluttering in the breeze, is no longer the
monarch of the pampa as he once was, for civilisation
has touched even him. The silver ornaments that once
covered his accoutrements are less abundant than they
used to be ; he is fortunately less free with his knife, for
he was never much of a hand with a gun, loving the
bolas better ; and the rural railway station in which he
likes to dawdle about in the intervals of his life in the
saddle is the symbol of his discipline and decline.
The great waterways that characterise Argentina,
although they are now less used for passenger traffic
into the hinterland than formerly, must still in the future
be a great, if not the principal, highway for the produce
of the distant interior. Rosario, some two hundred miles
above Buenos Aires on the Parana, is a progressive and
improving port, serving the rich maize and grain-growing
expanses of the province of Santa F6 ; and far up the
stream, almost to the Paraguayan border at Corrientes,
river ports are rapidly growing into importance as centres
of export as the surrounding country is developed. '
xxvi INTRODUCTION
But wonderful as is the apparently boundless pro-
mise of this country of favoured plains, Argentina is
not only pampa. The Gran Chaco, a great country still
for the most part a wilderness, is a region of dim tropical
forest, where the parrots, birds of paradise, and brilliant
butterflies vie with those of the Amazon ; a hot, moist
region, where the monkey and the land crab flourish
exceedingly, and where savage Indians still hunt down
with primitive weapons the jaguar and the puma. From
this sultry country of forest and flood to the almost
treeless, arid steppes of Patagonia is a change rather
to another world than to another province of the same
Republic, and hardly less difference exists between the
rolling plains of the pampa country and the magnificent
regions of towering peaks, stern uplands, and vast lakes
that form the Andine portions of Argentina.
The change is noticed as the road approaches Men-
doza, where the pampa gradually gives way to a country
strongly resembling parts of Southern Spain ; a land of
poplars, willows, and acacias shading endless lines of
irrigation channels ; for rain falls but seldom on this
eastern side of the Sierra, and on all hands, cHmbing
the lower laps of the hills and lining the valleys, are
miles of vineyards, which provide a stout red wine for
the rest of the Republic. Further west still the land
becomes more broken and barren as the hills rise
higher and higher, until the ruddy sides, white glaciers,
and snow-crested mountains of the Sierra appear,
the giant Aconcagua monarch of them all. Further
south than this the wonderful series of lakes that are
almost inland seas high up in the Andes exist, as yet
only partially explored to decide the frontier dispute
between the Argentine and Chile, the remote valleys
and austere uplands where the giant sloth is still
believed by many to linger, a sole survival of the
INTRODUCTION
XXVll
world before the great flood that destroyed life upon
the nascent continent unrecorded ages ago.
This marvellous country of Argentina is destined to be
one of the great nations of the world. Nature is just,
and in giving it a prodigious extent of flat fertile soil has
more than compensated it for withholding the gift of
abundant gold that has made the history of other por-
tions of South America. With a climate that varies, as
does that of Chile, from the tropical to the antarctic,
with pasture and arable land unsurpassed in the world,
and with facilities for transport by land and water
enabling the fruits of the soil to be conveyed easily
from remote districts to eager markets for them, no
bounds can be set to the w^ealth that awaits enterprise
in the country. As a highway, too, the possibilities of
Argentina are immense. The connection of Buenos
Aires by rail with Santiago and Valparaiso opens up a
new and shorter route to New Zealand and Australia;
whilst the rapidly progressing extension of the railway
into Bolivia — another link, it is intended, of the line to
run eventually from New York to Buenos Aires — will
provide a new and welcome outlet for the treasures of
her mines to Bolivia, a vast country without a port of
its own.
The possession of a temperate climate has made the
Argentine and Chile the two South American nations of
most promise for the future, owing to the fact that both
countries have attracted and assimilated a great admix-
ture of the robust peoples of Europe. The immigrants
have been to a large extent drawn from the countries
where life is hard and the fare frugal ; from North
Italy, from Galicia and Russia ; whilst in stern Pata-
gonia the Scotsman and the Welshman find an environ-
ment after their own hearts. In the second generation
the immigrants of all nations usually become sturdy
xxviii INTRODUCTION
Argentines, and this easy assimilation of new ethno-
logical elements is one of the most striking signs of
the energy of the nation as a whole, and the most
promising fact as regards the future political stability
of the country. That a composite race will result from
this admixture, possessing much of the patient laborious-
ness of the Ligurian and the practical hardheadedness of
the Teuton, to temper the keen vehemence of the Ibero-
American, may be confidently hoped : and if such be
the case the advantages that nature has showered upon
the Argentine will be complete, and a splendid future
for the country secure.
^ MARTIN HUME.
ARGENTINA
CHAPTER I
THE COUNTRY— ITS FOUR DIVISIONS— THE RIVERS—
THE CLIMATE
The attempt to present a bird's-eye view of Argentina
may well be called presumptuous, for the country is
larger than Russia in Europe and offers every variety
of climate — " hot, cold, moist, and dry." Nor would the
utmost industry of the traveller suffice to glean anything
like complete information, for large tracts, owing to the
inhospitality of nature or man, are unexplored, and both
north and south he would be checked by impenetrable
forests, or rugged barriers of rock, or by savage Indians
who are saved from extinction by the inaccessibility of
their habitations. Further, even as regards the settled
parts of those districts which, however desolate, are
practicable to the traveller, there is more to be learnt
(and the conditions are ever changing) than could well
be absorbed in a lifetime, for Argentina is not, like
several South American countries, a mere gigantic mass
of potential riches, but is rapidly assuming a leading
position among the commercial states of the world.
From Buenos Aires to Mendoza, from Bahia Blanca to
Tucuman, are to be seen all the signs of wealth .and
2 1
2 ARGENTINA
prosperity, all the unmistakable portents of coming
potency usually apparent in a new country that has
emerged from the stage of childhood and weakness and
feels the vigour of lusty youth in its veins, impelling it
to take its place in the system of world politics.
If a single volume is all too short to represent
Argentina in its manifold aspects, still less adequate is
a single chapter to sketch its physical characteristics.
In fact, its interest is at present more physical than
moral, rather in its vast capacities for producing wealth
and distributing it by means of magnificent waterways
and ever-extending railroads, than in anything which
Argentinians have done to ennoble life by arts or other
services.
Before, however, proceeding to the study of a country
the learner must endeavour to set before himself its
principal geographical features, and as those of Argentina
are well defined and comparatively simple they lend
themselves to broad and clear classification. Geogra-
phically Argentina falls into four divisions. Firstly,
Patagonia, which stretches from the Rio Colorado to
Cape Horn. Secondly, the Andine region, which runs
from the southern frontier of Bolivia right along the
Chilian border. Thirdly, the Gran Chaco, which
embraces the whole of the north of Argentina except
the Andine strip. Fourthly, the Pampa, which com-
prises the central and best known region.
Patagonia received its name, patagoriy or large paw,
from the enormous footprints which the Spanish
explorers remarked in the sand. Till recently it was
almost a terra incognita^ roamed by Indians and herds
of guanacos, but of late years the beginnings of settle-
ment have been made, and sheep-farming has become
a considerable industry. The southern portion is cold
and inclement all the year round, but in the north the
THE COUNTRY 3
summers are hot. The country is well watered by six
considerable rivers — the Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz,
Deseado, Coyly, and Gallegos — but scarcity of rain has
caused it to be neglected by agriculturists. The whole
of the plateau, indeed, has been called the Great Shingle
Desert ; it is of Tertiary formation, and the endless waste
of sand and gravel was chiefly contributed by glacial
action. This inhospitable desert is arranged in terraces
which slope gently eastward, first from heights of 2,000
feet to 500, and then from this lower elevation to the sea-
level.
In old days wonderful tales were told about the
Patagonian giants — their enormous size, strength, and
ferocity, but here it need only be said that the accounts
were at least exaggerated. " In height, although very
much above the average — some, indeed, reaching the
height of 6 feet 4 inches, and all being broad and
muscular — they have been greatly exaggerated, for,
being very long in the body, they seem to tower above
the European while sitting on horseback. They are
short in the legs, and when standing on the ground
do not on an average come over about 5 feet
II inches."^
The Andine region, which in some of the South
American States is the overwhelming characteristic,
does not set a distinctive mark upon Argentina —
essentially a plain country — but the western frontier
of the Republic is guarded by a colossal range of moun-
tains. These begin with Cerro de las Granadas in the
extreme north, and extend beyond the Upper Colorado
basin, where the Sierra Auco Mahinda of 16,000 feet is
one of the most southerly of the important peaks.
After this, although there is still a chain of moderate
height, the mountains are not distinctively Andine. The
« W. O. Campbell, " Through Patagonia," p. 6.
4 ARGENTINA
highest of all the Argentine mountains is probably the
Nevado de Famatina.
In general this region is excessively dry and the
mountains are almost bare of vegetation. The annual
rainfall at Mendoza is but 6 inches and at San Juan
it is only 3.
The Gran Chaco may be taken as a rough denomina-
tion for the whole of the Republic lying north of the
Pampa, excluding the Andine fringe. This is a land of
luxuriant vegetation with a warm and moist climate and,
as might be expected, the products vary greatly from
those of the temperate plains. Rice and the sugar-cane,
castor-oil, sesame, and the poppy are all cultivated, but
this part of the country is as yet scantily populated and
quite undeveloped ; there are therefore few surplus
products to export. It is a region of great beauty, and
travellers praise the silent tropical nights, whose dark-
ness is relieved by myriads of fireflies, the primeval
forests, and the magnificent rivers. But it is mostly
virgin land and in many parts is peopled by savage
inhabitants who make travel dangerous.
The real Argentina is the Pampa ; it is that vast and
fertile champaign which makes the great Republic what
she is, and to which she owes all her wealth and pros-
perity. Erroneous as is the popular idea that Argentina
is merely a land of grassy steppes and rich cornfields,
this is due to the fact that all except specialists have con-
fined their travels to the Pampa. It extends from
Cordoba to the Rios Negro or Colorado. In it are con-
tained the great and growing towns, and from it these
towns draw their prosperity. It is a country to delight
the heart of the agriculturist. In many countries of
South America the traveller passes through interminable
jungles sparingly scattered with patches of cultivation
where a few bony cattle scour for a livelihood. In the
I
^
i
THE COUNTRY 5
Pampa there is rich tilth and fine pasture ; magnificent
red and white beasts graze and fatten, standing knee-
deep in the fresh grass, and sheep innumerable are
raised. The dead level of the land is not quite unbroken,
for south of the Plate estuary there are two small moun-
tain ranges, the Tandil and Ventana. They never exceed
2,800 feet. In the east the rainfall is generally satisfac-
tory, but it becomes scanty in the western districts. The
winter is cold, the summer decidedly hot, but the
climate is not intemperate, and might be called pleasant
but for the fierce hot and cold winds which disturb en-
joyment and are in some cases prejudicial to health.
This brief summary must, for the present, suffice for the
four regions ; as we survey the country more in detail,
we shall have opportunities of describing their charac-
teristics more fully. It remains, however, to take a brief
survey of several features which can better be described
while we look at the country as a whole. The geology
of Argentina greatly interested Darwin. He says : ^
'*The geology of Patagonia is interesting. Differently
from Europe, where the Tertiary formations appear to
have accumulated in bays, here along hundreds of miles
of coast we have one great deposit, including many
Tertiary shells, all apparently extinct. The most common
shell is a massive, gigantic oyster, sometimes even a foot
in diameter. These beds are covered by others of a
peculiar soft, white stone, including much gypsum, and
resembling chalk, but really of a pumiceous nature. It
is highly remarkable, from being composed, to at least
one-tenth part of its bulk, of infusoria : Professor
Ehrenberg has already ascertained in it thirty oceanic
forms. This bed extends for 500 miles along the coast,
and probably for a considerably greater distance. At
Port St. Julian its thickness is more than 800 feet I
' "Voyage of the Beagle," chap, viii.
6 ARGENTINA
These white beds are everywhere capped by a mass of
gravel, forming probably one of the largest beds of
shingle in the world : it certainly extends from near the
Rio Colorado to between 600 and 700 nautical miles
southward ; at Santa Cruz (a river a little south of
St. Julian) it reaches to the foot of the Cordillera ; half-
way up the river its thickness is more than 200 feet ; it
probably everywhere extends to this great chain, whence
the well-rounded pebbles of porphyry have been derived :
we may consider its average breadth as 200 miles, and
its average thickness as about 50 feet. If this great bed
of pebbles, without including the mud necessarily derived
from their attrition, was piled into a mound, it would
form a great mountain chain ! When we consider that
all these pebbles, countless as the grains of sand in the
desert, have been derived from the slow-falling masses
of rock on the old coast-lines and banks of rivers, and
that these fragments have been dashed into smaller
pieces, and that each of them has since been slowly
rolled, rounded, and far transported, the mind is stupe-
fied in thinking over the long, absolutely necessary lapse
of years. Yet all this gravel has been transported, and
probably rounded, subsequently to the deposition of the
white beds, and long subsequently to the underlying beds
with their Tertiary shells." His observations upon the
Cordillera are equally noteworthy. He says : ^ " No one
fact in the geology of South America interested me more
than these terraces of rudely stratified shingle. They
precisely resemble in composition the matter which the
torrents in each valley would deposit if they were checked
in their course by any cause, such as entering a lake or
arm of the sea ; but the torrents, instead of depositing
matter, are now steadily at work wearing away both the
solid rock and these alluvial deposits, along the whole
* " Voyage of the Beagle,'' chap. xv.
ITS FOUR DIVISIONS 7
line of every main valley and side valley. It is impossible
here to give the reasons, but I am convinced that the
shingle terraces were accumulated during the gradual
elevation of the Cordillera by the torrents delivering, at
successive levels, their detritus on the beach-heads of
long, narrow arms of the sea, first high up the valleys,
then lower and lower down as the land slowly rose. If
this be so, and I cannot doubt it, the grand and broken
chain of the Cordillera, instead of having been suddenly
thrown up, as was till lately the universal, and still is the
common opinion of geologists, has been slowly upheaved
in mass, in the same gradual manner as the coasts of the
Atlantic and Pacific have risen within the recent period.
A multitude of facts in the structure of the Cordillera, on
this view, receive a simple explanation." His conclusion
is : " Daily it is forced home on the mind of the geologist
that nothing, not even the wind that blows, is so unstable
as the level of the crust of this earth."
The geological character of Argentina is tolerably
uniform. The surface is a coating of sandy soil, not
usually more than 2 feet thick, which is alluvial and,
from a geological point of view, quite modern. In the
western districts it is usually bare of vegetation, but in
the east it is covered with green herbage more or less
thick. Underneath this superficial covering, however,
lies the true geological formation, and this consists of
argillaceous earth or mud of a reddish colour and inter-
spersed with marly rock called by the inhabitants Tosca
rock. It extends to latitude 38° or thereabouts, and is
the famous Pampean formation, which Darwin calls
Pampean mud. The thickness of this stratum varies
considerably ; it may average about 40 feet, and geologi-
cally it belongs to the Quaternary epoch, otherwise called
Diluvian or Post-Pliocene. Its most remarkable feature
is the enormous number of mammiferous remains which
8 ARGENTINA
are to be found embedded in this Pampean mud, and
naturalists believe that it would be impossible to dig a
deep trench in any direction without disinterring some
of these extinct giants. Frequently perfect skeletons are
discovered. These ossiferous remains are richest in the
province of Buenos Aires and become somewhat less
frequent in the north and west. Some observers have
marvelled that such huge creatures in such vast numbers
were ever able to find nourishment, but that question is
not a serious difficulty, for the largest animals are by no
means the most voracious, and doubtless, like elephants
of to-day, their struggle for existence was not so much
against hunger as against the depredations of other
animals or natural catastrophes. A much greater puzzle
is their disappearance. It has been suggested that they
were killed off by the Glacial cold, but it is not obvious,
as has been pointed out, why this visitation carried off
the mastodons and spared the parrots and humming-
birds. Another theory, put forward by a savant named
M. Bravard, opines that a vast simoon overwhelmed
them, but such a belief, inadequate and full of difficulties,
is refuted by the fact that most of the skeletons are
mutilated. Had they been overwhelmed by sand storms,
they would have been preserved in almost perfect con-
dition. The notion of drought is also inadequate.
Darwin remarks that it is absurd to suppose that the
most terrible calamity of this sort could destroy every
species from Patagonia to Behring Straits. It is impos-
sible to suppose that prehistoric man hunted down and
slew these great creatures. The simplest hypothesis and
the one which surmounts the greatest number of diffi-
culties is that a mighty deluge overwhelmed man and
beast in common ruin. A great geologist ^ says : " I
* D'Orbigny apud Howorth, " The Mammoth and the Flood,"
P- 352-
i
I
ITS FOUR DIVISIONS 9
argue that this destruction was caused by an invasion of
the continent by water — a view which is completely en
rapport with the facts presented by the great Pampean
deposit, which was clearly laid down by water. How
otherwise can we account for this complete destruction
and the homogeneousness of the Pampas deposits con-
taining bones ? I find an evident proof of this in the
immense number of bones and of entire animals whose
numbers are greatest at the outlets of the valleys, as Mr.
Darwin shows. He found the greatest number of the
remains at Bahia Blanca, at Bajada, also on the coast,
and on the affluents of the Rio Negro, also at the outlet
of the valley. This proves that the animals were floated,
and hence were chiefly carried to the coast."
But D'Orbigny seems to have erred in attempting to
push his theory too far, for he insists that the great deluge
not only destroyed the mammoths but at the same time
created the Pampean plain. Nothing, however, can be
more certain than that the lapse of countless ages was
necessary to accumulate " the dust of continents to be."
It is incredible that a great fragment of a continent was
created per saltum. Darwin believes (and, it appears,
rightly), " that the Pampean formation was slowly accu-
mulated at the mouth of the former estuary of the Plata
and in the sea adjoining it." ^ As we shall see, when we
come to deal with Patagonia, the country was once a lake
or sea, and the water system of South America was very
different from what it now is, nor is there any difficulty
in believing that the stupendous volume of the Parana
waters (then even mightier than now) was able to wash
down an accumulation of mud capable of making the
sea into dry land.
So much, then, for the Quaternary Pampean mud
interlaced with the bones of giant animals.
' Darwin, " Geological Observations on South America," p. 99.
/
10 ARGENTINA
The Patagonian plain, however, is, in appearance at
any rate, a different and much older formation, namely,
the Tertiary, an extensive gravel bed which possibly
extends under the whole Quaternary deposit of the
Pampa. But exposures occur of both varieties of this
formation, i.e,y the Patagonian and the Guaraman, in
the banks of the Parana and elsewhere. It is supposed
to have been contributed chiefly by Glacial action.
The river system of Argentina, which is perhaps the
most remarkable physical feature of the country, next
demands our attention. All the Argentine rivers find
their way into the Atlantic, but all are insignificant com-
pared with the marvellous confluence of mighty streams
in the Plate estuary. The Parana rises in far-away
Brazilian mountains, and is already a noble stream when
it reaches the north-eastern confines of Paraguay.
Flowing southward it then, for more than loo miles,
serves as the boundary between Paraguay and Brazil,
and from the point where it is joined by the Iguazu
River it becomes an Argentine stream, and, inclining
more and more to the west, it is now the boundary
between Argentine and Paraguay. At Corrientes it
unites with the Paraguay River and flows almost due
south, running into the Plate estuary at the same point
as the Uruguay. Few rivers can match the Parana in
majesty ; at Rosario it is 20 miles wide, and would give
the impression of the broad sea were it not for the
cluster of poplar-clad islands which intercept the view.
In thus tracing the course of the Parana we have men-
tioned only a few of the innumerable streams of the
system in which it takes the most conspicuous part ; the
waters drain the south of Brazil, the whole of Uruguay
and Paraguay, the fertile districts of Argentina, and even
portions of Bolivia. The Parana — the Nile of the West —
debouches through fourteen channels ; it has a drainage
THE RIVERS 11
area of 1,198,000 square miles, and the discharge of each
twenty-four hours is sufficient to create a lake a mile
square and 1,650 feet deep.^ Subordinate to the Parana
are several Argentine systems which deserve mention.
The provinces of Corrientes and Entre Rios, called the
Argentine Mesopotamia, are drained by the Corrientes,
the Saranai, and the Gualeguay, which last falls even-
tually not into the Parana but the Pavon, a curious
channel which runs parallel with the lower course of
the great river for a considerable distance.
The northernmost part of the country is drained by
the Pilcomayo and the Vermejo, which both fall into
the Paraguay. The Vermejo has a course of 1,300
miles. The Salado meanders through the Gran Chaco,
and is the only perennial river in that region. Owing
to the western dryness and the curious contour of the
Gran Chaco and the Pampa, many of the rivers are
unable to make headway and find a channel to carry
them to the sea. Thus the Rio Dulce which, with
innumerable small tributaries, drains a large area round
about Tucuman, ends in a morass named Porongos,
which is connected in flood-time with the great lake of
Mar Chiquita — LitUe Sea. In like manner the Mendoza
river loses itself in arid country.
Having dealt with the giant, we now turn to the
pygmies ; for pygmies are the Patagonian and South
Argentine streams in comparison with the Parana of
the upper region. The Colorado basin presents a very
curious phenomenon, in that it has lost the whole of its
upper tributaries. One of these is the aforesaid errant
Mendoza, which, with the Salado (the second river of
that name) fail to reach the parent stream and end in
* It is estimated that during the floods the Parana rolls down
1,650,000 cubic feet per second, while the Uruguay volume amounts
to 500,000.
12 ARGENTINA
the Laguna Amarga, a group of salt lakes situated
at no great distance from the Rio Colorado. It is
certain that, like Central Asia, Patagonia has ex-
perienced an immense increase of aridity — probably in
comparatively recent times. The Colorado proper is
perennial, and when swollen by melting snows from
the Andes it is as broad as the Thames at London
Bridge.
South of the Colorado we have the Rio Negro. It
runs a solitary course through the desert unaided by
any tributaries. It is formed by two other streams, the
Neuquen and the Rio Limaz, which has its source in
the picturesque lake of Nahuelhuapi. Patagonia, it may
be added, has numerous lakes, some of great beauty.
Other solitary streams, wholly dependent upon the
Andes, may be enumerated — the Chubut, the Desire,
the Chico, the Santa Cruz, and the Gallegos. On these
rivers Burmeister^ confesses that his information is very
imperfect. They are now somewhat better known, but
they are still difficult to explore. His remarks upon the
Rio de Santa Cruz, concerning which he had gathered
more facts than the others, may be given. He says :
*^Near the ocean it has a breadth of from 5 to 10
English miles, and is bordered by terraces in flights
which rise on either side to a height of 500 feet. The
surface of these terraces is occupied by broad plains
covered with dry pebbles, and among them grow stunted
plants and thorny bushes. It is a savage and gloomy
land. Further inland, near the source, basaltic rocks
appear which approach close to the river, and its bed
is strewn with their fragments, which are about the size
of a man's head. Huge blocks of granite and palaeo-
logic schists are met with only in the neighbourhood
of the Cordillera." Darwin made an adventurous voyage
« " Description Physique," i. 310-11.
»
THE CLIMATE
13
of 140 miles up this river in 1834, ^^^ describes it with
his accustomed acuteness and accuracy.^
When we come to deal with Patagonia we shall have
another opportunity of reverting to its scanty and little-
known river system.
The climate of Argentina varies greatly, as might be
expected in a country with a length of nearly 2,300 miles
from north to south. In the provinces of Buenos Aires,
Santa Fe, San Luis, Mendoza, parts of Cordoba, and
parts of one or two adjoining provinces, the climate
is temperate with mild winters and moderately hot
summers, while in the north the climate is hot and moist.
Towards the south the cold becomes more and more
severe, and the winters last from May to the beginning
of October. Snow frequently falls. In Buenos Aires
the spring begins in September and lasts to mid-
December, followed by summer, which extends into
March. Autumn lasts till the end of May, and winter
occupies the rest of the year. The following table will
show that in the city of Buenos Aires itself the extremes
are not rigorous : —
At 2 p.m.
At 9 p.m
December
...
776
66-8
January...
...
82-0
71-2
February
...
... 807
68-9
March ...
... ...
Sri
69*0
April ...
...
72*0
59-9
May ...
... 61-3
5S-0
June
••• 597
52-5
* "We found the river course very tortuous, and strewed with
immense fragments of various ancient slaty rocks, and of granite.
The plain bordering the valley had here attained an elevation of
about eleven hundred feet above the river, and its character was
much altered. The well-rounded pebbles of porphyry were mingled
with many immense angular fragments of basalt and of primary
rocks" ("Voyage of the Beagle," chap. ix.).
2 p.m.
At 9 p.m.
55*2
47-0
6o-8
517
67-2
56-0
67-1
596
75-4
62-8
14 ARGENTINA
July
August
September
October
November
The annual rainfall is about 34 inches. But the above
table gives only the average temperature. The ther-
mometer in Buenos Aires often rises as high as 100,
and in the early mornings of June and July sometimes
touches freezing-point. In Mendoza, Cordoba, and
Tucuman, and many other places, the mercury frequently
falls below 32, while in Patagonia the cold of winter is
intense.
The following figures will give a rough idea of the
general climate of the Republic : —
Temperature.
Maximum.
Rainfall.
Ushwiya (Fuegia) ...
42
8i
120 inches
Bahia Blanca
60
105
19
Buenos Aires
... 64
100
34
San Luis
61
103
24
Rosario
... 63
lOI
40
Mendoza
60
100
6
San Juan
... 65
108
3
Cordoba
61
III
26
La Rioja
... 67
109
12
Catamarca
... 69
109
10
Santiago del Estero
70
113
19
Tucuman
68
104
39
Salta
... 63
109
23
On the whole, the climate of Buenos Aires is good,
and does not interfere with the comfort or pursuits of a
healthy and vigorous man. Its worst feature is the sonduy
or north wind, which blows tempestuously chiefly in the
winter, and causes rapid fluctuations in the temperature.
The winds from the north are always considered un-
I
{
•^ . x-~.
THE CLIMATE 15
healthy. In the summer the heat is greatly aggravated
by the pamperos — the strong winds from the south-
west. But the general climate of the country is dry and
invigorating.
It will be noticed that the rainfall is scanty. Unfortu-
nately, nearly all the valuable parts of Argentina have
barely sufficient rain, and Mendoza is almost rainless.
Irrigation, therefore, is largely used, and when it is ex-
tended over the south many millions of additional acres
will be brought under the plough. Droughts are by far
the most formidable foe of the agriculturist. The Gran
Seco of 1 827-1832, during which period scarcely any rain
fell in the Pampa, destroyed all the vegetation down to
the thistles, and caused enormous loss.^ It is feared that
the dry area is extending; but it is fortunate that the
magnificent rivers of Argentina would suffice to irrigate
every part of the country, and even arid Patagonia has
perennial streams. In general, it may be said that the
climate of Argentina is far from disagreeable, and highly
favourable to health and work.
* " Very great numbers of birds, wild animals, cattle, and horses
perished from the want of food and water. A man told me that the
deer used to come into his courtyard to the well, which he had been
obliged to dig to supply his own family with water ; and that the
partridges had hardly strength to fly away when pursued. The lowest
estimation of the loss of cattle in Buenos Ayres alone was taken at
one million head " (Darwin, " Voyage of the Beagle," chap. vii.).
CHAPTER II
EARLIEST HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY
Scanty beyond all belief is our information about the
people of the River Plate before the coming of the
Spaniards. Mexico and Peru had goodly hoards of gold
and silver, and were therefore objects of eager curiosity
to the invaders whose chroniclers deigned to inquire
into the traditions and mythology of their subjects ;
but the Silvery River — the Rio Plata — washed no treasure
regions, and the settlements in that part of the continent
were despised and neglected. Accordingly anthropo-
logists have been obliged to work backwards ; they can
only infer the character of the prehistoric races by
examining their descendants and such scanty traces as
have survived from ancient days. And they are able to
glean very little.
The European belief' in a western land beyond the
Pillars of Hercules was deep-rooted in classical antiquity.
Beginning with a vague legend of a wonderful world in
the west, it hardened into a semi-scientific hypothesis.
The pseudo-Aristotle 2 seems to have been the first to
treat this subject in a practical manner. He says :
" Popular speech divides our inhabited world into
islands and continents, but it ignores the fact that the
* For much of the matter in this chapter I am indebted to the late
E. J. Payne's valuable " History of the New World called America."
» In *' De Mundo."
16
HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY 17
whole is but a single island surrounded by the sea
named the Atlantic. It is probable that there are other
lands far away, some of which are larger, some smaller,
than the world we know." He conjectured that on the
other side of the Atlantic there was a great Terra
Australis corresponding to Africa. Strabo opined that
it would be possible to make a westward voyage to India
were it not for the immense extent of the Atlantic, and if
circumstances had been favourable there would probably
have been an early discovery of America. It is believed
that the Carthaginians visited Madeira and the Canaries.
But the two maritime nations, Greece and Carthage, fell
before Rome, and the triumphs of Rome were on land.
Roman poets and panegyrists often indulged in vague and
magnificent predictions of nations both in the remotest
East and the remotest West who should come under the
sway of Rome, and Seneca's ^ language is particularly
precise, but they found the ocean an insuperable barrier.
With the downfall of the Empire and the influx of bar-
barians progress was checked, but it is certain that about
a thousand years after the birth of Christ some hardy
Norsemen reached Greenland, and it is even conjectured
that they penetrated into North America. Then, in the
later Middle Ages, as the trading spirit grew stronger
and the demand for slaves increased, the Portuguese
began to make voyages down the African coast. But
discovery became no longer a mere profitable adventure,
it was imperatively demanded as the salvation of Christen-
dom from ruin, when the Turks obtained possession of
Constantinople and the caravan routes. Unless the rich
' "Venient annis saecula seris
Quibus Oceanus vincula rerum
Laxet, et ingens pateat tellus,
Tiphys que novos detegat orbes,
Nee sit terris ultima Thule."
(" Medea," ii. 373.-)
3
18 ARGENTINA
Indian trade could be continued, two-thirds of the wealth
of Europe would be destroyed, and thus the work of dis-
covery was stimulated. The Portuguese found an easy
route to India by way of the Cape of Good Hope; but
the unsuccessful attempts to reach India by a western
voyage brought even more fruit, and at last the great
island in the Atlantic was discovered.
Anthropologists have found much difficulty in deter-
mining the origin of the various peoples who were found
in the New World. The supposition now is that the
human race migrated into the continent from Europe
by way of Greenland and Labrador, and from Asia by
way of the Behring Straits, and proof is afforded by the
discovery in the Pampas of Argentina and many other
places both of the long-headed Afro-European and the
round-headed Asiatic skull. The Europeans were prob-
ably the first arrivals, and they appear early to have
found their way into Argentina, whither they were after-
wards followed by the Asiatics. It should be noticed
that the whole primitive civilisation of South America
was concentrated into a comparatively narrow strip of
mountainous country between Chile and Colombia, but
this imperfect civilisation probably came into existence
in quite recent times.
The Spaniards themselves, doubtless relying on native
traditions, believed that the establishment of the Inca
dominion was an event of no great antiquity.^ But
it appears certain that this itself was preceded by a
civilisation of "white and bearded men" round about
Lake Titicaca, and Prescott declines to hazard a con-
* " Some writers carry back the date five hundred, or even five
hundred and fifty, years before the Spanish invasion. ... In the
Report of the Royal Audience of Peru, the epoch is more modestly
fixed at two hundred years before the Conquest" (Prescott,
"Conquest of Peru," p. 5, note).
HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY 19
jecture as to the antiquity of South American civilisation.
The long-headed race (its origin is uncertain) kept to the
east, the round-headed (usually held to be Mongolian)
kept to the west, and they met in Patagonia. However,
some savants consider that all the American races are
veritable aborigines and have no Asiatic or European
origin, and although this theory seems hardly borne out
by the little evidence we possess, there is no reason to
question the belief of Ehrenreich and many others that
the South American Indians have been so long isolated
that they form a distinct type.
Evidence as to the date of their migration or the
length of time they may have been settled in Argentina
we have none, but there is a theory of considerable
plausibility to the effect that there was a break in the
continuity of the human race in South America. It has
already been shown that the bones of huge extinct
animals appear very frequently in Argentina ; indeed,
as Darwin remarks, "the whole area of the Pampas is
one wide sepulchre for these extinct animals. Now,
mingled with them have often been found human bones
and the tools and weapons of man in his pleistocene
stage. Near Buenos Aires,i for example, a discovery
was made of bones of the mastodon, machairodus, and
other extinct animals, and together with them were
mingled human bones and tools in stone and bone.
These facts help to strengthen the hypothesis that at
a remote period of antiquity there occurred some
gigantic natural cataclysm which swept away alike man
and the vast animals with which he lived in these
regions. Little as we know about the origin of South
American man we can, of course, classify the races
which are known to exist in South America or which
* See Sir H. H. Howorth, "The Mammoth and the Flood,"
chap. xii.
20 ARGENTINA
existed when the Spaniards appeared.^ The aborigines
may be divided into three great races — the Ando-Peru-
vian, the Pampean, and the Brasilio-Guaranian. The
Ando-Peruvian has three branches, known as the Peru-
vian proper, the Antisian, and the Araucanian. The
Pampean Hkewise has three branches — the Pampean
proper, the Chiquitean, the Moxean ; while the Brasilio-
Guaranian has no ramifications. The Peruvians, who
do not concern us here, include, of course, the whole
of the Inca race. The Antisians are so called because
they lived in the mountains east of Cuzco, which the
Incas called Antis (hence Andes), and they now inhabit
the hot and moist forest-lands of Bolivia and Peru.
They are, and always have been, savages, with clear
olive complexions and slight, somewhat effeminate
figures. The Tacana is their most important tribe. The
Araucanians (who include the Fuegians) are more
important for our purpose, and are a very hardy race,
who fought for hundreds of years on equal terms with
the Spaniards and were finally subdued rather by the
subtle blight of civilisation than by arms. A French-
man 2 who visited the River Plate in the middle of the
eighteenth century describes them in the following
terms : "The Indians who inhabit this part of America,
north and south of the river de la Plata, are of that
race called by the Spaniards Indios bravos. They are
middle-sized, very ugly, and afflicted with the itch.
They are of a deep tawny colour, which they blacken
still more by continually rubbing themselves with grease.
They have no other dress than a great cloak of roe-deer
skins hanging down to their heels, in which they wrap
themselves up. These skins are very well dressed ; they
turn the hairy side inwards and paint the outside with
* See D'Orbigny, " L' Homme Americain," passim.
' De Hougainville, "A Voyige Round the World," pp. 24-5.
HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY 21
various colours. The distinguishing mark of their
cacique is a band or strap of leather, which is tied round
his forehead ; it is formed into a diadem or crown and
adorned with plates of copper. Their arms are bows
and arrows ; and they likewise make use of nooses and
of balls. . . . Sometimes they come in bodies of two
or three hundred men, to carry off the cattle from the
lands of the Spaniards or to attack the caravans of the
travellers. They plunder and murder or carry them
into slavery. This evil cannot be remedied ; for how
is it possible to conquer a nomadic nation in an
immense uncultivated country, where it would be diffi-
cult even to find them ? Besides, these Indians are
brave and inured to hardships, and those times exist
no longer when one Spaniard could put a thousand
Indians to flight." D'Orbigny says that in character
and religion the Araucanians have strong affinities to
the Patagonians and Puelches, but physically they are
very different, and they undoubtedly belong to the
Peruvian or mountain race.
The Pampean race spread over the whole of modern
Argentina and beyond. They include the Patagonians
and Puelches of the south and many tribes, such as
the Charruas, in the river regions of the north. These
all belong to the branch of the Pampean proper.
The Chiquitean branch is of less importance, com-
prising the foreign Indians of Paraguay — the unfor-
tunate people who were so cruelly harried by the
Paulistas in the seventeenth century. The Moxeans
are an interesting branch, but they do not properly
belong to our subject, for they inhabit the unexplored
forest tracts on the confines of Peru, Bolivia, and
Brazil.
The Brasilio-Guaranian race is very extensive, spread-
ing from the north of Argentina over the whole of
22 ARGENTINA
Brazil. They are a rude race, civilised by the Jesuits,
but probably the paternal form of government was the
highest to which they were adapted, and when their
protectors departed they retrograded. Their physical
characteristics are described as follows : ^ " The traits
of the Guaranies can be distinguished at the first glance
from those of the Pampean tribes ; their head is round
and not compressed sideways, nor does their forehead
recede ; it is, on the contrary, high, and its flatness in
some of the tribes is due to artificial causes. Their face
is almost circular, the no^e short and rather large with
nostrils far less open than those of the plain races.
Their mouth is of moderate size, but slightly projecting ;
their lips are somewhat thin, their eyes small and
expressive, . . . their chin is round, very short, and it
never advances as far as the line of the mouth ; their
cheekbones are not prominent in their youth, but in
later life they project somewhat ; their eyebrows are
well arched and very narrow. Their hair is long,
straight, coarse, and black, and their beard, among the
tribes of Paraguay and the Missions, is reduced merely
to a few short bristles, straight and scanty, growing on
the chin and upper lip." The Guaranies were more
important in the earlier days when both their subjec-
tion and protection were grave problems. Those who
still live in their original state are to be found in the
primitive forests of the north, where it is difficult to
disturb them.
The religion of these rude tribes was tolerably uniform
and, as might have been expected, was on a much lower
grade than that of the Incas, who worshipped the
invisible God Pachacamac, the creator of all things.
In general they believed in Quecubu, an evil spirit, but
(what is curious) they did not think it necessary to
* D'Orbigny, ii. 295-7.
I
HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY 23
propitiate him in any way, nor, again, did they worship
or supplicate the Creator of the world in which they had
a shadowy belief. They believed that man was perfectly
free in his actions and that neither good deeds nor evil
deeds would affect the action either of the Creator or the
evil spirit. This Epicurean apathy was tempered by a
belief in a future life — the translation to a paradise of
delight beyond the seas. Such ritual and religious
observances as they had appear to have centred in their
medicine-men, who interpreted dreams and omens and
the like. If we consider their extreme barbarism, we may
judge that their religion was singularly free from the
taint of cruel rites and gross superstitions, but it seems to
have been weak and cold. The majority of the tribes,
even the most savage, have now nominally embraced
Christianity.
It is thus possible to form some idea of the condition
of the aborigines at the time of the appearance of the
Spaniards, but to obtain any knowledge of the events in
South America during the centuries immediately pre-
ceding that event is a flat impossibility, and it is probably
safe to say that the veil will never be uplifted, for the
relics we have are of prehistoric not of modern man.
Nor, in all probability, do we lose much by our igno-
rance, for judging by the actual state of the inhabitants
of the extra-Andine regions of South America, when the
Spaniards found them, we may repeat the disparaging
verdict of Thucydides upon ancient Greece — that looking
back as far as we can we are inclined to believe that the
ancients were not distinguished, either in war or in any-
thing else.
The history of Argentina may be held to begin with the
advent of the Spaniards.
CHAPTER III
THE EUROPEAN CONQUEST
Compared with Mexico and Peru the southern portions
of the New World at first excited Httle interest, because
they produced neither gold nor silver. Yet even here the
discoverer was very early at work, and achievements less
showy but on an almost equally grand scale have to be
recorded. In 15 15 Juan Diaz de Solis was sent out on a
voyage of discovery by the King of Castile, who wished
to counteract Portuguese influence on the east coast of
South America, and Solis was the first European to sail
up the River Plate, which he named after himself. But he
trusted to the natives, who proved treacherous. They
invited him to land, and when he had accepted their
invitation they attacked and killed him and every man in
the boat-crew, and afterwards roasted and devoured them
in the sight of their companions. It was long before the
Spaniards touched on that coast again, and the name of
Solis had no permanence in the land which he discovered.
Some ten years later a more fortunate expedition was
made by the Englishman Cabot. In the service of the
King of Spain he left Seville with four ships, intending to
make a search for the islands of Tarsis, Ophir, and
Eastern Cathay by the newly discovered Straits of
Magellan. The little fleet touched at Pernambuco and
remained there for three months. The Spaniards still
appear to have had a design to check the Portuguese in
I
THE EUROPEAN CONQUEST 25
Brazil, but Cabot evidently found them too strong in that
quarter, so, says Purchas,i "he thought good to busy
himself in something that might be profitable ; and
entered the year 29 discovering the River of Plate, where
he was almost three years ; and not being seconded, with
relation of that which he had found, returned to Castile,
having gone many leagues up the River. He found plate
or silver among the Indians of those countries, for in the
wars which these Indians had with those of the kingdoms
of Peru they took it, and from it is called the River of
Plate, of which the country hath taken the name."
Here Purchas makes two mistakes. The discovery
was not made in 1529, but several years earlier, and the
river derived its name not from any metaUic booty but
from its silvery colour. Cabot went some distance up
the Paraguay River, where he met with many adventures
and lost many of his followers, and he made a serious
endeavour to lay the foundations of Spanish power in
Argentina, but the natives were unfriendly and he
found the enterprise too formidable for his limited
means. It is not surprising that he failed to secure the
goodwill of the Indians. Cabot was a skilful and
daring navigator and less ruthless than most of the
Spanish adventurers, but he was rough in his methods
and tainted by the prevailing inhumanity of the time.
At San Vincente, for example, he bought fifty or sixty
slaves of both sexes for the benefit of his partners in
Seville. He had, in fact, disobeyed his instructions,
which were to make for the Pacific, and when he re-
turned to Seville in 1530 he was at once prosecuted and
punished on various charges, though his disgrace was
but temporary. His expedition has merely a geo-
graphical importance.
Charles V. had too many anxious concerns in Europe
* Purchas, " His Pilgrimage," xiv. 546.
26 ARGENTINA
to take an active part in organising expeditions to the
New World, and he found it convenient to commit the
task to wealthy nobles. Pedro de Mendoza had enriched
himself at the sack of Rome and had dreams of still
greater wealth. Accordingly he obtained a grant of the
whole country from the River Plate to the Straits of
Magellan, with a salary of 2,000 ducats a year as
Governor, a similar sum as an official allowance, and
valuable privileges as to ransom and booty. In return,
he engaged to take out an adequate force and to open
up a land route from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In
August, 1534, he set sail from Cadiz with eleven ships
and 800 men. This was the largest expedition which
had ever sailed from Europe to the New World.
Mendoza seems to have been an enterprising leader,
but his lack of experience brought many unnecessary
hardships upon his followers. The fleet entered the
River Plate in January, 1535, and Mendoza landed on
the right bank and founded the city of Buenos Aires,
'^so named in regard of the freshness of the air, and
the healthfulness of his men, during their abode there." ^
The Adelantado, or Governor, was eager to push up the
great rivers and discover a land fabulously rich in gold,
such as was then enriching many of his more fortunate
countrymen. But still the difficulties were insuperable ;
the Indians were implacably hostile and cut off all
foraging parties ; the Spaniards had come with inadequate
provisions and were frequently in danger of starvation.
Many died of their privations, and the site of Buenos
Aires was abandoned within a year of its foundation.
Mendoza's lieutenants made many adventurous expedi-
tions up the vast waterways and the ill-fated Azolas
founded Asuncion in 1536.2 But their deeds belong
* R. Hakluyt, Extra Series, xi. 252.
» Or 1537 or 1538, according to various authorities.
I
ii
THE EUROPEAN CONQUEST 27
more to the history of Spanish conquest than: to Argentina
proper. The estuary of the Plate was subject to sudden
storms, and Mendoza, having lost eight ships and
being thoroughly wearied by his misfortunes, decided
to return home. On the voyage he fell ill and died,
and of his large force not more than one hundred and
fifty survived their privations and dangers. A highly
interesting and important matter should here be
mentioned. The Spaniards brought only thirty mares
and seven stallions for breeding purposes, but a
Portuguese mariner states thirty years later the country
near the coast was full of horses.
As successor to Mendoza the Spanish Government
appointed Cabeza de Vaca, an experienced adventurer,
who sailed from Spain in 1540 with four hundred men.
He landed at Santa Catherina in Brazil, and thence made
a most adventurous march to Asuncion. He set out on
October 18, 1541, and did not arrive till March 11, 1542,
after suffering extraordinary hardships. At Asuncion
he found that the Spanish settlers had chosen Domingo
Irala as their chief. The two rivals, however, had
enough work for both, and Cabeza de Vaca sailed down
to the River Plate where the Spaniards had practically
abandoned their settlements, and the few survivors were
in great danger of destruction by the Indians. He
refounded Buenos Aires towards the end of 1542 ; but
the time was not yet ripe for the planting of colonies,
and not many months later the city was abandoned
for the second time. Nor was Cabeza de Vaca fortunate
in his undertakings in Paraguay. His attempts to
reform abuses made him unpopular with the settlers,
who preferred Irala, and in 1544 Cabeza de Vaca was
seized and sent a prisoner to Spain where, after the
law's long delays, he was acquitted, but never com-
pensated.
28 ARGENTINA
Irala, who was an able and daring leader, contrived
to maintain his authority till his death, which occurred
in 1557, and credit is due to him for keeping the Spanish
flag flying in the isolated post of Asuncion, which was
rapidly growing in importance, and in 1547 was made
the seat of a Bishop by Pope Paul III. All this time,
however, it should be remembered that we are dealing
rather with the history of what is now Paraguay than
Argentina, for the southern settlements on the River
Plate were once more in the hands of the Indians.
It was at this time that another important town was
established in territory which now belongs to Argentina.
Peru had been conquered by Pizarro, parts of Chile by
Almagro, and in 1559 Hurtado de Mendoza passed over
the Andes from the west and founded the pleasant city
which bears his name. This work of building cities
on the eastern side of the Andes was carried on by other
Spaniards from Peru, and they founded Tucuman in
1565 and Cordoba in 1573.
In the meantime the Guaranies of Paraguay steadily
resisted every advance of the Spaniards, but in 1560 they
were defeated in a great battle at Acari, and the Spaniards
began to push southwards with the determination of
again colonising the Parana country — a step, indeed,
which was almost essential to their safety, since it would
secure their communication with the Atlantic. The
necessary exploit was achieved by a man who deserves
an honoured place among Spanish-American worthies —
Juan de Garay.^ He advanced slowly towards the south
from Asuncion, and in 1573 founded Santa Fe at the
junction of the Parana and the Paraguay. In 1580 he
took the still more important step of re-establishing
« " A man of indefatigable courage and a rare prudence, he joined
with these quaHties the experience of serving in many glorious
campaigns " (Funes, i. 287).
I
KiVKK J.AXDIXG STAGE.
BULL CALF.
To face p. 29.
it
THE EUROPEAN CONQUEST 29
Buenos Aires for the third time. With a true statesman's
instinct he recognised that a mere military post would
not be sufficient for the security of the rapidly growing
colonies, and he took with him, besides Creoles and
Spaniards, two hundred Indian settlers, and he laid out
a town on a considerable scale, while farms and ranches
were established in the neighbourhood. There was
sharp fighting with the Indians, and Garay was unfor-
tunately killed in a skirmish, but his work remained
behind him. " The city," says Southey,i " immediately
began to prosper, and the ship which sailed for Castile
with tidings of its refoundation, took home a cargo of
sugar, and the first hides with which Europe was
supplied from the wild cattle which now began to over-
spread the open country, and soon produced a total
change in the manners of all the adjoining tribes."
In 1588 Corrientes had been founded, and the people
began to acquire pastoral wealth, although the advantages
which they drew from the rapidly increasing herds of
horses and cattle were seriously discounted by the
exactions and restrictions of officials. It was a piece of
great good fortune for both settlers and Indians that
neither gold nor silver was to be found in the River
Plate country, and thus European marauders, whether
Spanish or English, were without one great temptation
to harry them. The next generation was one of steady
progress, and by the year 1620 the city of Buenos Aires
contained three thousand inhabitants. The indefatigable
Jesuits established themselves in the country in 1590, and
though their history properly belongs to Paraguay, they
did much good in Argentina by protecting the Indians
and spreading civilisation.
In 1620 a step of extreme importance was taken. The
office of Adelantado, or Governor, was abolished, and the
» " History of Brazil," i. 349.
30 ARGENTINA
River Plate country was formed into two separate pro-
vinces. Thus we get a rough beginning of Argentina,
which now consisted of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Entre
Rios, Corrientes, and the tract now called Uruguay.
This last, however, was still uninhabited. Buenos Aires
became the seat of a bishop. But the whole of the
settlements remained under the Viceroyalty of Peru.
More important than any measure of partition was the
personality of Hernan Darias de Saavedra, the ruler at
that time. Of pure Spanish blood, he was born in South
America in 1561, early distinguished himself in wars
with the Indians, and took as his model the able Garay.
In 1602 he was appointed to act as Governor of Buenos
Aires, and during his term of authority, which did not
really end when a new Spanish Governor was placed
over his head, he distinguished himself at once by his
severity to refractory Indians and his energetic measures
to protect those who followed peaceful pursuits. In
1 61 5 he became substantive Governor, and it was by
his advice that the division of 1620 was made.
His whole heart was in the peaceful development of
the country ; he encouraged the Jesuits to teach industries
to the natives and to settle virgin tracts, and at the same
time he set his face against all forms of slavery. Few
Spanish Americans have exercised more beneficent rule,
and he was the founder of Argentine prosperity — a tradi-
tion which the country never wholly lost in the worst
days, and which in recent times it has renewed in a
wonderful manner. Not long after the partition this
noble-minded statesman died, full, as the historian says,
of glory and virtues. Funes ^ remarks : " From tender
years he performed military service, earning fame for
valour. His valour was rendered the more illustrious by
that consummate prudence which in war gives glory to
^ " Ensayo de la Historia Civil," p. 318.
I
THE EUROPEAN CONQUEST 31
warriors. He distinguished himself by his ability both
in the arts of peace and war. He was a staunch protector
of the Indians and, in fine, being one of the heroes to
whom the New World has given birth, he! deserved to
have his portrait placed in the Chamber of Commerce in
Cadiz. We regret that time has destroyed the records
which might have enabled us to draw a more accurate
likeness."
With his death it may be said that the history of
Argentina as a Spanish colony has fairly begun. It is
true that the Governorship of Buenos Aires was both
smaller and larger than the present Argentine Republic —
larger as comprising Uruguay, and considerably smaller
in the absence of Patagonia and much other territory.
In fact, there were three Governorships — Buenos Aires,
Paraguay, and Tucuman — and these were looked upon
as a single colony, although each one was an adminis-
trative entity, dependent upon the Crown and inde-
pendent of its neighbours. Our narrative will necessarily
ignore the interesting history of Paraguay and embrace
the other two provinces. The above narrative has few
of the exciting episodes which marked the history of the
conquest of Mexico or Peru, but the history, though less
dazzling, is less sullied by crimes, and the two figures
of Garay and Hernan Darias afford examples of dis-
interested toil for the common welfare which in that
age was rare indeed except among a small proportion
of the clergy. And as the earlier years of Argentina
were less turbulent, so have the latter years been more
blessed with prosperity than has been the case with other
South American States.
The colonisation of South America proceeded upon
lines very different from those pursued in the northern
continent. The latter was the objective of men who
belonged, for the most part, to the Anglo-Saxon race.
32 ARGENTINA
and who came not for adventure or any kind of gain,
but to escape from uncongenial institutions and live
their own life. As far as possible they avoided contact
with the natives, and neither desired, nor, in fact, main-
tained, intimate relations with the mother country. But
in spite of the circumstances of their exile, they carried
with them most of the institutions of their own land,
and continued to develop on the lines of their brothers
on the other side of the Atlantic. The Spaniards did H
not, indeed, treat the natives in South America with
humanity ; on the contrary, in the mining regions
their cruelty was notorious, and they were frequently
at war with the old inhabitants. But in Argentina
and many other places they showed no disinclination
to intermarry ; they made, as we have seen, systematic
settlements of Indians, which assumed that the conquered
race was an integral part of their own body politic, and
in some respects their policy was statesmanlike and even
humane according to the standards of the time. The
result was a fusion of races, and the various nations
which sprang up were as much Indian as Spanish.
How the Argentine nation was evolved it will be the
business of the succeeding historical chapters to show,
as it will be that of the remainder of this volume to dis-
play the country and the people as they actually are after
four centuries of growth.
I
CHAPTER IV
THE SPANISH DOMINION
The subsequent history of Argentina during the Spanish
dominion does not present much incident, and indeed it
is not an uncommon practice for historians of Latin-
American countries to make a single leap from the
Conquest to the Revolution. But to the real student
of history there is much that is of interest in the record
of the attempt of Spain to govern a mighty empire and
the rapid decay of her power. In the next chapter the
Spanish colonial system will be examined ; in the pre-
sent it will be observed in operation. Much will be said
about the illiberal restrictions which here receive only
incidental notice, but however short-sighted they may
have been, at least they could not prevent Argentina
from thriving. A considerable trade sprang up between
Cordoba and the Andine territories now known as Chile
and Bolivia ; nor was it only in material well-being that
progress was made. At Cordoba, also, a university was
founded in 1613, and the town became a seat of learning
and a centre of Jesuit influence. For some years peace
reigned, but in the second quarter of the seventeenth
century it received two serious disturbances. The first
was a dangerous Indian war with the powerful nation of
the Calchaquies.
This people had lived from time immemorial in the
valleys of Rioja and Catamarca, and had been under
4 33
34 ARGENTINA
the suzerainty of the Incas. As the Spaniards around
the River Plate became more powerful they made
aggressions upon the Calchaquies, and by the end of
the sixteenth century had partly subdued them. Many
of these Indians were sold into slavery, and many more
were forced to settle about Santa Fe and Rosario, but
the spirit of the remainder was still unsubdued, and they
awaited an opportunity of recovering their independence.
It was about the middle of the century that they made
their expiring effort. A leader named Bohorquez came
forward and claimed to be the descendant and heir of the
Inca kings. He is said to have been a mere impostor of
humble Andalusian origin, but it is seldom easy to find
out the exact truth about pretenders. Funes doubts
whether he was in his right mind. '^But the light of
reason appeared when he took his first steps in deceit,
an art to which he was naturally inclined." ^ He and
his wife were greeted with the honours due to the Inca
kings, the revolt spread, and he caused the Spaniards
endless trouble. The Calchaquies, whom he claimed to
represent, were a hardy race, and down to modern times'
have shown good fighting qualities, and they were in-
flamed by resentment against the intruding Spaniards,
who had undoubtedly oppressed them. Bohorquez first
came forward in 1656, and though he appears to have
possessed nothing better than the showy qualities of a
bold charlatan, he brought about a dangerous war.
Don Alonso Mercado, who had been appointed Governor
of Tucuman the year before, was obstinate and over-
bearing, and, strangely enough, began by patronising
and encouraging the impostor. The Jesuits, who were
always anxious to redress Indian grievances, also sup-
ported him, and the revolt assumed such serious pro-
portions that the Governor soon had to abandon his
^ Funes, vol. iii. 73,
THE SPANISH DOMINION S5
former attitude and took up arms against him. The
Indians, who, with simple credulity, accepted all the
claims of Bohorquez, made a long and heroic resistance,
but the Spanish power was too great. The pretender
was defeated, and the Spaniards, aware that there could
be no safety for the northern provinces as long as
Bohorquez was alive, spared no effort to track him
down, and were eventually successful. Bohorquez was
taken to Lima and put to death, and the Calchaquies
were placed under a military Deputy-Governor, who was
subordinate to Tucuman. Their martial spirit, however,
did not die out, and in the nineteenth century they
proved themselves one of the most spirited of the
warlike races of South America.
The other trouble of the seventeenth century was more
serious and involved more bloodshed. We have seen
that there was considerable jealousy between the Spanish
and Portuguese in South America. In 1580 Portugal
had been united to Spain, but this change did not make
the relations any more harmonious, for there was a
standing cause of quarrel between the two nations. The
Portuguese had founded in the temperate Brazilian
uplands the city of Sao Paulo, and the inhabitants,
known as Paulistas, were a turbulent people and had
an intense hatred of the Jesuits. The Jesuits, supported
by the Spanish Government, protected the Indians and
devoted themselves to their general welfare, but the chief
business of the Paulistas was to capture Indians and sell
them into slavery. They looked with covetous eyes
upon the Reductions, as the Jesuit settlements were
called, for here was the raw material of their industry in
the shape of hundreds of thousands of submissive
Indians. Accordingly, in 1629 they picked a quarrel
with the Jesuits and attacked the Reduction of San
Antonio, where they committed great ravages, killing
36 ARGENTINA
and capturing multitudes of the helpless Indians. The
Jesuits, who were not loved by the Governor of Para-
guay, were compelled to evacuate Guayra and the scope
of their benevolent labours was largely curtailed. This
cruel and devastating war continued for many years and
caused widespread ruin and loss of life until, in 1638, the
Jesuits appealed to the Court of Spain, requesting that
their wrongs might be redressed and that they might
arm their helpless converts against the oppressor. The
appeal was successful. "The King," says South ey,i "con-
firmed all the former laws in favour of the Indians :
he declared the conduct of the Paulistas, who had
carried away more than thirty thousand slaves from
Guayra, and had begun the same work of devastation in
the Tap6 and on the Uruguay, to be contrary to all laws,
human and divine, and cognisable by the Holy Office.
The enslaved Indians were ordered to be set at liberty,
and directions given to punish those who should commit
these crimes in future, as guilty of high treason. A more
important edict, because more easily carried into effect,
provided that all Indians converted by the Jesuits in the
province of Guayra, Tap6, Parana, and Uruguay, should
be considered as immediate vassals of the Crown, and
not on any pretext consigned to any person for personal
service. Their tribute was fixed, but not to commence
till the year 1649, by which time, it was presumed, they
might be capable of discharging it. And the King not
only granted permission to the Jesuits to arm their
converts, but sent out positive orders to the Governors of
Paraguay and the Plata to exert themselves for the pro-
tection of the Reductions." But in 1640 Portugal
regained her independence and the marauding Paulistas
left a lasting mark on the map of South America.
Undoubtedly but for their incursions the whole valley
' " History of Brazil," ii. 322-3.
THE SPANISH DOMINION 37
of the Parana would have been Spanish instead of Portu-
guese, but, as it was, the Spaniards had to retire behind
the river Iguazu.
Emboldened by this success, the Portuguese ever kept
in view the design of extending their dominions still
further southward. In 1680 the Governor of Rio de
Janeiro sent an expedition by sea and built a fort, which
he named Nova Colonia, opposite the city of Buenos
Aires. Thus the disputed territory of Uruguay was for
the first time occupied by Europeans. The establish-
ment of this hostile post caused great annoyance to the
Governor of Buenos Aires, and he succeeded in capturing
it upon several occasions, but the Home Government, in
view of European politics, had no wish to offend
Portugal, nor did it consider that the possession of
almost uninhabited tracts was worth the risk of compli-
cations. It thus happened that Nova Colonia was
always restored to the Portuguese eventually. It
became a most prosperous port, for it was the seat of
the contraband trade, and by its means the Argentines
were able to export hides to Brazil. Doubtless it was
beneficial to them, however much it may have in-
terfered with the illicit gains of Spanish Governors. It
remained in the possession of the Portuguese until
1777.
The contraband trade was indeed the chief feature of
the domestic history of Argentina in the sixteenth cen-
tury, and its tendency was to raise important inter-
national questions. The fight against the Spanish
monopoly became every year keener as the various
countries of Europe became more settled and secure
and began to devote their energies to trade. In 1616 the
monopoly received a heavy blow by the discovery of
a way into the Pacific without passing through the
guarded Straits of Magellan. This was made by 'the
38 ARGENTINA
Dutchman, Schouten,^ who named Cape Horn after
Hoorn, his birthplace. Immediately numerous Dutch
and English ships took advantage of the new route and a
great trade sprang up. As we have seen, the Governors
of Buenos Aires played a prominent part in this trade,
and no earthly power was able to prevent the economic
law from taking effect. The case of Villacorta, a
Governor who was discovered to have sent away three
million dollars' worth of prohibited goods to Flanders,
illustrates the helplessness of the artificial law. He was
dismissed at the moment, but not long after he reappears
as Governor of Tucuman. But, however illegally, trade
went on and Argentina flourished. A traveller ^ who
visited Buenos Aires in 1769 says that its chief trade was
with Chile and Peru, and that it sent to them ^' cotton,
mules, some skins, and about 400,000 Spanish pounds'
weight of the Paraguay herb, or South Sea tea, every
year." In fact Argentina, like the other Spanish
colonies, advanced steadily in wealth and population
during the eighteenth century, until progress was
abruptly checked by the Revolution. But her history
from the founding of Nova Colonia to the appearance of
the English before Buenos Aires is remarkably barren in
incident.
It was, of course, the fate of colonies to be pawns in
the wars between powerful European States. Spain was
a principal in the great war of the Spanish Succession,
which was ended in 1713 by the Peace of Utrecht. Two
of the articles were of importance to the Spanish posses-
sions. By the Asiento de Negros England obtained the
* Drake in 1578 visited the south of Tierra del Fuego, and dis-
covered that there was a passage round, but he did not himself
make the voyage round Cape Horn.
^^ Bourgainville (See J. H. Moore), "Collection of Voyages and
Travels," 266.
I
THE SPANISH DOMINION 39
right to send yearly to the Spanish colonies twelve
hundred negro slaves, and Buenos Aires was named
as one of the establishments for that traffic, while
by the Navio de Permiso she was permitted to send out
yearly to the South Seas a ship with 650 tons of
merchandise. These concessions, of course, greatly
stimulated the contraband trade, for the colonists were
as eager to buy as the English merchants were to sell,
nor had the Spanish officials the will or the power to
prevent many interlopers following in the wake of the
privileged ships. Parish ^ remarks that it was " a trade
which supplied the most pressing wants of the colony,
and the profits of which were shared by the native
capitalists. If they (the officials) did occasionally make
a show of exercising their right to visit the ships, it was
an empty threat, little heeded by men who were looked
upon with almost as much dread as the buccaneers who
had so long been the terror of all that part of the world."
Under the Bourbons and under the skilful administra-
tion of Alberoni, the fortune of Spain revived, and the
colonies benefited in a corresponding degree.
In 1726 the Spaniards seized and fortified Montevideo
which had been founded by the Portuguese a few years
previously ; this was an important step, for it declared
that, in spite of Nova Colonia, the territory now known
as Uruguay should be Spanish. The new town rapidly
became wealthy and second only to Buenos Aires.
There can be little doubt that historians have con-
siderably exaggerated the weakness and decay of Spain
during the eighteenth century. Her comparative strength
is proved by the fact that she maintained her trade regu-
lations which were only contravened surreptitiously.
The attempt of England to overthrow them by force
shows how great was the resistive power of this unenter-
' " Buenos Ayres/' 59,
40 ARGENTINA
prising but still formidable empire. The War of Jenkins's
Ear may be considered as a rehearsal of the struggle for
the New World which occupied a great part of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and which is still
unfinished.
Therefore, although the war is in itself trivial and
ineffective, its purport is not so ; it was the battle of the
new spirit against the old, of the trader against the
official, of the active against the passive. If here and
elsewhere the latter had conquered, we might have had,
in place of our modern hives of industry, vast thinly
populated regions dotted with little, self-sufficient villages,
which possibly were destined to be overrun by a more
restless and energetic yellow racej
Undoubtedly the English had not a shadow of right
on their side ; they were encouraging the breaking of
treaties and flagrant political dishonesty. But under the
brutal economic codes of the time there was no law but
the law of the stronger ; England might take if she had
the power and Spain might keep if she could. The
turbulent English mobs, clamouring for war, were
shrewder than Walpole, shrewder than Burke, for they
, knew that to an island and trading people outlets for
/ their commerce were matters of sheer necessity.
The Spaniards strongly disliked the Asiento Treaty, and,
* Carlyle has an accurate perception of the gravity of the issue.
" The Jenkins's Ear Question, which then looked so mad to every-
body, how sane has it now grown to my Constitutional Friend ! In
abstruse ludicrous form there lay immense questions involved in it ;
which were serious enough, certain enough, though invisible to
everybody. Half the World lay hidden in embryo under it.
Colonial-Empire, whose is it to be? Shall Half the World be
England's, for industrial purposes; which is innocent, laudable,
conformable to the Multiplication-table at least, and other plain
Laws ? Or shall it be Spain's for arrogant-torpid sham-devotional
purposes, contradictory to every Law ? " (" History of Frederick
the Great," xii. 12, § 3).
1
THE SPANISH DOMINION 41
as is well known, English merchants, under cover of the
privilege, carried on extensive smuggling operations
against which the Spanish guarda castas retaliated
vigorously. It was in 1731 that they perpetrated upon
Captain Jenkins the outrage which was to make so great
a stir some years later. It may be added that Jenkins did
really lose his ear on the high seas, and that the insinua-
tions that the whole affair was a fabrication are them-
selves quite without foundation.^ However, not for
nearly seven years was there any attempt to make poli-
tical capital out of it, although the smuggling question
remained a constant source of irritation between the two
countries. It was at the beginning of 1738 that circum-
stances were favourable for an outbreak, for a powerful
opposition was longing to bring about the fall of
Walpole, and his position was weakened by the death
of Queen Caroline. No weapon could be more effectual
than the accusation of being insensible to the claims of
national honour and of tamely suffering insults from
Spain. On March 30th Carteret, in the House of Com-
mons, carried an address against the right of search, and
Walpole, who was anxious on all grounds to settle the
matter, expedited the negotiations which had been for
some time proceeding with Spain on the subject of com-
pensation. In January, 1739, the terms of the agreement
were published to the following effect. The Spaniards
were willing that damages against themselves should be
assessed to the amount of ;^2oo,ooo, but, on the other
hand, the English Government acknowledged a counter-
claim of ;£6o,ooo, on account of the destruction of the
Spanish fleet by Byng in 1718. With this and other
possible deductions and abatements, the compensation
seemed rather meagre, and the whole question of right of
search being left to a Commission's decision, there was
' See Sir J. K. Laughton, English Hisioncal Review, October, 1889.
42 ARGENTINA
nothing in the findings that could be agreeable to
Englishmen. A storm at once rose. The Prince of
Wales voted against the Government. Young Pitt
thundered against Walpole. The Prime Minister had
to give way. His colleagues were in favour of war, and,
as often happened in such struggles, Admiral Vernon was
despatched, long before a declaration of war, " to destroy
the Spanish settlements and to distress their shipping."
The national feeling continued to rise, and great were the
manifestations of popular joy on the occasion of the formal
declaration of war on October 23rd. "They now ring
the bells," said Walpole, " they will soon*ring their hands."
Meanwhile Vernon, though his force was small, lost no
time, and having appeared off Porto Bello with six ships
on November 20th, he captured it the next day, and the
news of this success (which did not reach London till
March, 1740), was received with extravagant demon-
strations of rejoicing. In the spring Vernon was mena-
cing Cartagena, and on March 24, 1740, captured Chagre.
The home authorities appear to have been extremely
dilatory, for it took them a whole year to send effectual
reinforcements, and then their value was seriously dis-
counted by the fact that General Wentworth had suc-
ceeded to the command of the land forces. This officer
was thoroughly incompetent, and no exhortations of
Vernon could rouse him to energy, and owing to his
mismanagement the assault upon Cartagena of April 9th
was a complete failure. The armament departed about a
week later, having lost at least eight thousand men, and
in July an attempt upon Santiago in Cuba failed likewise,
owing to Wentworth's incompetence. Little more of
note occurred on that side, and it is here proper to
mention that Vernon was in nowise to blame for the
unfortunate results, and that, with an efficient colleague,
there seems no reason to doubt that he would have made
PATAGOXIAXS.
To face p. 43.
THE SPANISH DOMINION 43
a great name for himself in the annals of the British
Navy. Nor should Smollett, because he happens to be a
famous novelist, be accepted as a judge of the strategy of
the expedition. He had, in fact, infinitely less materials
for forming a judgment than a private at Waterloo had
for criticising Wellington's dispositions.
The haphazard general management is well illustrated
by the only brilliant achievement of the war — the Anson
circumnavigation. Anson, with six ships manned by
Chelsea pensioners and raw recruits, was ordered to the
Pacific, and set sail on September i8, 1740. Although
his little squadron dwindled to three, he rounded the
Horn, and subsequently burnt Paita in Peru, and played
havoc with Spanish commerce. He crossed the Pacific,
captured a great treasure-ship, and returned by the Cape
of Good Hope to England, which he reached June 15,
1744. He brought home treasure amounting to ;^5oo,ooo,
and this was paraded through the streets of London in
thirty-two wagons.
It would be difficult to say when the War of Jenkins's
Ear ended, or what were its results. Carlyle ^ says :
" What became subsequently of the Spanish War, we in
vain inquire of History-Books. The War did not die for
many years to come, but neither did it publicly live ; it
disappears at this point : a River Niger, seen once flow-
ing broad enough, but issuing — Does it issue nowhere,
then ? Where does it issue ? . . . Forgotten by official
people ; left to the dumb English Nation." Doubtless it
was not forgotten by the people ; they soon showed
once more their eagerness to break down the monopoly,
and this curious war is noteworthy both as striking the
real keynote of a long series of vast struggles, and also as
showing the great vis inerticB of Spain. Southey 2 remarks
* See Sir J. K. Laughton, English Historical Review, October, 1889.
^ " History of Brazil," iii. 300.
44 ARGENTINA
that the history of the War of Jenkins's Ear proves the
strength of Spain in South America, and points out that
an event in the war contributed indirectly to the pros-
perity of the River Plate settlement. When it was known
that Anson was fitting out his celebrated squadron, the
Spanish Government for its part also despatched six ships
and three thousand five hundred men to protect the
settlement. They delayed a long time there and, it is
said, eventually not more than one hundred of the crews
returned home, the greater part remaining to settle in
the country.
Not less important than these hostilities against English
and Portuguese (who from their near neighbourhood
were almost equally dangerous in the contraband trade)
was the loss to South America of that body which had
been the conscience of Spanish America, which had
protected the Indians, instructed the ignorant, and
turned the wilderness into fertile fields. For a long time
the civil power in Roman Catholic countries had been
jealous of the influence wielded by the Jesuits. As their
object was to suppress everything opposed to the Roman
Catholic system as they understood it, so every element
that felt itself menaced naturally rose in self-defence, and
the Jesuits found themselves friendless in Europe. Their
downfall was principally due to the able and astute
Pombal, the Prime Minister of Portugal, who considered
that his country was depressed by a too powerful hier-
archy, and his machinations were greatly assisted by
circumstances in the River Plate settlements.
Colonia had long been a trouble to the Spaniards,
diminishing their trade and insulting them by its pro-
pinquity, and in 1750 they made overtures for an
exchange. The offending port was to be surrendered
and the Portuguese were to receive in exchange a large
portion of the Jesuit Missions, ix.j the territory called La
I
THE SPANISH DOMINION 45
Guayra and about 20,000 square miles to the east of the
Uruguay River. This included seven Jesuit Reductions,
and the Society and the Indians strenuously resisted the
transference. Although the story of the Jesuits belongs
rather to Paraguay than Argentina, it is for many reasons
necessary to refer to that wonderful and benevolent
despotism which they exercised in the Parana settlements,
and also to relate the circumstances of their expulsion
from South America — a matter of great importance to all
the colonies.
The Jesuits did not commence effective work in
Paraguay earlier than the beginning of the seventeenth
century. In the days of the conquest attempts had been
made by them to convert the natives and to further
general missionary work, but the circumstances had not
been favourable. It was in 1610 that two members of
the Order, Cataldino and Mazeta, founded the settle-
ment of Loreto on the Upper Parana. An unfriendly
critic I remarks ; " They began by gathering together
about one hundred and fifty wandering families, whom
they persuaded to settle, and they united them into a
little township. This was the slight foundation upon
which they have built a superstructure which has amazed
the world, and added so much power at the same time,
that it has brought so much envy and jealousy upon
their society. For when they had made this beginning,
they laboured with such indefatigable pains, and with
such masterly policy that, by degrees, they mollified the
minds of the most savage nations,^ fixed the most ram-
' " An Account of the Spanish Settlement in America," 340-1.
» " They collected them into fixed habitations, gave them laws,
introduced useful and polite arts among them ; and, in short, of a
barbarous nation, without civilised manners, and without religious
principles, they made a good-natured and well-governed people,
who strictly observed the Christian ceremonies '' (De Bougainville,
p. 98).
46 ARGENTINA
bling, and subdued the most averse to government.
They prevailed upon thousands of various dispersed
tribes of people to embrace their religion, and to submit
to their government ; and when they had submitted, the
Jesuits left nothing undone that could conduce to their
remaining in this subjection, or that could tend to
increase their number to the degree requisite for a well-
ordered and potent society, and their labours were
attended with amazing success."
The Jesuit establishments are one of the many meri-
torious acts of Saavedra who, seeing with concern the
depression of the Indians and recognising their value to
the Spanish Crown, appealed to the King, whereupon
Phillip III., in 1609, issued royal letters patent to the
Order of Jesuits for the conversion of the Indians. It is
true that the Jesuits drew considerable wealth from their
obedient subjects. They exported hides in large
quantities and had a monopoly of the production of
mate. Their method of government also would have
been unsuitable to a race of harder fibre,^ for they
jealously excluded their Reductions from the external
world, allowing no European to enter, and the Indians
were kept constantly at work at the agricultural pursuits
which the Jesuits themselves had greatly improved. But
in those days it was rare indeed for any settlers to pay
any regard to the welfare of the uncivilised races whom
they encountered, and it must be remembered that the
Jesuits were practically the only Christian missionaries
in the period between the Reformation and the mid-
dle of the eighteenth century. All honour, then, is due
y to them for their devotion and philanthropy.
When the peaceful Indians heard of the great disaster
» " These Indians live at present in an entire assurance, that what-
ever their priests advise them to is good, and whatever they repre-
hend is bad" (UUoa, ii. 183).
THE SPANISH DOMINION 47
that had overtaken them in their abandonment to their
old enemies the Portuguese, there was consternation,
but they were remorselessly driven from their homes.
However, the Jesuits protested strongly, and in the end
the Spanish Government was induced to annul the
treaty. Nevertheless, the Indians never recovered their
losses and the West of Rio Grande became permanently
Portuguese, in spite of the abrogation of the treaty. The
result would, no doubt, have been different had their
powerful protectors remained in the country.
The officials at Buenos Aires cared much about Colonia
and little for the Reductions or the fate of the Indians,
and the Jesuits were accused of having brought about the
recision of the treaty. Any pretext was now welcome,
for their destruction was contemplated. As we have
seen, the able Pombal had resolved to expel them from
Portugal, and in 1759 he trumped up against them a
charge of attempting to assassinate the King, and issued
a decree for their deportation from Portugal. France
eventually followed this example, and in 1767 even
the Spanish King was induced to do the same, while
in 1773 Pope Clement XIV. decreed the entire suppression
of the Order.
In Argentina the Jesuits were seized and deported.
It was expected that the Indians, who were armed, would
make a serious resistance, but they were as sheep having
no shepherd, and rather than remain in their old abodes
to be harried by new masters they migrated to Entre
Rios and Uruguay. But the work of the Jesuits has not
perished, for they and the conventual orders were the
first to give an example of humanity in the treatment of
inferior races.
This great change was quickly followed by another.
In 1776 the Vice-royalty of Buenos Aires was created,
that is, the four countries now known as Argentina,
48 ARGENTINA
Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, were detached from the Vice-
royalty of Peru, under Don Pedro Cevallos, sometime
Governor of Buenos Aires. This step was a recognition
of the importance of Buenos Aires, to which all observers
testify. All the efforts of the Spaniards to force the trade
of Europe over the Isthmus of Panama and the Andes
had failed, and Buenos Aires was now to fulfil its destiny
as the metropolis of Spanish America. The new
Governor brought a large force, for there had been serious
trouble with Portugal. As the latter was too weak to
resist, and as the news of peace between the two countries
followed almost immediately, there was no difficulty in
coming to terms, and Colonia was finally made over to
Spain. The result of this important treaty was that Spain
was left in undisputed possession of Uruguay and
Portugal of Brazil in its present form, for she recovered
Rio Grande and Santa Catharina. Free trade was
established between Buenos Aires and Spain, and
Argentina made wonderful industrial advances. The
rest of the century was uneventfully prosperous, but
great events were in the wind, and they were destined to
have a powerful influence on Spanish America. The
easygoing paternal rule was to come to an end, and a
long period of bloodshed and turbulence was to succeed.
As was the case in every other part of the world, the
motive power was supplied by the French Revolution.
CHAPTER V
THE SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM
Colonies were one of the many new things which were
introduced to Europe at the end of the fifteenth century.'
Of them mediaeval Europe had known nothing since the
dissolution of the Roman Empire ; the means of com-
munication were too bad, the Asiatic races were too
powerful, and the Western world itself was too thinly
populated to allow of distant excursions. The planting
of settlements was familiar to both Greece and Rome.
The Greek system was the simpler of the two, for the
city state merely propagated itself by colonies as a plant
propagates itself by seeds, and two cities existed instead
of one, each independent of the other. But a Roman
colony was incorporated as a subordinate and inferior
part of the mother state. Greek history and literature
were almost unknown in the Middle Ages, and even after
the Renaissance they remained much less familiar than
Latin. On the other hand, many European States, and
especially Spain, inherited their law and their municipal
systems from Rome, Latin was the international
language, and the Church, by far the most powerful
mediaeval institution, was Roman. It is, therefore, not
surprising that Spain followed the Roman colonial
system, but all the circumstances were so different that
beyond the mere incorporation and inferiority of the
new dominions there was little other resemblance.
5 «
50 ARGENTINA
The main difference and the main characteristic of the
Spanish colonial system was this — the colonies were the
private property of the King of Spain. This, then, is the
keystone of the edifice — that the dominions were vested
in the Crown, not in the nation. The derivation of this
theory is doubtless from the fact that in the early
exploring days the Spanish and Portuguese kings were,
really or apparently, private adventurers, and, in fact, the
adventurers always assumed that they were stewards of
royal estates rather than officers of a kingdom. Thus the
colonies were the property of the King of Spain for the
time being. Ferdinand had, in 151 1, established a tribunal
to manage his new property. This was the Council of
the Indies, which made laws for the colonies and
distributed all the appointments and acted as a Court
of Appeal from the Audiencia in America. The King
made all grants of land, and allowed the colonists only
local liberties ; the Spanish nation had no concern what-
ever in the matter. A modern parallel is the Congo Free
State as it was a year or two ago. It is probable that the
New World had little to complain of except in the matter
of trade and commerce, but here the system was illiberal
and short-sighted. The fifth share of the King in the
produce of all the gold and silver mines was a small
matter in comparison with the multitude of harassing
restrictions,! which Spain never had the wisdom to cancel
till it was too late. No colony was allowed to trade with
any country except Spain ; all the exports, whatever their
destination, had first to go to the mother country, and the
* The following is a typical example. " In 1602 a custom-house
was established at Cordoba for the purpose of levying duties
equivalent to 50 per cent, of the value of all commodities passing
between Peru and the River Plate. It was not till 1665 that this
irritating restraint on commercial business was relaxed" (C. E.
Akers, " A History of South America," p. 1 1).
I
THE SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 61
navigation laws were conceived in a similar spirit. The
most glaring instance of stupidity was the prohibition
of import trade laid upon Buenos Aires. No Atlantic
colonial port might receive goods from Spain except
Nombre de Dios. When Argentina purchased goods
from Spain they were despatched across the Atlantic
to Nombre de Dios, carried by mule across the Isthmus,
transhipped to Callao, and then taken over innumerable
mountains into the River Plate country. Merely to state
such a system is to condemn it, but there was no
possibility of altering it, because the whole shipping
trade of Spain was in the hands of a syndicate of Cadiz
merchants, and they were all-powerful.
As is well known, no foreign State was allowed to
trade with Spanish America, nor was any foreigner even
allowed to enter it without special permission. Various
manufactures were forbidden, and even the cultivation
of the vine and olive was placed under restrictions, as
it was feared that their produce might compete with the
produce of Spain. In fact, the ideal of the home-staying
Spaniard was that the colonies should be mere mining-
camps. Gold and silver were regarded as the whole
of wealth, and it was considered the height of commercial
wisdom to drain the whole produce of the mines of
America into Spanish ports without allowing a fraction
to be diverted elsewhere.
Thus legitimate trade was made extremely difficult,
for the Spaniards even discouraged colonial exports
from the fear that precious metals might be concealed
among them. Accordingly, in 1599, the Governor of
Buenos Aires was commanded to forbid exportation and
importation alike under penalty of death. But the
stringency of the various laws and regulations defeated
their own objects, a gigantic contraband trade grew
up, and all the officials, from the Governor downward,
52 ARGENTINA
were implicated in it. Bribes accompanied almost
every business transaction.^ The manufactures of
Europe were surreptitiously landed at Buenos Aires,
and of course ruined the sale of the goods that
had come over oceans, Isthmus, and mountains. This
contraband trade was chiefly carried on by the English
and the Dutch, and, as Professor Seeley has frequently
pointed out, the power to trade with the New
World formed for some two hundred years the chief
bone of contention in the foreign politics of European
countries. The practice of smuggling has had two
marked and very pernicious effects upon Spanish-Ameri-
can character ; it has fostered contempt of law and the
preference of Government service to profitable industry.
As the Argentines despised the laws of contraband, so
they came to despise all laws, and during their indepen-
dent history the shackles of the law have been cobwebs
light as air to restrain individuals or communities from
disturbing the public peace. In a word, out of the
contraband trade sprang one of the worst features of
South America — lawlessness and turbulence. It is
obvious that it also fostered an almost equally injurious
spirit — the craving of office. It was easier and more
profitable to take bribes from the smugglers than to
engage actively in smuggling, and so the tradition has
descended to prefer the certain emoluments (direct and
indirect) of office to the uncertain gains of trade. In
Spanish America it is better to be the nephew of a
President than of a successful trader. Of course, it
» " The commerce between Peru and Buenos Aires is chiefly for
cattle and mules ; such as are concerned in the former, go first to
the Governor, and ask his leave to drive a herd of cattle into Peru,
which is never refused when backed by a present of some thousand
pieces of eight" ("An Account of the Spanish Settlements in
America (1762)" 331).
THE SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 53
would be absurd to attribute these two evils solely to the
contraband trade, but the first has been undoubtedly
encouraged, and the second, to a considerable extent,
caused by the practice which was forced upon the
Spanish colonies by an absurd fiscal system. The
economic condition, therefore, of these countries appears
to us very sombre. It must, however, be remembered
that such treatment of "plantations" was the accepted
policy of the age, and probably the reason why Spain
was more unfortunate with her foreign possessions than
other nations is rather to be found in the indolent
character of her sons and her foreign embarrassments
than in any particular set of restrictions.
Till the middle of the eighteenth century the principles
of the Spanish colonial system were considered the last
words of commercial policy by all nations and practically
all individuals.^ That great statesman. Lord Chatham,
was fully convinced of the wisdom of these principles.
He remarked : " Let the sovereign authority of this
country over the colonies be asserted in as strong terms
as can be devised, and be made to extend to every point
of legislation whatsoever. That we may bind their trade,
confine their manufactures, and exercise every power
whatsoever, except that of taking money out of their
pocket without their consent." 2 Indeed, the general
commercial and colonial policy of Spain was at least as
liberal as that of England, and was, during the half
century preceding the Revolution, infinitely more liberal,
and if we make allowance for the enlargement of the
human mind in a hundred and fifty years, it must be
* "In the trade to America every nation endeavours to engross
as much as possible the whole market of its own colonies, by fairly
excluding all other nations from any direct trade to them " (Adam
Smith, " Wealth of Nations," ii. 129).
* Thackeray, "A History of William Pitt," ii. 73, 74.
/
54 ARGENTINA
admitted that the present commercial policy of the South
American Republics compares unfavourably with the
Spanish system. There was at least material prosperity.
Adam Smith,i while censuring the Spanish system of
government and considering it inferior to that obtaining
in English colonies, recognised that great progress was
being made. He says : " The Spanish colonies are
under a government in many respects less favourable
to agriculture, improvement, and population, than that
of the English colonies. They seem, however, to be
advancing in all these much more rapidly than any
country in Europe. In a fertile soil and happy climate
/ the great abundance and cheapness of land, a circum-
stance common to all new colonies, is, it seems, so great
an advantage as to compensate many defects in civil
government." It is impossible to put down the failure
of Spain to anything but defect of character — the grand
defect of mananay of putting off every exertion till to-
morrow, or rather for ever. But it cannot be denied
that a hundred years ago the ill-starred country had to
face a series of misfortunes which might well have dis-
/ heartened a more energetic people. The revolutionary
/ spirit which had spread all over the globe was at first"
wonderfully impotent in the Spanish settlements owing
to the rigid disciplinary system which had been in force
for upwards of two hundred years. Yet that of itself
would have been enough to have taxed all the energies
of an ancient and absolute monarchy. Further, Spain
contrived to change sides in such a way during the war
as to get all the hardships of defeat and none of the
fruits of victory. When she was in alliance with France
her fleet was destroyed by the English, and when she
was in alliance with England her territory was overrun
by the French. At this crisis also she was afflicted by
^ " Wealth of Nations," i. 203.
THE SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 55
the feeblest king of a feeble line and probably the worst
queen and minister that ever lived. Under these cir-
cumstances it can hardly be a matter for wonder that
she lost her colonies.
And yet if her general policy towards them be con-
sidered, it must be acknowledged that she deserved her
fate less than any colonial power then existing. The
Spanish merchants did indeed greatly hamper the
development of South America, but they acted in obedi-
ence to a theory which was considered axiomatic, and
which was rigorously put into practice by every other
nation. The King and the high officials always exerted
their influence in favour of humane treatment of the
Indians. Irala was conspicuous for his humanity, and
the protective regulations which he put forward on their
behalf and at the beginning of the seventeenth century,
when reports reached Spain that the Indians in Tucuman
were being ill-treated, it was ordered that Don Francisco
de Alfaro, Auditor of the Supreme Court of Peru, should
go to Paraguay and investigate the whole matter. The
result was the Ordinances of Alfaro in 1612, which abol-
ished both the forcible subjection of Indians and slavery,
and substituted a small capitation tax. As we have seen,
the Court of Madrid warmly seconded the early efforts
of the Jesuits. The treatment, then, of subject races
was as benevolent as circumstances and theories would
permit, nor were the colonists in practice subject to any
considerable severity. The commercial regulations were
easily evaded, and the Argentina steadily advanced in
prosperity.
The latter days of Spanish rule were extremely credit-
able to the sagacity and liberality of the Crown and its
advisers. In 1764 a line of vessels was established to
run between Corunna and various South American
ports, with permission to carry Spanish merchandise
56 ARGENTINA
and bring back in return the products of the colonies,
and in 1774 the colonies were allowed intercommunica-
tion and trade. In 1778 a new commercial code was
drawn up for the benefit of the Spanish Indies, and this
was surprisingly liberal for those days. Nine ports in
Spain and twenty-four in the colonies were declared
"ports of entry," and goods, for the most part, were
allowed to pass in and out freely. The general duty
was nominally 3 per cent, on Spanish goods and 7 per
cent, on foreign goods ; but as the latter had to be
shipped from Spain, the duty upon them was really
40 or 50 per cent. If we compare this scale with that
now in force, we shall see how greatly South America
has retrograded since the removal of the control of
Spain. It is interesting to remember that these benefi-
cent regulations were framed while Smith was publishing
the " Wealth of Nations," and that therefore backward
Spain anticipated both Pitt and Huskisson.
After this Argentina advanced by leaps and bounds.
The average export of hides had been 150,000 ; they soon
rose to 800,000, and in one particular year the figure was
1,400,000. At least seventy ships sailed to Spain every
j^ear, and the population of Buenos Aires rose from
^,000 in 1778, to 72,000 in 1800. Buenos Aires became
openly what she had long been struggling to be — the
entrepot for wine and brandy from Cuzo, hides from
Tucuman, tobacco, yerba mate, and wood from Para-
guay, and gold, silver, copper, rice, sugar, and cocoa
from the distant interior. Had the fate of Spain been
happier, and the character of her sons stronger. South
America would have had a very different destiny, for
everything pointed to a period of peaceful development,
and the people had a government which was exactly
suited to them. The Revolution substituted for the mild
rule of Spain a preposterous democracy which was only
THE SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 57
effective or tolerable when metamorphosed into a dicta-
torship, and for more than two centuries of comparative
peace an indefinitely long period of -disorder and bloodshed.
Before closing this brief sketch of a period which has
been both neglected and misunderstood (for it is usually
passed over with a few reflections upon the perversity
and tyranny of Spanish rule) it is desirable to indicate
briefly the machinery of government, which underwent
substantial alteration only in the last generation of the
Spanish dominion. The King had a special body of
advisers to help him in the administration of his over-
sea territory, and this was called the Council of the
Indies. There were only two Viceroys — who, of course,
were subject to the home authorities — they were the
Viceroy of Mexico and the Viceroy of Peru. The latter
ruled over the whole of South America. When a new
colony was founded it was put under the charge of an
Adelantado, or Governor, who was nominally subject
to the Viceroy, but in practice he was independent and
answerable only to the King. When he vacated office
his acts were subject to a review, and he was liable to
punishment if found guilty of misconduct, but in the
nature of things there was little effective check upon
him by the Home Government, and he was really a
military ruler with almost despotic powers. However,
the Spaniards, following the Roman tradition, always
strongly favoured municipal government, and provisions
were made which modified the arbitrary character of the
system, although, as was inevitable, there were loud
complaints that the claims of the Creoles — those born
in the country — were neglected, and that the good posts
were given to Spaniards from over the seas. Even to
the last this grievance remained.^
* Writing of the time of Galvez, Funes (iii. 225) says : " Civil
and military appointments were never before distributed with such
68 ARGENTINA
The system of local government, which modified this
exclusiveness and gave the children of the soil a con-
siderable share in the management of their own affairs,
is a most important feature in the history of Argentina.
To begin with, the Governor made grants of land to
each white settler. The recipients of the grants became
Encomenderos, who received also in fief several Indian
villages and took tribute from the inhabitants in return
for protection and Christian teaching. The Encomen-
deros swore "to defend, enrich, and ennoble the
kingdom and care for the Indians," and they appear
to have discharged their trust with tolerable fidelity.
But the Spaniards are city-dwelling people, and the
history of Argentina chiefly centres in the towns where
the governing body was the Cabildo, or town council.
The Cabildo consisted of from six to twelve members,
and although they had bought their offices of the King
and held them for life, they imparted no insignificant
popular element into the system of government, and
when the Revolution came the Cabildos had sufficient
vitality to act as the rallying-point for the revolutionists
in every district. In Buenos Aires the Cabildo had great
power, and the Governor could not easily override it,
while in every city in the provinces the little town
councils represented Creole and local interests. This
system lent itself to particularism and was unfavourable
to representative government, which accordingly has not
been a success in Argentina, partly owing to this cause
and partly to the natural incapacity of the people. It
has been always very difficult to obtain a national
complete partiality to the European Spaniards. In general, the
native-born were shut out ; they were not esteemed worthy to be
appointed door-keepers of the offices." He also remarks that there
was similar exclusiveness in the distribution of ecclesiastical pre-
ferment.
I
THE SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 69
assembly even for the decision of the most momentous
questions and legislation, elections and administrations
are controlled by functionaries rather than by electors
and deputies. Under Spanish rule the Cabildo system
worked extremely well. In the thinly populated districts
the great proprietors ruled in patriarchal fashion.
Inefficiency and indolence were the chief grievances
which the inhabitants of the Plate district could have
reasonably urged against their rulers. The commercial
regulations, as we have seen, were so bad that they were
perpetually evaded, and the Governor and other officials
took bribes and connived at the evasions. Thus grew
up the evil tradition that official and political careers
are above all others desirable, and that the productive
classes are fair game for every kind of official exaction.
But, in spite of all defects, the settlements steadily pros-
pered, there were few serious Indian wars, comparatively
little fighting even with the Portuguese or other foreign
nations, and civil tumults were few and far between.
If we make allowance for the natural progress that all
nations must make in the face of all adverse circum-
stances, we cannot deny that even Argentina has lost
ground in the nineteenth century, as compared with her
position in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Another institution which exerted great influence upon
the history of Spanish America was the Consulado, or
Chamber of Commerce. In 1543 the first of these
bodies was founded at Seville, and its principal object
was to regulate trade with the Indies. The Consulado
of Cadiz became eventually by far the most influential
and gained an unenviable notoriety for its commerce-
destroying enactments ; but it was following the accepted
commercial principles of the age, and there can be no
doubt that the Consulados at Mexico and Lima were
beneficial. Their business was to adjudge commercial
60 ARGENTINA
suits and carry on the entire trade in their respective
Viceroyalties, and in general they undertook the com-
mercial development of the settlements. Their policy
was cautious and conservative.
Such, then, were the institutions which tempered the
rigours of personal or despotic rule, modifying either the
unlimited power of the Crown or the absolute military
sway of the Governor. But in theory the royal authority
was as complete as that of the Roman Emperor. Just as
in later days Queen Victoria took the title of Empress of
India as the successor of the Mogul Emperor, so the King
of Spain was Emperor of the Indies in succession to
Montezuma in Mexico and the Incas in Peru. The
King's will was the source of law ; legislation was carried
out by means of Cedulas Reales, or Royal Decrees, which
were issued by the Council of the Indies in his name,
and, as was natural, the attempt was made at regulation
on far too complete a scale, and matters which ought to
have been settled by local authorities were the subject of
decrees, and thus these enactments increased with alarm-
ing rapidity. The principles of these Cedulas soon fell
into confusion ; it is said that their codification, ordered
in 1635, was not carried into effect until 1680, by which
time it had become obsolete. It does not appear, how-
ever, that the rulers troubled themselves much about the
confusion of the law ; they would probably have been
much more uneasy had all the decrees become effective,
for it was obviously impossible to carry on all legislation
at such a distance, and travellers and annalists agreed
that the Governors and their subordinates usually
neglected the law and governed according to equity.
The result was not unsatisfactory.
Current ideas about history are very often wrong;
they are often the repetition at third or fourth hand
of an extremely indifferent authority. An American
I
THE SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 61
traveller may have come with the preconceived belief
that all republics are free and all monarchies grinding
tyrannies, and having accordingly stated that the con-
dition of South America under Spanish rule was miser-
able, his statement has been echoed by all his successors.
Or, again, another writer notices that the commercial
regulations were absurd and vexatious, and he declares
that the colonies were paralysed by the blight of Spanish
rule. A third has no difficulty in discovering instances
of atrocities committed against the Indians who worked
in the Peruvian mines, and he enlarges upon the greed
and inhumanity of the Spaniards. Thus the whole
history, which possesses few striking incidents to tempt
investigators, is distorted by prejudice and the three
hundred years of Spanish rule are summarily dismissed
as a barren period, fruitful in nothing but misery.
In fact, from first to last the Spanish colonies enjoyed
a more liberal trade policy than did those of England.
The reason that the abuses of the Spanish colonies were
so much more prominent was that the Spanish trade was
incomparably more valuable than the North American.
Again, apart from the mines, the Spanish treatment of
the Indians was considerably in advance of the standards
of the time in humanity, nor would it be easy to find
any body of men in the three centuries who pursued a
wiser and juster policy towards inferior and conquered
races. And, further, such cruelty as was perpetrated was
the work of private exploiters or, at worst, of disobedient
officials. The King of Spain and the ecclesiastics of
Spain made every effort to redress the instances of ill-
treatment which came to their ears. It was Charles III.
who encouraged the Jesuits to proceed upon their
mission of mercy, and if he had had the power he would
have restrained the cruelty of the Portuguese Paulistas.
The condition of the River Plate settlements Under
62 ARGENTINA
Spanish rule compares favourably with that of most
^ civilised nations during the same period.
A recent writer,^ summing up the general subject,
makes some remarks which deserve quotation : "In
discussing the often-repeated accusation of Spanish
oppression, it is necessary to define what sort of oppres-
sion is meant : whether oppression of the Indians by
the whites, or oppression of the whites by the Spanish
Government. If the former is meant, then the Creoles
were as guilty as the Europeans, and both were more
guilty than the Spanish Government and its immediate
representatives. If the latter, the restraint of the whites
/ was in fact the measure of protection enjoyed by the
natives ; free immigration and large autonomy granted
to European settlers would have meant extermination
or enslavement. But the theory of a universal control
which should foster both 'commonwealths' and protect
the weaker was largely ineffective ; and in this failure
lay the troubles of the Indians. . . .
" The usual exclusion of Creoles from the highest posts
was a grievance ; but both its extent and its significance
were much exaggerated during the struggle for indepen-
dence, since a very large number of subordinate posts,
some of them commanding large influence and dignity,
were usually held by Creoles. In fact, almost all the
revolutionary leaders were connected with the royal
service through posts held either by themselves or by«
their fathers. . . .
"Here was an empire which, by the testimony of its
own administrators, was honeycombed with continuous
decay in all directions ; yet this empire survived repeated
external shocks, continually extended its influence, and
after three centuries evoked the admiration of foreign
observers. This vitality is not explained by the theoretic
^ A. F. Kirkpatrick, " Cambridge Modern History," x. 277-9.
THE SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 63
system of administration, nor yet by the practical neglect
of that system. Perhaps the explanation may partly be
found in personal character. . . . Examples constantly
recur of admirable and loyal service, which has some-
thing Oriental in its simplicity and self-abandonment;
in emergencies the presence of one capable leader
counterbalances all vices. Again, the undefinable
Spanish quality of hidalguid, which animated the better
part of the community, especially in New Spain, showed
itself in a noble charity and hospitality, a liberal and
careless use of wealth, indifference to material results,
and an old-fashioned, uncalculating loyalty, sometimes
almost fantastic."
The Spaniards had not the constructive genius of the
Romans, and both in the mechanical contrivances of
civilisation and in the moral force which founds laws
and institutions they were far inferior. But they played
very much the same part in South America which the
Romans did in Europe. France, Spain, Portugal, and
Italy are not more distinctively Roman than Argentina,
Chile, Peru, and Colombia are Spanish. As Spain was
in language and institutions the most completely
Romanised of all European countries, so she has left
her mark upon the West more distinctively than any
other colonising Power. For good or evil, Buenos
Aires, Lima, and the rest are Spanish cities, and there
seems no reason to believe that they will ever be any-
thing else, and the Spanish influence seems likely to be
as permanent as the Roman in Southern Europe. Nor
will any candid student of the history of the continent
be unwilling to acknowledge that it was no small achieve-
ment for a nation to build up and administer such an
empire, and he will regret that ignorance and prejudice
have prevented the world from giving the praise due to
a vast political and religious experiment which, in spite
64
ARGENTINA
/
of extraordinary difficulties, was successful as far as its
own character was concerned, and which, when it broke
down by reason of the weakness of the mother country,
left behind it all its institutions, political, religious, and
social. Governors became Dictators or Presidents, but
everything remains substantially Spanish.
CHAPTER VI
THE ENGLISH FAILURE IN ARGENTINA
In the early years of the nineteenth century England was
engaged in a life and death struggle with Napoleon, and
Spain and Holland, two of the chief colonial Powers,
were in alliance with the Corsican. At Trafalgar, in 1805,
the naval power of France and Spain had been shattered,
but Napoleon was master of practically the whole of
Europe, and he was devising weapons against his enemies
which he hoped would be more potent than fleets or
armies. England's trade and industries were advancing
rapidly, but the long-continued war tended to spoil her
markets, and Napoleon was attempting to prevent his
subject allies from engaging in any trade whatever with
the enemy. Consequently there was throughout the war
frequent distress, especially in the North of England,
and the manufacturing interest was urgent upon the
Government to find new markets. Possibly in some
cases the effective fighting strength of England was
dissipated in distant expeditions, but in these years some
of the most valuable additions were made to our Empire,
and if the expedition which is to be related had been
in competent hands, the history of South America would
have been changed and England would have had vast
dominions in every continent of the world.
One such was acquired in South Africa in January,
1806, when Cape Town was rapidly and easily taken
6 65
66 ARGENTINA
from the Dutch. Sir Home Popham commanded the
naval forces while Sir David Baird was Commander-in-
Chief. Popham was an able and restless man, and hear-
ing a few months later from an American sea-captain
that the people of Buenos Aires and Montevideo were
oppressed by the Spanish Government and would wel-
come the English as liberators, he resolved to make an
attempt in that quarter and persuaded Baird to lend him
a brigade.^ The flotilla consisted of five ships of war
and five transports, and the little army numbered 1,635
men under the command of that fine soldier. General
Beresford. Popham was disobeying his orders and
leaving Cape Town defenceless, but he knew that the
acquisition of a new trade opening would atone for any
technical disobedience in the eyes of the Home Govern-
ment. The expedition left Table Bay on the 13th of
April, 1806, and reached the River Plate on June loth.
Very wisely Popham proceeded to Buenos Aires instead
of Montevideo, and on June 25th anchored off Quilmes,
which is 15 miles south of the capital, and disembarked
the same evening. The Spanish Viceroy made a very
feeble resistance, and the next day the English force
was encamped in the suburb of Barracas. On the
27th of June Beresford hoisted the English flag on the
fort and a city of 72,000 inhabitants had been captured
by a weak brigade. The Viceroy fled to Cordoba, and
undoubtedly the feebleness displayed by the Spanish
officials on that occasion helped to prepare the ground
* ** From various informations I have received from different
people of the defenceless state of Monte Video, Buenos Ayres, and
their dependencies, I have deemed it expedient, with the squadron
under my command, assisted by his Majesty's 71st Regiment, to
proceed on an expedition against those places, not doubting in the
smallest degree of such success as will add lustre to his Majesty's
arms, distress our enemies, and open a most beneficial trade for
Great Britain" (Popham to Governor of St. Helena, April 13, 1806).
ENGLISH FAILURE IN ARGENTINA 67
for the subsequent Revolution. The Argentines, indeed,
had lost the qualities of self-help and initiative under the
paternal rule of Spain, but they were ashamed of the
surrender to so small a force, and under their non-
chalant attitude there was an eager desire to expel the
foreigners if an opportunity should arise. All that was
needed was a leader, and a leader was found in Jacques
Liniers. He was a Frenchman who had been thirty
years in the service of Spain, and at the time of the
invasion he was Governor of Misiones. Seeing that the
people were ripe for an attempt upon the English he
made his way to Montevideo and asked for help from
the General in command. This was readily given, and
with a small force he marched to Colonia and thence
passed over by boats to Conchas, 21 miles north of
Buenos Aires. Meanwhile Puirredon, a Creole patriot,
had been skirmishing in the neighbourhood, and had
succeeded in capturing a gun from the English. This
success, which was won by Gauchos, greatly emboldened
Liniers and gave him confidence in the abilities of his
followers for partisan warfare. His force amounted to
1,124 "^^^ with two large guns and four small pieces.
On August loth he suddenly entered the northern suburb
of Buenos Aires. The next day he summoned Beresford
to surrender, and on his refusal the attack began. On
the 1 2th the enemy forced their way to the Cathedral
which overlooks the square where the English had their
headquarters, and soon, by annoying street-fighting, com-
pelled them to abandon all the neighbouring streets.
From the square itself Beresford was forced by artillery
fire to retreat, and the situation was soon seen to be
untenable. After 165 had been killed or wounded, the
English force, which had attempted an enterprise for
which its numbers were altogether inadequate, surren-
dered to General Liniers. He honourably desired to
68 ARGENTINA
keep the terms, which were that the soldiers should be
embarked for England and not serve again until ex-
changed, but the Spanish authorities maintained that
they had surrendered at discretion and marched them
up-country as prisoners of war. Beresford, it may be
added, contrived to escape six months later. The people
of Buenos Aires had learned the lesson that if they desired
security they must depend upon themselves rather than
upon Spain. The first step they took was to depose
their faint-hearted Viceroy and set up Liniers in his place.
Popham had sent home a glowing account of the
commercial possibilities of the new conquest, and English
traders made immense preparations to take advantage of
the opportunity which was indeed sufficiently great. Sir
David Baird had sent reinforcements of 1,400 men from
the Cape, which arrived after the surrender, but of
course Popham was too weak to retake the capital.
He landed at Maldonado on the left bank and awaited
reinforcements which were soon forthcoming, for the
Cabinet had been greatly elated by the easy initial victory.
On October nth Admiral Sterling sailed from England in
charge of a military force of 4,350 and a month later an
expedition of equal strength under General Crauford
followed for Chile. When the news of the disaster to
Beresford reached England a swift ship was despatched
after Crauford, ordering him to sail to the River Plate.
Finally there followed General Whitelocke with additional
troops and orders to take command of the whole expedi-
tion. The total armament amounted to twelve thousand
men, eighteen ships of war, and eighty transports — a
force amply sufficient to command success if it were
well handled, but unfortunately it was placed in in-
competent hands. The Ministry of All the Talents
failed to justify its title in the planning of expeditions
and the allocation of commanders.
I
ENGLISH FAILURE IN ARGENTINA 69
John Whitelocke,! the new commander, had served
with moderate success in the West Indies, but he owed
his advancement (chiefly in pacific appointments) to his
brother-in-law, Matthew Lewis, the Deputy Secretary at
War, and father of the well-known " Monk " Lewis.
But his appointment to this important command remains
a mystery. It appears from Windham's Diary that he
wished to give the command to Sir John Stuart, while
Leveson Gower was in favour of Whitelocke, and the
annotator to the Diary declares that the Duke of York
decided in favour of Whitelocke. This does not seem
very probable, and though Lord Holland, who was a
member of the not very competent Cabinet, suggests
more plausibly that Whitelocke as Inspector-General of
Recruiting was opposed to an important scheme of
Windham, who therefore wished to get rid of him, still
this view seems untenable in face of Windham's positive
statement. The appointment can only be considered as
one of the many blunders which sometimes counteract
England's usual good luck ; and on this occasion the
effect was complete.
However, until he arrived matters proceeded in
brilliant fashion. The first officer of high rank to appear
was Sir Samuel Auchmuty, a loyal American who had
served the King, for whose sake his family had suffered
ruin, in America, India, and Egypt. Although he had
expected merely to assist in the task of completing the
conquest of Argentina, he was not dismayed when he
found that the work had to be begun over again. He
promptly began the bombardment of Montevideo and
* " All future prospects were marred and rendered hopeless by
the selection of General Whitelocke for the chief command ; a man
of most unpopular character, unrecommended by previous services,
and void of all claim or pretension beyond powerful interest"
(J. W. Cole, " Memoirs of British Generals," i. 224).
70 ARGENTINA
within a few days, February 3, 1807, the breach was found
to be practicable. The town, strongly fortified as it was,
taken by storm with a loss to the English of six hundred
men, and the General acting humanely and prudently,
conciliated the inhabitants and established civil rule.
Many adventurous English merchantmen, whose owners
anticipated a boom, arrived and unloaded, and necessaries
and luxuries were sold at prices hitherto unknown in
Argentina.
Whitelocke arrived on May loth and Crauford on
June 15th. It was on June 28th that the expedition left
Montevideo. It consisted of four brigades, of which
three were commanded by Generals Crauford, Auchmuty,
and Lumley, the fourth by Colonel Mahon. The trans-
ports left amidst the cheers of the fleet, and success might
well have been anticipated, for an enterprise was being
attempted which a year earlier had been easily accom-
plished by less than one-sixth of Whitelocke's army, which
was ten thousand strong. But these proportions hardly
represented the difference between the brother-in-law of
Matthew Lewis and the future victor of Albuera, and,
moreover, the spirit of the colonists had risen, and they
rejected both the feeble restrictions of Spain and the
new prosperity offered by England. The first mistake
was made in landing at Ensenada, 48 miles south of
Buenos Aires, and the troops had to make long marches
through deep swamps. But Whitelocke arrived at
Quilmes (where he ought to have landed) on July ist
without having seen an enemy, and all promised to
go well.
On that day Liniers attempted to oppose the invaders
in force, but Crauford, with a vigorous charge, beat
down all resistance and pursued the enemy to the
suburbs. There is little doubt that Crauford was cor-
rect in his belief that if he had been supported by the
i
ENGLISH FAILURE IN ARGENTINA 71
main body, Buenos Aires would have fallen on that
very day. But Leveson-Gower, the second in com-
mand, who was as incompetent as Whitelocke and who
was the moving spirit in the whole disaster, recalled
the troops and gave the discouraged Spaniards a wel-
come delay. On July 2nd Whitelocke called upon them
to surrender, and they refused. He himself was well
aware of the difficulties of an assault. As soon as
Crauford arrived at Montevideo the Commander-in-
Chief had taken him round the works, pointed out
the peculiar facilities which the flat-roofed South
American houses afforded for street-fighting, and de-
clared that he would never expose his troops to the
risk of a general assault. In this resolve Crauford
heartily concurred.
The General had two easy and certain means of
attaining his object. He might blockade the town
and so starve it into surrender, or he might bombard
it. But unfortunately he was too unstable to perse-
vere in his previous resolution, and he allowed Leveson-
Gower to persuade him to adopt a preposterous scheme
of assault. It was decided that on July 5th the troops
should be divided into eight columns, and orders were
actually issued that they should advance with their
muskets unloaded, lest they should be tempted to waste
time in returning the enemy's fire. The columns were
to march through the town until each had arrived at
the square nearest the river. Then they were to halt
and, apparently, do nothing, for no further orders
were issued.
The attack began at half-past six in the morning.
When the English had entered the town a withering
fire was poured upon them from innumerable houses.
But they pushed gallantly on. Auchmuty, who was on
the left, made his way to the Retiro and the Plaza de
72 ARGENTINA
Toros, where he captured thirty-two guns and six hun-
dred prisoners. The troops on the right seized the
Residencia. But these successes were of no avail through
lack of a competent guiding mind ; the column leaders
did not even know the whereabouts of the Commander-
in-Chief, much less what he wished them to do, and
further, the ill-judged scheme had borne its natural
fruit in several serious disasters.
Crauford had seized the Convent of San Domingo,
but he was surrounded by a very large force of the
enemy who kept up a deadly fire of musketry and
artillery, and by half-past four in the afternoon he
was compelled to surrender. The same fate befell
columns under Colonel Cadogan and Colonel Duff.
In this day's fighting the English lost 70 officers and
1,130 men, killed and wounded, while prisoners amounted
to 120 and 1,500.
Whitelocke and Auchmuty were now besieged in the
Retiro. Their army had suffered severely, but they had
still a large and efficient force, they had command of the
sea, and the knowledge that the English Government
would support them with all its available strength. Even
if ordinary skill were out of the question, ordinary reso-
lution would quickly have retrieved the initial reverses.
But it was not to be.
Flushed by his success. General Liniers the next
day sent a flag of truce to Whitelocke proposing to
surrender all his prisoners if the English would evacuate
Buenos Aires. He probably hardly expected anything
but rejection of such terms, but the civilian Alzaga
seemed to have had a better appreciation of the character
of Whitelocke and insisted that Montevideo should be
added to Buenos Aires. Nothing could be lost by
making extravagant demands. The panic-stricken
Whitelocke agreed to everything. At first he seems
I
I
ENGLISH FAILURE IN ARGENTINA 73
to have hesitated a little, but Liniers had added the
menace that he could not be responsible for the safety
of the prisoners if the attack were renewed. In any
case such a threat should have been treated with con-
tempt, but it was, as it happened, perfectly empty, for
the life and property of every inhabitant of Montevideo
were in Whitelocke's power.
Finally, he accepted the terms of surrender without
raising the slightest objection to the inclusion of Monte-
video, and taking great credit to himself for his humanity
in yielding to Linier's threat, he wrote complacently :
" Influenced by this consideration, which I knew to
be founded in fact, and reflecting of how little advan-
tage would be the possession of a country the inhabitants
of which were so absolutely hostile, I resolved to forego
the advantages which the bravery of the troops had ob-
tained, and acceded to a treaty, which I trust will meet
the approbation of his Majesty."
He had signified his willingness to withdraw from
Buenos Aires in forty-eight hours and from Montevideo
in two months. As the Judge-Advocate remarked at the
subsequent trial : " He is his own accuser : he has fur-
nished the strongest testimony against himself." The
English army sailed from Buenos Aires on July 12th,
from Montevideo on September 9, 1807.
Seldom has there been such a fine army and such
splendid officers under such a pusillanimous commander.
A young officer ^ on the staff remarks that on many of
the street corners in Montevideo was written : " General
Whitelocke is either a coward or a traitor I Perhaps
both!" He also tells us: "All the English merchants
are in an uproar. They say the losses will be im-
mense ; that upwards of three millions worth of pro-
perty is on its way to this country, and that, if it is
* See " A Memoir of Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham " 24, 25.'
74 ARGENTINA
given up; half the merchants in England will be ruined.
God knows what will be the result of this unfortunate
affair. It appears to me one of the most severe blows
that England has ever received." Whittingham adds,
with some penetration, that *^the period of a revo-
lution " was ** not far distant."
It is some small consolation that the court-martials
y administered even-handed justice. The most important
tribunal adjudged "that the said Lieutenant-General
Whitelocke be cashiered, and declared totally unfit and
unworthy to serve his Majesty in any military capacity
whatever." On the other hand Popham, who had dis-
obeyed his orders in initiating the whole scheme, was
severely reprimanded, but received a sword of honour
from the City of London and a few months later was
given an important command.
Sir David Baird, who had sanctioned Popham's adven-
ture, was censured and recalled from the Cape, but he
also was given the chief command of the very same
expedition as Popham — that against Copenhagen. It
is certain that public opinion would not have sanctioned
any severe measures against officers who had been
zealous in the South American attempt.
The most noticeable point throughout the whole affair
is the eagerness of the English commercial world, which
was dreading the loss of the Continental markets and was
rightly convinced that the discovery of new outlets was a
matter of life and death.
The remarks of the Judge-Advocate condense the whole
case : " By this most unfortunate event all the hopes have
been defeated which had been justly and generally enter-
tained, of discovering new markets for our manufactures,
of giving a wider scope to the spirit and enterprise of our
merchants, of opening new sources of treasure, and new
fields for exertion in supplying either the rude wants of
ENGLISH FAILURE IN ARGENTINA 75
countries emerging from barbarism, or the artificial and
increasing demands of luxury and refinement, in those
remote quarters of the globe. Important as these objects
must be at all times to this country, the state of Europe,
and the attempts that have been daily making to exclude
us from our accustomed intercourse with the Continent,
have added to the importance of these objects, and to the
disappointment of these hopes." It is, perhaps, doubtful
whether England could have held any considerable
territory in Argentina, for a revolutionary spirit was
rapidly being wafted into South America from Europe,
and though the population was small the country was
vast, and if the population had continued hostile the diffi-
culty of either conciliating or conquering them would
have been immense. But, doubtless, the retention of
Montevideo and the territory now called Uruguay would
have been feasible, and would have been highly beneficial
both to England and South America. To have had one
country in South America governed upon liberal and
conservative principles, with an enlightened system of
commerce and complete security for life and property,
would have been an incalculable benefit, and would un-
doubtedly been a salutary check upon the wars and
revolutions which have devastated South America since
the overthrow of the Spanish dominion.
CHAPTER VII
THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
When the English retired from Buenos Aires and
Montevideo there seemed no reason to expect any
change in the relations between Argentina and the
mother country. The Spanish rule was not rigorous,
and, from a financial point of view, its policy was now
highly favourable to the colonists. They also warmly
sympathised with their European kinsmen in the
apparently hopeless struggle against the oppression of
Napoleon. When Charles IV. abdicated in 1808, all the
Spanish-American dependencies hailed Ferdinand VII.
as their King with enthusiasm. Nothing seemed less
likely than any kind of disloyalty. And yet a very few
years saw the beginning of a struggle which ended in an
old and haughty nation being stripped of every one of
the dominions she possessed on the American continent,
and sinking into a state of lethargy and decay from which,
after the lapse of a century, there seems little prospect of
a "Roman recovery." The causes of this strange
phenomenon certainly do not seem adequate. It is, of
course, obvious that the weakness of the Home Govern-
ment and their own successful repulse of the English
showed the Argentines that if they had the will to be
independent there was no doubt about the power.
Again, their sense of importance could not but be
increased by the eagerness with which foreigners sought
76
1
THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 77
for a share in their trade, and Cisneros, the Viceroy, had
strengthened this impression by admitting neutrals un-
reservedly to the South American trade — a step which he
took with great reluctance. But neither of these circum-
stances could have had any effect if goodwill and loyalty
had remained unimpaired. These had probably been
undermined by the jealousy between Creole and Spaniard,
by the pride of caste shown by the latter towards the
former, and by the preference always given to Spaniards
in the matter of official appointments. As the people
of Argentina increased in consciousness of worth and
power, they would be the less willing to brook this
assumption of superiority, and doubtless hot-headed
young men had frequently discussed the possibility of
the step for which the cant term is now "cutting the
painter." There is a further circumstance which may
have had influence on the course of events. Able and
ambitious men could not but see that in the turmoil
of revolution, followed by independence, there was a
prospect of unbounded riches and power, which, how-
ever speculative, is always more attractive to such minds
than to be seated in the mean. Indeed a certain
Francisco Miranda from Caracas, ex-volunteer insWash-
ington's army, had, at the close of the war, discussed
Spanish emancipation with Washington himself. He
then visited Europe, fought in the French revolutionary
army, and actually attained to the rank of general. His
efforts subsequently to induce Pitt or President Adams
to initiate a war of liberation in South America were,
however, unsuccessful, but his constant intrigues with
Spanish Americans show that the project was un-
doubtedly in the air.
Yet when we have gone over the meagre list of possible
causes, we cannot but attribute the chief place to one
which strengthened all the circumstances favourable to
78 ARGENTINA
change and neutralised or reversed those which were
favourable. This was the doctrine of the Rights of Man
or, to be plain, the revolutionary spirit itself. Its in-
fluenc ewas felt by all classes, and it caused ferment and
bloodshed in such widely different places as Ireland
and the West Indies. It had already invaded England,
and afterwards attacked her ancient rival and overthrew
the French monarchy and trampled down the French
Church. Thus, this purely moral cause must be taken
as the efficient factor of the Spanish-American Revolu-
tion ; the others could have effected nothing had not
the seemingly barren dogma of equality provided an
atmosphere and a soil ready to foster any revolutionary
seed that might find its way to South America.
Ferdinand VII. was proclaimed King in 1808. The
heroic Liniers was then Viceroy at Buenos Aires, but
doubtless his French nationality gave rise to suspicions,
and as soon as the news came that Joseph, the puppet of
Napoleon, had been imposed upon Spain, the French-
man was deposed, and on July 19, 1809, Cisneros became
Viceroy in the name of Ferdinand. As stated above, he
threw open the ports with startling results, for the
customs revenue was immediately quadrupled. And yet
this wise measure revealed to the people their strength
and self-sufficiency, and may have predisposed them to
revolution.!
On the 13th of May, 18 10, news came from Spain that
the mother country was now under the heel of France
and had no longer any power to help or control them.
Cisneros was in a very difficult situation. On May 25th
he consented to the formation of a Council under the
* " The Liberal Creoles were delighted, for experience showed
them the immense resources of their country, and proved that it
could subsist upon its revenues without asking for anything from
Peru or Spain (Arcos," " La Plata," p. 241).
I
THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 79
title of the Provisional Government of the Provinces of
Rio de la Plata, and this date has been generally regarded
by historians as the beginning of the Revolution. Pro-
minent among those who desired change were Moreno,
Belgrano, Saavedra, and Castelli. Moreno, who was
secretary to the new Council, was a man of large views,
irresistible enthusiasm, and full of daring. Belgrano was
equally fervent in the cause and was devoted to Moreno,
content to serve him without reward for the liberation of
Spanish America, and he was one of the few men in the
Province who, by business aptitude and coolness of
character, was qualified to direct the movement. The
Council acted with considerable adroitness. Professing
to be acting for Ferdinand and thus conciliating all
classes, they worked steadily in the direction of depress-
ing and discrediting all Spanish officials, and at last,
on June ist, Moreno ordered Cisneros and other high
functionaries to be seized and deported. A merchant
brig conveyed them to the Canaries and they vanish
from history.
Moreno anticipated trouble from Cordoba ; but even
there his opponents were losing ground. Liniers had
retired thither, but despairing of success he, with several
loyal Spaniards, collected a force of about four hundred
men and marched in the direction of Peru. They were
pursued, overwhelmed, and captured. The liberator of
La Plata and five of his colleagues were thereupon
shot. This outrage, equally remarkable as an instance
of atrocity and ingratitude, was a fitting prelude to
Spanish-American history. Before the end of the year
the whole of the north was in the hands of the revolu-
tionists, and about the same time they experienced an
equally valuable success. The loyalists still held Monte-
video and their fleet blockaded Buenos Aires. Moreno
took advantage of the English anxiety for open markets,
80 ARGENTINA
and appealed to the English Minister at Madrid. He
received the reply that the British Government could
not recognise the blockade, as it desired to maintain a
position of perfect neutrality, and thus a potent Spanish
weapon was rendered innoxious.
However, it was very early evident that unity and
federation would not characterise the Revolution ; that
each Province would aim at its own particular inde-
pendence ; that Buenos Aires would not be the New
York of a single new nation. An expedition sent to
Paraguay, with the object of extirpating the Spanish
partisans, failed altogether to attach that country to
Argentina. Paraguay, like its neighbours, preferred
independence.
At the same time jealousies broke out between the
leaders. Moreno was worsted in a personal dispute with
Saavedra, and at the beginning of the year 1811 was
glad to accept an important mission to England. He
died on the voyage thither. But the revolutionists were
reminded that internal dissensions were out of place by
the arrival at Montevideo of the able and energetic EHo,
who had been appointed Viceroy by the Home Govern-
ment. Although he was speedily forced to content him-
self with holding the town only, he was a source of great
trouble to the Council and formed a valuable rallying-
point for the loyalists. The Peruvian partisans also
harassed them in the north, but Belgrano, by the victory
of Tucuman on September 25th, laid the foundations
of Argentine independence. The triumphant general
wrote to Buenos Aires : " Our country may celebrate
with just pride the complete victory obtained on the
25th of September, the anniversary of Our Lady of
Mercy, whose protection we had invoked. We have
captured seven guns, three flags, one standard, fifty
officers, four chaplains, two cures, and six hundred men,
J
THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 81
besides four hundred wounded prisoners, the stores
belonging to the infantry and the artillery, the largest
part of the baggage. Such is the day's result. Officers
and soldiers have behaved gloriously and bravely. We
are pursuing the routed enemy." This victory freed the
north from all fear of invasion in the future.
There is no need to give details of the skirmishes with
the royal forces or the skirmishes between intriguing
leaders which occupied the next eighteen months. It
is sufficient to say that during this time the influence
of the soldier San Martin was growing rapidly, and
towards the close of the year 1813 he replaced Belgrano
as commander of the northern army. Hitherto power
had been in the hands of two or three men, among
whom Alvear was now the most prominent ; but in
January, 18 14, a Congress assembled at Buenos Aires,
and on the 31st of that month it chose Posadas, a
relation of Alvear, to be Dictator of the so-called United
Provinces. In June Alvear captured Montevideo, and
the hopes of Spain in the Plate district were for ever
quenched; but Uruguay refused to be subordinate to
Buenos Aires, and Posadas was in no position to
coerce her. Uruguay, therefore, finally severed the
connection with Argentina, and passes out of our
history.
Meanwhile San Martin, who had become Governor of
Mendoza, was carrying on that campaign for the libera-
tion of South America which was to make his name
immortal ; but in Buenos Aires affairs were going by
no means well — in fact, anarchy reigned. The appoint-
ment of Puirredon as Dictator brought about some
improvement, and on July 9, 1816, the separation from
Spain was formally announced.
The next year San Martin, with an efficient army of
four thousand men, moved to help the Chilians, and
7
82 ARGENTINA
gained a glorious victory over the Spaniards at Chaca-
buco, not far from Santiago. A year later he won a
no less decisive triumph at Maipu (April 5, 1818), which
secured the independence of Chile, and by his victories
he also strengthened the position of Puirredon and the
Government at Buenos Aires.
V, It was now time for constructive work. A Congress
assembled once more at Buenos Aires, and, on May 25,
1 8 19, promulgated a federal Constitution on the pattern
of the United States of North America. At the same
time Puirredon was glad to resign his difficult position,
^ and, in his stead, General Rondeau became Dictator, or
President. He was incapable, and the system of govern-
ment by Juntas or Dictators, which had distracted the
country for ten years, came to an end, and seemed
likely to be succeeded by even worse conditions, for
all the " United Provinces " flew back to particularism
and anarchy. But in 1821 the able and honest Riva-
davia intervened, and reduced affairs to some semblance
of order. In that year also San Martin entered Lima
in triumph, and it was clearly necessary to organise the
new and sovereign States of South America. In 1822
Lord Londonderry declared for the part of the English
Government that " so large a portion of the world could
not long continue without some recognised and estab-
lished relations, and that the State, which neither by its
councils nor by its arms could effectually assert its own
rights over its dependencies so as to enforce obedience,
and thus make itself responsible for maintaining their
relations with other Powers, must sooner or later be
prepared to see those relations established by the over-
ruling necessity of the case in some other form." The
United States had recognised the independence of Argen-
tina, and in 1823 the complicated state of world politics
made decisive action necessary. Spain was once more
THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 83
in the grip of France, and it was the object of England
to counteract her influence. Accordingly it was inti-
mated to France that England considered the separation
of the colonies from Spain as complete, and in the
December of that year the United States put forward
the celebrated Munroe Doctrine to serve as a warning
to France or any other European Power that might
cherish transatlantic designs.
It was on January 23, 1825, that the inevitable result
was brought about. With the countenance of Sir
Woodbine Parish, the English Minister, whose name
is preserved by a meritorious work upon the country
where he played so conspicuous a part, the federal
States assembled and decreed the fundamental law of
the Constitution. Here we may date the true commence-
ment of the Republic of Argentina. The Revolution
was at an end. True to the general character of her
history Argentina displayed, in this important struggle,
fewer striking events than any of the other young
nations. The battles in her territory were few, and
even the city feuds and inevitable executions were com-
paratively mild and infrequent. And yet that Argentina
had the leading share in the Revolution no one can
doubt, for, first of all, she gave to Spanish America that
disinterested patriot San Martin, who was the George
Washington of South America ; and, in the next place,
the victory of Belgrano at Tucuman went far towards
paralysing loyalist activity in Peru, and finally Buenos
Aires was even then regarded as the capital of the con-
tinent, on which were fixed the eyes of all South
American revolutionists, and towards which all the plans
of European statecraft and private intrigue were directed.
Argentina was the leader and organiser of victory.
And what good came of it all ? It may be regarded
as a regrettable necessity due to the weakness of Spain.
84 ARGENTINA
Spain was too feeble and the other Powers were too
alien in every way to control this great Empire. It was
necessary to act ; but who will say that the consequences
of the action were wholly beneficial ? Argentina ex-
changed a benevolent, if unenterprising, Government
for a long period of anarchy, alternating with despotism,
but she was less unfortunate than most of the sister
Republics. The men who fought and laboured for the
cause of South American independence had no illusion
on the subject. General Bolivar, the Liberator, when his
task was over, said: "This country will inevitably fall
into the hands of the unbridled rabble, and little by
little become a prey to petty tyrants of all colours and
races. If it were possible for any part of the world to
return to a state of primitive chaos, that would be the
fate of South America."
/ South America was in every respect most unfortunate.
' The weakness and misfortunes of Spain followed closely
upon the growth of the revolutionary spirit which dis-
turbed the whole world, and though the Continent was
for a long time comparatively little affected by it, vigorous
intrigues in Europe kept it alive, and when the time was
ripe the revolutionists set to work. Equally unfortunate
was it that the Revolution took place at a time when
unchecked democracy was considered a practicable form
of government. Experience has shown that it is beset
with difficulties in all States ; but where a portion of the
people have political instincts and capacity, public affairs
may go on, even if to some extent hampered by pro-
fessions of a belief in ochlocracy, without serious disaster.
Few people in the world could have been found less
suited to direct democratic institutions than the Spanish
Creole was at the time of the War of Independence.
Little town communities, paternally governed groups of
villages, all with complete local self-government and
THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 85
united only by common loyalty to a King or Viceroy
— such was the form of government under which the
Indo-Spaniards might have lived and prospered ; but the
constitutions which they attempted to formulate were
altogether incongruous under the circumstances. Political
theorising has cost South America very dear.
Canning's oft-quoted sentence about the " New World
which was called into existence to redress the balance of
the Old " is, in the sense in which it is often quoted, a
piece of cheap rhetoric. But, in fact, he was arguing
that it was not worth while to go to war with France
on account of the marching of French troops into
Spain ; the present Spain, he said, was not the country
of which our ancestors were jealous ; the Spain over the
waters is independent, and the fact has entirely changed
the balance of power.
To suppose, as those who quote the phrase often
suppose, that South America was initiating a happy age
in contrast to the wrongs and oppressions of the Old
World, is too extravagant a belief to require refutation.
In the nineteenth century the countries of Europe made
steady progress, and even their internal troubles were
generally fruitful in improved conditions. In South
America most of the countries retrograded, and the
whole continent was drenched with blood uselessly
shed. Comparative tranquillity now prevails, but this
is due to the general progress of the peoples — a progress
which it would be rash to say was furthered by their
political institutions. The heroics which have been
uttered over the Spanish-America War of Indepen-
dence are discounted by the facts of South American
history. For a long time bloodshed and tyranny were
its results ; the people were as yet unfitted for full
emancipation, and so little advantage has been taken
of the experiences of three-quarters of a century that
86 ARGENTINA
the promise of the future is by no means serene, and
its chief hope is that material prosperity may counter-
balance defective political conditions. These are still
unsound, and until rulers and subjects advance in civic
capacity the good of Argentina will be the effects rather
of the industry and enterprise of private individuals than
of assemblies and statesmen.
p^
i-
CHAPTER VIII
ANARCHY AND DESPOTISM— THE WAR WITH
PARAGUAY
The rule of Rivadavia was of great value to the country.
He reformed the laws and administration, introduced
wide and somewhat drastic ecclesiastical changes, estab-
lished the University of Buenos Aires, and, in general,
pursued an enlightened and progressive policy.^ But
the country was divided into two hostile parties, and
neither being prepared to tolerate the triumph of the
opposing system, the position of Rivadavia was rendered
very difficult. He belonged to the Unitarian party, and
its members have succeeded in maintaining their system,
which aimed at a Republic with merely municipal local
government. Buenos Aires was to be the administrative
centre and to control every province, and thus to hold
the position which Paris occupied in France. But the
propertied classes in the interior belonged chiefly to the
Federalist party. They viewed with suspicion the oli-
garchy of office at the capital, and advocated a federa-
tion on the model of the United States. At first
Rivadavia held his ground against his active oppo-
nents, led by Manuel Dorrego, who were eagerly
looking for an occasion against him ; and this was
speedily found in a foreign war.
Uruguay has been united to Brazil, but in 1825 it
* In 1825 he successfully introduced Southdown sheep.
88 ARGENTINA
revolted against the Emperor, and, as might have been
expected, Argentina took the part of her neighbour, and
Brazil declared war. Assisted by Admiral Brown, an
Irishman, the Argentines inflicted great loss upon
Brazilian shipping, and Alvear took command of a
large army, which invaded Rio Grande do Sul and
completely defeated the Brazilians at Ituzaingo on
February 20, 1827. This blow was decisive, and a
treaty was made by which Rivadavia, distracted by
domestic troubles and anxious to secure peace at any
price, agreed that Uruguay should still remain a part of
Brazil. His enemies had already spared no efforts to
rouse prejudice and inflame public resentment against
him. Appeals had been made to provincial jealousies,
the issue of paper-money was alleged to be draining the
country of the precious metals, and even his statesman-
like efforts to encourage immigration and the hospitality
he offered to foreigners were matters of accusation against
him. The treaty raised a storm of indignation, and had
to be annulled. Rivadavia was so completely discredited
by this transaction that on July 7, 1827, he was forced to
resign, and thus the country lost probably the best con-
structive statesman she has produced — a loss which she
could ill afford.
Dorrego succeeded him, but in reality the Republic
was showing a strong tendency to split up, and Lopez
in Santa Fe, Ibarra in Santiago, Bustos in Cordoba, and
Quiroga in Cuyo, possessed almost as much power as
Dorrego at Buenos Aires. However, with the help of
several of these men, he succeeded in ending the war
by a compromise which left Uruguay an independent
state. Argentina was thus free to devote herself to
domestic warfare.
Lavalle was now the head of the Unitarians, and he
succeeded in expelling Dorrego from Buenos Aires.
ANARCHY AND DESPOTISM 89
The latter fled to his estates and raised a body of
adherents, but was captured and shot by Lavalle.
The death of Dorrego cleared the way for a man who
was destined to have a much longer political life than is
usual in South America, and also to fill a much larger
space in the eyes of the world. That man was Juan
Manuel Rosas.
Darwin records that he and the well-wishers of
Argentina were looking with satisfaction and hope at
the vigorous measures and rapid advances of this
remarkable man, and he also adds in a note written
years afterwards that these hopes had been miserably
disappointed. Rosas was a rich man, and from his
earliest days had been engaged in cattle-raising on the
southern Pampas. In this hardy open-air life he had
greatly distinguished himself by his boldness and skill
in riding, and was the idol of hundreds of half-savage
Gauchos. He was not endowed with signal abilities, but
he was a hard, practical man, full of audacity and little
troubled by scruples. He was now the chief of the
Federalists, but at first there seemed little prospect
that he would be able to make head against Lavalle.
The latter led an army to attack his enemies in Santa
Fe, while General Paz marched upon Cordoba, and at
the same time they sent some veteran troops to operate
against Rosas in the south. But these were overthrown
by the hardy horsemen of Rosas, and he came to the
rescue of the Federalists. General Paz had captured
Cordoba, and defeated Quiroga with heavy slaughter,
but Rosas' weight turned the scale. He marched to
Buenos Aires, and in June, 1829, Lavalle, who had
become involved in a dispute with the French Minister,
was glad to resign and leave the country. His successor,
Viamont, was a puppet of Rosas.
On December 8, 1829, Rosas was elected Captain-
90 ARGENTINA
General in the interests of the Federalists, but he had
no intention of allowing Federalist principles to stand
in the way of his supreme rule. Lopez was despatched
against Paz, who had the misfortune to be accidentally
taken prisoner. Showing unusual magnanimity, Lopez
spared his life. The troops of the Unitarians never
recovered from the loss of their brave leader, and
being attacked by the ferocious Quiroga and driven
to Tucuman, they were in a hopeless position. Quiroga
butchered five hundred prisoners in cold blood, and few
of the remnants of Paz's army escaped to Bolivia.
Rosas then employed himself in consolidating his power
at Buenos Aires, and with this object he repealed several
of the Liberal laws of Rivadavia. In this task he was
assisted by a clever and crafty man named Anchorena,
with whose collaboration he passed a rigorous law of
" suspects " directed against the Unitarians. Severe as
he was against that party, and detested as he was by the
late holders of office in the capital, who resented the
dominion of a rustic, he was really, by his masterful
measures, advancing the principle against which he posed
as the nominal antagonist.^ At the end of 1832 his term
of office came to an end, and he was re-elected. But as
his extraordinary powers were not renewed he haughtily
refused office, and left Buenos Aires to reduce the Indians
of the Pampa, who had taken advantage of the civil dis-
cords of Argentina. Again a man of straw was put at
the helm. His name was Balcarce.
In the Indian war Rosas was successful, penetrating as
far as the Rio Negro and destroying, according to his own
computation, twenty thousand of the enemy. It is not
' " In fact, for Don Juan Manuel the Federal cause was solely a
means of attaining power. This object gained, he proved by his
extraordinary concentration of authority that he was more of a
Unitarian than any one else" (Brossard, "La Plata," p. 181).
I
ANARCHY AND DESPOTISM 91
necessary to describe the manoeuvres and hesitations
which preceded his return to nominal as well as real
power. In 1835 ^^ accepted the title of Governor and
Captain-General, and henceforth ruled as a military Dic-
tator. Never was there a more ruthless tyrant. The two
most prominent soldiers and possible rivals left in Buenos
Aires were Quiroga and Lopez. Quiroga had seen the
elevation of Rosas with ill-concealed disgust, and the
new Dictator resolved to make away with him. Rosas,
therefore, commissioned him to go to pacify Salta and
Tucuman, and on his way thither caused him and his
suite to be assassinated. Shortly afterwards Lopez died,
and it is only necessary to say that his physician was
handsomely rewarded by Rosas. He established a
reign of terror, and formed a club of ruffians called
the Massorca, whose business it was to murder his
enemies. One Maza attempted a Parliamentary resis-
tance to him, and the crafty Dictator, after the plan had
failed, first lulled him into security by vague promises
of safety and then sent four men to stab him to
death. His death was followed by an extensive pre-
scription ; in fact, the history at this period is distinctly
Tacitean.
The power of Rosas was the greater because he had
the help of a skilful general named Urquiza, against
whom none of the Dictator's many enemies could make
head. For a long time his power was unassailable, for
the poignards of the Massorca were ready to repress any
opposition, and even the Church was powerless against
him. He expelled the Jesuits, paying a tribute at the
same time to "their Christian and moral virtues," but
declaring that they were opposed to the principles of
government. Undoubtedly they were to the principles
of his Government.
One of the main features of his policy was jealdusy of
92 ARGENTINA
foreign influence. He decided that all children born in
Argentina were ipso facto citizens and liable to military
service, and this decision remains in force at the present
day. It led, however, to endless trouble with France.
It is probable that if he had been able Rosas would have
closed the country to all foreign nations, as his brother-
tyrant, Francia, did in Paraguay.
But the old Greek saying that the worst disease of
tyranny is the impossibility of reposing trust in its friends
was to be justified, and Urquiza, his right-hand man,
who had crushed the invaders from Uruguay at the
battle of India Muerta and who had overawed all
opposition, was at last to prove faithless. He had long
been established as Governor of Entre Rios, where he
had acted with remorseless cruelty in stamping out dis-
affection. His first attempts to subvert the authority of
Rosas were unsuccessful, but in 1851 he made an alliance
with Brazil and one of the Uruguayan factions, and in the
December of that year he assembled a force of twenty-
four thousand men, crossed the Parana, and marched
into Santa F6. On February 3, 1852, Rosas was over-
whelmed at the battle of Casseros near the capital and
he fled to Europe. Twenty-five years later he died in
Hampshire.
Rosas disappeared unregretted. Although it is possible
that at the time he came to the front a military dictator-
ship was the only possible form of government, yet he
was one of the worst of the long list of South American
tyrants, and it is probably impossible to find any redeem-
ing feature about him except the fact that he encouraged
agriculture — a service which was largely neutralised by
his hatred of foreigners and foreign commerce. Un-
doubtedly he stopped the progress of a promising
country, not only for the twenty years of his remorseless
tyranny but for the long years which were required to
%
ANARCHY AND DESPOTISM 93
recover from the effects of his sanguinary and soulless
domination.!
Anxious as all were for peace and constitutional
government, there was some civil warfare and much
dissension before the position of Urquiza could be
secured. Finally, on May i, 1853, the Constituent
Congress drew up a Federal constitution, and this is
practically still in force.^ Hardly less important was
the treaty of the loth of July following, made with
England, France, and the United States, which declared
that the Parana and other rivers should be for ever open
to navigation.
Urquiza was elected the first President under the new
constitution for a period of six years, and the country
' Brossard, who knew him personally, gives Rosas the following
character : "A man of the country, Rosas has indeed been the chief
of the reaction of men of the country against the predominant
influence of the town. Steeped in the prejudices of Castilian pride,
he loathes all foreigners alike. Their energy and capital might
enrich his country, but he accords them a grudging welcome.
Being an agriculturist by birth, by training, and by taste, he is
little interested in industry. This preference has inspired several
good measures ; he sets a good example in his estates, which are
perfectly managed and cultivated. He has encouraged the culture
of cereals, and thus under his rule he has justified the extremely
high custom duty by which he struck a blow at the wheat formerly
demanded by Buenos Aires from North America. In other
measures he has overshot his mark. Having been brought up in
the rigid principles of the Spanish colonial system, he does not
understand trade, and only permits it when surrounded by prohibi-
tive tariffs and stringent custom duties. Thus we have stagnation
in commerce and industry and complete neglect of objects of
material utility" ("Considerations," pp. 458-9).
" Although the constitution of Argentina is in form Federal, the
logic of facts has been too strong for the intentions of its framers.
The immense importance of Buenos Aires has, in effect, forced
upon the Republic a centralised form of government, and the
Provinces are largely under the direct control of the administration
at the capital.
94 ARGENTINA
began to recuperate. The port of Rosario sprang into
being, and the other river cities rapidly doubled in
population. But towards the end of Urquiza's term
civil troubles were renewed. The Province of Buenos
Aires had been left outside the Confederation and was
in a position of antagonism to the other Provinces. The
party of the capital was called the Portenos — the men of
the Port — and they took the place of the old Unitarian
party. In 1859 Buenos Aires actually declared war upon
the Federal Government, but Urquiza defeated its forces.
Before a settlement could be made his term of office
expired and he was succeeded by Dr. Durqui. For-
tunately, the Governor of Buenos Aires, Bartolemo
Mitre, was a true patriot, and though he was obliged
to make war upon the President his efforts were directed
to settling the Federal question, and they were, for the
time, successful. Urquiza evacuated the capital and
retired southwards. Mitre followed him with a large
army, and in October, 1861, defeated him at Pavon
and himself became President.
It would have been well if the energies of Mitre had
been left unhampered to settle the thorny question of the
respective claims of the Portenos and the provincials,
but it was the misfortune of Argentina to be suddenly
involved in the most serious foreign war of its history.
This was the great Paraguayan war.
The occasion of the hostilities was Uruguay. That
country had long been distracted by the savage political
strife of the Colorados and Blancos, and in 1864 the
Blancos, having got the upper hand, elected Dr. Aguirre
to the Presidency, who, by his rigorous measures against
all suspected of disaffection, excited the resentment of
both Argentina and Brazil. Both of these countries
had important stock-raising interests on the Uruguay
frontiers, and in the civil turmoil their subjects were
THE WAR WITH PARAGUAY 95
frequently subjected to extortion and plunder. Having
incurred the hostility of its too-powerful neighbours,
Uruguay looked about for an ally, and found one in
General Lopez, the Dictator of Paraguay.
Lopez in his youth had visited Europe, admired the
great armies of the Continent, and returned convinced
that he might play the part of Napoleon in South
America. He had still hardly reached middle age and
was able, cruel, and obstinate. He devoted all his efforts
to raising and equipping an army by which he hoped to
make himself the arbiter of South American politics.
Accordingly he welcomed the appeal of Uruguay, and
declared that he would regard an invasion of Uruguay
by Brazil as an unfriendly act. When Brazil attacked
Uruguay he did not, indeed, hasten to fulfil his promise ;
he cared nothing for the Colorados or Blancos, and the
difficulties of invading Brazil were at first insuperable,
but he was awaiting a favourable opportunity for his
own aggrandisement. As far as Uruguay was concerned
the Brazilians soon settled the matter ; they beat down
all resistance, set up Flores as President in February,
1865, and having established good relations with Monte-
video, withdrew their army. But Lopez was a more
difficult problem.
Lopez had already declared war ; he had attacked
Brazilian ships and made preparations to invade Rio
Grande do Sul. His main object was to crush the
Brazilian troops in the Plate district before they could
be reinforced. His plans were bold, but there appeared
no reason why they should not be successful. He had
forty-five thousand infantry, ten thousand cavalry, and
adequate artillery. Another fact in his favour was the
friendship of Urquiza, now Governor of Corrientes, who
was the enemy of Mitre. Both Brazil and Paraguay
requested permission from Mitre to march their army
96 ARGENTINA
through Misiones, but the President wished to remain
neutral and refused both requests. Lopez, however, was
dismayed by no obstacle, and directed General Robles
with twenty-five thousand men to invade Corrientes.
They soon overran the province. Argentina was in
an awkward position, for her regular army amounted
to six thousand men only, but she had the support of
Brazil and Uruguay. On June 2, 1865, the defeat of the
Paraguayan fleet by Brazil at Riachuelo baulked Lopez's
schemes of an offensive war, and the allies prepared to
invade Corrientes. Lopez was further hampered by the
defection of Urquiza, who finally refused to assist him.
The plan for the invasion of Rio Grande had not been
abandoned, but the Paraguayan force was opposed by
that of Brazil and Uruguay on August 17th, and suffered
defeat. A month later the defeated army under Erti-
garribia surrendered. Before the end of the year Lopez
was compelled to evacuate the Argentine territory.
But his position was less unfavourable than might be
supposed upon a comparison of the resources of the
contending countries, for he had an excellent army and
the country between the Parana and the Paraguay was
admirably adapted to defensive operations. It was
densely wooded and liable to floods which often made
it impassable. As long as he could hold Humaita,
where he had erected batteries to stop the Brazilian fleet,
it would be impossible for the allies to make an effective
advance. They had an army of forty thousand men
concentrated near the town of Corrientes, and by April,
1866, they had forced the passage of the Parana and
were in Paraguay. On May 24th they were attacked by
twenty-five thousand Paraguayans and a desperate battle
ensued, which ended in the victory of the allies. The
Paraguayans lost five thousand killed and wounded, and
their opponents, who lost about two thousand, were so
THE WAR WITH PARAGUAY 97
severely crippled that they could not advance upon
Humaita — a movement which might have ended the
war.
The army was devoted to Lopez and the Paraguayan
made a fine soldier, while the allies, encamped in un-
healthy swamps, lost heavily from disease. Mitre at last
began an onward movement, but on September 22nd he
was repulsed with great slaughter at Curupaiti, and the
war came to a standstill. There was a long pause, for
the difficulties of the allies were enormous and cholera
broke out in their camp. It was not till November,
1867, that the Brazilian army succeeded in crossing the
Paraguay north of Humaita, and this clever movement
of the Brazilian Marshal Caxias decided the fate of the
war. The allied armies began to close round Humaita
and Brazilian warships forced their way beyond Curu-
paiti. Lopez fought with remarkable determination and
skill, but his embarrassments rapidly increased, and on
February 18, 1868, the Brazilian fleet ran the batteries
at Humaita, and this entirely disorganised the transport
system of Lopez, who relied chiefly upon his waterways.
All through the year fighting continued, but on Decem-
ber 27, 1868, Lopez received a crushing defeat at Angos-
tura, south of Asuncion, and he was compelled to fly
into the interior. A few days later the Brazilians
occupied Asuncion. But the irrepressible Lopez pro-
claimed a new capital at Peribebuy and made desperate
efforts to carry on the war. After much fighting the
allies succeeded in capturing the town in August, 1869,
and pursuing Lopez, defeated him at Campo Grande, the
last pitched battle of the war. He fled into the forest
with his mistress, Madame Lynch, his children, and
numerous faithful followers. Even in this extremity
he still kept the field, until at last, on March i, 1870,
while he was encamped far to the north on the river
8
98 ARGENTINA
Aquidaban, his men were thrown into a panic by the
approach of the enemy. In the confusion Lopez and
his staff attempted to escape, but the General's horse
stuck in a swamp ; he refused to surrender, and was
killed by a spear-thrust. Thus died this extraordinary
man, who had wantonly led his country into a war in
which five-sixths of her population perished.
During this long war the domestic history of Argentina
was uneventful. Brazil was far more prominent in the
war than Argentina, for General Mitre was several times
distracted by rebellions in the north-west which called
him from Paraguay. The rebels were easily driven
across the Andes. But the constitutional question had
never been settled, and hostility to the Portenos became
stronger. The influence of Mitre had waned, and in
1868 Sarmiento was quietly elected in his place.
The close of the Paraguayan war is also the close of
the anarchical period of Argentina's history. Hereafter,
though she was often to be unwisely governed, the worst
of the wars and revolutions were at an end, and the
people were to devote themselves to developing the
natural wealth of the country. Since the Revolution,
her history had been almost as bloodstained and turbu-
lent as the worst of her neighbours, but henceforward
peace and prosperity, though not uninterrupted, are
to distinguish her from the other South American
Republics.
CHAPTER IX
MODERN ARGENTINA— SETTLEMENT AND PROGRESS
The era of modern Argentina is inaugurated by the
Presidency of Sarmiento in 1868. Hitherto her busi-
ness had been to work out her destiny with much waste
of human life and wealth, now her task was to create
both. Population ^ began to increase and industries
flourished. Railways were extended and the administra-
tion was improved. It was a season of prosperity in
almost every part of the world, and in this Argentina
fully shared. Brazil had suffered much during the war,
and Argentina profited by supplying its needs and also
made up for her own losses by developing the vast
pastoral and agricultural resources. The only political
event of importance during Sarmiento's term of office
was an insurrection in Entre Rios, where the veteran
Urquiza was still Governor. One Lopez Jordan was
leader of the revolt, and he succeeded in capturing and
murdering Urquiza. The old man deserved a more
peaceful end, for, though cruel, he had aimed at the
public welfare, and he was one of those who did good
service in establishing the Republic on a firm basis.
* During forty-five years before 1857 the population had only a
little more than doubled ; during the forty-five years since that
date the increase has been 450 per cent. (Dawson, "South
American Republics" i. 143).
100 ARGENTINA
After much bloodshed the rebellion was suppressed by
young Julio Roca, a rising soldier.
Sarmiento's term of office came to an end in 1874.
Mitre, favoured by the Porteiios, and Dr. Avellaneda
were rivals for the succession, and the latter became
President, greatly to the annoyance of the Portenos.
He introduced a more economical policy, and the
country continued to prosper, but by far the most
important event of the time was the reduction of
Patagonia — an event the magnitude of which cannot
even yet be estimated. It was less than a hundred
years ago since the first small attempts at settlement had
been made there, and Patagonia was still practically an
enormous waste, a no-man's land, unmapped and roamed
over by savage Indians. General Roca, now Minister of
War, began to peg out claims for posterity. After Rosas
had fallen from power the Indians had recovered most
of the territory which he had taken from them, but now
that Argentina was at peace the Government was more
than able to hold its own, and in 1878 Roca employed
the whole power of the country to subjugate Patagonia.
He succeeded in making the Rio Negro the southern
boundary. The Province of Buenos Aires claimed the
whole of this new territory, but the other members of the
Federation were naturally unwilling to see her thus aug-
mented, and she had to be content with an addition of
63,000 square miles. The rest of the new land was
divided into Gobernaciones, or Territories, as they would
be called in the United States.
But he was to attain more notoriety in a less useful
struggle. The perennial source of discord — the Pro-
vinces against Buenos Aires or the Federalists against
the Unitarians — which ought to have been settled on
the downfall of Rosas, was once more to convulse the
Republic. Avellaneda, who was favourable to the Pro-
MODERN ARGENTINA 101
vinces, was determined to choose his successor, and the
opposition candidate was Dr. Tejedor, who had the
support of Mitre. Roca was the nominee of the outgoing
President. The situation rapidly became strained, and
in June and July, 1880, the partisans of either side took
up arms and there was considerable bloodshed in Buenos
Aires. The advantage rested with Roca's party ; the
Portenos were compelled to ask for terms of peace, and
at last the difficult constitutional question was settled.
Without delay Buenos Aires was declared the Federal
capital, and although the Portenos were nominally
defeated, their principles triumphed in reality. The
result was the establishment of a strong central Govern-
ment, and this was of the happiest effect in consolidating
the Confederacy and in binding together its hitherto dis-
jointed members.
This was a time of great material prosperity. Other
opportunities will be taken of dwelling on this subject ;
here it is sufficient to say that industry and commerce
expanded very rapidly. There was a huge boom ; men
seemed to be growing rich rapidly ; it was a period of
inflation and the President's attempt to establish the
currency on a gold basis was unpopular and unsuccess-
ful. But under his rule, and with the assistance of the
able Pellegrini, the credit of Argentina improved and
a loan of ;£8,ooo,ooo was negotiated. On the whole,
Roca's administration did him credit, although un-
doubtedly he might have taken more advantage of the
exceptionally favourable circumstances, and introduced
sounder and more honest principles of administration.
His successor. Dr. Juarez Celman, was a person of
altogether inferior stamp. The fever for speculation
grew rapidly, large additions were made to the national
indebtedness, and the premium on gold doubled. The
102 ARGENTINA
Government, as is usually the case with South American
Governments, was below rather than above the public
standard of conduct. Government, Provinces, and
municipalities, led the way in wasteful expenditure, the
inflation reached its height. The time of the inevitable
crash drew near.
In 1889 public opinion, wiser than the Government,
grew apprehensive, and the Civic Union was formed
with the object of overthrowing the President and
reforming the finances and administration. Roca and
Mitre, sincerely anxious for the good of their country,
were the leading spirits in the opposition, and in July,
1890, the Revolution began. Some fighting took place,
but the spirit of faction was less ferocious than it had
been a generation ago, and most men seemed to consider
that the desperate financial condition needed radical
measures. The resistance of the Government was half-
hearted, and on July 30th Celman resigned.
Pellegrini, the Vice-President, succeeded him, and it
was time for the national affairs to be placed in more
capable hands. The treasury was empty, and there was
a great burden of debt. The whole financial and
monetary system was in confusion, and in September
Pellegrini was obliged to issue notes for $50,000,000.
This step provided money for the immediate necessities
of administration, but it helped to precipitate the crash
which came in March, 1891. This vast monetary con-
vulsion will be long remembered in England, and it has
served as a salutary warning both to European investors
and to speculators in the country itself, who now
recognise that credit and the reputation for honesty is
one of the chief factors in a country's prosperity. The
Banco Nacional, in spite of all efforts on the part of the
Government to save it, was submerged, and the same
fate met every other bank except the London and River
1
MODERISI ARGENTINA 103
Plate. As a matter of course, political trouble followed
industrial trouble, and in February while Roca was
driving in a carriage he was fired at and slightly
wounded. It was, however, to him and Mitre that the
people looked to extricate them from their troubles,
and the Portefios nominated Mitre as candidate for the
Presidency amidst great enthusiasm, but the Cordoba
section was indignant, and Mitre was induced to with-
draw on condition that the new candidate should be
non-party and that the election should be impartial. At
the beginning of 1892 Saenz Pena, the candidate
favoured by Mitre and Roca, was elected, and Alem,
the leader of the new Radical party, known as the Civic
Union, was banished. Pellegrini's term of office had
disappointed his supporters and few regretted his
retirement.
The task of Pena was hardly less difficult than that
of Pellegrini. The improvement in the finances and
administration came very slowly, but the chief troubles
were political, for Argentina had not yet adapted herself
to the smooth working of federal institutions. Alem,
who had returned from exile, was still preaching dis-
affection and taking advantage of the turbulent disposi-
tion of the various Provinces. In 1893 Costa, the
Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires, who had
a strong military force, planned the overthrow of the
central Government, and his example was followed by
Santa F6 and several other Provinces. In August Costa
was forcibly deposed, but the movement in Santa Fe was
fostered by Alem, and the Radicals were eager to over-
throw Pena and his friends. Matters grew extremely
serious, for there was disaffection in the navy, but on
September 25th General Roca took command of the
army, and on October ist he rescued Rosario from the
hands of the revolutionists. Alem and other leaders
104 ARGENTINA
were imprisoned and the power of the Radicals vanished,
but pubhc affairs remained in a threatening condition.
Evidence was found of widespread corruption, and
that there was no pubhc feehng against it is shown by
the following incident. Costa had left the affairs of
Buenos Aires in confusion, and the central Government
appointed Dr. Lopez to administer them. He found
evidence of malpractices against one Colonel Sarmiento
and charged him, but failed to secure a conviction.
Thereupon Sarmiento provoked Lopez to a duel, in
which the latter was mortally wounded, but Sarmiento
received a merely nominal punishment. The Government
was thoroughly distrusted ; it seemed powerless to reform
abuses, and there was little likelihood that if the ruling
Ministers were removed their successors would do any
better. Such progress as the country made was due to
the efforts of private citizens and the improvement in
the trade conditions of the world.
The detachment of Pena from political parties had
been expected to prove advantageous, but in practice
this was not the case, for the President, having no
party, had no supporters in the Congress, and matters
approached a deadlock. At the beginning of 1895 the
President found it impossible to induce the Congress to
vote the Budget, and there was also a split in the Cabinet
about the fate of two naval officers condemned for
participation in the Santa Fe outbreak. Pena wished to
confirm the death sentence ; there was strong opposition,
and Peiia was probably glad of the excuse to resign
and disappear from political life. This took place on
January 21, 1895. The sentence upon the two officers
was commuted to one of imprisonment.
He was succeeded by the Vice-President Uriburu, who
had also been chosen on account of his neutrality ; but
he was more successful, and he had the powerful support
SETTLEMENT AND PROGRESS 105
of Roca and Pellegrini. During his first year of office
it seemed probable that a foreign war would be added to
all the other troubles of the Republic, for the boundary
dispute with Chile was assuming a threatening attitude
and continued to disturb public tranquillity for seven
years. This subject can be treated more conveniently
in the history of the next administration, when it was
settled. In this year a boundary dispute with Brazil
about the Misiones was settled by the arbitration of
President Cleveland in favour of the latter country.^
Little progress in settling the nation's difficulties was
made under Uriburu, but internal and external peace was
maintained. In 1898 General Roca succeeded him as
President, and it was generally felt that a man had
appeared who was competent to steer the ship of State
into smoother waters. He had been of great service
during the troubles which had attended the resignation
of Celman, and had kept the disorderly elements in
check. He had, all through the troubles of ten years,
been on the side of law and order, and he was practically
the leader of a national party.
In May, 1898, the President in his message to Congress
denounced judicial corruption, and the publicity which
he gave to these abuses resulted in several improvements ;
but there is still much matter for adverse criticism in the
administration of justice in Argentina. The improvements
in Government methods led to gradual general im-
provement, which, however, was also the result of
natural causes, and Argentina became undoubtedly the
most prosperous country in South America. The fear
' " The boundary line between the Argentine Republic and the
United States of Brazil, in that part submitted to me for
arbitration and decision, is constituted and shall be established by
and upon the rivers Pepiri (also called Pepiri-guazu) and San
Antonio " (" The Misiones Award/' Article VI.).
106 ARGENTINA
of political disintegration has become a thing of the past,
owing to the preponderance of the capital in wealth and
influence, but neither Roca himself nor any other
successor has been able to banish a serious evil from
which Argentina suffers, and which, though not causing
civil war on a large scale, brings about disquieting strikes
and riots. This is due to defective methods of govern-
ment. The President may be said to have been the
" saviour of his country " in the sense that a weaker or
dishonest man would probably have plunged the country
into both domestic and foreign war, and neutralised all
the progress of a generation. But he could not bequeath
political capacity to his colleagues, nor could he eradicate
many bad traditions of long standing.
His last work was the settlement of the boundary
dispute with Chile. It is not necessary to go into the
history of the subject previous to the Treaty of 1881.
In the old Spanish days there had been uncertainty
about the boundary, and during the existence of the two
Republics the quarrel had never slept. " During the
whole of its progress the Argentine Republic contended
that her western boundary from north to south was the
Cordillera de los Andes, and that, in consequence, she
had dominion over all the territory eastward of the crest
of the Cordillera, the greater part of the Straits of
Magellan, and the whole of Tierra del Fuego. Chile on
her part accepted the natural boundary of the Cordillera,
to a great extent, but maintained that this boundary did
not rule in the southern part of the continent ; that in
Patagonia the territory on both sides of the Andes were
Chilian, from the Pacific to the Atlantic ; that the Straits
of Magellan were Chilian ; and that Tierra del Fuego
was also Chilian." ^
The two Republics made a Treaty in 1881. They
' Report, i. 152.
d
SETTLEMENT AND PROGRESS 107
agreed that down to 52° S., i.e.j to the Straits of Magellan,
the boundary was to be the Cordilleras de los Andes.
The line was to pass over the highest points of the water-
shed. The southern boundary was also determined.
The Treaty represents a concession on the part of Chile,
who gave up her extravagant claims to the east of
Patagonia. But she still claimed that the line should
follow the highest points in the watershed, while the
Argentine Government insisted that the hne should run
from highest peak to highest peak.
This Treaty was ratified, but not carried out. In 1883
the Argentine Government informed its Ambassador at
Santiago that the time had come to trace the boundary
line. But procrastination is a South American char-
acteristic, and the affair drifted on until, in 1888, a
Convention was made. In accordance with the Treaty
of 1 88 1, this Convention appointed experts to trace the
line. The matter, in fact, was one of great difficulty, for
unfortunately it turned out that the watersheds and the
highest summits did not coincide, and the experts
disagreed hopelessly.
The question of the rivers had raised fresh obstacles,
and the experts had brought matters to such a tangle that
it was necessary in 1893 to draw up a Protocol to explain
them further. The main principle which it fixed was
that in case the high peaks of the Cordillera should be
crossed by any river, that river should be cut by the
boundary line. The experts continued their work, which
was extremely arduous, for the boundary line ran through
unexplored forests and mountains. But in 1895 feelings
ran to a dangerous height in both countries, and the
people of Argentina declared that the Chilians were
assuming an aggressive attitude and were likely to attack
them. They were made the more uneasy by the dis-
covery that the army and stores had, like everything else,
108 ARGENTINA
suffered from long years of misrule, and Congress
voted fifty million gold dollars for military preparations.
In July, 1898, a further controversy arose. The Puna de
Atacama is a great salt waste of rugged tableland,
volcanic, grassless, and inhospitable. Working from the
north, the experts had found no great difficulty until
they reached this savage territory. Here there was a
deadlock, and the Chilians claimed the whole district.
Possibly the belief that the disputed territory contained
considerable borax deposits accentuated the quarrel, but
the main source of it was national pride, for the majority
of the Andine territory was of small value. The experts
south of the Atacama waste proceeded more smoothly
till they reached Patagonia. " Here,^ indeed, the funda-
mental condition of identity between the '^ highest crest "
and the "water parting" (or "divide," as it is called in
North America), existed in full force, and no ground for
dispute presented itself, the " main range " of the
Andes being exceptionally well adapted by position
and structure for an international boundary. It was the
divergence of these two essential conditions in Pata-
gonia which imperilled the peace of South America.
The Patagonian rivers were found to flow from east to
west right athwart, or transverse to, the general trend of
the Andine mountain system from north to south. They
were found to break across the great mountain masses,
and to intersperse wide valleys, across which the boundary
must either be carried from one mass of peaks to the
next or else be made to skirt the indefinite edge of
Cordillera and pampas, where the two insensibly combine
and where the rivers rise. A very little examination proved
the incompatibility of " higher crests " with " water part-
ing " as a fixed principle of demarcation in these parts." 2
' I.e, north of Patagonia.
=^ Sir T. H. Holdich, "The Countries of the King's Award," p. 50.
I
i
SETTLEMENT AND PROGRESS 109
With this fruitful field of dispute before them it is not
surprising that angry feelings were engendered, especially
among the Chilians, who have narrow territory, and were
unwilling to give up a square mile without a struggle.
In August Chile despatched an ultimatum demanding
arbitration, and Roca, induced his Cabinet to assent to
the demand.
The smaller question — the Atacama territory — was
referred to the United States. Mr. Buchanan was ap-
pointed arbiter, and he was assisted by one Chilian and
one Argentine Commissioner. Mr. Buchanan drew a
boundary line which he considered to be just, and by an
ingenious device contrived that both the agreement and
the disagreement of the Commissioners should preserve
its integrity.^ The dispute was thus happily settled, and
not long afterwards Roca met the Chilian President
at Punta Arenas, and an agreement to restrict arma-
ments was made.
But the Patagonian boundary was a matter of much
greater difficulty. It was referred to Great Britain, and
in December, 1899, the Commission in London issued a
most exhaustive report. It was necessary to proceed very
slowly in such a perplexing matter, and public feeling
was greatly excited, both countries appearing to be eager
for war. Such a catastrophe seemed to be probable, for
Sefior Alcorta, the Argentine War Minister, was extremely
bellicose, but on January 31, 1902, Sir Thomas Holdich
was sent with a small Commission to endeavour to
determine the boundary line, and it was intimated to
' "Where the boundary was adverse to Chile the Argentine
Commissioner voted for it, and Mr. Buchanan siding with him gave
a majority against the Chihan representative. Where the conditions
were reversed, Mr. Buchanan agreed with the ChiHan Commissioner.
In this manner the work was concluded in three days'' (Akers,
"A History of South America," p. 114).
110 ARGENTINA
both Governments that if hostile preparations continued
King Edward VII. would be compelled to withdraw from
his position as arbiter. The tension was somewhat
relieved by the sudden death of Senor Alcorta, and Roca
acted a statesmanlike part in working for peace, and it
was largely through his exertions that in June, 1902, a
Treaty was signed to restrict armaments. When Sir
Thomas Holdich's Commission gave its decision a few
months later, the award was loyally accepted.
This settlement of a great question is one of the most
signal triumphs for the principle of arbitration, for on this
occasion neither party was willing to make concessions
and the disposition of both was rather to war than to
peace. The benefit of the settlement was incalculable,
for it preserved the two most flourishing States in South
America from a war which would have gone far towards
ruining both.^ This example has been of the utmost
value to South America, and arbitration is undoubtedly
beginning to replace the appeal to arms.
With this triumph of peace this modern history of
Argentina may fitly be closed. President Roca, who had
deserved so well of his country, was succeeded in 1904 by
Dr. Manuel Quintana, who still holds that post, and his
term of office has been one of great material prosperity
for the Republic.
' " Political combination is now possible between two strong and
self-reliant Republics, recognising a common ancestry, bound by the
ties of ethnic affinity, owning and revering the same splendid
history (which has before now included concerted action in the
common cause of South American freedom), and rejoicing in the
present possession and future prospect of magnificent material
advantages, such as never could possibly be secured, except under
conditions of peaceful development, unchecked and unhindered by
the recurrent threat of war. It is difficult to overestimate the
results of such a combination on the future of South America"
(" Holdich," Ibid. pp. 413, 14).
CHAPTER X
THE CONSTITUTION — THE ARMY AND NAVY-
GENERAL POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Argentina is nominally a Federal Republic and her
Constitution closely resembles that of the United States.
But, in fact, the federal element is much fainter in the
southern Republic, for, as has been shown, the struggles
between the two great parties eventually led to the
attainment by the central Government at Buenos Aires of
that preponderance which was inevitable in view of the
vast superiority of the capital to the Provinces in popula-
tion, civilisation, and geographical position. But the
Spanish distaste for centralised administration shows
itself in the reluctance to admit the facts, and of this the
town of La Plata is an almost comic instance. When, in
1882, it was decided to make this place, which is distant
about thirty-five miles from Buenos Aires, the capital of
the Province, the authorities spared no effort in planning
and building a magnificent city which should be an
effectual counterpoise to the federal capital and a standing
protest against Unitarian theory. But to build a town is
one thing and to people it another ; the vast political and
commercial interests of Buenos Aires completely over-
shadowed the upstart city, and it remains a mere lifeless
husk, unvitalised by the comparatively insignificant
Provincial business. In the United States interference
by the Federal Government in State rights is extremely
111
112 ARGENTINA
rare and would be liable to cause real civil war; in the
Argentina it is common and only brings about a
"revolution" — a political phenomenon which has been
very mild in type in Argentina during the last decade
or two, and indeed public opinion generally seems to
applaud the President when he brings an unruly Governor
to book. ,
The President is the outstanding feature of the Con-
stitution. Important as the head of the State is in the
North American Republic, in Argentina the President
might almost say "L'Etat c'est moi," for the well-being
of Argentina has practically been conditioned by the
character of the Presidents. The wickedness of a Rosas
or the folly of a Celman formerly made her a byword
among nations, while the sagacity and patriotism of a
Rivadavia or a Roca have turned imminent disaster into
prosperity. The President and Vice-President are elected
by Presidential electors who are chosen in each Province
by the direct vote of the people, and who, as in the United
States, are chosen for that purpose alone. The office of
President is held for six years, and the holder of it is
Commander-in-Chief and has all the State patronage,
including the ecclesiastical. In him, of course, the
executive power is embodied. He is assisted by eight
Secretaries of State — the Interior, Foreign Affairs,
Finance, War, Justice, Agriculture, Marine, and Public
Works — but they are appointed by him and may be
dismissed at pleasure, so it will be easily understood that
his power is enormous.
The Legislature is of the familiar type. The upper
house is the Senate with thirty members, two for each of
the fourteen Provinces and two for the city of Buenos
Aires, and their term of office is for nine years, but one-
third of them is renewed every three years. The pro-
vincial senators are elected by the Legislatures of the
THE CONSTITUTION 113
Provinces, the two for Buenos Aires by a special body
of electors. The House of Deputies, which is the lower
branch of the National Congress, consists of 120
members, elected by the people, and there is supposed
to be one deputy for every 33,000 inhabitants. Each
member of Congress receives the somewhat extravagant
allowance of 12,000 dollars, or about ;^i,o6o. The
Vice-President is Chairman of the Senate — and here it
will be noticed how very closely the Argentines follow
the northern practice — and it has also sometimes happened
that the apparent sinecure of the Vice-Presidency has
been the step to the great office. The President now in
power. Dr. Jos6 Figueroa Alcorta,i was Vice-President
till March, 1906, when he succeeded on the death of
President Quintana. Like our House of Commons, the
House of Deputies is the money chamber, and it has the
right of impeaching guilty officials before the Senate.
The various Provinces have their own Constitution
and in theory have complete local self-government, even
to the right of framing their own fiscal policy, but, as
hinted above, they have not in practice very great power.
There are also a number of Gobernaciones, thinly popu-
lated and governed in more or less absolute fashion. For
convenience of reference, the list of Provinces and
Gobernaciones, with their areas and estimated population,
may be given.
» He will be succeeded almost immediately by
Dr. Roque Saenz
Pena.
Provinces.
Area in Square Miles
Populations.
Buenos Aires
City ..
72
1,125,693
>} ft
Province
117,777
1,550,372
Santa Fe
50,916
751,298
Entre Rios
28,784
383,816
Corrientes
32,580
315,234
La Rioja
34.546
85,388
Catamarca
47,531
109,434
114
ARGENTINA
Provinces {continued).
krea in Square Miles.
Populations.
San Juan
...
...
...
33,715
110,035
Mendoza
...
...
...
56,502
201,467
Cordoba
...
...
...
62,160
540,866
San Luis
...
...
...
28,535
106,315
Santiago del Estero
...
...
39,764
193,211
Tucuman
...
...
...
8,926
295,213
Salta ...
...
...
...
62,184
143,629
Jujuy ...
...
...
...
18,997
59,317
Territories.
Misiones
...
...
11,282
41,814
Formosa
...
...
41,402
14,186
El Chaco
...
...
52,741
27,414
Pampa ...
...
...
56,320
70,388
Rio Negro
...
...
75,924
28,166
Nequen ...
...
...
42,345
29,793
Chubut ...
...
...
93,427
17,561
Santa Cruz
...
...
109,142
4,927
Tierra del Fuego
...
...
8,299
1,703
Los Andes
...
...
...
21,989
2,768
The Supreme Federal Court with its five judges ad-
ministers justice and is also the Court of Appeal. Trial
by jury appears in the Constitution but it is never
practised. The administration of justice has long been
acknowledged to be in an unsatisfactory state and
attempts to improve it have not borne much fruit.
Cases are known in which Englishmen have been kept
twelve months in prison awaiting trial, and if this is the
case with foreigners it may be supposed that natives
have much cause for complaint. In his last Message
to Congress (May, 1909) the President, while paying a
tribute to ^*the patriotic diligence of our magistrates,"
remarked that the ordinary Courts of Justice of the
capital still leave something to be desired as regards
rapidity of action, and he attributes the delay to the fact
that the population has outgrown the system, which, he
said, " is too cramped to cope with the demands on it,
THE CONSTITUTION 115
and I think there is urgent and imperious need for reform
if we desire to avert a permanent cause for complaint and
discredit." Undoubtedly the foreign man of business,
whose capital and enterprise is essential to the development
of Argentina, will be more deterred by defects in the
administration of justice than any other circumstance, for
if there is the probability of pecuniary loss in civil cases
and discomfort and persecution for his subordinates in
the criminal Courts, the advantages of the country as a
field for capital must be seriously discounted. It is,
however, in far-away, scantily populated districts where
the hard cases occur, but it is generally acknowledged
that there is considerable room for improvement in the
administration of justice.
The position in the world of a great State depends
upon the courage and endurance of its people, and
these qualities are typified by the efficiency which they
demand in the army and navy. Argentina is advancing
on the road to greatness, and therefore her military
position is a matter of increasing importance. It may
be hoped that conditions are now no longer favourable
to the unprofitable wars which in the past have been
perpetually waged between South American States, for
foreign capital has a steadying influence and the sense of
kinship between Latin Americans is becoming stronger.
However, it must be remembered that the fraternal spirit
of the Greeks did not preserve them from internecine
wars, and Argentina, flanked by each of the other two
powerful South American Republics, cannot afford to
neglect her armaments. It may be that the wars nullos
hahitura triumphos are at an end ; it is almost certain
that they will be less frequent; but there is now the
question of foreign interference, and every Republic,
however small and weak, jealously guards its own inde-
pendence and wishes to be safe from the possibility of
116 ARGENTINA
dictation from either the United States or Japan. None
of the Republics as yet are World States, but South
America is a World Power, though not a political entity,
and as time goes on it is safe to predict that Pan-
Americanism will become a powerful force. Accord-
ingly, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil, at least, are busily
strengthening their defences.
Military service is compulsory upon all citizens, and, it
may be added, every person born in Argentina, what-
ever his parentage, is liable. At the age of twenty the
young recruit has to serve for two years ^ and in some
cases he prolongs his term for three years more. Thus
the Republic is certain of having a tolerably large
amount of disciplined material upon which to draw for
an army. The peace strength of the army consists of
sixteen thousand or seventeen thousand officers 2 and
men, and is made up as follows : There are eighteen
batteries of artillery and two mountain batteries, two
battalions of chasseurs of the Andes, nine regiments of
cavalry, two regiments of gendarmes, five batteries of
field artillery, three mountain batteries, and five com-
panies of engineers. For ten years after the first enlist-
ment the Argentine soldier belongs to the active army,
and is liable to frequent drill and must attend the annual
rifle meeting of his district. Then, for ten years, he
passes into the National Guard, and subsequently serves
for another five years in the Territorial Guard. In these
two forces the drilling is, of course, much less frequent.
In war ten divisions of twelve thousand men would be
available, but there might be a difficulty in obtaining
* But in practice the period does not usually exceed one year,
and many are released after three months.
* The President, in his last Message, speaks of thirty thousand,
but he is referring to a special occasion — the celebration of thQ
Centenary.
THE ARMY AND NAVY 117
them in full strength and satisfactory condition. Sir
Thomas Holdich speaks of sixty thousand infantry,
twenty-five thousand cavalry, and twenty thousand
artillery. There is, however, little doubt that Argentina
possesses a good army, sufficient for the defence of
even her very vulnerable frontier. Upon the Argentine
army, at least as regards the cavalry ^ and artillery,
favourable judgments have been passed. The cavalry
is, to a large extent, ready-made. In England two years
of incessant training is required to make an efficient
cavalry trooper, but the Gaucho is a horseman from
his childhood ; he and all his ancestors have passed all
their life with horses, and horsemanship is part of his
nature. Consequently, although Argentine soldiers, as
a rule, have very little service to their credit, they learn
their trade in an astonishingly short time. The troops
are also well mounted — not on the common Criollo
horse, which is grass-fed, and, except under Pampa
conditions, not over-hardy. The artillery are armed
with 75-millimetre Krupp guns ; the infantry have
Mauser rifles ; the arms and stores are in a high state
of efficiency. The infantry some years ago was con-
demned as untidy and undisciplined, and its officers
as ignorant of their duties, but Sir Thomas Holdich
considers that there is no ground for sweeping con-
demnation. It is, however, undoubtedly much inferior
to the cavalry, and pains are being taken to improve it.
Possibly the training of officers is too short, and there
is reason to believe that military service is not popular
among Argentines of the highest class. An excellent
» " Owing to the conditions of his country life, the Argentine is
transformed readily into a good cavalry soldier, and in general he
soon learns to shoot, because he has been accustomed to train his
eye to the calculation of distances " (F. Seeber, " Argentina," &c.,
p. 88).
118 ARGENTINA
institution has been started in a technical school for
warrant officers (we should call them non-commis-
sioned), which has five hundred pupils, and has already
provided 278 corporals to various regiments. At the
same time the pay and condition of the sergeants have
been improved. As the backbone of the army is the
non-commissioned man, these steps will doubtless be
most effective. Sir T. Holdich ^ remarks : " The fight-
ing army of South America, generally will, however,
never be infantry in the future, unless it be mounted
infantry. In Argentina especially, where a horse can
readily be found for every man, and where every man
knows how to ride, and where there is a large population
(diminishing, unfortunately, day by day) which habitually
exists on the very scantiest of a meat supply which needs
no special transport, caring nothing for those extras
which make so large a demand on English commissariat,
efficient mounted infantry is almost ready-made. The
mobilisation of such a force would be as effective as
that of the Boers, and its discipline far superior."
The Argentines are proud of their army, and with
reason, for its history is more illustrious than that of
any other Latin American people. They twice con-
quered the English under some of our best (and one
of our worst) generals. The exploits of San Martin in
Chile are among the most glorious in the history of
the continent. The Argentine army also had a large
share in the reduction of Paraguay, then the strongest
military power in South America, and there seems to be
every probability that it will maintain its reputation.
It may, however, be reasonably doubted whether it is
equal in military efficiency to the army of Chile, and it
rests with wealthy and influential Argentines to make
the choice of Hercules, and, preferring the national
* " The Countries of the King's Award," p. 104.
THE ARMY AND NAVY 119
good to luxury and pleasure, encourage by their active
example the military traditions of the race.
The naval efficiency of Argentina is a matter of equal
moment. Her Atlantic sea-board extends for i,ooo
miles and her southern ports are increasing in size
and number. In South America sea-power is of vital
importance ; on the Pacific coast the ocean is the
only highway, and on the eastern coast also journeys
from north to south must be almost invariably made by
sea. If Peru had possessed one or two more efficient
warships, she might have defeated Chile, and the Para-
guayan war was decided by the fact that the allies
commanded the rivers. Indeed, the whole history of
South America affords the clearest proof of the capital
importance of sea-power. It is, therefore, necessary that
Argentina should have a navy ; but in forming it there
are serious obstacles to be encountered. Her sons are
not sea-faring men ; they have ever found the vast plains
of the interior too tempting, and have avoided the coasts.
There are no fishing villages and no natural nurseries
of sailors. It seems strange that the Government, which
is only too ready to attempt to create industries, suitable
or unsuitable, has not attempted to bring into being a
maritime population which would serve for defence as
well as opulence. There is, in fact, little interest in
any such matters on the part of the population, and
the President is now lamenting/the disinclination to a
sea-faring life, and of recent years steps have been
taken to obtain more satisfactory results ; but the total
mercantile marine, as yet, amounts to barely 100,000
tons. There is, however, a College for training officers,
and also engineers and stokers for the mercantile marine,
and there is a Pilot School, and various measures show
that the authorities are alive to the importance of the
question. In his last Message to Congress the Presi-
120
ARGENTINA
dent said : " One of the principal reasons for granting
privileges to ships flying the Argentine flag is the
employment of native crews, so that the nation's sons
may find a new path of life, and the navy a fresh source
from which to draw sailors in case of an emergency."
The Argentine sailor is a land-conscript, laboriously
taught an unfamiliar art, which he learns wonderfully
well. It is quite possible to create an efficient navy
out of landsmen, but the lack of natural seamen will
always be a great handicap, which, doubtless, the
Government will do its best to remove. It will thus be
gathered that Argentina, in spite of her geographical
position, is not by nature a sea Power, and indeed she
appears to devote attention to the navy only under
external pressure. It was apprehension of war with
Chile during the boundary dispute that induced the
Government to buy the Buenos Aires in 1896, the
Garribaldi in 1897, and in 1898 the San Martin, the
Puerryedon, and the Belgrano. Again, the present naval
programme is due to the activity of the Brazilian naval
preparations. The following table gives the strength of
the fleet :—
Date.
Battleships.
Displacement
in Tons.
Speed in
Knots.
\%l
Almiranie Brown
Independencia Liberiad
Armoured Cruisers.
4,267
2,336
14
14
1894
1896
Garribaldi
San Martin
Puerryedon
Belgrano
Protected Cruisers.
6,840
6,840
7,000
7,000
20
20
20
20
1889
189I
1894
25 de Maio
dejuilio
Buenos Aires
3,200
3,500
4;5oo
22
22-5
24
i
THE ARMY AND NAVY 121
In 1908 the naval officers numbered 493 and the
petty officers and seamen nearly 6,000. There has been
constructed at Belgrano, about 27 miles from Bahia
Blanca, a naval port which will admit of the docking
of vessels of 12,000 tons. In 1908 the cost of the
army and fleet was ;£ 1,849,300. But in the future
Argentina, like most other countries, will have to bear
a heavier burden, for a scheme is being carried out
which, it is hoped, will be completed in five years and
will cost about seven million sterling. The new vessels
will consist of three battleships of 15,000 tons each, nine
destroyers, and twenty-one torpedo boats, as well as
several vessels for harbour defence. In the course of
a few years, therefore, Argentina will have a fairly
powerful fleet. That there is any risk of a conflict
between Brazil and Argentina no one believes. In both
countries the same opinion is invariably expressed that
as one country is building warships, it is necessary for
the other to follow suit, and that though there is some
jealousy there is little animosity and no material what-
ever for quarrel or any probability of war. It may be
added that Argentina, at any rate, is well able to bear
the extra burden, that it is for many reasons desirable
that the principal South American States should possess
some naval strength, and that an adequate fleet will
add to the weight and dignity of Argentina in the
councils of South America. For example, the decision
of Argentina in the recent Peruvian-Bolivian arbitration
case might have been repudiated by Bolivia and the
insult to the Argentine Legation at La Paz might have
been condoned, had Argentina been weak ; and thus it
was proved once more that it is strength and not
weakness that preserves peace. In this case, of course,
the fleet does not enter into the question, as Bolivia,
like Bohemia, has no sea-coast, but the people of
122 ARGENTINA
Argentina deserve every credit for the efforts and
sacrifices which they are making to secure an efficient
army and navy, and, in all probability, the money
will be handsomely repaid merely in the matter of
preservation from costly wars.
In foreign affairs the present policy of the Republic
is creditable as, on the whole, the past has been.
The Government has shown itself honourably desirous
of resorting to arbitration for the settlement of its dis-
putes and of encouraging the other Republics to do
the same. In all external relations a dignified and
conciliatory attitude is maintained and every effort is
made to encourage foreigners to visit the country and
settle, and the statesmen of the Republic are zealous
to maintain the Republic in a reputation worthy of
her great prospects in the eyes of other nations. It
is in domestic politics that the outlook is unsatis-
factory, and here it must be acknowledged that although
Argentina, owing to her wealth and the energetic char-
acter of her inhabitants, does not appear^ to the world
in the same deplorable light as several South American
Republics almost habitually exhibit themselves, she is
nevertheless an extremely ill-governed country. The
subject of South American politics is a commonplace
with all writers ; the hot-blooded Creole, who for cen-
turies had been subject to a paternal government, was
altogether unfitted for Parliamentary institutions.
It has been seen that Argentina, on the whole, shows
a considerably better state of affairs in the nineteenth
century than most of its neighbours, and had she not
fallen under the malign influence of Rosas, the Plate
District might have been the one bright spot in Latin
America. But all the faults of inexperience, ignorance,
and passion marred the political history, and the com-
plaint ever is that the government is carried on in the
GENERAL POLITICAL CONDITIONS 123
interests of the official few at the expense of the hard-
working many.
The politics are almost entirely personal, and the
parties have little discipline ; the leaders are full of vague
ideas of progress and the megolomania common in the
politicians of a new country, and this lack of experience
and capability appears very clearly in the finance.
Congress is not really competent to consider the
budget, and it is usually hurried through in a most un-
ceremonious manner, and the vast increase of expen-
diture alarms the thoughtful men of the Republic. A
recent work ^ on the general financial conditions says :
" The increase of national expenditure is a constant, we
might almost say fatal, fact, which reproduces itself year
by year in the Argentine administration."
It is true that a young country ought not to be
criticised on the same principles as ancient, long-estab-
lished States. It is necessary for the former rapidly to
develop its resources and lay foundations upon which
future generations may build, and such a process
entails great public expense. But there is a conviction
that economy and good administration are urgently
needed, and that the future is being unduly mortgaged.
Resentment at the growth of public burdens is very keen,
and political strikes are becoming common. The temp-
tation to squander public funds is almost irresistible, and
as elsewhere, economy is unpopular and has utterly
inadequate safeguards.
There is reason to fear that little actual improvement
is hkely in the near future, for the whole system is
on an unsound basis — the view that political power is
not an honourable privilege but a perquisite. The
general national attitude towards this subject is worse
in many countries than in Argentina, but an eminent
' " L' Argentine au XX** Siecle," p. 300.
124 ARGENTINA
French economist ^ points out the capital vice of South
American politics : " Leurs hommes les plus energiques,
au lieu de chercher la richesse dans I'exploitation des
agents naturels, I'ont cherche dans I'exploitation du
pouvoir. lis n'ont pas pour force motrice la concur-
rence ^conomique, mais la concurrence politique. lis
considerent que le moyen le plus prompt et le plus
facile de s'enricher est d'etre les maitres du gouvern-
ment."
There is some analogy between the position of
Argentina and the United States. In both countries
business careers have offered such attractions that the
best and strongest men have devoted themselves to the
amassing of wealth, and politics have fallen into inferior
hands. This is better than the case in many States
where those who desire wealth look first of all to a
political career, but the United States has of late realised
that politics is a pursuit which demands high intelligence
and character, and thus the national welfare has been
appreciably advanced. In Argentina the race for wealth
has been too absorbing to allow devotion of the best
energies to politics, but as time goes on professions
will become more sharply distinguished and a leisured
and, it may be hoped, public-spirited class will grow
up, and Argentina may gain a reputation not only for
stability but also for good administration.
' Yves Guyot, " L'Espagne," pp. 188-9.
CHAPTER XI
CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE— WAGES AND COST OF
LIVING— IMMIGRATION
The Condition of the People question, as Carlyle says,
is the most pressing of all. But it is a question almost
impossible to answer, and few inquiries are more futile
than the attempt to ascertain the comparative well-being
of different countries. Two inquirers with equal know-
ledge of a country will collect statistics and compile
elaborate volumes, and one will come to the conclusion
that the people are extremely well off and the other
that they are in extreme destitution. They will then
apply themselves to another country with the same
contradictory results. Carlyle complains : " Hitherto,
after many tables and statements, one is still left mainly
to what he can ascertain by his own eyes, looking at
the concrete phenomenon for himself. There is no
other method ; and yet it is a most imperfect method.
Each man expands his own hand-breadth of observation
to the limits of the general whole ; more or less, each
man must take what he himself has seen and ascertained
for a sample of all that is seeable and ascertainable.
Hence discrepancies, controversies, widespread, long-
continued ; which there is at present no means or hope
of satisfactorily ending." Wages, price of food, rents,
and the other weapons of the statistician are of very
little use in attacking the problem. The Hindu peasant
136
126 ARGENTINA
may be too poor to buy meat, but if he is non-
carnivorous, the deprivation is no hardship, and he may
enjoy much greater material well-being than many who
eat meat daily. But knowledge of the elementary facts
about the life of a people seems to have little effect in
elucidating the question, for, as just remarked, people
with long experience come to diametrically opposite
conclusions. Those who have lived all their lives in
England or Ireland disagree toto ccelo in their opinions
as to the well-being of the working classes. Many
observers, of course, believing that facts are silent until
they are interpreted by theory, use their facts for the
sole purpose of making their theory speak, but, as a
matter of fact, entirely disinterested persons differ quite
as profoundly. One is tempted to believe that in the
Condition of the People question there is nothing either
good or bad, but thinking makes it so. Probably no
one could get an idea of the condition of the poor
approaching in any degree to accuracy without living
long among them in exactly their way, and even then
his conclusions would be warped in every way by refer-
ence to his own standards and by the fact that the
circumstances, which to him were temporal, were to his
associates everlasting. Further, his imperfect knowledge
would apply only to one people and so would be useless
for the purposes of comparison.
It is not likely, therefore, that a visitor will be able
to impart much information upon the subject, but
the opinions of the experienced and the testimony
of statistics form a rough guide, and these may be
given.
In Buenos Aires, of course, wages are higher than
elsewhere and the cost of living is also high. The
following table shows the rate of wages in some im-
portant trades in that city : —
WAGES AND COST OF LIVING 127
Blacksmiths—
£ s.
d.
Leading hand ...
per diem
o 8
9
Belle wsman
... ... ,,
o 7
lO
Labourers
per month about
6 lo
0
Chairmakers—
Carvers
per diem
O lO
6
Polishers
„
o 7
0
Seatmakers
... ... ),
o 7
0
Labourers
per month about
617
6
Founders—
Head bellowsman
per diem
0 10
8
Foreman
„
0 8
9
Turner
„
0 8
0
Smith
„
0 8
9
Labourer
... ... „
0 5
3
Founder
... ... „
0 7
0
Furniture Makers —
Leading poHsher
... ... „
0 8
9
Second poUsher
»
0 7
0
Cabinetmaker ...
... ... „
0 8
9
Carver
... ... „
0 8
9
Chairmaker
„
0 8
9
Masons—
Decorating foreman
„
0 14
0
Foreman
... ... „
0 8
9
Mason's mate ...
„
0 7
0
Labourer
,,
0 4
3
Mechanical Carpenters—
Leading hand ...
per month about
17 10
0
Carpenter
per diem
0 7
0
Assistant carpenter
... ... „
0 5
3
Furnishing carpenter „
0 8
9
Plasterers
... ... „
0 10
6
Printers —
Compositors ...
per month about
12 0
0
Litho engravers
i> »
19 0
0
Saddlers—
Foreman
« ff
13 0
0
Leading hand ...
per diem
0 8
9
Labourer
per month about
7 0
0
Tailors—
Cutters
>» a
25 0
0
Tailors
» >j
12 10
0
128 ARGENTINA
£
s.
d.
Turners
per diem
O
8
9
Upholsterers—
Leading hand ...
... ... , „
o
8
9
Second hand ...
... ... „
o
7
o
Labourer
per month about
7
o
o
The above figures, then, give a rough idea of the
rewards of the labour market in Argentina. In Rosario
also, where there are great railway works which compete
with other occupations and so raise the standard of
wages, the figures are probably high. But in smaller
centres wages are lower and probably the figures before
us are somewhat optimistic, for they are compiled with
a view to encouraging immigration. It must also be
remembered that their advantage is discounted by the
cost of living, which is very high everywhere and
especially so in Buenos Aires and Rosario. All im-
ported goods are, of course, extremely dear, and in
many cases this fact does not affect the labourer, seeing
that most of his simple luxuries can be procured in the
country, but in the matter of clothes he gets very poor
value for his money. Tobacco also is extremely dear.
That foreign goods should be expensive is not strange,
for not only is it the policy of the Government (hitherto
not very successful) to stimulate home manufactures, but
also the customs are absolutely necessary for revenue
purposes. However, it is surprising that all other articles
follow suit. Meat, for example, although Argentina
supplies most of the markets of the world in increasing
quantities, is nearly as dear as in England, and, in fact,
a very tiny sheet of paper would have ample room for
a list of the articles that are cheaper in Argentina than
in the Old World. The people have not learned to
regard the day of small things ; they will not take
trouble in little matters ; in dairy-farming, gardening,
WAGES AND COST OF LIVING 129
cookery, all the little arts that make for comfort, they
are extremely negligent ; it is too much trouble to put
on the market the hundred and one little comforts that
are cheap and ever present in England or France. This
is, of course, the case with all new countries, but par-
ticularly with those of South America.
The poorer classes certainly suffer by it, both in being
deprived of numerous conveniences and also in the
absence of these industries which, in France for example,
give a livelihood to more poor people than are con-
tained in the whole of Argentina. House rent also
is extraordinarily high. In Buenos Aires this is
always attributed to the vast improvements which were
made in the Celman, times, and which have certainly
transformed Buenos Aires from a very dingy into a
very fine city. Complaint is made that the better
streets and better buildings have sent up the price of
rents, that the ramshackle old tenements which were
swept away afforded cheap and central lodgings which
the poor now lack, and that in all ways splendour, clean-
liness, and health have cost money. But in Rosario,
where there is ample room for expansion, the same com-
plaints are made, and at Mendoza, which is almost a
garden city, site values are doubling in value every
few years. The secret probably is imperfect industrial
organisation. Labour is scarce and not very efficient,
municipal dues weigh upon all classes, every circumstance
contributes towards making building a dear operation.
It may be added that any man, still more any woman,
who would consent to wait at table, would be assured
of a comfortable livelihood. Servants are abnormally
scarce and dear; a domestic with six months' char-
acter is rare treasure, the subject of eager competition,
and mistresses (according to their own account), are
quite at their mercy.
lO
130 ARGENTINA
It cannot be said that Argentina is a poor man's para-
dise, in the sense that his interests and general well-being
are carefully regarded. Indeed the newspapers are full
of complaints of the " oligarchies of office " and the
scuffle for power among lucky cliques, who appropriate
all the good things and leave the uninitiated multitudes
to take care of themselves. An inquiry as to why
Mendoza had no tramways elicited the reply, " Oh,
the people in power here have carriages. As long as they
can get about comfortably themselves, they do not care
about the others." The authorities squeeze the poor as
much as they can, but the latter yield most reluctantly to
the process. A standing subject of wrangle is licences,
which are like Sydney Smith's taxes ; everything is
licensed ; the most petty trader or porter has to pay
handsomely for the right to live, and this licence question
is a perpetual source of friction. Besides the cost to the
poor, it is excellent matter for the ingenuities of police
persecution. Licence regulations are bulky and compli-
cated, and licence-holders are, of course, liable to the
attention of the law of street-traffic and the like ; con-
sequently the police have powerful weapons to hold
in terrorem over the refractory, for it is easy to awaken
a sleeping statute and efifect an arrest under it. As
might have been expected, there is considerable discon-
tent among the working classes, and strikes are frequent.
Trades Unions exist, but it does not appear that they
are very well organised, and the South American mind
is so permeated with politics that industrial strikes
tend to become wholly poHtical. About a year ago the
whole of Rosario went on strike against the municipal
dues, and the movement was by no means unsuccessful.
A few months later there were repeated attempts at a
universal strike in Buenos Aires, and a considerable
amount of bloodshed resulted from the sharp repressive
■
IMMIGRATION 131
measures which were taken against it. If the poor
complain, they have considerable justification.
But it would convey a very false impression to suggest
that the condition of the people was miserable, or even
that it was unsatisfactory, as far as an observer can judge.
The worker is no doubt harassed by petty officials and
exactions, but in the Latin countries, whence he came, he
probably suffered as much or more ; he was therefore
acclimatised before he arrived ; and he has now, what
he seldom had before — a bellyful of food and some
pocket-money, and, if he is enterprising, the chance of
rising to competence or wealth. If we make allowance
for different standards of comfort, it would be correct
to say that any man who is willing to work hard with
his hands can live in Argentina in as great comfort as the
worker in any country in the world, and infinitely better
than in most lands. It is a testimony to the prosperity of
Argentine labour, that swarms of reapers come from
Spain for every harvest, and return with ^^30 apiece in
their pockets. The evils, from a material point of view,
are upon the surface, while it is a fact that the working
man in Argentina has, besides a fair livelihood, that hope
which is at the same time the main factor in individual
happiness and the best security for the economic effici-
ency of the country.
This subject leads us to one which is the crux of
the situation in Argentina — that of immigration. The
natural growth of the population ' is not very consider-
able ; it may be that, apart from immigration, it would
remain stationary. Thus the matter is one of great
' The figures on this subject are striking. In 1904 it was com-
puted that in Argentina 1,000 Italian women gave birth to 175
children, 1,000 Spaniards to 123, 1,000 Germans to 96, 1,000 Uru-
guayans to 93, 1,000 English to 92, 1,000 Argentines to 85, 1000
French to 74. (See "L'Emigration Europeenne," by M. R. Gonnard.)
^
132 ARGENTINA
import, and all rulers since Rosas have done every-
thing in their power to encourage the influx from
foreign countries. Several different views have been
taken about the subject. We have the pessimistic view
of Mr. Theodore Child,i who, while praising the "urban
development" of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, says
that : "In the rural districts, however — even in the
provincial capitals of the old colonial days, but more
especially in the new colonies, where the scum of Spain
and Italy has been deposited in ever-increasing num-
bers during the past twenty years — one sees aspects of
humanity that fill one with sadness rather than with
satisfaction, or even hope." This extremely superficial
work has formed the material for a few contemptuous
sentences by M. Gustave Le Bon," 2 in which he
dismisses South America as an instance of " the
terrible decadence of the Latin race." On such slight
foundations do philosophers erect their edifices. Again,
there is a natural but perhaps somewhat Chauvin-
istic view which regards Argentina as a " puissance
nouvelle qui suffirait a elle seule a rehabiliter la race
latine a laquelle elle appartient et a la relever de cette
espece de decheance et d'inertie dont elle semble frapp^e,
dans ce dernier quart de siecle, devant la brutale expan-
sion du monde saxon et germanique." 3
It may be added that these two views well illustrate
the power of the human mind, to which reference was
made in a previous page, of drawing diametrically oppo-
site conclusions from the same premises. Thirdly, there
is the view of the statesman, which is doubtless shared
by all Argentines and their well-wishers, and which has
been expressed by the veteran statesman M. Charles
* " The Spanish-American RepubHcs," pp. vi. vii.
* " The Psychology of Peoples," p. 152.
3 L. Guilaine, " La Republique Argentine," p. xxiii.
IMMIGRATION 133
Pellegrini :^ "The unity of language strongly encourages
this fusion and explains the fact, elsewhere illustrated
by the United States, that the descendants of immi-
grants of races differing in speech, religion, manners,
and customs have the power of effecting a complete
fusion into a mass of people perfectly homogeneous,
with the same mental characteristics and sentiment, and
thus making a new nationality, both young, vigorous,
Nand strongly characterised."
The first view may be ignored. To speak of the
" scum of Spain and Italy " in connection with immi-
grants whom the mother-countries would give anything
to retain — sturdy peasants who are the life-blood of
Argentina — is absurd, and indeed the danger of the
country is not that it may become the common sewer
of Madrid and of Rome, but rather the tendency of the
people to crowd into those examples of " urban develop-
ment" which the writers regard with so much com-
placency. As regards the second view, it is natural that
Frenchmen should look with satisfaction upon the stately
cities and wide plains in which the ageing Latin race
is renewing her mighty youth ; but people do not
emigrate to illustrate theories. The Latin races are no
doubt glad to find other Latin races to welcome them
across the Atlantic, and also a congenial climate, but
they go abroad in search of bread. It is undoubtedly
a good thing that the Latin races should flourish in
the New World, although hitherto they have been
sterile from an intellectual point of view ; but the
forces that impel them are e^onoraic, not racial. The
loss to Europe is undoubtedly great, but the third
view is naturally that of Argentina, which is every year
receiving an abundant stream of white colonists to
develop the industries which cry aloud for labour.
^ " L' Argentine au XX^ Siecle, p. xxviii.
134
ARGENTINA
The figures are indeed remarkable. In 1857 there were
4,000 immigrants, in 1908 there were 255,710. The
following table shows the rate of progress : —
1857-1860
I 861-1870
1871-1880
1881-1890
1891-1900
1901-1903
20,000
i59>57o
260,613
846,568
648,326
223,346
It will be noticed that during the eighties, when trade
in Europe was indifferent, while the progress of Argen-
tina was rapid, the figures were very high, and that after
the crash they fell considerably, though they recovered
somewhat before the end of the century. The follow-
ing are the figures for recent years : —
1904 ...
... 125,567
1905 ...
... 177,117
1906 ...
... 252,536
1907 ...
... 209,103
1908 ...
... 255,710
It will be seen that the influx is now larger than ever.
It is important to observe the nationalities of the new
subjects. Between 1857 and 1893 Argentina received
> m the followmg propc
Drtions :-
—
Italians
... ..
1,331,536
Spaniards
...
414,973
French
...
170,293
English
... . ..
35,435
Austrians and Hungarians
...
37,953
Germans
...
30,699
Swiss
25,775
Belgians
19,521
Others
92,238
In 1895 th^ total population was 4,044,770, and of
IMMIGRATION 135
these 1,005,487 were immigrants who arrived after the
age of eighteen. That the people came to settle rather
than as pioneers or temporary labourers is shown by the
fact that the proportion of men to women was con-
siderably less than two to one. The population is now
estimated at over 6,300,000. In 1907 the proportions
show considerable variations upon those of former
years. The figures were : —
Italians 90,282
Spaniards 82,606
Russians 9*53^
Syrians 7,436
French 4*125
Austrians and Hungarians 3A39
Germans 2,322
English 1*659
Portuguese 1,118
The remainder came chiefly from the Balkan States
or from other American Republics.
It will be noticed that Italy ^ still leads, but that
Spain has nearly caught her up ; indeed there is hardly
a limit to the migration from Spain except the fertility
of the home-staying Spaniard. A moderate increase
in Spanish emigration would cause the population
returns of that ancient and famous monarchy to show
a positive decrease. Greeks and islanders are included
under the term Syrian, and it is probable that this head
will show rapid increases in the near future. The
French are declining in numbers, and indeed that
nation has favoured the Argentine Republic as a place
of settlement to an unusual degree. It is said that
in San Rafael more French is spoken than Spanish."
The Germans prefer Brazil. Englishmen do not emi-
* " The Argentine is, one may say, Italy's finest colony — a colony
'without a flag,' but prosperous" (R. Gonnard, Ibid. p. 219).
>4.
1
136 ARGENTINA
grate to Argentina in large numbers, and they are
often warned against so doing, as the environment is
not suited to the English working men, though of
course mechanics and others find lucrative billets —
which, however, should be secured before leaving home.
In 1865 a small Welsh colony was founded at Chubut,
and, favoured by the climate, it has attained consider-
able prosperity. Reference will be made to it in the
chapter on Patagonia.
The largest class among those who enter the Republic
is that of agricultural labourers, while ordinary day
labourers are also numerous. Many also are tradesmen
and domestic servants, but it is probable that the latter
abandon their old calling, for the most part, after landing.
The Consular Office in London gives the following
advice : " The best chances of employment are, of
course, for those who can speak some Spanish, and are
farm labourers, dairymen, or stockmen of practical
experience ; but mechanics are in fair demand, especially
in the building and allied trades. Clerks, shop-assistants
and others in search of office work, &c., are strongly
advised not to emigrate, unless they can count before-
hand on a good chance of immediate employment.
Persons with some capital, and not burdened by families
having many members unable to work, may find good
openings even in the towns ; but as a rule there is more
chance of success in agricultural or pastoral enterprises."
All children born in the country are ipso facto Argentine
subjects, and the males are liable to military service.
This has been made a ground of complaint, but it
cannot be seriously maintained that a State must
maintain a huge alien population, enjoying all the
benefits and few of the burdens of citizenship, who
might in course of time actually outnumber the
Argentines.
i
IMMIGRATION 137
At Buenos Aires there is an Immigration Office, which
looks after the welfare of the new arrivals, and the
Immigration Law ^ is conceived on liberal and favourable
principles. The London Consul-General remarks :
" The people who arrived in the year 1908 coincide
with the requirements of the country. They were
not outcasts or people who were forced to leave their
native country ; on the contrary, they were sound and
heathly people, honest workers, and well disposed to
establish themselves, especially up country." This is
one of the chief needs of Argentina — a rural population,
for the towns are increasing out of all proportion to
the countrysides.
This constant stream of workers to the River Plate
is one of the most hopeful signs ; young, healthy, hard-
working people bring prosperity to the country and fill
up the vast tracts that require only labour for their
development. In the past the settlement of the southern
regions has been hindered because the Government
imprudently offered great blocks for sale at prices low
enough to tempt speculators to buy them up, but now
the importance of the matter is thoroughly realised, and
' Some particulars as to the law upon this subject may be of interest.
Foreigners may obtain naturalisation papers after residing two years
in Argentina, or earlier if tiiey can prove service to the State. They
are immune from compulsory military service for ten years after
naturalisation. After from four to six years naturalisation they
are eligible for election as national deputies or senators, but
persons not naturalised may hold administrative positions in the
executive Government. Article 20 of the National Constitution
says : " Foreigners may freely exercise their callings or any pro-
fession for which they are qualified, navigate the rivers and coasts,
make testamentary dispositions, marry in accordance with the
laws of the Republic, own and deal in real estate and exempt from
differentiated taxation, travel, associate for lawful purposes
petition and do all such things as may be legally done by born
citizens of the State."
138 ARGENTINA
every attempt is made to attract immigrants.' There
are few countries to which immigration is more vital,
and settlers of the Latin race are likely to benefit
themselves by the change hardly less than they benefit
Argentina.
' In the Chaco it is said that there are 13,025,450 hectares of State
land for sale or renting.
I
CHAPTER XII
BUENOS AIRES
It is not strange that South Americans generally, as well
as all Argentines, are proud of Buenos Aires ; indeed, as
the second Latin city of the world with a population of
twelve hundred thousand, it arouses feelings of satis-
faction among those who have been watching with
anxiety signs of sterility or poverty in the Latin race
elsewhere. The political history of the city has been
dealt with in former chapters. Its effective foundation
dates from the year 1580, and within forty years it was
a prosperous town with three thousand inhabitants, and
the lower Plate settlements were separated from the
Paraguayan Governorship, Buenos Aires, of course,
being made the capital of the new Province. Up to
the time of the Revolution it continued to make steady
progress. In about 1762 it was described as follows : ^
" The houses of this city, which were formerly of mud
walls, thatched with straw, and very low, are now much
improved, some being of chalk, and others of brick,
having one story besides the ground-floor, and most
of them tiled. The cathedral is a spacious and elegant
structure. . . . The principal square is very large, and
built near a little river ; like most towns situated on
rivers, its breadth is not proportioned to its length. The
front answering to the square is the castle where the
* " An Account," &c., pp. 328-9.
139
\
140 ARGENTINA
Governor constantly resides, and with the other forts
has one thousand regular troops. The number of the
houses are about four thousand.^ There is a small
church at the farther end of the city for the Indians. . . .
The city is surrounded by a spacious and pleasant
country, free from any obstruction to the right ; and
from those delightful plains the inhabitants are furnished
with such plenty of cattle, that there is no place in the
universe where meat is better or cheaper. It is also
fertile in all sorts of grain and fruits, and would be still
more so if duly cultivated ; but the people are excessive,
indolent, and content themselves with what nature
produces without labour."
Another writer (Campbell) 2 of about the same time
or a little earlier, speaks of the town's great trade in
wool from Peru, copper from Coquimbo, and silver from
Potosi. As the trade of Paraguay alone was valued at
a miUion pieces of eight annually, that of Buenos Aires
must have been very considerable. As the mines of
Peru showed signs of exhaustion, more attention was
paid to the trade and industries of the Plate district,
and immigrants, attracted by the flourishing cattle trade,
began to turn thither. In 1776 Buenos Aires was es-
timated to have twenty thousand inhabitants, but a
quarter of a century of the new and liberal colonial
policy doubled that number, and when the English
attacked it they appear to have been impressed by its
size.
But in the nineteenth century, up to very recent times,
^ De Bougainville, who visited it in 1767, says the town had
twenty thousand inhabitants of all colours. He comments upon
the lowness of the houses and says that the houses usually had
spacious gardens — a great contrast to the modern city. (" Voyage
autour du Monde,'" p. 33.)
' " History of Spanish America," p. 274.
I
BUENOS AIRES 141
it had an evil reputation for dirt and discomfort. A
young English officer, who paid it a hurried visit shortly
after the Revolution, remarks : ^ '* The water is ex-
tremely impure, scarce, and consequently expensive.
The town is badly paved and dirty, and the houses are
the most comfortless abodes I ever entered. The walls,
from the climate, are damp, mouldy, and discoloured.
The floors are badly paved with bricks, which are
generally cracked, and often in holes. The roofs have
no ceiling, and the families have no idea of warming
themselves except by huddling round a fire of charcoal,
which is put outside the door until the carbonic acid
gas has rolled away." He also remarked that provisions
were very dear and that, in spite of high wages, labourers
would be worse off than in England. Beef was sold
in such a mangled state that English immigrants often
refused to buy it. The lower classes of English and
Irish at Buenos Aires were, he thought, in a very bad
state and addicted to drink. Altogether the town
cannot have been a pleasant place of residence in
those days, and it was long before there was much
improvement.
Darwin, however, who visited Buenos Aires not long
after Head and estimated the population at sixty
thousand (Montevideo had then only fifteen thousand
inhabitants), describes the outskirts as pretty and the
plan of the city as " one of the most regular in the
world." 2 Probably the laying out was done during the
time of prosperity at the end of the eighteenth century,
but the sanitary condition continued bad, and an
Englishman 3 who visited it in 1852, says : " Buenos
Aires ! What a misnomer ! The first thing that greeted
» Head, " Rough Notes," p. 30.
» " The Voyage of the Beagle," chap. vi.
» Mansfield, " Paraguay, Brazil, and the Plate," pp. 128, 136, 138.
/
142 ARGENTINA
our eyes on landing was the skinless carcase of a horse
lying on the beach on one side of the landing-place ;
the second, another ditto on the other side ; and the
' good air ' of the town was the stench thereof. . . .
There is something most delicious about the air of
this place, notwithstanding the horrible stenches from
the putrid flesh all about the town." He pays a tribute
to the hospitality of the inhabitants, but the chief
amenity of the modern town was absent, for he
remarks : " Urquiza's residence at Palermo is only one
room high, and is surrounded with a lot of porticoes.
It was built by the wretch Rosas, and lies on a flat
close to the river, with a grove of miserable-looking
trees between it and the water."
After the Paraguayan war and the commencement
of a happier era, Buenos Aires began to improve
rapidly, and building was carried on extensively. In
1876 the population was estimated at 220,000. But
it was not till the Presidency of Celman that Buenos
Aires took upon itself the form worthy of a civilised
capital. His term of office was undoubtedly demoral-
ising, and it became necessary to depose him by force,
but advantage was taken of the abundance of money
to plan and to build, and though this entailed much
jobbery and corruption, great substantial good remained
behind. Splendid public buildings were erected, a
beginning was made of parks, and many of the worst
rookeries were cleared out and replaced by good streets.
Above all, the Avenida de Mayo was made. These
architectural improvements, as is always the case, were
most beneficial to public order and safety, for narrow
streets and decayed houses are nurseries of crime. In
certain places, now safe and pleasant, murders were
frequent a generation ago, and respectable citizens never
passed through them after nightfall. The Madero Port
BUENOS AIRES 143
was completed, and gradually the miseries of landing,
upon which matter earlier visitors are right voluble,
were removed, and Buenos Aires began to rank as one
of the world's pleasure cities. Haussmann, like Celman,
does not go down to posterity with an unspotted repu-
tation, but few men in the nineteenth century have had
more influence upon the Latin race, for every builder
in South America, at least, has his head full of the
Parisian boulevards, and every new plan or renovation
is on that model.
The city of Buenos Aires is situated on the right bank
of the estuary of La Plata in 34° 39' S. lat. and 58° 18'
W. long. The river is here of great width and the
opposite bank is never visible, but though La Plata
and the Parana are a magnificent waterway, the harbour
has never been very satisfactory, and it is difficult to find
channels for vessels drawing 25 feet. The vessels of the
Royal Mail Steam Packet used to land their passengers
at La Plata, while to this day those of the Pacific Mail
Steam Navigation Company only touch at Montevides
and send on their passengers to Buenos Aires by a
smaller vessel. The splendid docks and basins, which
were completed in 1900, are said to have accommodation
for 20,000,000 tons of shipping. In the year 1908
2,027 ocean-going vessels entered the port with an
aggregate tonnage of 4,760,316 tons. The approach by
sea is by no means prepossessing, for the bank of
La Plata is flat and muddy ; and indeed the natural
scenery round about, with the exception of the ocean-
like river, is of the tamest possible description, nor
does the land rise sufficiently high from the river to
show off the size and splendour of the city to any
advantage. Its greatness and magnificence only appear
to the traveller when he plunges into the network of
the streets. As is generally the case in South America,
144 ARGENTINA
visitors have little trouble with the customs, for the
officials, on receiving an assurance that the articles
are " personal baggage," are satisfied with a hasty
inspection. But it could be wished that there were
better arrangements for landing luggage. Obliging
carriers take it with specious promises. The traveller
drives to the hotel, the day wears on, but no luggage
arrives. Next day he drives to the office, where the
carrier very coolly charges extra for a night's storage,
^nd orders the traveller to remove the luggage at his
own expense. An agent who arranged to deliver
baggage within an hour at a small fixed charge, as is
done in the ports of the backward East, would do an
enormous business. All books discuss hotels and the
other items in the travellers' directory at considerable
length. As regards hotels, the usual verdict is unfavour-
able. They certainly are not cheap, and the bedrooms
are usually small and ill-furnished, but some hotels
have a very fair cuisine and adequate public rooms.
Generally speaking, there is the prevailing characteristic
absence of the small comforts which cost so little except
trouble, and it may be noted that such tolerable hotels
as exist are kept by English, French, Italians, Spaniards,
rarely by the native-born. Compared with the hotels
of Brazil or Chile, they are very good ; compared with
those of European provincial towns they are very in-
different. However, in Buenos Aires the visitor can
sleep at night without being kept awake by the pangs
of hunger or the attacks of insects, and this is a happy
condition not to be encountered in all South American
hotels.
It is not easy to make the reader realise foreign scenes,
even when small towns or glimpses of natural beauty
are attempted, and it is probably impossible to give any
satisfactory description of a vast city, for the great towns
^52
BUENOS AIRES 146
and their crowds have a peculiar spirit and their own
harmony of noises which render photographs or Hsts
of streets and buildings inadequate and misleading.
Probably few cities are more difficult to describe than
Buenos Aires. Its streets are quite as narrow as those
of Italian towns, but every one is full of noise and
bustle. This absence of wide streets, squares, boule-
vards, and parks greatly detracts from its magnificence ;
the wood can never be seen for the trees. As is the
case with practically all Spanish-American towns, the
streets are perfectly straight and intersect one another
at right angles, so that it is very easy to find one's way
about, for if a pedestrian desires a cross street, say to
the north, he has only to march northwards up any
given street and he must eventually reach his designa-
tion. The people regret the cramped proportions of
the town, and, in the days of the great boom, they cut
the handsome Avenida de Mayo through the congested
streets, and its fine effect shows what a sumptuous city
Buenos Aires would be if the process were extended.
But that any more avenues of this kind will be made
is very unlikely, for the expense would be prohibitive.
Not only is land of immense value, but costly buildings
have been erected all along the narrow streets, and the
loss entailed by their demolition would be immense.
It may be added that during a period of inflation the
wisest policy is to spend all available money in bricks rv
and mortar, streets and squares, for when the bubble
bursts the buildings remain. Bombay is an excellent
instance, as also is Buenos Aires.
It is true that Rio de Janeiro has during the last few
years cleared out many acres of narrow streets and
rebuilt itself in brave fashion, but the old edifices
demolished were insignificant in value compared with
those of the great Argentine capital. The Avenida de
II
146 ARGENTINA
Mayo is inferior to the Avenida Central of Rio in length
and splendour of appearance, as Buenos Aires must
always be inferior to the Brazilian capital in beauty, but
this disadvantage is far more than counterbalanced by
the prosperity and enterprise of the inhabitants who in
these respects leave their neighbours far behind.
Every one admires the buildings of Buenos Aires.
The Jockey Club is probably unsurpassed by any Club
building in the world, and the Bolsa, or Exchange, is
extremely stately. Unfortunately the Congress Hall is
built in a poor style and has come in for general con-
demnation, while the Cathedral is an unimposing brick-
and-plaster structure. It has, however, a rich portico
with twelve Corinthian pillars, and the work surpasses
the material, but South America is not a place for the
lovers of church architecture. The shops are large and
full of valuable goods tastefully arranged, but Buenos
Aires cannot be recommended as a place for making
purchases, owing to the abnormal dearness of all articles.
But the streets and shoppers present a fine spectacle ;
the architecture of the buildings is sumptuous and the
pavements are full of life ; there are long rows of
splendid equipages, and beautiful women, daintily attired
and bejewelled, flit from shop to shop as in all other
capitals, and the pride of wealth and luxury flaunts itself
as bravely as in Paris or London. The keen, stimulating
air gives vivacity to the inhabitants, the streets hum with
gay chatter, and the unbroken prosperity of many years
helps to maintain the general good-humour. The only
drawback to the pleasure-seeker is the narrowness of the
streets. He is perpetually jostled off the tiny pavements
and has perpetually to spring back to the kerb-stone to
save himself from annihilation by the rapid tramcar.
These cars are cheap and also much faster and better than
anything of the kind in London. It is thus tolerably
i
BUENOS AIRES 147
easy to get about Buenos Aires under ordinary circum-
stances, although the suburban railway service is not very
good and the cabs are indifferent. The trams penetrate
almost everywhere, but probably a system of tubes would
be convenient. It is true that cabmen and tram-men have
a disconcerting habit of going on strike ; nor does their
violence appear to surprise any one, the newspapers
merely remarking that it is fortunate for tram proprietors
that the Argentines are a peaceful and orderly people,
unlike the Brazilians who on such occasions burn the cars.
The town was planned with narrow streets to afford
shade and mitigate the great heat of summer, but now
that its size is so great it may be doubted whether the
disadvantages arising from closeness and congestion are
not more serious than any that might be caused by the
rays of the sun. Indeed, Buenos Aires is, perhaps, too
completely a town to charm for long together ; it is
almost destitute even of squares, and though towards
the outskirts some of the streets are more spacious, the
general impression is that of being cramped. The
Avenida de Mayo runs from north to south, and is met
by the best streets which come from the river and rail-
way line and which, as they approach the Avenida,
become gradually more fashionable. Among the best
are the Calle Maipu, Florida, Cangallo, San Martin,
and Bartoleme Mitre. At Palermo there are attractive
gardens and recreation grounds, and attempts are being
made to establish parks, but as yet they have not borne
fruit. Belgrano is an extremely untidy suburb. The
multiplication of the amenities of Buenos Aires can only
be effected by creating pleasant suburbs, and to effect a
reasonable plan for surrounding it with garden-like tracts
and giving them good communications would, however
expensive, be the greatest benefit that could be conferred
upon it.
148 ARGENTINA
The people, however, appear well contented with
Buenos Aires as it is, and it undoubtedly possesses the
usual attractions of great cities. The opera and theatres
are said to be very good, and the Argentines are keen
musical critics. All kinds of variety entertainments are
very popular, but it cannot be said that the ordinary
music-halls have much merit, and some of them, if trans-
lated to London, would probably have trouble with the
County Council. Cafes and restaurants are extremely
numerous in Buenos Aires, but, except in the great
avenue, the open-air cafes, in which the Latin race
delight, are practically unknown. This is explained by
the obvious impossibility of finding room for such an
establishment in the average street of the capital.
Although the Spaniard is not by any means a gourmand,
the restaurants are tolerable as a result of the cosmo-
politan society ; and English, French, Germans, and
Italians can get their meals in the styles to which they
are accustomed. Indeed, the traveller can, at a price,
supply himself with almost everything which he could
obtain in London, but he will be wise to bring every-
thing with him. Cigars are not quite as dear as on the
Pacific coast, but they are not cheap ; the best value is a
Brazilian weed, called a Santos, which is considered a
marvel of cheapness. It costs about fourpence, which is
more than a cigar of similar quality would command in
England. But it is hardly necessary to go minutely into
these questions of buying and selling, eating and drink-
ing. Any one who has visited any large town in a new
country will have a fairly accurate idea of how Buenos
Aires treats the traveller. Such towns are bright, inter-
esting, sociable, and expensive ; they have many luxuries
but few comforts.
The most comfortable thing about Buenos Aires is
its hospitality, for both English and Argentines give a
BUENOS AIRES 149
cordial welcome to visitors who come in increasing
numbers, particularly in February and March. Club
life is, as might be supposed, a distinctive feature, and
the Jockey Club (entrance ;£3oo) is a triumph of luxury.
Most of the members are native-born. The two Clubs
most favoured by our countrymen are close together in
Calle Bartolome Mitre, and are named the Club de
Residentes Estranjeros and the English Club respec-
tively. The English Club has a very agreeable suite of
rooms and welcomes strangers as temporary members.
There is also in the Calle Cangallo a very useful associa-
tion called the English Literary Society, where a great
variety of newspapers can be seen, and the library con-
tains over five thousand books. As there are very many
English residents in Buenos Aires, sport and games are
prominent in the social life, and to these the Argentines
have taken kindly, and cricket, football, lawn tennis, and
polo occupy almost as prominent a place as they do in
London and its neighbourhood. This is one great
advantage of sport, that it enables nations of highly varied
habits to mix pleasantly and profitably. These outdoor
recreations are valuable on that account, and add greatly
to the attractions of Buenos Aires. Polo is very popular
and Buenos Aires has its own Hurlingham, and good
horseflesh can be obtained more cheaply than at home.
Perhaps the favourite amusement of the capital is
racing, for it appeals both to the love of horses and the
love of gambling, which are two of the strongest predi-
lections of the Argentines. Some men who have
acquired large fortunes find a difficulty in disposing of
them except by play and betting, thus following the
example of the ancient conquistadores who won gold
lightly and diced it away as readily. There are two race-
courses, one at Belgrano and one at Palermo, but the
impression they produce is disappointing, chiefly owing
/
150 ARGENTINA
to the Spanish lack of comfort. The actual racing,
though marred by inferior jockeyship, is extremely good,
for the horses are of high quality and the runners are
plentiful. But it would be well if the Jockey Club
deputed a small committee to visit England and France
with a view to improving the accommodation. Every-
thing at Belgrano is of the most uncomfortable descrip-
tion and the people are cramped in crowded pens. The
Palermo course, when completed, will be a considerable
improvement, and it is on an ambitious scale, but it is so
large that it entails an unnecessary amount of walking
about, and the arrangements for paying in and drawing
out money and also for refreshments are most incon-
venient. Again, there is practically no paddock ; the
horses are hurried to the post, where they await the time
fixed for the start, and consequently it is very difficult to
get a view of them. As regards speculation, the
Indian plan is the best which allows the bookmakers
and the totalisator to work side by side, for a
machine is an inadequate substitute for the human
element.
Buenos Aires has followed the example of France,
which has discarded bookmakers, but has not imitated
the excellence of her machine betting, for the totalisators
at Palermo are so far from the stands and are so badly
served that one might imagine them to have been con-
structed by the Anti-Gambling League. However, the
racing is the thing, and that is, as said before, very good.
The rich men of Argentina take great delight in blood-
stock and many of the racers are by high-class English
sires. This pursuit is often a source to them of pleasure
as well as of profit. King Edward's triple crown hero.
Diamond Jubilee, was bought for Argentina at a cost
of ;£3o,ooo and the first season's produce of this stallion
sold for a somewhat larger sum. Flotsam and many
1
d
II
BUENOS AIRES 151
other well-known animals stood for several years in
Argentina.
Such a rough sketch of the outward life of Buenos
Aires as the above necessarily gives a very inadequate
image of the great and busy city, for what is received on
hearsay impresses the mind more faintly than what has
been seen with the eyes. It is a city of an unusual type,
for it is very Spanish, but it is entirely without Spanish
sleepiness ; indeed, bustle and stir are perhaps its chief
characteristics. There is great wealth and the love of
display is also great, and doubtless, like Paris, it exercises
a dangerous fascination on the people at large, who are
apt to think that there is no profit or pleasure anywhere
except at Buenos Aires. It occupies in Argentina a
more important position than does Paris in France, and
probably the development of Rosario and Bahia Blanca
will have a good effect in modifying its pretensions. It
is a very magnificent city.
CHAPTER XIII
ARGENTINE LIFE IN TOWN AND COUNTRY
Difficult as it may have been to describe Buenos
Aires, it is still more difficult to describe the people.
Of all the men and women who reside many years in
foreign parts few gain more than a superficial knowledge
of those with whom they come in daily contact, for the
qualities necessary to gain such knowledge are very rare
and their exercise is difficult and often inconvenient. If,
then, old residents learn little, the hasty visitor is at a
much greater disadvantage, and especially in the case
of a Spanish nation, for Spain has a touch of Orientalism,
which tends to seclusion in family life.
In Argentina, as elsewhere, the ladies of the better-
class families do not appear freely in public, although
the old-fashioned principles, which did not allow them
to go shopping without an escort, have been somewhat
relaxed. But the English or North American com-
radeship between man and woman is quite absent, nor
do women attempt to compete with men in business
or games. As is well known, the family in Spanish or
French nations fills a much larger space in the life of
the individual than is the case with England or the
United States. The family exercises a more watchful
care over its young members, who on reaching maturity
do not slip away as easily as is the case with Anglo-
Saxons ; indeed, they hardly form fresh families, but
152
I
LIFE IN TOWN AND COUNTRY 163
rather seem to supersede the older members and become
themselves the heads. Under such a system it is natural
that considerable supervision is exercised over the
women, but the marriage usage is less rigorous than
in France, and the unions are rather of affection than
arrangement ; the practice may, perhaps, be described
as a mean betv^reen that of England and France. South
American views as to the ethics of relations between
men and women differ very widely from ours, and a
discussion of the subject would be unprofitable. The
Argentine women have a reputation for beauty and they
dress very well, but, though graceful and attractive, they
cannot compare in fairness with their sisters of Peru.
The kindness of the elders to children is an admirable
trait, and it is rare to see harshness or ill-treatment of the^
little ones, which are such distressingly common sights in
English streets, but, at the same time, the tendency is
pushed too far, and the spectacle of tiny children at very
late hours supping at restaurants must, at the risk of
incurring the reproach of insular prejudice, be pro-
nounced unedifying. It can hardly be beneficial to
the children themselves. The young Argentine would
certainly be the better for more discipline, and English
residents are, for that reason, disposed to make any
sacrifice to send their children home to be educated.
The Argentines are fond of festivals and religiously
keep the chief holy days. Not long ago the carnival
was celebrated with much licence, but it is now be-
coming insignificant, and it can hardly be regretted that
an occasion for much horseplay and even crime is
waning.
Dancing, masqued balls, and gaieties of all kinds
are, of course, extremely popular, and for the ordinary
evening entertainment the cinematograph seems to hold
the field almost without a rival. In up-country towns
154 ARGENTINA
the larger cate have fine cinematographs, which are
viewed free by all who pay for refreshments, and the
most exciting adventures are portrayed with wonderful
vividness. In Mendoza the enthusiasm is so great that
some cafes, which have insufficient accommodation for
the plant, stretch a sheet across the principal thoroughfare,
and, arranging chairs and tables in front, invite their
patrons to see the show. This practice of bringing the
show to the spectators to be viewed at their leisure and
in comfort certainly appears more reasonable than ours,
which is to drive people to uncomfortable music-halls
and deny to the public-house, the proper place for
recreation and refreshment, all attractions except such
as are alcoholic.
It is probable that the life in country towns is somewhat
dull. A horse can be bought and kept fairly cheaply
and, in general, the country affords good riding, but
there is little shooting or hunting. Every considerable
town has a nice Club and the English members are
numerous, coming in every evening to drink a whiskey-
peg after tennis in Anglo-Indian fashion ; but there must
be considerable lack of variety. It would be desirable
for Provincial Governments or private individuals to
encourage rational diversions, for, as before remarked,
the tendency to concentrate in Buenos Aires is dangerous.
Besides physical exercises, such institutions as literary
societies, debating clubs, lectures, and the like would
be very salutary, both from the valuable training they
afford and the opportunity for foreigners and natives
to mix together for their common advantage.
It is difficult to avoid feeling that among the English
who live in Argentina there is a good deal of discontent.
While admiring the country they do not seem very fond
of it, and although their relations with the people are
friendly, they do not appear to live on such terms of
I
I
LIFE IN TOWN AND COUNTRY 155
intimacy with them as is the case in Chile, for example.
There is probably danger of materialistic views of life
growing up ; the Argentine is so busy in laying up
treasure that he has little time for amassing more
important possessions. An Englishman at Mendoza
remarked : " These people have nothing to talk about ;
it's all uva, uva " (grape, which is the staple industry of
Mendoza). The fact is that in a new country the population
is too small for the manifold interests that are required
to make up a rich national life. In some new countries
they elect to lounge and eschew all hard work and, in
certain cases, the people, though indolent, are cultivated.
In Argentina the people are hard workers, but they have
neglected the spiritual side of life. At Buenos Aires a
beginning is being made to enlarge the circle of interests,
and it would be well if humanising efforts were made at
all provincial centres.
As happens in all money-making countries, there are
many examples of the acquisition of wealth to an amount
out of all proportion to the owner's capacity for using it.
Some rich Argentines buy palaces and convert them into
pigstyes, and at pretentious restaurants it is common
to see persons who in appearance and manners are
altogether unsuited to their surroundings. On the other
hand, the class of rich and refined men, with whom
luxury loses half its evil by losing all its grossness, is
rapidly increasing, and when time has been found for
intellectual culture it will, no doubt, make great advances.
Those who have had the privilege of being admitted into
Argentine families will bear testimony to their refinement
and kindliness.
There is also the life of the Pampa, of which the prin-
cipal feature is the Gaucho.^ This picturesque person
* A suggested derivation is from the corruption of an Arabic word,
i.e., Chaoucho, which in Seville is applied to a cowherd.
156 ARGENTINA
has probably more Indian than Spanish blood in his
veins, but he is a staunch son of Argentina and supplies
his country with excellent cavalry. With a complexion
of a light coffee colour, wearing a soft hat, a blanket slit
to admit his head, white breeches, and brightly coloured
shoes, he has been called by a French writer the Gascon
of South America. He will not work in the cities or cul-
tivate the land ; he is a horseman and stock-rider. His
favourite food is carne cum cuero — meat cooked with
the hide — and his delight is in that life of the open plain
under the open sky, of which Darwin felt the charm.
He, indeed, has given an excellent description of the
Gaucho. The Gaucho has played an important part in
the building up of Argentina, though he himself cares
little for politics and constitutions. Before the Revolution
he created the cattle industry, which has always been a
main source of wealth to the country, and in the revolu-
tionary wars he shared in the triumphs of the Creoles.
Though rather too fond of brawling and gambling, he
belongs to that singularly attractive type which is being
rapidly pushed into the background with the growth of
town industries. He has his own rude poetry and loves
to sing his Pampa ballads to the accompaniment of the
guitar. He seems to have absorbed the poetry of his
surroundings, as was occasionally the case with Australian
stock-riders, and in the Pampa the payador — a kind of
troubador — is held in great honour. He figures at the
fetes as an improviser, and he and his fellows are, in
approved Sicilian fashion, " cantare pares et respondere
parati," Many of the ballads are, of course, unwritten,
but some payadors leave the Pampas and become authors,
and thus a certain number of the wild songs have been
translated into print, but it can hardly be said that the
cultured payadors have been as successful in their work
as Sir Walter Scott was with Border minstrelsy. Jose
I
I
LIFE IN TOWN AND COUNTRY 157
Hernandez long ago published an interesting little collec-
tion of this kind—" El Gaucho Martin Fierro."
The Gaucho is as hospitable as the Arab of the desert,
and, like him, has the sense of humour and the frank,
bold courtesy which is generally found in the desert-
ranger. The modesty of his dwelling — a mud hut with a
few boards for furniture — contrasts with the bravery of
his equipment, for besides wearing gay colours he favours
silver stirrups and as much of the precious metal as he
can obtain for the adornment of his bridle, and though
he seldom employs money, he always is able to satisfy his
simple wants. It is inevitable that as settlements extend
the Gauchos will dwindle, but it would be sad if they
disappeared from the Pampas altogether. The greater
part of Argentina has been won from the Indians by
their efforts; they have borne the burden and heat of the
day in making the nation, and they will still be the main-
stay of their country when she encounters trouble. The
luxuries of town life are already too attractive to the
young Argentine, and the Gaucho gives a valuable
example of the simple and strenuous life.
CHAPTER XIV
RELIGION— EDUCATION— JOURNALISM AND LITE-
RATURE
Very few writers upon Argentina refer to the subject
of religion at all, and those who do give very scanty
information. There are in existence several good-sized
works which make not the faintest allusion to the
Church. And yet one would have thought that the
subject possessed some general importance, or, at any
rate, that in a daughter State of Spain and one of the
great fields of Jesuit labour there was room for a few
remarks upon the relations of the Church to the
State and people, and also upon the general religious
and moral conditions of Argentina.
The Spanish conquerors of South America were zealous
crusaders, as eager to add subjects to the Kingdom
of Christ as to add territory to the estates of their earthly
sovereign. During the process of conquest they displayed
few Christian virtues, but in the Plate districts, where
they were not demoralised by lust of gold, their proceed-
ings were relatively good, and, in general, when Spanish
America was settled, the masters were anxious to do their
duty by their servants according to their Hghts and if they
were negligent in attending to the religious and material
welfare of the Indians, their negligence was speedily
rebuked by the home authorities. One of the conditions
of holding land was an undertaking to educate the
158
RELIGION 159
Indians and teach them Christianity. The wise and good
Las Casas laid down on the subject of the conversion and
treatment of the Indians Thirty Propositions,^ two of
which maybe given in substance : ''The means for estab-
lishing the Faith in the Indies should be the same as
those by which Christ introduced His religion into the
world — mild, peaceable, and charitable ; humility ; good
examples of a holy and regular way of living, especially
over such docile and easy subjects ; and presents
bestowed to win them. Attempts by force of arms are
impious, like those of Mahometans, Romans, Turks, and
Moors ; they are tyrannical, and unworthy of Christians,
calling out blasphemies ; and they have already made
the Indians believe that our God is the most unmerciful
and cruel of all gods."
The rough Spanish soldiers of fortune, as might have
been expected, recked little of such principles, and some
of the priests were little better than their flock, for
Father Valverde is said to have instigated Pizarro to the
treacherous and cruel arrest of Atahuallpa. But the
principles adopted both by spiritual and temporal
powers were those of justice and mercy, as far as the
circumstances permitted, and thus there was implanted in
the new settlements something of the crusading spirit
which was engendered in Spain by the struggle with the
Moors. The pioneer in forest or plain was not merely
amassing land and wealth for himself; there was a
spiritual harvest, and as he received new lands, he had
new duties in religious administration and protection.
Thus the Spanish religious fervour was nourished in the
overseas dominions.
The religious spirit was handed down unimpaired
from father to son until the time of the Revolution.
The question as to whether the power of the Church
* See Windsor, " History of America," ii. 322, 3.
160 ARGENTINA
was beneficial or not is a matter of controversy, and
travellers have uttered the most various opinions, but
few candid men will deny that the Jesuits performed a
noble task which could have been carried out by no
other human power, and the disparaging remarks which
are found in many notebooks are usually due to the
cant of irreligion that was common among the English-
men of the time between the French Revolution and
the Oxford Movement. On a subject which does not
interest them they say, without having troubled to make
inquiries, what they would say about any Roman
Catholic country or what some freethinking acquain-
tance in Buenos Aires has told them.
With the Revolution came a great shock to the faith
of the people, and the same principles that undermined
their faith undermined their loyalty. The philosophers
of France ever urged that the Church must be over-
thrown before there could be any progress, and the
priests ever fought against their doctrines as destructive
to all religion. Consequently the male population of
Buenos Aires formed habits of mind ^ which they have
by no means entirely shaken off at the present day.
Apathy towards religion or even absolute hostility is by
no means uncommon, and perhaps in well-to-do houses
it is generally true that the women go to church and the
men stay away. And yet it would not be true to describe
the nation as irreligious on the whole. Materialism has,
no doubt, to some extent corrupted the upper classes ;
^ " The obligations of religion were undermined, every weapon
was directed to the extermination of the unshaken foes of the
revolution. The ignorant and depraved set no bounds to their
conduct, every thought of religion and morals, of future welfare and
its effects upon unborn generations, were out of the question.
Many of the youth of this province have, in consequence, been
brought up in a neglect of all religion " (Captain Andrews, " Journey "
&c., i. 190).
I
RELIGION 161
they devote themselves to business and pleasure and
ignore the things of the spirit. But the churches are
crowded with men as well as women, and it is certain
that the poor love the Church and doubtless find the
priests their best friends. Cordoba and Mendoza are
looked upon as the cities where the Church is strongest,
but its general hold upon the masses is possibly almost
as strong as ever. Intellectually it is weak ; few of the
better-class Argentines will take priests' orders, and nearly
all the prelates are foreigners. Beyond a doubt, in
Spanish America there is an unexampled field for a
devout missionary ; the foe is merely apathy, and if a
warmer spirit were breathed into the Church in
Argentina, and if the clergy paid more attention to the
intellectual side of their calling, the results would be
remarkable. But if the religious indifference spreads
downwards, Argentina, like France, may see her popu-
lation dwindle, and her army decay, and may be
prevented from taking a high position among world
Powers.
Statistically, there can be no doubt that Argentina
belongs unreservedly to Rome ; only the merest fraction,
perhaps forty thousand, of the population is outside that
Church. In 1895 there were sixty-eight Reformed
Churches, but of these twenty-five belonged to the
Welsh colonists at Chubut. There were 1,019 Roman
Catholic churches, or one to every four thousand
inhabitants. The prevailing religion is also the State
religion, but all others are tolerated. There is an arch-
bishop at Buenos Aires and eight suffragan bishops,
including one for Paraguay.
Education has not made remarkable strides in
Argentina, for exactly half of the people over six years
of age are illiterate. In 1885 some 25 per cent, of the
children of school-going age attended school, and in
12
162 ARGENTINA
1904 the percentage had only risen to 45, and of these
only a fraction could read or write. The defects of
primary education ^ are comparatively unimportant, for
the country needs agriculturists rather than clerks, and
when the peasants really desire instruction they will
not be long in obtaining it. But indifferent University
and secondary education are the curse of Latin America.
Beyond anything else Argentina requires a real aris-
tocracy— a large, cultivated, and public-spirited upper
class — and this class, owing chiefly to defective education,
is now very small. There are at Cordoba and Buenos
Aires national Universities, and provincial Universities
at La Plata, Santa F6, and Parana. But the unfor-
tunate materialism is not eradicated by these institutions,
which, in Latin America, are too often merely bread-
winning concerns, which neglect humane studies because
they are "useless." If the Holy See would encourage
the foundation of a religious University, the country
would benefit in every way.
Secondary education (it is difficult to obtain up-to-
date figures) does not appear to have been particularly
flourishing in 1905. There were 16 lyceums, 450
professors, and 4,103 pupils. There were also 35
normal schools with 2,011 pupils. It is, of course, a
common practice for wealthy parents to send their
children to Europe to be educated, and perhaps, under
the circumstances, that is the best course. But with a
sound and liberal course of studies and good moral
and religious discipline, the young might be kept in the
country till they had completed their University career,
and then sent for a short residence abroad. There is
a temptation that besets cultivated Argentines, who are
the most necessary to the welfare of their country, to
* Primary education is free and compulsory for children between
the ages of six and fourteen. It is also, unfortunately, secular.
I
EDUCATION 163
seek diplomatic posts or some duties that will take them
abroad. Most of the distinguished authors publish in
Madrid or Paris, and thus there is an intellectual and
moral drain which would be checked if the system of
education were improved.
As regards primary education, there were in 1905,
5,250 schools, 14,118 teachers, and 543,881 pupils. The
average attendance was 408,069. Considering that in
1899 about one million sterling was spent upon educa-
tion, and that for a generation Argentina has spent
probably more per head upon each school-child than
any other country except Australia, the results are by
no means satisfactory, and, like all new nations, the
Argentines require to learn the lesson that learning and
enlightenment cannot be obtained by money or bricks
and mortar.^
As regards the journalism of Argentina, it would be
difficult to speak too highly of the two principal daily
newspapers. La Nacion and La Prensa, La Nacion may
perhaps claim the front place. It is the oldest daily
journal in Buenos Aires, dating from 1852, and it was
long under the influence of General Bartolome Mitre, for,
as a French writer 2 remarks, no politician can succeed
* The following table will show that Argentina is more advanced
than her neighbours : —
Percentage to Population
of School-going Children.
Argentina 10
Uruguay
Chile
Paraguay
Peru
Brazil
Bolivia
7
370
3*50
2-86
Santiago and Jujuy are the most ignorant parts of the Republic,
Buenos Aires City the least.
' Emile Daireaux, " La Vie et Les McEurs a La Plata," i. 414.
164 ARGENTINA
without a newspaper, and no newspaper can hope to
obtain much influence without the support of a poHtician.
It has a circulation of about ninety thousand. The paper
is on a very large scale and full of matter ; its tone is
admirable, the ability of the leading articles is remark-
able, and the literary pages, which are lavishly provided,
reach a very high standard indeed. Hardly second to
La Nacion is La Prensa, which has offices, situated in the
Avenida de Mayo, said to be more splendid than any-
thing of the kind in existence. It is not as old as its
rival, dating from about 1872, and it may be described
as being of much the same size and scope as the Daily
Telegraphy but rather more attention is given to literary
style. Sobriety and moderation, as well as great ability,
are its characteristics. It is the property of Dr. ]os6
C. Paz, who is said to have made a large fortune
by it.
El Diario is an enterprising evening paper, and has a
very large circulation. The journal possessed of the
largest circulation of all (said to approach two hundred
thousand) is La Argentina, which appeals more to the
man in the street. Other Spanish dailies are El Pais,
El Tiempo, La Razon, El Diario de Comercio, and El
Correo Espanol.
There is a French daily, Le Courier de la Plata, and
several German and Italian. At the same office as La
Argentina is printed the Standard, an old English
newspaper of high repute. This was founded in 1861
by the Mulhalls — an honoured name in Buenos Aires —
and besides being extensively read by English residents,
it has considerable influence with the authorities. Very
similar in appearance and scope, but less influential, is
the Buenos Aires Herald, another English daily paper,
the property of Mr. Thomas Bell.
The provincial towns have also meritorious journals,
,9
JOURNALISM AND LITERATURE 165
but they are, of course, overshadowed by those of the
capital. The daily press of Argentina is perhaps the
most elevating influence in the country. It is a really
useful daily help, containing a splendid assortment of
foreign telegrams, and news and dissertations to suit
the most varying tastes. While conducted with unflag-
ging enterprise and commercially very valuable, as is
shown by the interminable columns of closely printed
advertisements, it is honourably free from the sensation-
mongering and vulgarity which is rampant in the United
States and which has, to some extent, infected our own
daily newspapers.
Among weekly periodicals the Review of London and
the River Plate, which deals principally with industrial
and economic subjects, is a high-class publication, and
the Standard has a weekly edition. There are several
other weekly and monthly journals, and there are
numerous comic papers,^ but few periodicals deal ex-
clusively with literature or special subjects. These
matters, however, are treated so generously in the
daily organs that it may be supposed that there is little
opening for one-subject journals. After all, the circu-
lation of the dailies is very large when we consider the
limited population. It is curious to notice how entirely
cut off each South American Republic is from the
other. In Buenos Aires it is difficult to procure a
Brazilian, Uruguayan, or Chilian newspaper, and the
commercial intercourse is astonishingly small. For
example, the trade of Argentina with Holland is more
than twice as large as her trade with Chile.
As is frequently the case with periodical literature,
some of its most valuable instances are to be found
among the defunct publications. Prominent among
* Caras y Caretas is a sprightly weekly paper of- varied interests,
which makes a special feature of coloured cartoons.
166 ARGENTINA
these is the Nueva Revista de Buenos AireSy which only
Hved from 1 881-1885. ^^ was edited by Sefior V. G.
Quesada and Dr. Ernesto Quesada, and, as a monthly
review, chiefly literary, but also dealing with politics,
history, and philosophy, it was a work of the highest
excellence. Nearly all the articles are signed, and most
of the eminent Argentine men of letters of those days
have either written or been reviewed in its pages.
Another good magazine, which lived from 1871-1874
was the Revista del Rio de La Plata. This dealt with
the same subjects, but was more historical than literary.
In Buenos Aires 189 newspapers are published. Of
Spanish there are 154, Italian 14, German 8, English 6,
and the others are Scandinavian, French, Basque, and
Russian.
The excellent journalism of Argentina has not, as yet,
developed into literature of a class correspondingly
high. Those who deal with the literature of a new
country usually strike an apologetic note, and their
main stumbling-block is the absence of originality, for
it has to be admitted that the poets and romancers of
the young nations are too often mere craftsmen imitating
old European models. This admission has to be made
in the case of Argentina, but in other respects her
literature may well stand forth on its own merits ; the
artists are not imported but American-born, and though
they may not have produced an indigenous literature,
yet their creations are European with a difference.
They are Spanish American, not Spanish, and those
of Argentina are quite distinct in tone from those of
their kinsmen on the same continent.
A foreigner has considerable difficulty in dealing with
the literature of a country whose publications are little
studied in Europe, and apparently little information
can be gathered except from the actual writers. It is,
I
JOURNALISM AND LITERATURE 167
therefore, necessary to begin with Dr. Ernesto Quesada,
whose Resenas y Criticas (Buenos Aires, 1893) is a mine
of information.
He remarks in the Preface : " In Europe the creations
of the mind are kept, polished, revised, accomplished,
and completed for publication very slowly and with
tender care : in America we look upon writing as a
mere incident, and though we may as far as possible
do it with the long study and the great love of which
the poet spoke, we do not boast ourselves of it, or,
perhaps, keep a record. Our life draws us to action
and into such strange vicissitudes that it is not possible
to see what to-morrow will bring." There is, then, an
amateurish air about Argentine literature ; it has at
present more grace than strength. The writer has been
before the public for more than thirty years. "Un In-
vierno en Russia," a book of travel, was published in
1888, and long before that he produced a youthful
work on Juvenal and Persius — an unusual subject, for
Latin Americans usually look upon the study of Latin
and Greek as waste of time. Dr. Quesada has also
written on political and ecclesiastical subjects. In the
first-mentioned book of essays he deals with the poetry,
history, and jurisprudence of his native land, as well
as the Latin-American Congress, the Argentine Uni-
versities, the intellectual movement in Argentina, and a
number of other subjects which are exactly those upon
which a thoughtful observer of a foreign country desires
information.
Cultured Argentines have devoted considerable atten-
tion to history ; their nation has played a great part
in the revolutionary wars ; they are proud of it and
demand chroniclers. Mention must first be made of
Dean Funes, who lived in the days of the Revolution
and whose " Ensayo de la Historia Civil del Paraguay,
168 ARGENTINA
Buenos Ayres y Tucuman " is, to one who wants a com-
prehensive view of Argentine history, the most valuable
work upon the subject. Upon the Revolution itself
General Bartolome Mitre is the best authority, and D.
F. Sarmiento has written well upon the troubled times
of the mid-century, but in general English and French
works deal with the history of modern Argentina quite
as satisfactorily as do her own writers.
Undoubtedly it is in jurisprudence, particularly in Inter-
national Law, that writers of this country have accom-
pHshed most original work. Prominent among her
publicists is Carlos Calvo (i 824-1 893) who lived chiefly
abroad in pursuit of his diplomatic career. In 1868
he published in Paris his " Derecho internacional teorico
y practico de Europa y America," which was at once
translated into French and took place as one of the
highest modern authorities on the subject. Calvo
observes : '^ I have called my work ^ The International
Law of Europe and America in Theory and Practice,'
because I am endeavouring in it to make amends for
the neglect of my predecessors and contemporaries who
have almost entirely omitted to deal with the vast
American continent, which nevertheless is growing
daily in influence and power and marching side by
side with the civilisation of Europe." The book is a
minute analysis of the principles and practice of
International Law and is specially valuable on account
of its historical treatment and copious instances. Calvo
also did good service to Argentine history by his col-
lection of documents, but his eminence is in the field
of International Law, and he is one of the very few
Latin-American authors who have won a world-wide
reputation.
While Calvo has surpassed all other South Americans
in the importance of his contribution to the theory of
JOURNALISM AND LITERATURE 169
International Law, Dr. Luis Maria Drago has done the
same as regards the practice. Towards the close of 1902
England, Germany, and Italy had blockaded the coast
of Venezuela on account of certain grievances. On
December 29, 1902, Dr. Drago, then Minister for Foreign
Affairs, despatched a note to the Argentine Minister in
Washington. He maintained that no European State
was entitled to intervene by force in the affairs of an
American nation, still less to occupy its territory, in
order to recover a debt due from its Government to the
subjects of the intervening State, such intervention being
an infringement of the sovereignty of the debtor State
and of the principle of the equality of the sovereign
States.^ This doctrine, though never precisely stated,
had been foreshadowed by Calvo. It has been pointed
out^ that the blockade of 1902 was not originally in-
stituted on account of Venezuela's failure to pay debts,
but to obtain redress for outrages inflicted upon the
subjects of the blockading Powers, that Venezuela had
refused the suggestion of arbitration, that Dr. Drago
misunderstood the Venezuelan question, and that the
Powers never intended permanently to occupy any part
of Venezuela. Further, Mr. Hay, in his reply to Dr.
Drago, said : " The President declared in his Message to
Congress, December 3, 1901, that by the Munroe
Doctrine ' we do not guarantee any State against punish-
ment if it misconducts itself, provided that punishment
does not take the form of the acquisition of territory
by any non-American Power.' " Although the practice,
against which the Drago Doctrine protests is liable to
be abused, it would hardly be prudent on the part of
European Powers nor conducive to progress in back-
ward States, if the right of collecting debts were sur-
* See the Annual Register of 1907, p. 345.
» See the North American Review, July 31, 1907.
v/
/
170 ARGENTINA
rendered altogether ; and this view was taken at the
Hague Conference of 1907. It adopted the Drago
Doctrine in a modified form, providing that force must
not be used for the recovery of ordinary public debts
originating in contracts, but the prohibition was not to
apply if the debtor State refused or ignored an offer
of arbitration, obstructed the process, or repudiated the
decision. The resolution was adopted by thirty-nine
votes. There were five abstentions, including Venezuela,
which had no liking for the modifications. This tangible
addition to the public law of the world, which was one
of the few successes of the Conference, was a great
personal triumph for Dr. Drago, who was then the
Argentine Delegate to the Conference. There have been
many other meritorious Argentine writers on legal sub-
jects of all kinds, as well as commercial and economic,
but this account of two great names must suffice.
After the splendid achievements of Argentina in juris-
prudence, the work of her writers in more purely literary
fields may appear to be eclipsed. But in the charming
branch of essay-writing many good authors have ap-
peared, and these were mostly trained in the excellent
periodicals of a quarter of a century ago and upwards.
Prominent among these is Martin Garcia Merou, who
will also claim notice as a poet. He is an author of
long standing, having first appeared before the public
in 1880 with a volume of poems which was published
at Barcelona. As before remarked, it is a practice of
many Argentine writers to publish in Paris or Madrid
in preference to Buenos Aires, and indeed the influence
of Spain upon Argentine literature is now quite as strong
as that of England used to be upon the United States.
It was at Madrid that Garcia published, in 1884, an
acute critical work, " Estudios Literarios " and also
" Impresiones," a book of travel, but since then he has
i
JOURNALISM AND LITERATURE 171
reverted to Buenos Aires. One of his most spirited
works appeared there in 1900, "El Brasil Intelectual,"
which is a rich storehouse of information about a
country which is perhaps somewhat neglected by Argen-
tines. Garcia has a deservedly high reputation among
his countrymen, and has been warmly praised by Dr.
Ernesto Quesada. Among this class of writer J. M.
Gutierrez has done valuable editorial and critical work,
and some have held that he is the most eminent man
of letters, in the ordinary sense of the word, who has
appeared in Argentina. M. Daireaux ^ remarks caustically :
" He knew no joys but those of literature ; he had all
the traditional American curiosity, he made researches
in the chronicles and caused them to live again, he re-
discovered all the thoughts of the greatest men of the
world, and illuminated them with the powerful rays of
his gigantic intellect. But withal, as he was not a
politician with influence at his disposal, nor a lawyer
with a numerous group of clients around him, as he
had nothing but a great soul, he occupied in society but
a humble rank. I used to speak of him with men who
appreciated him, and I never drew from them more than
a shrug and this word of pity : * What would you have ?
He is a literary man ! ' They did not even say a
member of the literary profession ; the profession did
not exist, was not classed ; he was only a literary man
— not even, as they say in France, a man of letters."
The writer adds that the profession is now recognised
in Buenos Aires.
Still, in spite of his capacious intellect, Gutierrez can
hardly be looked upon as occupying the first place
among the men of letters of Argentina, because he pro-
duced little original work.
Prose fiction now fills a very prominent place in the
' " La Vie et les Moeurs a La Plata," i. 408-9.
172 ARGENTINA
literature of almost every nation, and Argentina is no
exception to the rule, but it cannot be said that her
writers possess any great distinction. Dr. Quesada
considers that Jose Marmol, distinguished in other
branches of literature, was the best of the early novelists.
In 1851 he published a spirited romance named " Amalia,"
somewhat after the style of the elder Dumas. It can
hardly be called historical, for the scene is laid in 1840
and the subject is the tyranny of Rosas, but the author
declares that he wishes to describe for the benefit of
future generations, the Argentine dictatorship, and that
therefore he has treated in a historical manner actual
living persons. The book was a success, but Marmol
does not appear to have followed it up.
In 1884 Carlos Maria Ocantos published a juvenile
work, " La Cruz de la Falta," which was recognised as
showing considerable promise, and in 1888 appeared
" Leon Saldivar," which was hailed as a national novel.
This writer, who, like most Argentine authors, is a
diplomatist by profession and a man of letters by tem-
perament, does not follow the trend of Argentine fiction,
which is towards historical romances. He is a realist,
and " Leon Saldivar " is a powerful study of Argentine
life, and particularly life at the capital. The more
spiritual people of the city were beginning to complain
of it as a noisy, overgrown place, devoted to money-
grubbing, and indeed its poets and philosophers in
general made haste to quit it for a more favourable
atmosphere, and often did not even pay it the compli-
ment of allowing it to publish their works. Ocantos
strove to elicit the romance of Buenos Aires as Dickens
found out the romance of London. He continued this
vein with a still more powerful and sombre work,
" Quilito," in 1891. The two writers here briefly
noticed illustrate the imitative character of the Argen-
JOURNALISM AND LITERATURE 173
tine novel — the first looks to Dumas, the second to
Zola.
Many critics think that the strongest Argentine novel
which has yet appeared is " La Gloria de Don Ramiro,"
published at Madrid in 1908. The author, Sr. Enrique
Larreta, lays his plot in the times of Philip II. of Spain,
and stirring scenes are described v^ith great verve. The
musings of a boy, when his intellect is expanding and
his head full of the books he has last read, are always
a tempting theme for romancers, and the following
passage, in the spirit of " the days of our youth are the
days of our glory," reflects the glow of boyish dreams : —
" Fascinated by his books, Ramirio began to imagine
himself the hero of the story. He was in turn Julius
Caesar, the Cid, the Great Captain, Cortes, Don Juan of
Austria. To take up the Commentaries was to lead the
legions across Gaul, but, on the Isles of March, more
sagacious than the Dictator, he discovered the treachery
of Junius Brutus and, concealing a sword under his toga,
he entered the Senate House and slew the conspirators
one by one. He conquered the Moors on countless
fields, he offered to Spain the kingdom of Naples or the
empire of Montezuma, and finally, planting his foot
on the prow of a strange ship, he destroyed for ever
the whole Turkish fleet, at a new and marvellous
Lepanto, which his imagination evoked from the prints.
The result was that he began to deem himself chosen
by God to carry on the tradition of deathless fame.
He put away from his mental view the mediocre, the
commonplace, the humdrum. All that was not impul-
sive and heroic seemed intolerable, for he felt in him-
self an absolute confidence of winning at a blow the
highest honours and becoming, in a short time, one
of the foremost knights of the Catholic Faith on earth."
The book is in many ways one of the most remarkable
174 ARGENTINA
works of the imagination that has been created by an
Argentine and Sr. Larreta writes pure and nervous
Spanish.
Last comes a branch of literature which is probably
the most popular, and certainly the most esteemed, in
Spanish America, which takes mediocre poets far more
seriously than did Horace, or, indeed, than is the habit
of the more stolid East. A somewhat sardonic French
traveller I lately remarked: "Spanish America has only
one thought — love. And love has given to it the one
art which it practises, if not in perfection at least in
abundance inexhaustible — lyric poetry. It appears that
Peru and Colombia and Guatemala possess great poets.
.... Being a foreigner, I cannot judge about their
greatness, but I can see that they are numerous, indeed
innumerable. Not a newspaper but contains every
morning poems, and their invariable burden is the
passion of love. The eyes, the teeth, the lips, the
hair, the hands and feet of the American misses are
here, one by one, compared to all the beauties of
earth and sky. The warmth of sentiment is undoubted,
but the expression lacks originality."
There seems, indeed, to be an inexhaustible demand
for a kind of verse which a foreigner has a great diffi-
culty in judging, owing to difference in national tem-
peraments and, perhaps still more, differences in national
ages. A thousand years makes a great difference in a
nation's point of view, and much that seems fresh
and beautiful to the younger people is hackneyed and
tedious to the older. The poetry of Argentina and, it
is said, of all Latin America, appears to be erotic
or spasmodic, or both. It is pretty, but it has not
sufficient freshness to conquer a hearing in the great
world.
* M. de Waleffe, " Les Paradis de I'Amerique Centrale," p. 213.
I
JOURNALISM AND LITERATURE 175
But the earliest work with which we need deal is
an anonymous anthology, which forms an exception
to the general rule. In 1823 some patriot, by a happy
inspiration, collected the snatches of song which the
revolutionists had composed and by which they marched
to victory, and these form a substantial volume — " La
Lira Argentina." It consists of a great number of
poems, mostly short — " Marcha patriotica," " Oda" (por
la victoria de Suipacha), " Cancion patriotica," " Cancion
Heroica," "A La Excelentisima Junta," "Marcha Patri-
otica " (" Long live our country free from chains, and
long live her sons to defend her"), "Marcha Nacional
Oriental," and the like. They are full of fire and
simple art ; they are really a noble national memorial
and worth a wilderness of love lyrics. But this view
has not been developed, although one would suppose
that Argentina, with its mountains and Pampas, deserved
better local poetry of manhood and adventure than
the rude songs of the Gauchos.
Marmol (18 18-1873), already referred to as a novelist,
in some way carries on the patriotic tradition, for in
1838 he was thrown by Rosas into a dungeon, and
inscribed with a burnt stick the following quatrain on
the walls of his prison : —
"Wretch ! set before me dreadful Death,
And all my limbs in fetters bind ;
Thou canst not quench my moral breath,
Nor place a chain upon my mind."
He managed to survive and became a busy man of
letters and subsequently Director of the National Library.
Marmol wrote a good many love poems, but he is more
remarkable for having attempted a field which seems
to have little attraction for his countrymen. He wrote
at least two poetical dramas, "El Cruzado" and "El
176 ARGENTINA
Poeta/' the first historical, the second a modern comedy.
He is a sound and conscientious Uterary craftsman,
and the literary world of Buenos Aires looks back to
him with profound respect. He seems to have ap-
proached nearer to the type of the professional man
of letters than is common in Argentina.
The other poets are extremely numerous, and it is
not necessary to particularise them. With them it
is always the hour of night, and the same question
always arises : " Why do you come to disturb my
calm, image of that being whom I adore, image of that
being, for whom alas I I weep, for whom I consume
away and die of love ? " The quotation in question
happens to be from a Colombian poet, but the note is
always the same ; there is too little distinctiveness
about the poets of Argentina to require detailed treat-
ment. The short-lived Adolfo Mitr6, who was highly
praised for his sincerity and passion, or Sr. Martin
Garcia Merou may stand as types of the rest.
Garcia M6rou, besides being a poet, is an elegant
essayist — already noticed — a good historian, and has
shown himself highly appreciative of the work of
brother poets. It is, perhaps, to the amateurish state
of Argentine literature, which does not engender pro-
fessional jealousy, that the pleasant comradeship and
apparent lack of literary squabbles are due. Garcia
Merou published many volumes of poems of the usual
type in the eighties. In 1891 appeared a different
kind of work, "Cuadros Epicos," short poems dealing
with various scenes in Spanish-American history. "El
Mar de Balboa" is impressive.
The things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme are
still the best part of Argentine literature ; in new coun-
tries material fruit precedes intellectual blossom. This
is inevitable in such cases, for it is necessary to live
JOURNALISM AND LITERATURE 177
before it is possible to write, and literature is at every
disadvantage owing to the scantiness and preoccupa-
tion of the people. Prosperity may probably continue
to blunt the literary sense, for national dangers and
terrors, such as called forth the Elizabethan literature
and the Romantic Revival in England, or the modest
" Lira Argentina," are unlikely, and the education
system, which despises Latin and Greek — i.e., litera-
ture— does not foster good writers. The matter must
be left to time and events. The people of Argentina
are practical, and their literary wants are well sup-
plied in the shape of all that the practical man wants.
There are excellent and useful writings on law, adequate
histories, lucid essays, a few novels, and, above all, a
most excellent press, which last probably forms his
complete substitute for a library. He wants no more.
Possibly that absence of wants is the most serious
want of all ; a life that can be satisfied by craftsman,
cook, or groom, is at least incomplete, and it may be
that earth has something better to show than fat cattle,
corn, grapes, or even dollars. These things have not
been the distinguishing products of nations in the past
which are now inscribed upon the rolls of fame, and,
however materialistic men become, such things will not
even now hand a nation on to all futurity. The litera-
ture of Argentina, though creditable, is by no means
on a scale proportionate to her present position among
nations.
13
CHAPTER XV
INDUSTRIAL ARGENTINA— RAILWAYS AND MINOR
ENTERPRISES
Undoubtedly at the present time the main interest of
Argentina is industrial. The wonderful rapidity of her
expansion is perhaps the most remarkable phenomenon
of this generation, and can only be realised by a visit
to the country. No nation has more thoroughly appre-
ciated this fact than France, which hails with triumph
the rapid progress of a Latin race as a counterbalancing
force to industrial degeneration in Europe. If able
and eloquent essays and elaborate statistics, written
with great literary power to call the attention of French
capital and enterprise to the River Plate, were sufficient
for the purpose, France would have a very prominent
industrial part in that region. But, generally speaking,
France is enough for the French, and that country
only contributes lo per cent, of the Argentine imports,
and is thus only slightly ahead of Italy. The rulers of
the United States have also grasped the importance of
this new force, and the Bulletin of the International
Bureau of the American Republics, for fulness and clear-
ness of information, puts to shame all English efforts
in the same direction. Yet, in spite of all their exer-
tions, the United States do not possess a single bank
in Argentina (possibly not in the whole of South
America), and England sends to the River Plate two
178
INDUSTRIAL ARGENTINA 179
and a half times as much merchandise. Germany also
spares no effort, although Brazil attracts still more
attention. If gratuitous advertising could command
success, Germany would be first without a rival. For
some mysterious reason every Englishman, whether at
home or abroad, considers it necessary to boom Ger-
man goods and German enterprise, and a suggestion
that the Teuton has left a little trade to the Anglo-
Saxon is received with polite incredulity. In their
enthusiasm our countrymen are a little forgetful of
facts and proportion, and they somehow manage to
persuade themselves that Germany is an absolutely
irresistible industrial force. In the Argentine her share
of the import trade is somewhat less than half that of
England.
It is certainly true that our country has very little
system in placing information before our traders.
The Consular Reports are valuable, but each refers to
a comparatively small district, and, apart from the fact
that very few steps seem to be taken to bring them
to the notice of traders, there is great inconvenience
in collecting information piecemeal, nor is the form, in
any case, sufficiently stimulating. We ought to take
a lesson from the handsomely illustrated publications
of the States, and the scientific and literary ability
with which the French expound their theme. Our
work hitherto has been fruit-bearing, but not light-
giving. One of the commonest exclamations of an
Englishman when he has spent a few days in Buenos
Aires is : " Well ! I wish the people at home knew
about this." Few people read statistics, fewer still
remember them, and fewest of all understand them ;
and consequently the signs of industrial prosperity are
almost stupefying. Still, as railway companies seem -to
find photographs the most effective advertisements, it
180 ARGENTINA
can hardly be doubted that well-illustrated pamphlets
setting forth the industrial promise of Argentina would
make many people in England realise the true state
of affairs. Certainly, the Argentine Government does
all in its power by exhibitions and the dissemination
of intelligence to attract capital and settlers.
Perhaps, as a prelude to this subject, a word may be
said about the British capital invested in the country,
for this is one of the most striking features.
Englishmen have from the beginning taken the lead
in developing the resources of the country, and this
fact is fully appreciated by the people of Argentina, who
owe no less their pre-eminent position in South America
to the stream of English capital, which has been pour-
ing in for generations, than to their fine climate and
immense natural wealth. In the old Spanish days
England had a leading share in the contraband trade,
and during the Napoleonic war her merchants were
almost as welcome guests as her armies and fleets
were unwelcome. The English were the pioneers in
railway construction, and still own the most important
lines; they have founded banks and freezing establish-
ments, lighted the streets, laid down tramways, and
built harbours.
Up to May 31, 1908, the amount of English capital
invested in Argentina was as follows : —
Railways ;£i37,845,ooo
Banks 8,580,000
Tramways ... 8,010,986
Sundry enterprises 20,910,580
Total :^i75,346,566
France comes second. Her investments are chiefly
in railways and harbours, and amount to about
;£2i,62i,ooo. German capital, principally in banks and
RAILWAYS AND ENTERPRISES 181
tramways, stands at ;^i 2,000,000. Belgium has ;^4,ooo,ooo
of capital invested in the Republic.
Among the many marvellous industrial features of
Argentina the railways ^ may claim the first position,
for they hold in the Plate country the same place as
in the United States : they are the arteries which bring
life-blood to the system. The travellers of two or
three generations ago all remarked upon the wealth
of the Pampas and lamented the impossibility of utilis-
ing it owing to the absence of transport, and the same
lament is made by those who now visit Brazil, Peru,
Colombia, and Venezuela. But now Argentina has a
splendid railway system, which is being developed with
unflagging enterprise. Its mileage is greater than that
of Mexico.2
The first line was laid down in 1857, but progress was
very slow, for Argentina shared the bad reputation of all
South American Republics, and there seemed reason to
believe that the next quarter of a century would be as
barren as the last, for foreign and civil wars appeared
to be insuperable barriers to progress. But in the
booming times of the eighties construction went on
apace, and no temporary checks to the general pros-
perity availed to circumscribe the growing network of
' Valuable articles appeared on this subject in the Economist,
beginning No. 3,457, November 30, 1909.
=* The following figures show the progress of railway construc-
tion : —
i866...
... ... ...
73 miles
1874 ...
150 n
1884 ...
... 2,290 „
1890 ...
...
... 5745 *»
1899 ...
... ...
... 10,285 „
1908 ...
... 15,476 »
In 1909 the
railways carried 50,810,00c
passengers. The ' gross
ceipts were
about ;^2o,7i5,ooo, the net
profits about ;^8,20o,ooo.
182 ARGENTINA
railways. Taken as a whole, they are one of the most
brilliant examples of English enterprise in a foreign
land. I
The oldest of the Argentine railways is the Buenos
Aires Western, which in 1857 made a modest beginning
with a 6-mile track to Flores. Its early days were full of
trouble, and before long it fell into the hands of the
State. It was sold to an English company in 1890, and
since that time has flourished exceedingly. Although
the smallest of the broad-gauge lines, it is a very
wealthy concern, and has 1,305 miles of track. Up to
Mercedes it competes with the Buenos Aires and Pacific,
but thence it bears southward, to Banderalo in one
direction and Toay in another, and finally joins the
Bahia Blanca and North-Western Railway at Bahia
Blanca itself. It serves a very fertile district, and
grain forms 60 per cent, of its goods traffic. The
lines are well laid, the rolling stock excellent, the
management of the best, and it has long paid a divi-
dend of 7 per cent, upon its ordinary stock. Altogether
it is a highly meritorious concern, and though it has
^ The following are the principal lines : —
Argentine Great Western Buenos Aires Western.
Argentine North-Eastern. Central Argentine.
Bahia Blanca and North- Cordoba Central.
Western Cordoba Central Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires Central. Extension.
Buenos Aires Great Southern. Cordoba and Rosario.
Buenos Aires Midland. Entre Rios.
Buenos Aires and Pacific. Villa Maria and Rufino.
Buenos Aires and Rosario.
The above are mainly English. There are several smaller private
lines and several belonging to Government, while there is an
important French line — the Province of Santa Fe Railway. As
will be pointed out, several of the above have been practically
amalgamated with larger lines.
li
RAILWAYS AND ENTERPRISES 183
less scope for development than some of its rivals
its future can hardly fail to be one of continuous
prosperity.
The largest of all the railways is the Buenos Aires
Great Southern. Formed in 1862 to take over a
Buenos Aires State line of 71 miles, which was opened
in 1865, it has gradually extended over the Province
and beyond, and now has 2,745 miles of line and is
also the richest railway company in the country. The
capital is about forty million sterling, and for ten years
interest at the rate of 7 per cent, has been paid upon
the ordinary stock. It has the great advantage over
all competitors in serving nothing but rich country,
and practically all its points are within 200 miles
of the ports of Buenos Aires or Bahia Blanca. The
poHcy of the Great Southern, while financially sound,
has been one of remarkable enterprise, and the distant
future has always been kept in view. Money has been
spent lavishly with the object of obtaining all strategical
points and access into promising country. At Bahia
Blanca a large steel mole and grain wharf have been
constructed, with the best machinery for loading and
unloading, and accommodation for fourteen ocean
steamers. Control has also been obtained of a dock
company at La Plata, as well as an important interest
in the Buenos Aires Southern Dock Company, where
accommodation is provided for twenty steamers.
Nothing has been left undone in the way of pro-
viding docking facilities, and the rolling stock is in
excellent condition and great abundance. This is
necessary for grain-carrying lines, because their goods
traffic comes with a rush at one time. Congress has
sanctioned the construction of additional lines of 1,176
miles, chiefly in the region of the Rios Colorado -and
Negro. As the irrigation schemes will make this a rich
184 ARGENTINA
grain district, the railway may look for large traffic
increases. In the future there will be strong competi-
tion in the Province of Buenos Aires from several
French and State lines, but the history of Argentine
railway development has been largely the record of the
absorption by a great line of its smaller competitors,
and the position of the Great Southern is now so strong
and its extensions have been so judiciously planned, that
its continued prosperity may be confidently predicted.
It works the Buenos Aires Midland and the Buenos
Aires, Ensenada, and South Coast.
The Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway looms more
largely in the view of the world than its neighbours,
and its history presents so many features of interest that
it deserves to be described in somewhat fuller detail.
Although its present mileage (2,712) is very nearly as
large as that of the Great Southern, it is not an old
line. The Company was formed in 1882 to construct
a broad-gauge line from Mercedes to Villa Mercedes,
and this was soon extended to the City of Buenos
Aires, which became the headquarters. This, however,
was insufficient scope for the enterprising Company,
and in 1904 control was obtained over the Bahia
Blanca and North-Western Railway, which now has a
length of 665 miles, and thus an immense step in
advance was taken by securing a terminus at a town
which will probably be the chief grain port in South
America. Four years earlier a similar, though less
important, step was taken to compete with another
rival by taking over the Villa Maria and Rufino Rail-
way. This was a short section from the town of Villa
Maria between Cordoba and Rosario to Rufino on its
own main line, and thus the Buenos Aires Pacific was
in a position to make terms with its northern rivals.
But a still more important extension than either of the
J
i
RAILWAYS AND ENTERPRISES 185
above was to follow. The Argentine Great Western ran
from Villa Mercedes to Mendoza, and had also branches
to San Rafael, San Juan, and other small places. Thus
it had a monopoly of the wine traffic, which is very
valuable in itself and doubly so because it comes on at a
season in the year when it does not interfere with other
traffic. This line has a mileage of 500 miles, and
gross receipts of about a million sterling. For a long
time the Argentine Great Western stood out, but was
in 1907 induced to give way on somewhat extravagant
terms, and thus the enterprising Company was not far
from its goal of being a real Pacific Railway. In fact,
there was included in this deal an arrangement which
practically assured this result, for the Great Western
had already taken over the Argentine Transandine,
which thus became a part of the Buenos Aires Pacific
system. This is a small line of iii miles of metre
gauge, which runs from Mendoza to the Chilian
frontier, where it joins the Chilian lines at Las
Cuevas. Here a great tunnel has been completed
under the Andes, and it will be open for traffic by
the time this book is published. The magnificent
system is the admiration of the whole world. The
Buenos Aires and Pacific is the only line in South
America which has established through communication
between the Atlantic and Pacific, and up to Mendoza
the line is well laid, and it carries passengers speedily
and with all possible comfort. But it has had to pay
for its footing and the expense of acquiring sections,
which are valuable rather as rounding off its own
system and preventing encroachments by other com-
panies, has been enormous, and it has been obliged
to make repeated applications for capital in the London
market. The traffic with Valparaiso, although the ex-
tension is a showy scheme, is not likely to pay for
186 ARGENTINA
many years, and the difficulty of running trains
through winter blizzards and snowdrifts will be con-
siderable. The heavy expenditure has had a temporary
effect, and the stock has experienced a heavy fall during
the last few months. But the Company has placed itself
in a position where it has little to fear from competition
and where it can secure the full advantages from the
future development of Argentina. This railway may be
considered one of the most magnificent commercial
enterprises in South America.
The Central Argentine is one of the most prosperous
of railways. It has the largest gross receipts and makes
the most profit per mile and it is also of very long stand-
ing. It began in 1864 with a line from Rosario to
Cordoba and for a long time met with severe competi-
tion from the Buenos Aires and Rosario line, which
worked practically the same districts, but in 1902 an
amalgamation was effected. But the Mitre Law has
been unfavourable to it, and for some years the Govern-
ment insisted that the two lines should continue to be
worked separately, and it was only last year that their
complete union was sanctioned. Rosario is the centre
of the system, and here the Company owns extensive
dockyards, and lines run both to Tucuman and Cordoba.
A port. Villa Constitucion, within 32 miles of Rosario,
is also being developed, but competition is feared from
Santa F6, where very large extensions are being made,
and although the Central Argentine has access to that
port, a French company is in a better position for taking
advantage of the facilities. In fact, the line is exposed
to very severe competition from two French companies,
the Cordoba Central, the Buenos Aires Central, and the
Rosario and Western, a light railway, but it is large and
wealthy and should have little to fear. It has an enor-
mous grain traffic, but it serves the older and more
I
RAILWAYS AND ENTERPRISES 187
settled districts, and therefore cannot hope to increase
its traffic in the immediate future as rapidly as some of
the pioneer railways. However, it has been pointed out
in another chapter that the development of the Gran
Chaco and extensions into Paraguay and Brazil must
ultimately vastly add to the wealth and importance of
Rosario and hence to that of the Central Argentine.
But this is a matter of the distant future. The Central
Argentine pursues a conservative policy in finance and
has for many years paid 6 per cent, on the ordinary
stock. It is in a very sound position, a most comfort-
able line, and the management is highly efficient. The
length of line is 2,392 miles.
There are two competing lines which serve the eastern
river district adjacent to Uruguay, namely, the Entre Rios
and the Argentine North-Eastern. Both have a gauge
of 4 feet 8J inches. The Entre Rios is a short line of
only 656 miles, but it is of some importance on account
of its ferry service which connects Zarate with Ibicuy on
the left bank of the Parana. The railway then runs
north to the important town of Parana, which is the
headquarters. No dividend has yet been paid on the
ordinary stock, and the cumulative preference is some-
what in arrears, for the district is mainly pastoral and
that part of the line which was taken over from the
Provincial Government in 1891 is badly laid, but when
Entre Rios becomes a large grain-producing region the
prospects of the Company will improve, and already it
does a good trade in supplying Buenos Aires with fruit
and vegetables, while the management is economical.
Of its traffic some 17 per cent, is live stock, 15 wheat,
and II linseed.
The North-Eastern, which has 510 miles of railway,
should be assured of a prosperous future, for Posadas,
the northern headquarters, is now connected with
188 ARGENTINA
Asuncion by the Paraguay Central Railway and will get
much benefit from the development of that hitherto
secluded country. It is still a pioneer line running
through swamps and forests and country which is to a
great extent unpopulated, and the goods which it carries
consist chiefly of cattle and their products. The swampy
nature of the country entails considerable expense in
construction, but the Company pays a strict regard to
economy, and the capitalisation per mile is only ;£8,68o.
Since June 30, 1907, the working expenses have been
cut down from 65-10 to 57*17 per cent. Although the
prospects of this line are fair they would undoubtedly be
better if an amalgamation could be effected with the
Entre Rios, for the district does not yet possess suffi-
cient traffic for two competing lines. The scheme has
long been under consideration, and as the policy
of amalgamation has been carried on so extensively
in recent years it may be that it will eventually be
accomplished.
A small railway of 167 miles, under Argentine manage-
ment, should here be mentioned. It runs westward
from the capital to Rojas, and there is also a very
important branch of 27 miles which runs to Zarate and
connects with the Entre Rios system by a train ferry.
In 1906 this Company took over the Tramway Rural a
Vapor from Messrs. Lacroze Bros. The line has a gauge
of 4 feet 8 J inches. The Company owns valuable property
in Buenos Aires and has a terminal station at the suburb
of Chacarita, and it serves a profitable district and is also a
link with the Argentine Mesopotamia, but it has been
obliged to make heavy outlays upon the permanent way.
The line was originally a light railway and therefore in
indifferent condition for heavy traffic. The ordinary
share capital of the Company, which is exclusively held
in Argentina, has been increased to over a million
m
RAILWAYS AND ENTERPRISES 189
sterling. There were issued also in 1907 ^£600,000
4 J per cent. First Mortgage Debentures to extend the
line from Salto to Rojas. This was subscribed in
London. It is a good property.
Of the remaining lines the most important are a group
of northern railways. The Cordoba Central Railway is
metre gauge and is divided into two sections. The
"Original Line" is 128 J miles long and was formed in
1887 to connect Cordoba with San Francisco. The
latter is an important town half-way between Cordoba
and Santa F6. Shortly afterwards the Company bought
the Central Northern Railway from the Argentine Govern-
ment at a cost of ;^3, 174,603, and also spent about a
million sterling on improving the line which runs from
Cordoba to Tucuman and has a length of 550 miles.
In 1899 the purchase was effected of the North- Western
Argentine Railway, a loop-line from Tucuman to La
Madrid, length 87 miles. The "Original Line," after
leaving Cordoba, passes through a poor and sparsely
inhabited country, and this section could be of little
value but for the terminus at San Francisco. However,
it is economically managed and shows a profit of ;f 800
per mile. The longer section also, between Cordoba and
Tucuman, runs through a poor country, but in compen-
sation it has the valuable sugar traffic of the latter city.
Sugar forms a quarter and timber nearly two-fifths of its
goods traffic. Closely connected with it is the Cordoba
and Rosario Railway, which is also metre gauge and
connects Rosario with Frontera on the " Original Line."
There is also a branch line to Rafaela, which links up
[with the Central Argentine and the French lines. In
[1895 the capital had to be reorganised, and there can
)e no doubt that it has not yet seen its best days, for
4t will have to wait for the development of the auxiliary
lines which form the connecting links between Tucuman
190 ARGENTINA
and the capital. But in any case they have to face very
severe competition from the Argentine Central and the
French lines. It is open to doubt whether the connec-
tion with Buenos Aires itself is necessary, for there
are already a bewildering number of lines serving the
district between Buenos Aires and Rosario, and at
harvest-time there is immense congestion at the former
place. In fact, the trend of commerce seems to be
rather towards the diversion of bulky exports from the
capital and the directing of them to Rosario and Bahia
Blanca. This criticism receives point from the position
of the newly opened Cordoba Central Buenos Aires
Extension Railway, upon which the up-country allied
lines largely depend for their success. This cumbrously
named Company was formed in 1905 to acquire a con-
cession granted by Government to the Cordoba Central
Railway to build a metre-gauge line of 187 miles. It
runs parallel with the Central Argentine system between
Buenos Aires and Rosario, and it was only recently
opened. Its district is, of course, one of the very richest
in the country, consisting of fine agricultural and grazing
land in the zone of black soil. But, as already stated,
there is strong competition, and this not only from the
other lines, but also from the river, which follows it from
end to end. Now the dock of this Company at the
capital will not be finished till the end of 1910, and the
Company is at present renting accommodation and there-
fore suffering considerable inconvenience. The work of
reclaiming land and dock building is being done by the
Buenos Aires and Pacific, and the cost will be about a
million sterling. The office of the Company also is to
cost ;^225,ooo, but a large part of this will be let off.
Every large company naturally wishes to have its head-
quarters in Buenos Aires, but in this case the question
arises as to whether the game is worth the candle. Few
RAILWAYS AND ENTERPRISES 191
lines have had to pay more heavily for obtaining their
extension privileges ; the ordinary stock has been
watered to a considerable degree and bonds of the
value of three and a half million sterUng have been
issued. To meet the interest upon these bonds alone
its profits will have to be ^175,000, and thus a profit
of ;£935 per mile is postulated. To obtain such a profit
under economical management the gross receipts will
have to be ;^389,ooo, or nearly ;£2,ioo per mile, and no
broad-gauge line in Argentina has yet reached this figure.
In 1909 its gross receipts were only ;^i,6i3, its net
£6^^ per mile, but as the line is only in its infancy these
figures must not be taken as a criterion. However, the
payment of a large dividend on the ordinary stock
appears to be a remote eventuality.
Numerous small lines, chiefly Government or French,
have been incidentally mentioned, but they do not
require detailed description. ^
' The following is a directory of
Buenos Aires Great Southern
Railway.
Directors.
Jason Rigby (Chairman), Sir
Henry Bell, Bart., A. E. Bowen,
Col. Sir C. Euan Smith, K.C.B.,
Woodbine Parish, D. A. Shennan,
D. Simson.
Local Committee.
G. White (Chairman), J. P.
Clarke, Dr. N. R. Fresco, F. D.
Guerrico.
Consulting Engineers.
Livesey, Son, and Henderson.
General Manager.
J. P. Clarke.
the four broad-gauge railways : —
London Manager and Secretary.
H. C. Allen.
Offices.
River Plate House, Finsbury
Circus, E.C.
Buenos Aires Western
Railway.
Directors.
Sir Henry Bell, Bart. (Chairman),
A. E. Bowen, D. Simson, Wood-
bine Parish, J. W. Todd.
Consulting Engineers.
Livesey, Son, and Henderson.
Legal Representative in Buenos
Aires.
Santiago Brian.
192
ARGENTINA
No account of the railways would be complete without
a reference to the important Mitre Law, which was
introduced some two years ago. Some of the railway
concessions were expiring, and several provincial
Governments (which are not always as enlightened as
the Federal) were believed to be planning increased
taxation. Legislation was accordingly introduced to
put matters upon a proper footing. Such companies
as accept the Law are granted exception from all kinds
of taxation and allowed free importation of all materials
till 1947. In return the companies must pay a tax of
3 per cent, upon net receipts, which, however, will be
River
General Manager.
A. F. Lertora.
Secretary.
E. Eustace Faithfull.
Offices.
Plate House, Finsbury
Circus, E.G.
Buenos Aires and Pacific
Railway.
Directors.
Rt. Hon. Lord St. Davids (Chair-
man), T. P. Gaskell, C. E.
Giinther, E. Norman, Hon. A.
Stanley, M.P., F. O. Smithers
(Managing Director).
Local Board.
Dr. Don E. Lamarca (Chairman),
J. A. Goudge, R. S. Zavalia.
General Manager,
J. A. Goudge.
Secretary.
W. R. Cronan.
Offices.
Dashwood House. 9, New
Broad Street, E.C.
Central Argentine Railway.
Directors.
J. W. Todd (Chairman), C.
Darbyshire, P. Riddock, W.
Morrison, Jason Rigby, Col.
F. J. G. Murray, J. W. Theobald,
C. P. Ogilvie.
Local Committee.
Dr. J. A. Frias (President), H. H.
Loveday, S. H. Pearson, Carlos
Maschwitz.
Consulting Engineers.
Sir Douglas Fox and Partners.
Livesey, Son, and Henderson.
General Manager.
H. H. Loveday.
Secretary.
F. Fighiera.
flffices.
3A, Coleman Street, E.C.
RAILWAYS AND ENTERPRISES 193
applied by the Government in constructing and main-
taining bridges and roads which give access to the
Hnes. Certain rights of tariff revision are given to the
Government, and no watered capital is recognised. The
Law is most valuable to the railways, and the expenditure
on roads and bridges will be highly beneficial. The
effect will be to limit working expenses, for when
the gross earnings for three consecutive years exceed
17 per cent, of the recognised share and debenture
capital, the Government has a right to revise the tariffs.
The Law has been accepted by all the English companies
except the Entre Rios and the Argentine North-Eastern.
The above account will show that competition is very
severe. This tends to bring down profits, and the cost
of labour and coal and materials also makes the working
expenses high. The extensions of the broad-gauge
companies are, it is estimated, to cost ;£9,ooo per mile
for track and stations alone. Another fact which adds
to the expenses is the necessity of keeping a very large
rolling stock for use during harvest-times. This must, in
part, stand idle for the rest of the year, and as a corollary
to this the great bulk of the traffic is to the sea, and thus
many wagons have to return inland empty. Passenger
traffic, again, is light, owing to the sparse population.
The Government naturally encourages competition ; but
its attitude has also a very favourable side, for it puts
no obstacles in the way of construction, and does not
attempt to bleed the companies. Of this the Mitre Law
is an example. On the whole, it may be said that the
great ability which has hitherto been shown in railway
policy will have to be maintained at the highest point if
profits and dividends are to be kept up.
On the other hand, it must be remembered that the
volume of traffic steadily increases, and that wheat alone
will be exported on a scale greater than anything which
14
j
194 ARGENTINA
has yet been seen in any country in the world. The area
of cultivation expands yearly, and when a more intensive
scheme of tillage is adopted the yield will increase and
with it the goods traffic. Pasturage is being driven
further afield by the husbandmen, and as more farmers
settle within the railway area the import trade will expand
in sympathy with their growing wants and purchasing
power. There is no reason to doubt that the railways
will continue to share in the increasing prosperity of the
country, and will be enabled to take advantage of the
vast scope for development both north and south.
Manufacturers in Argentina are heavily protected,
but they have as yet made no great progress. Writers
who deal with the business side of Argentine life
usually treat them in a very cursory manner and
devote themselves to the vast pastoral and agricultural
production and other characteristic industries, but the
question of manufactures is worth consideration, for
it is a sign of the times that every nation is anxious
to supply itself with home-made goods and is straining
every nerve to encourage home production. A large
proportion, indeed, of the Argentine factories are merely
auxiliary to the production of raw material, being cream-
eries, butter factories, freezing establishments, cheese-
making factories, and the like.
Brewing and distilling are both important, and there
are said to be 130 distilleries and 32 breweries in
Argentina. The sugar factories of Tucuman turn out
a great quantity of rum. As sugar-planting is being
successfully pursued in the Territories of Misiones,
Chaco, and Formosa, the manufacture of that article
is naturally increasing. The cost of planting one
hectare with cane is about ;^io. It was estimated that
the Republic produced about 120,000 tons of sugar
annually, and this amount is not quite sufficient for
RAILWAYS AND ENTERPRISES 195
domestic needs, but when the Gran Chaco is opened
up there can be no doubt that not only will enough
be produced to supply the increasing population but
that there will also be a large export.
In 1907 there were 303 flour-mills turning out 699,000
tons of flour. There are also 77 tobacco factories
producing an output valued at about 2J millions sterling.
All kinds of textiles are produced, but there are only
two cotton-spinning mills and 62 weaving factories.
There are also numbers of miscellaneous industries,
the most important of which perhaps are paper, matches,
glass-ware, tanning, clothing, and building material.
In general the factories are fitted up with the very
best English machinery, and there is a determination to
leave nothing undone to secure success. That they will
continue to prosper cannot be doubted, for they have
still a much larger home market than they are capable
of supplying. A considerable number of the manufac-
turing industries, notably the sugar factories of Tucuman,
are in English hands, and an enterprising Scotch firm
has forsaken the United Kingdom and is engaged in
manufacturing cheap shoes of imported hemp, which
are exported largely to Japan. The high tariff wall
is a luxury much appreciated by manufacturers, but
not to-day or to-morrow will Argentina compete with
Manchester or Bradford in the world's markets. Want
of coal is a capital hindrance, and that very protection
which confers local prosperity helps to make the
establishment and upkeep of factories very costly.
In this respect Argentina is but a beginner, and no
one can say what her manufacturing future will be.
CHAPTER XVI
THE PASTORAL INDUSTRIES OF ARGENTINA
This is, on the whole, the most striking of the many
very remarkable industrial features of Argentina. To
begin with, some figures should be given. No doubt
they are dry bones, but a body cannot be made without
bones, and for the understanding of industrial pheno-
mena it is necessary to have a skeleton map in the
form of figures to guide us. If we keep a few round
figures before us, we can form an idea of the progress
of a country in industrial matters and its position in
regard to other nations. It is impossible indeed to
N carry long tables of statistics in the head, but a few
essential figures can be remembered, and along with
them the increases and decreases (though of decreases
we seldom hear in Argentina) as compared with a
period of ten years ago and also the relative production
or export of Argentine staples as compared with the
figures of other countries in those articles.
Allusion has already been made to the benefit which
the Spaniards conferred upon South America by setting
down horses and cattle, and how abundantly they
increased and multiplied in an astonishingly short time.
It has been seen also that in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries the exportation of hides was a
^ most progressive industry. Later, when the tyranny
of Rosas was overpast, the production of cattle made
196
PASTORAL INDUSTRIES 197
giant strides and has by no means approached its
hmit.
The following figures represent the number of animals
in the Argentine Republic : —
Cattle
Sheep
Horses
Goats
Hogs
Mules
Donkeys
29,116,625
67,211,754
7,531,376
3,245,086
1,403,591
465,037
285,088
Their total value is 645,000,000 dollars gold.^ The
United States has more cattle (71,267,000), but con-
siderably fewer sheep and goats. Australia has more
sheep (87,780,819), but far fewer horses and cattle.
Chile, although looked upon as a wool-growing country,
is insignificant in comparison with Argentina, possess-
ing probably hardly more than two million sheep.
Argentina has fewer hogs, mules, and donkeys than
Spain, but, on the whole, it may be said that she equals,
if she does not surpass, any other nation in the number
and variety of her live stock.
It is of course, to the Camp that the country owes
all its wealth. People in Buenos Aires use the term
just as people in Calcutta speak of the Mofussil. With-
out the Camp, or plain, the great Buenos Aires would
have no existence. The Camp is covered with estancias
which are held by estancieros, or squatters. Immense
fortunes have been made by those who have been
skilled in the art of getting together the best stock and
managing their estates, and probably there are still
excellent chances of making a fortune for the com-
petent. The life of the estanciero is free and healthy ;
' When the term dollar is used, it invariably means the gold
dollar at five to the English £i.
y
>
198 ARGENTINA
it approaches to that of the receding Gaucho, it is a
Hfe of boot and saddle, of early rising and long days
in the crisp, sunny air. It is also much more comfort-
able than the ranching life in most countries; good
houses, billiard-tables, plenty of company, and a number
of the amenities of civilised life are not unusual, and
the splendid railways will swiftly transport the estanciero
to Buenos Aires when he desires a change.^ Still, it is
obvious that these luxuries are the result and not the
cause of success ; and it must not be supposed that an
estanciero grows rich by living in fine houses and amusing
himself ; as is the case everywhere else, the desirable things
of wealth are won by hard work and business ability.
In 1864 cattle amounted to 10,215,000, in 1884 to
14,171,000, in 1895 ^^ 21,701,526. It will be seen that
the rate of advance has been tolerably rapid. As the
country became more settled after the middle of the
last century, the increase of pastoral industries was
somewhat checked by the realisation of the enormous
possibilities of agriculture. In 1857 cattle formed
25 per cent, of the wealth of the country, but in 1884
only 18 per cent.^ But with the fall in the value
* " Stables and stalls are replacing the old-fashioned ' corral.'
The wealthy proprietor arrives at his estancia from the railway
station in a carriage ; the old rustic homestead is converted into
a veritable country-house, sometimes into a mansion, with park
and garden. There are estancias a hundred leagues from Buenos
Aires which we once knew as plains deserted and in the hands
of the Indians, and where now carriages, equipped in English
fashion, pass over the plain and people dine in the evening in
sumptuous establishments. The European stock-raisers have made
the gaucho retreat to the vast tracts situated on the confines
of the desert " (Martinez et Lewandowski, " L' Argentine," p. 132).
=" The statement of the " Encyclopedia Britannica," that Argentina
had a hundred million sheep in 1866 is quite incredible. Mulhall
estimates, no doubt accurately, the number in 1870 at forty-one
millions.
PASTORAL INDUSTRIES 199
of wheat and the increasing demand for meat and wool,
and the wonderful ingenuity of the methods of freezing
and preserving, the pastoral industry has held its own.
Cattle and sheep are raised all over the Pampas and
far to the north and south ; but, generally speaking, cattle
keep to the eastern side and sheep to the west, while
Patagonia is almost exclusively devoted to sheep. The
cattle industry is very different from what it was in
the memory of men still living. In the old days animals
were killed for their hides and the carcase was left to
rot on the ground ; their flesh was eaten only by
those who tended them. In 1873 the export of meat
was under 1,500,000 dollars, and little of this found its
way to Europe. In 1907 the exports of beef and mutton
amounted to 222,273 tons. The prosperity of the meat
industry, however, is due not only to improved methods
of transport, packing, and preserving, but also to the
wisdom of the estancieros in importing valuable bulls.
It is said that even the smallest among them are con-
vinced of the value of good blood and insist upon
having it. Between 1899 and 1903 Argentina imported
3,005 bulls, principally from England, and in 1907 the
value of live animals imported was over 2,000,000
dollars. We have seen the huge prices that rich
Argentines give for the best stallions, but, relatively,
breeders are quite as eager for the best bovine sires.
Uruguay is better known to the world than Argentina
as a seat of the meat industry, but, as a matter of fact,
the latter has infinitely more stock of every description.
However, in 1908, the Uruguayan beef-salting factories
slaughtered three times as many cattle as the Argentine.
A great many estancias are in English hands ; all
over the Pampas are great numbers of young English-
men managing the estates. A warning note has. lately
been sounded to the effect that Beef Trusts and other
200 ARGENTINA
United States Trusts are attempting to acquire land and
meat factories and to control the supply of meat. It
is needless to say that if these organisations make
headway, neither the estancieros, nor our traders, nor
the meat consumer, will have any reason to congratulate
themselves, and it is to be hoped that the Argentine
Government will take energetic measures to keep the
country out of the grip of the octopus.
The sheep industry has not maintained its old
relative importance. In 1830 Argentina had 2,500,000
sheep and exported 6,000,000 lbs. of wool ; in 1883
the figures were 69,000,000 sheep (somewhat more
than now) and 261,000,000 lbs. of wool. In 1908 the
shipments were 175,538 tons, and Argentina is of great
importance in the world's markets, but the conditions
of the industry have changed considerably within recent
years. In the old days Spain prohibited the export
of her valuable merino sheep to foreign countries,
but the colonies were fortunate enough not to be
included in the prohibition, and in 1550 the first
merinos appeared in Tucuman from Peru.^ Professor
Clapham, in his valuable work, " The Woollen and
Worsted Industries," says : '^ There, together with an
inferior, long-wooled breed, also of Spanish extraction,
they ran wild and deteriorated for over two hundred
years ; so that eventually the Argentine flocks were as
sorely in need of new blood as were those of France,
Germany, or Russia, which, until the middle of the
eighteenth century, had never had the benefit of a
cross with the old Spanish strain. Between 1760 and
* In 1569 Don Juan Ortiz de Zarate arranged for the importation
of four thousand merinos to the River Plate. In 1660 Buenos Aires
shipped its first cargo of wool — about a ton. When we condemn
-a Spanish restrictiveness we must remember the enlightened efforts of
* various Viceroys to improve the industry of wool and hides.
i
I
I
PASTORAL INDUSTRIES 201
1840, thanks to a change in the commercial policy of
Spain, such crossing took place in almost every country
of Europe and in many European colonies." About
the beginning of the nineteenth century pure-bred
Spanish rams were brought to Argentina, and others
from France and Saxony. By 1846 the wool had so
greatly improved that it was exported to England.
Forty years ago the exports consisted almost entirely
of merino wool, but now seven-eighths is cross-bred.
For this change there are two reasons — firstly, the rich,
loamy soil does not suit merinos, which are apt to
deteriorate in rank pastures, and, secondly, the trade
in frozen meat has made such enormous strides that
estancieros are anxious to obtain mutton breeds,
especially Lincolns. The Lincolnshire breeders drive
a flourishing trade with Buenos Aires, and as much
as 1,000 guineas is often given for a ram. There
used to be a prejudice in Bradford against Argentine
wool,i but it is disappearing, although the Australian
product still fetches a somewhat higher price.
The improvements which of late years have been
introduced into sheep-breeding and sheep-farming are
very remarkable, and they are partly due to the efforts
of immigrants from New Zealand who have introduced
effective cures for foot-rot and other diseases. During
the last ten years of the nineteenth century breeders
pinned their faith almost entirely to Lincolns, and the
importations were very large. Up to 1890 the majority
of Argentine sheep were weak cross-breds, and such
* " In some respects we are so backward that our wool cannot
compete in the great markets of the world, so far as regards the
quahty, with any other country which is a great producer. The bad
habit of our breeders to separate their sheep into large flocks —
sometimes above five thousand heads — is the principal obstacle to
the improvement of our wool, because large flocks do not admit of
the necessary attentions" (Napp, " The Argentine Republic," p. 303).
202 ARGENTINA
good blood as remained had been weakened by over-
crossing. The hardy Lincoln brought health and
energy to the enfeebled mass, and breeders made it
their business to rear hardy sheep and obtain a good
average without going to extremes in their preference
for any particular stock. The breeding of sheep has
been greatly benefited by the fact that the estancias
have been largely in English hands ^ and the proprietors
have thus introduced hardy English breeds and good
methods.
All over Argentina the intelligent selection of breeds
is receiving great attention. It is now recognised that
in an alfafa district a stock-master should keep cattle
rather than flocks, and that such sheep as he has should
be producers of mutton rather than wool. Again, in
the southern districts where the grass is rich and tender,
the Lincoln breed is unsuitable and crossings are
favoured with the Romney Marsh, which counteracts
the tendency towards coarseness, and gives silkiness,
closeness, and, to some extent, fineness to the wool.
Thus in Tierra del Fuego the hardy Romney Marsh,
imported from the Falkland Islands, is being bred, and
in this inhospitable climate the sheep keep fat all the
year round, even when the snow lies a foot deep on the
ground, for the sheep have learned to scrape the snow
away with their hoofs and find the grass.
M. Hernandez, to whose valuable work this chapter is
indebted, concludes this subject with the following
words : " Thus the moral to be learned from all this
would be, that there is no reason why either the coarse
or fine wools now produced should be abandoned to
any great extent. The coarse can afford to give over
a large proportion of its flock to the evolution, because
* " Of every twenty estancias in the South fifteen belong to
Englishmen " (Bernandez, " The Argentine Estancia," p. 45).
Mi
M
PASTORAL INDUSTRIES 203
they are in an immense majority ; but it would not be
prudent to go to the other extreme in this reaction, as
the coarse long wool will always have its use, not only
in rough goods but also in the warp of fine cloths,
which in the great mechanical looms has to be
extremely strong — a reason that has prevented the
decadence of French wools. The merino, on its side,
has its strongest defence in the singular fact that our
woollen factories import their fine wools in the form
of yarn. As soon as spinning-mills are established in
the country, and the customs tariff combines the
interests of the wool-grower with that of the manu-
facturer, there will be, in this country alone, more than
half a million sterling at hand for the purchase of the
wool produced by our Rambouillet flocks. It can thus
be seen that there is a field for stock-breeding and
industrial art that will cause the development on a
colossal scale of all the breeds comprised in our flocks,
and that the times are singularly propitious for it, as
we have at hand in enormous quantity all the elements
tending to good results that can be offered to capital
and to the vigorous enterprise of mankind, with greater
certainty and more favourable auspices than can be
obtained in any other class of business, or in any other
part of the world." ^
The life of the estancia has been described by many
pens, and the free, open conditions have always had an
attraction for Englishmen. The management is every-
where upon the same principles. The property is
divided by wire fences into paddocks varying from
200 to 3,000 acres. Some paddocks are used for
breeding, some for fattening, and the head station is
situated as nearly in the middle of the Camp as
possible. It consists of the houses of the owners
* " The Argentine Estancia," p. 52.
•
204 ARGENTINA
and managers, the labourers' quarters, tool- and store-
houses, shearing-sheds, dipping-troughs, and the like.
The owner's house is often very large and handsome,
and the grounds beautifully laid out. There is generally
considerable variety of stock, but where the fattening of
steers is the main object few or no sheep are kept.
Some estancias have dairies attached. Land was taken
up very rapidly by ranchers in the early days of
Argentina's prosperity. Now, with the increase of the
area of cultivation, the land in the Pampas which is
available for grazing is greatly curtailed. It is estimated
that nearly a hundred million hectares are still to be
disposed of by the State, but this is all far to the north
or south, and Chubut and Santa Cruz make up nearly
half the total.
The dairy industry is now on a gigantic scale. All
arrangements were till very lately most primitive and
the traveller, did he not know to the contrary, would
still believe them to be so ; but it is a peculiarity about
Argentina that the people hurry to institute a great
export trade long before they think of supplying them-
selves adequately with an article. As late as 1891 the
first butter — a few hundred pounds — was exported.
Now the exports amount to 8,000 tons. The dairies
are provided with the most up-to-date machinery,
and the export trade of butter will, no doubt, rapidly
increase. The industry is, however, looked upon with
some distrust by estancieros, for it is important not to
allow the winning of milk to diminish the young
animals, either in quantity or quality, upon which the
prosperity of Argentina depends.
Inseparably connected with the pastoral industry
are two great English businesses concerned in the
extract of meat. It was in 1884 that the Kemmerich
Company purchased some estancias and built a factory
PASTORAL INDUSTRIES 205
at Santa Elena in Entre Rios. The Bovril Company
had for some years been obtaining material for its
meat extract from Santa Elena, and eventually bought
the factory and that of San Javier, together with a block
of 438,000 acres, and additional land was leased. These
were formed into the Argentine Estates of Bovril,
Limited, and hence is obtained a large proportion of
the raw material of that well-known beverage. The -^
final stages of manufacture take place in the London
factory. The estancias support from 130,000 to 160,000
head of cattle, but even this large number does not
supply the whole demand, and every year many cattle
continue to be sent by the Kemmerich Company to the
Bovril factories. The favourite breed is the hardy
Durham. Several thousand head of this fine breed are
kept by the Company to level up the remainder of the
stock. The Durham, or Shorthorn, has been a brilliant
success in the Pampa, both as a pure breed and as a
means of raising, by crossing the standard of the criollo,
or native animal, and no breed equals it for beef-pro-
duction in districts where the pasture is rich and the
climate temperate. The Bovril Company also keeps Polled
Angus, but finds the Durhams unequalled for its purpose.
All the best parts of the beef are used to make Bovril,
and the preliminary process takes place in the Argentine
factories, where 80,000 to 100,000 cattle are slaughtered
annually. The hides and tallow are also prepared at
Santa Elena, sold at Buenos Aires, and shipped to
Europe and the United States. The rapid growth of
this business and the skill and enterprise of the Company
in importing good stock are very characteristic of English
methods in Argentina.
The other Company is considerably older. The Lemco
and 0x0 Company ^ illustrates the history of an idea
* For some of my information I am indebted to an article in the
Lancet of October 24, 1908.
206 ARGENTINA
which occurred in 1850 to Baron Justus von Liebig, who
suggested that, instead of kilHng cattle for their hides
and tallow and leaving the carcases to rot on the ground,
ranchers might do well to devise an economical process
of obtaining an extract of meat from the neglected beef.
In 1865 the idea was at last put into practice. Baron
Liebig says : " In 1862 I received a visit from Herr
Giebert, an engineer of Hamburg, who had spent many
years in South America and Uruguay, where hundreds
of thousands of sheep and oxen are killed solely for
the hides and fat. He told me that directly he saw my
account of the preparation of this extract he came to
Munich with the intention of learning the process and
then returning to South America in order to undertake
its manufacture on a large scale. I therefore recom-
mended Herr Giebert to Professor Pettenkofer, who
willingly made him familiar with every detail of the
process. He then returned to Uruguay in the summer
of 1863, but, owing to many difficulties which generally
hinder the introduction and management of a new
business, it was almost a year before he could actually
commence the manufacture." It was arranged that the
extract should be called Liebig, and in due course the
first sample of about 80 lbs. of beef extract arrived at
Munich, and was pronounced highly satisfactory, con-
sidering that it was " a product from the flesh of half- wild
animals."
These pioneer attempts were quickly absorbed by
Lemco and Oxo. The beginning was made in Uruguay,
but now the Company owns ten estancias in Argentina,
nine in Paraguay, and seven in Uruguay.^ The chief
' The following table shows the progress of the Company: —
Acreage of Farms. Stock of Cattle.
1868 28,494 12,000
1878 37,961 19,036
J
(I '}^*^^''-^\
PASTORAL INDUSTRIES 207
Argentine estancia is at Colon in Entre Rios, about
1 80 miles north of Argentina, but there are many others,
both in that Province and Corrientes, including La
Luisa, Jubileo, Chacra, and Curuzu Laurel, as well as
numerous hired farms. The total area of the estates very
nearly equals that of Kent and Surrey put together.
Some of the estancias are larger than the Isle of Wight.
The soil is fertile, the climate genial, there is an
inexhaustible water supply, and an ample rainfall. All
products can be shipped direct from Colon. The great
feature of Camp conditions and the main element of
success in the meat industry is the splendid open-air
and free life which, with abundance of sweet grass,
is the deadly enemy of the tubercle bacillus. In the
whole of Argentina the cattle that come to the freezing
and preserving establishments show usually an average
of under i per cent, afflicted with tuberculosis. These
results are not surprising, seeing that the one known
remedy for consumption is the open-air life.
As was seen, the Bovril cattle are Durhams, and this
may be attributed to the fact that they are largely fed on
lucerne. The stock on the Lemco and Oxo estancias is
grass-fed, and therefore a different breed finds favour.
In place of the "half-wild animals" of forty-five years
ago, the estates are grazed by beautiful herds of almost
pure-bred Herefords.^ Many well-known breeders of
1888
1898
1908
1910
* There are also some fine specimens of Aberdeen Angus. This
is a useful breed, for it " nicks " well with Herefords and Durhams,
and is a better milker than the Hereford. Its colour, usually black,
is unpopular, and Argentines are fastidious in that respect. But
they stand the cold well and their beef is of high quality, and some
breeders pin their faith to them.
Acreage of Farms.
Stock of CatUe.
126,984
36,685
254,133
66,435
1,302,386
224,406
1,527,720
274,500
208 ARGENTINA
that county, and also H.M. King Edward, have con-
tributed to the Company's stock. The noble, white-faced
beasts, standing deep in the rich grass, are a glorious
spectacle.
The Hereford is the second favourite in Argentina, but
breeders only pay about half as much for them as for
good Durham bulls. Where the surroundings do not
conduce to early maturity and where lucerne cannot be
had, the Hereford is excellent. It is slow in maturing,
and at three years of age is said to be 15 per cent, lighter
than its rival, but the popularity of the Hereford is
steadily increasing.
The factory at Colon is only seven years old and is
splendidly equipped. Every process follows the other in
geographical order, Jand each departmental factory duly
delivers its produce into the vast shipping wharf. Behind
stand the houses of the Company's servants, stores,
schools for the children, and a club. Standing by a
mighty river, in a green country, the industry presents
none of the dingy conditions and ugliness which are
associated with European wealth-production. It is
rather a palace of health.
The killing season opens in January and ends in June,
and usually about a quarter of a million beasts are slain
— hecatombs as much exceeding the etymological sense of
the word as the Homeric phrase doubtless fell below it.
They are a stupendous yearly sacrifice to -^sculapius.
It should be added that the factory at Colon is constantly
inspected by a representative of the Cattle Inspection
Department of the Ministry of the Argentine Republic,
and he is required to certify each month that he has not
allowed any animal to be killed that was not sound and
free from disease. Nothing that the bounty of Nature
or the skill of man can achieve is left undone to secure
the perfect condition of all the products.
PASTORAL INDUSTRIES 209
That statesman is proverbially the wisest who can
make two blades of corn grow where one grew before.
In like manner, the men who can transmute scrubby
sheep and big-boned, lean cattle into well-proportioned
animals with heavy fleeces and fat stock is a benefactor
to the human race. In Argentina, at least, to say nothing
of other lands, this work has been most effectually
accomplished by private effort, and in reviewing the
pastoral industries of Argentina we must admire the
enterprise which has scattered plenty over the land. The
old poets associated wealth and peace with great herds
of cattle and flocks of sheep.
"One way a band select from forage drives
A herd of beeves, fair oxen and fair kine,
From a fat meadow ground ; or fleecy flock,
Ewes and their bleating lambs over the plain."
It is these, created by skill and enterprise and drawing
the vigour and virtue from our Enghsh counties, that
have made Argentina a great country.
15
CHAPTER XVII
COMMERCE AND FINANCE
In dealing with this subject it will be necessary to make
use of a considerable number of statistics, for there is
\ no other way by which to express the unprecedented
development of this great Republic. Her genial climate,
her fertile soil, her vast waterways, potent alike to fertilise
the country and bring produce to the sea, and now her
unequalled railways and excellent docks, have caused the
trade of Argentina to be surprisingly large in proportion
to her population, and, unfortunately, wealth seems likely
to multiply more rapidly than men. As has been said
before, the importance of Argentina as a world State is
purely industrial and commercial ; her politics, literature,
and people are interesting, but they still belong to the
^ day of small things. Her exports of wheat and pastoral
products, her railway share list and her bonds are
scrutinised eagerly at every commercial centre, and
Buenos Aires is an increasingly important member of
V the delicate system of international commerce.
In 1908 ^ the imports were ;£54,594,547.
„ exports „ 73,201,068.2
* For 1909 the figures were —
Imports ;^6o,55i,2i9
Exports 79,470,102.
** I have divided the figures, which are given by all authorities in
American gold dollars, by five. It is greatly to be regretted that
210
■
ll
COMMERCE AND FINANCE 211
The principal items of import were as follows : —
Textiles ;^9,98o,267
Railway carriages and vehicles ... 6,140,067
Iron (including manufactures) ... 6,015,096
Pottery 4,979,580
Foodstuffs 4,709,819
Building materials 4,276,485
Agricultural implements 3,167,967
Wine, &c 2,655,956
Oils 2,610,344
It is clear from this table that Argentina still relies on
the foreigner for most of her manufactures. Her policy
of high Protection has not yet enabled her to produce
high-class goods, but it would be rash to say that success
will never come, when we consider the position of the
United States and the enormous advantage which an
industrial start of some fifty years gives a country.
The imports show a decline from the previous year of
some two and a half million sterling, doubtless in
sympathy with the prevailing depression, and the
principal importing countries all sent slightly smaller
quantities. Of the imports England has 34*2 per cent.,
Germany 13*9, the United States 13*2. The figures
are : —
the splendid private enterprise of Englishmen in Argentina receives
so little help from English statisticians or the English Government.
The statistics are best set forth by an excellent publication, the
Bulletin of the International Bureau of the American Republics^
published at Washington. Even the Statesman's Year Book (Mac-
millan) gives totals in American dollars. We have far more trade
in South America than the United States, but we cannot, in view of
the approaching completion of the Panama Canal and the intelligent
efforts of American statesmen, hope to retain our position indefinitely
if our own Government continues to trust to the policy of " muddling
through."
212
ARGENTINA
England
;^i8,37i,396
Germany
7,569,415
United States
7,^19400
France
5,295,383
Italy
4,982,649
Belgium
2,550,674
\
A remarkable feature in the history of Argentine trade
returns is the enormous advance of Germany. In 1874
she sent to Argentine ;£ 160,000, in 1882, ;^920,ooo.
England's figures for those two years are ;£ 1,040,000 and
;^i,48o,ooo. Those of the United States are ;£38o,ooo
and ;£5 80,000. But it should also be remarked that the
advance of our own country has been even more rapid,
and here, as elsewhere, the absurdity is demonstrated of
those who declare that English trade is vanishing.
Everything has been done to write down England and
to write up Germany, and at the end of it all John Bull
can beat Germany with one hand, the United States with
the other, and has still an ample margin of strength to
beat Belgium as well. We are handsomely above the
Two Power standard in the Plate district. France
makes steady progress, and Italy shows a large increase,
as is only to be expected, because the emigration from
Italy has long been very large. It may be added that
French goods make their way by sheer merit, for France
has in her own land ample scope for her scanty popula-
tion. Some advantage may be obtained by her as the
head of the Latin race, but wherever there are women
and luxury there will French trade flourish, and further,
in machinery of many kinds France, if equalled by any
other nation for excellence, is equalled by England
alone.
It is very interesting to see how Argentina has passed
from small to great things in matters of trade.
The following table shows in round figures her pro-
I
COMMERCE AND FINANCE 213
gress during a space of more than a hundred years.
They refer to her total foreign trade.
1795
1837
1850
1870
1880
1883
1891
1900
1908
;^ I, 400,000
2,400,000
4,300,000
15,300,000
20,100,000
27,200,000
34,086,000
53,617,000
127,700,000
Thus, in eight years, the foreign trade has far more than
doubled. In former days the results of feverish de-
velopment were by no means an unmixed benefit.
Immense sums had been invested in railways and other
enterprises, and the Mortgage Bank of the Province of
Buenos Aires recklessly lent money upon land and
credit was inflated. Everybody thought that unbounded
riches were either in their possession or within reach,
and the inevitable collapse followed. The difficulties
were aggravated by the fluctuating state of the currency.
At present the paper dollar circulates with a tolerably
steady value of about is. gd. There is a scheme for
establishing a gold currency, and the gold held by the
Conversion Office amounts to 132,769,134 dollars gold.
The note circulation is over 500,000,000 dollars paper.
In December, 1891, the Banco de La Nacion Argentina
was opened with a capital of 50,000,000 dollars, now
increased to 90,000,000. The Bank may lend money to
the National Government, but the total amount is not
to exceed 6,000,000 dollars, and it has no authority to
place loans in other quarters.
The exports now demand our consideration. In .1908
the main items were : —
214
ARGENTINA
Agricultural products
Pastoral products
Forest products ...
Fish and Game ...
;^48,oi3,032
27,023,691
1,269,446
99,726
A more detailed investigation of the figures shows
that of wheat 3,636,294 tons were exported, of maize
1,711,804, of linseed 1,055,650, of oats 440,041. The
shipments of wool were 175,538 tons, of frozen beef
180,915, of jerked beef 6,650. Quebracho wood stood
at 254,571 tons, quebracho at 48,162, and hay at 32,078.
Hides were largely exported.
For 1908 the following is the percentage of imports
received by various countries : England, 21*4 ; Belgium,
9'8 ; Germany 9*5 ; France, 7-9 ; Brazil, 4-1 ; United
States, 3*6.
The following table shows our reciprocal trade with
Argentina in 1907 ' : —
Imports into England.
Wheat ...
.. ;^8,044,636
Cotton
;^2,752,25I
Maize
5,000,219
Woollens
1,080,795
Fresh Mutton
2,360,565
Iron and Manu-
Fresh Beef
4,308,273
factures
3,511,803
Linseed
•• 1,977,466
Machinery-
2,458,180
Wool
.. 1,689,639
Railway Carriages
1,769,780
Coal
1,761,467
Exports from England.
The various industries of this Republic, which supply
the materials for the rapidly increasing commerce, are
dealt with in other chapters. Buenos Aires from very
early times has had a brisk trade. Even in the seven-
teenth century the traffic in hides excited the admiration
of travellers, and at the end of the eighteenth century
the new and liberal commercial policy pursued by the
* According to the Statesman's Year Book, the figures appear to
be too high.
I
COMMERCE AND FINANCE 215
Home Government resulted in a promising development
which was roughly checked by the Revolution. From
1825 to 1842 the foreign trade per inhabitant positively
diminished, and by 1850 it was only £^ 8s. per head
as against £2> 12s. in 1795. Now it is some ;^2o.
Obviously the slow progress after the Revolution was
due to the sinister tyranny of Rosas, which stifled the
development of communications and all other progress.
A traveller,! who visited the Pampas in 1848, says :
"The soil is good for agriculture, yet flour is either
imported from the United States, or obtained from the
northern provinces ; and its price is enhanced by the
cost of land-carriage several hundred miles." He con-
cludes his interesting work with these words 2 : ^* But
while our own colonies of Australia and New Zealand
offer such rich and boundless fields for the profitable
employment of capital among our own countrymen,
there is less inducement than ever for merchants to risk
their capital and energies amongst a race of people
where the wealth of nature is wasted by the combined
operation of ignorance, unstable government, and inter-
minable warfare."
Very different has been Argentina's commercial history
for the last sixty years, and the only check was afforded
by the Celman crash. Now 3 " the producing capacity
of the country is steadily increasing, and in cereal pro-
duction its status is evidenced by the fact that as a corn
[i.e.y maize] exporter the Argentine Republic took first
rank in 1908, occupying the place formerly held by the
United States. In the production 4 of this foodstuff the
country ranks third, and as a wheat-grower fifth. It is
' MacCann, " Two Thousand Miles' Ride," i. i6o.
^ Ibid. ii. 304.
3 Bulletin of the American Republics (July, 1909), p. 14. -
* As opposed to exportation.
216
ARGENTINA
first as an exporter of frozen meat, and second as a
shipper of wool. In the number of its cattle the
Republic holds third place among the nations, being
ranked by India and the United States. Russia and
the United States exceed it in number of horses, and
Australia alone has a greater number of sheep."
As a complement to this description of the com-
merce, a few words should be said about the indus-
tries which directly nourish it. Elsewhere will be
found an account of the foreign steamship lines which
connect Argentina with the outer world.^ Here it is
necessary to give the figures of her modest mercantile
marine as far as they can be ascertained ; —
Steamship...
Sailing ships
131
161
Tonnage...
Tonnage...
Total 292
55,561
40,581
96,142
^ The table given below shows the tonnage of the chief ports
in 1908 : —
Port.
TONNAGK.
Entered.
Cleared.
Rio Gallegos
41,266
42,239
Bahia Blanca
., ...
799,198
783,272
Puerto Madryn
...
19,921
12,666
C. de Uruguay
..
603,818
646,41 1
La Plata
...
855,950
840,548
Diamante
..
375,779
449,492
Santa Fe
..
440,466
481,948
Parana
..
636,091
635,064
Erquina
..
374,037
373,596
Goya
.. ...
404,917
377,227
Bella Vista ..
..
399,667
402,235
Empedrado ..
306,136
309,635
Correntis
..
504,433
494,693
Rosario
..
1,924,808
2,029,596
Buenos Aires
7,555,574
7,562,055
I
I
COMMERCE AND FINANCE 217
It has already been said that the Argentines are not
a seafaring nation, but no doubt, in course of time,
the exigencies of national defence and the growth of
her trade will turn the energies of her people to the
sea.
There are in Argentina four banks with their offices
in London. First comes the London and River Plate
Bank, which was the only one of the four doing business
in the country at the time of the Celman catastrophes,
and this British Bank was the only banking firm of any
description that weathered the storm. It has branches
in Buenos Aires, Rosario, Mendoza, Concordia, Bahia
Blanca, and Barracas. The other three, though younger,
are sound and prosperous. The Anglo-South American
Bank (formerly Tarapaca) has branches in Buenos Aires,
Mendoza, and Bahia Blanca. The British Bank of South
America has branches in Buenos Aires and Rosario, and
the same is the case with the London and Brazilian
Bank. There are, of course, many foreign and Argentine
banks, and of these the Spanish River Plate Bank is said
to be the best. It was recently stated that the United
States does not possess a single bank in the whole of
South America.
The financial position of the Republic may be briefly
stated. It is generally believed that the fiscal manage-
ment is somewhat wasteful, and the competence of
Congress to produce a satisfactory budget is questioned.
Men of eminent business ability are, of course, found
in the pursuits that make wealth rather than in Congress.
But the finances are flourishing, as the following figures ^
will show : —
* The various authorities almost always differ slightly, sometimes
considerably, in their figures. Thus the Statesman's Year Book
gives the tonnage of Buenos Aires in 1908 as 4,760,316, while the
Bulletin states it at 4,888,741.
X
218
ARGENTINA
ESTIMATES FOR 1909.
Revenue.
Dollars Gold.
Revenue.
Dollars Paper.
Import duties
51,930,000
Public works (in
Additional duties ...
3,100,000
bonds)
5,000,000
Port dues, &c.
5,230,000
Spirits and beer ...
19,800,000
Consular dues, fines,
Tobacco
17,400,000
&c
930,000
Sanitary works ...
7,100,000
Buenos Aires Pro-
Stamps
9,450,000
vincial Debt
983,429
Posts and tele-
National Bank Service
347.004
graphs
9,700,000
Railways
9,000,000
Various
12,529,319
62,520,433
89,979,319
Below are given the figures since 1903 :-
Revenue.
Expenditure.
Gold.
Paper.
Gold.
Paper.
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
46,615,855
52,254,428
53,076,067
61,616,090
64,527,983
65,466,010
70,004,834
84,778,282
88,835,790
97,153,870
32,139,160
25,597,625
82,813,587
30,128,828
25,521,412
93,072,572
104,177,150
136,065,516
174,688,551
186,107,107
In conclusion, the important subject of tariffs demands
notice. The Republic has long adopted a highly pro-
tective fiscal policy. The object is to create as many
industries as possible, and therefore to discourage foreign
competition by the imposition of heavy duties. The
high cost of living is usually attributed to this system,
and undoubtedly many articles would be cheaper if the
tariff was lower ; but its effect is probably exaggerated,
and even under complete Free Trade Argentina would
still be a dear country. It is the comparative lack of
I
COMMERCE AND FINANCE 219
development and enterprise, and also the unwillingness
to take trouble over small things, which are the main
causes of dearness ; and this is the characteristic of all
new countries. That Protection is unpopular it would
be rash to affirm. It is the direct imposts, and above
all the municipal, that give rise to complaining in the
streets. The immigrants come from highly protected
countries, and are accustomed to heavy indirect taxes ;
they would, in all probabihty, angrily resent direct
taxation, even if it were much lower than the present
scale of imposts. As the table above shows, the customs
are the sheet-anchor of the Exchequer, and Ministers
could not possibly dispense with them, nor would
manufacturers hear of such a thing. " Every one," says
an experienced resident in Buenos Aires, "as soon as
he starts a business, looks about for higher tariffs in
his line."
A good many among the intellectual classes have
academic leanings towards Free Trade, and the opinion
is sometimes expressed that in the end the Government
would raise more revenue by a general duty of about
20 per cent. But the manufacturing interest, which
already complains that it cannot compete with English
and French goods, is an insuperable obstacle.
The accomplished Dr. Martin Garcia Merou remarks :
"The situation of the United States is unique in the
world. The amazing prosperity of this country is based
upon the producing and consuming power of her forty-
five independent States, which stretch over an immense
continent, and of which some differ in climate and
conditions as widely as Spain differs from Norway, but
they all have a single system of land and river com-
munication which is without rival and without precedent.
The absence of fiscal barriers between those different
States is the permanent and fruitful cause of their
\]
220 ARGENTINA
greatness and prosperity. In this manner a country,
which is apparently the most Protectionist in the world,
is the very one which demonstrates in the most practical
and visible fashion the incalculable benefits of free
commerce."
This conviction is gaining ground, and there are many
persons, intimately conversant with trade and industry,
who wish for changes in a liberal direction. Senor
Ricardo Pillado, the able chief of the Agricultural
Department, has penned many minutes urging a reduc-
tion of tariffs, but it is doubtful whether the opinions
of a few men, however accomplished, will ever penetrate
among an ill-informed population ; and even if their
views were understood it is most unlikely that they
would have power to eradicate the ingrained protective
opinions of the masses and to create a feeling among
them powerful enough to overcome the resistance of
vast interests whose policy is now in complete accord
with the feelings of the masses.
Senor Pillado says^ : *' For a considerable number of
years Protection has been a heavy obstacle to the
progress and expansion of our country. Most sincerely
do I declare that we all ought to use our utmost efforts
\ to reform a financial system which is grounded in such
fundamental errors as protective tariffs."
It was in 1883 that the Republic first decided upon
Protection. By the tariff of 1884 a duty of 50 per cent,
was imposed upon arms, powder, alcohol, cards, per-
fumery, tobacco, snuff, and wax matches. A duty of
40 per cent, was imposed upon clothing, hats, shoes,
harness, carriages, furniture, rockets, and wooden matches.
Many articles necessary to production, such as coal,
thread, ploughs, wire, agricultural machinery, printing
presses, books, sacking, steam engines, iron, lumber,
' " Politica Comercial Argentina," p. 42.
COMMERCE AND FINANCE 221
rock-salt, and paper, were taxed only 5 or lo per cent.
Similar articles, which were even less likely to be pro-
duced at home or were still more urgently needed as the
raw material of industry, were admitted free. Among
these were machinery for factories or shipping, live cattle
or fish, plants, seeds, railway material, metal pipes of at
least 30 inches diameter, blasting powder, and sheep-
wash. It will be seen, therefore, that an attempt at
a scientific tariff was made, and it has proved so
acceptable to the Argentines that it has been greatly
elaborated and extended. Nor does the nominal figure
of the duty represent the whole of the increased cost,
for the customs officials are required to add to the
declared value of the articles the freight and other
expenses, and to raise the duty in proportion. Conse-
quently the imposts are subject to large and arbitrary
enhancements. The following summary will give a
rough notion of the present fiscal system : —
Free. — Most industrial materials, such as railway, mining, or electrical
plant and most kinds of machinery ; also herbs and seeds.
Books and magazines are free.
Five per cent, ad valorem. — Other forms of industrial material, as
mercury, crude sulphur, china clay, jute, lead, &c. Several
kinds of machinery. Jewellery comes under this section.
Ten per cent, ad valorem. — Various chemicals for industrial use.
Fifteen per cent, ad valorem. — Certain kinds of timber.
Twenty per cent, ad valorem. — Steel in bars, plates and sheets ;
tissues of unbleached cotton or coarse linen cloth.
Twenty 'five per cent, ad valorem. — All articles not elsewhere specified
or exempted.
Thirty per cent, ad valorem, — Tissues of wool of any kind, pure or
mixed.
Thirty-five per cent, ad valorem, — Blankets, jewel cases, iron screws,
bolts and nuts.
Forty per cent, ad valorem, — Most fancy articles as trunks, per-
fumery, furniture, boots, and many kinds of clothes. '
Fifty per cent, ad valorem.— Aims and saddlery.
2i22 ARGENTINA
Comestibles are specially dealt with, usually by a duty
per kilo. The intention and effect, it is needless to say,
are protective — e,g,y the duty on fruits in syrup is over
5d., that on bacon over 4d. per kilo, that on refined
sugar, polarising over 96 degrees, is a little less than
2d., that on sugar below that grade is nearly a half-
penny less. A little more than 5d. is the duty on
wines per bottle, that on soda-water is the same per
dozen bottles, while that on beer is over 2d. per
bottle. But it must not be inferred from these
figures that the kindly State does not take good care
of vintners, brewers, and the like, for the system of
enhancements aforesaid adds handsomely to these and
all duties. The case of tobacco will illustrate this. The
preliminary duties are as follows : —
s. d.
Havana cigars in cardboard boxes, about 3 1 1^ per kilo
„ „ in wooden boxes „ 2 7^ „
Cigarettes ,,19
Tobacco leaf ... from about 2^d. to i 2 „
But all tobacco that enters Argentina is " evaluated "
at a certain sum, and then 20 per cent, ad valorem duty
is charged in addition.
There is also a miscellaneous "per kilo" section,
which includes matches, paper, and hats, all heavily
taxed.
Export duties are insignificant.
It may be observed that the 40 per cent, section
and the miscellaneous section between them include
almost all the articles likely to be purchased by the
ordinary shopper, and they are extremely dear. But
English and French goods appear to monopolise the
best shops. The following clause embodies the principle
which we know as " the most favoured nation clause " :
I
COMMERCE AND FINANCE 223
" The import duties established by the present Law shall
be deemed to be the minimum tariffy and shall be
applicable to products and goods of all countries which
apply their minimum tariif to exports from the Argentine
Republic, which do not increase the previous duties,
which do not establish a duty on exempted articles,
which do not exceptionally reduce their present tariff
for similar goods of any other origin, and which do
not impede by restrictive measures the importation of
Argentine products." ^
As an example of Protection both rigorous and effec-
tive the case of sugar may be given. Not long after
the first tariff of 1883 the sugar duties were enormously
increased with the following effect : —
Import of Sugar.
1883
1884
1889
1890
1895
1900
The product
24,000 tons
35,000 „
34,400 „
29.500 „
5,600 „
458 „
ion of sugar, which was also 24,000 tons
in 1884, leaped to 75,000 in 1894. Senor Pillado remarks
that this legislation converted Tucuman into an El
Dorado. He concludes an able work by quoting the
appeal which he made in his minute to the Minister
of Agriculture 2 : —
"The trade of the Republic is at present in a
condition thus favourable, the wealth hidden in
her soil is thus great. She owes this situation to
the maintenance of exterior peace, the elimination of
fluctuations in paper money, and the establishment of
* Art 74 of the Custom Law of 1905.
' " Politica Comercial Argentina," p. 367.
224 ARGENTINA
those institutions by which she advances with gigantic
strides. We watch her progress, and see her offering
to the rest of the world the products of her fertile
territories, without restrictions and without preferences
that take their rise in grasping tariff laws. Our country
thus wins a reputation which corresponds to her
pastoral and agricultural wealth and the excellence of
her products.
*' What, sir, would be our rate of progress if the law
of our custom-house, which sets up a prohibitive tariff
wall against the goods which our people demand and
which act as a stimulus to our great industries, were
more lenient, more just, and more in accordance with
the principles of liberty which we have inherited with
our charter of independence ! "
But, in fact, all influences of to-day seem to be on
the side of further restrictions in trade as they have
long been on the side of further restrictions in social
matters. The principles of liberty are considered by
most people as very excellent for themselves but hardly
suitable to the rest of the world ; but from Manchester
to Shanghai the ideal of every trader is Free Trade for
the whole world and Protection for himself. As all
pull one way, the result is almost everywhere the same,
and no country seems less likely to abandon Protection
than Argentina.
I
m
CHAPTER XVIII
AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL PRODUCTS
Argentina is now one of the leading agricultural
countries of the world, and her importance is likely to
be enhanced in the near future, because the United
States and other sources of food supply are rapidly
diminishing their exportable surplus, while in South
America population is unable to keep pace with natural
production. Wheat, as is well known, is the most
important crop. Unlike the pastoral industry, arable
cultivation is comparatively modern. In 1854 there
were only 375,000 acres under tillage of all kinds, and
the area increased very slowly until the beginning of
the present generation. The promise of the country
was always recognised, but it was long before foreign
capital ventured to trust itself to a land possessing the
political reputation of Argentina ; and thus, without
railway development, the export of agricultural produce ,
was impossible. "All the cereals," says a pamphlet
published in the sixties, " do remarkably well, and such
is the fertility of the soil that double crops are often
taken from the same land. In Santiago del Estero the
wheat produced is of the most excellent quality, and
although but little care is bestowed in cultivation, it
generally yields eightyfold." The encouragement of
emigration and the introduction of capital, and thus of ^1
improved methods of communication, caused progress
16 ^^5
V
226 ARGENTINA
to be very rapid ; and whereas in 1874 the wheat area
was only 271,000 acres, in 1884 it was 1,717,000. By
1899 this had expanded to 5,500,000 acres, and now it
is about 14,000,000. The following figures will show the
progress of recent years : —
Production in Tons,
Exportation.
1902 ...
1,534,400
704,060
1903 ...
2,823,900
1,790,388
1904 ...
3>529;ioo
2,467,297
1905 ...
4,102,600
3.083,378
1906 ...
3,672,200
2,438,616
1907 ...
4>2454oo
2,867,464
1908
5,238,700
3,802,619
It is anticipated that before long the wheat export
will amount to 5,000,000, and that Argentina will
thus lead the world.^ This cannot be called a rash
estimate, for when we examine the figures we shall find
that population is not keeping pace with production.
The exportation figures of 1908 were 55 per cent,
better than those of 1906, while the figures of produc-
tion showed a rise of only 42 per cent. This is a
satisfactory condition of things for the trader, but less
so from a national standpoint. In general, the farmer
is not rooted to the soil ; he merely pays a percentage
of his crops to the landlord as rent, and after a bad
season is apt to move elsewhere. It is desirable that
a scheme of intensive cultivation should be introduced,
' In 1907-8 the world's export of wheat was as follows : —
United States 4,400,000 tons
Argentina 3.540>ooo »
Russia 1,651,000 „
Canada 1,530,000 „
Balkan States 623,000 „
India 533>ooo »
These figures are reckoned from July 31, 1907.
I
AGRICULTURE 227
which promises much greater national benefit in the
future in every way than can be obtained by hasty and
slovenly methods. A Government publication, apolo-
gising for the present system and remarking that in old
countries intensive agriculture is no virtue, while in
new countries extensive agriculture is no vice, adds :
"Wherever there is much ground with few inhabitants
it is impossible that the number of proprietors be very
large ; and if the comparative figure demonstrates that
the number of renters is relatively very large, the in-
vestigation of the facts will show that it is here that
the qualitative influence of the divisor intervenes. In
general, he who seeks his fortune in agricultural work
lacks the necessary capital for purchasing land, and it
is notorious that the immigrants we can count on to
colonise our lands arrive completely destitute of means.
At the very best they can hope to rent the land, counting
on the shrewd liberality of the landholder who requires
of them only a certain share of the crop in pay for the
rent, and in this manner by the results of their labour
they may finally become proprietors. There are, there-
fore, two consecutive subdivisions : that of the working
of the land by leasing, and that of ownership by the
eventual purchase."
It is said that the best lands have been snapped up
by speculators, otherwise it might be better for the
Government to present capable immigrants with small
farms, and if necessary lend them capital. The need
of Argentina is men rather than extra tons avoirdupois
of exports.
The production of maize has made enormous increases
in sympathy with the general vast development which
strains the rolling stock of every railway and with which
the men and machinery in Argentina are insufficient to
cope. In 1902 the production was 2,134,200 tons, now
/
V
228 ARGENTINA
it is 3,456,000. This crop is peculiarly susceptible to
the ravages of locusts, which, however, have a catholic
taste for every kind of vegetable and are said to have
destroyed half the crops in 1880. One of the most
miserable sights in the world is cornfields ravaged by
these pests ; nothing is left but slender stumps and the
sickening odour of rotting locusts. For the locust is
itself subject to a parasite which consumes its inside,
and it has been suggested that the parasite might be
introduced into the winter-breeding grounds of the
locusts. But these lie in the most remote part of the
Gran Chaco, and it does not appear that the inhabitants
of any land have succeeded in tracking the eggs on any
large scale ; it is therefore probable that the farmers will
have to be satisfied with attempts at cure rather than
prevention. As in India, trenches are used for the
destruction of locusts, and the noxious creatures having
been driven into the receptacle are rapidly covered with
layers of earth. ^ They are to Argentina what rabbits
are to Australia.
Of linseed Argentina is by far the largest exporter in
the world. Last year the exports went up with an
astonishing leap, but for many years they have been
greater than those of India, Russia, and North America
combined. In 1902 the production was 1,982,000 tons ;
in 1908 it was 2,625,000.
It is only about thirty years since alfafa (lucerne) was
introduced into Argentina, but there is no more useful
crop, and it has been of the utmost benefit to the
pastoral industries. During the South African War large
^ "All the inhabitants of the Republic, be they citizens or
foreigners, between fifteen and fifty years of age are obliged to
give personal help for the destruction of the locusts and the use of
animals or their property fitted for the work, excepting fine animals
which are destined for breeding " (Art. 7 of Locust Law of 1903).
»
1
AGRICULTURE 229
fortunes were made by exporting alfafa to South Africa,
and, given proper soil, it yields many crops in the year.
The Province of Buenos Aires is admirably adapted to
its cultivation.
Oats are still a comparatively small crop, but they are
making considerable progress. The export of 15,000
tons in 1905 had risen to 440,041 in 1908.
Sugar is an old industry, and, as is pointed out
elsewhere, it has become of importance owing to the
protective policy of the Argentine Government. In
1884 the production was 55,000 tons. For the last
three years it has been —
1906 ... 116,287 tons
1907 109,445 „
1908 161,662 „
Tobacco is a prominent manufacture, but it is probable
that a great part of the raw material comes from abroad.
It is cultivated extensively in the northern region, but
owing to its coarseness it is not likely that the native
product will ever satisfy the home demand.
Last, but not least, in Argentine agriculture comes the
vine. The culture of the vine and wine manufacture
have gone forward at a great pace in the Provinces of
Mendoza and San Juan. In 1884 there were 63,000
acres under vines, and the production of wine was
5,810,080 gallons. Now it is about 41,580,000. Mendoza
is an excellent wine country, and some of its bodegas
are among the largest in the world. The vineyards,
the mountains, and the rural appearance of the towns
give to the wine country an old-world air which is
refreshing in a new country. The most popular wines
are red and white clarets, the better qualities of which
are excellent, but many other kinds are made.' The
country wine is by no means as cheap as it ought to
230 ARGENTINA
be owing to the high protection. Although this excel-
lent industry is rapidly increasing, it does not go near
to supplying home consumption ; indeed, the value of
the imports of wines and spirits is slightly in excess
of the total national production. The export of wine
is of course practically nil, for neighbouring countries
follow the example of Argentina in protecting their
own vineyards by high tariffs and every kind of
fomento. In fact, the wines of Chile are generally con-
sidered to be superior to those raised on the eastern
slopes of the Andes, but it is not easy to discover
any difference. Nearly all the produce of Mendoza
goes to Buenos Aires and forms a very valuable
article of freight for the Buenos Aires and Pacific
Railway.
The crops of Argentina are well distributed, and some
regions produce great varieties. Buenos Aires, of course,
leads in wheat, and produces more than Santa Fe and
Cordoba, which occupy the second and third position,
combined, while Entre Rios, which comes fourth,
nearly equals the total of all the other minor sources
of supply. It may be, however, that some day Pata-
gonia will be a serious rival to Buenos Aires, but now,
being unirrigated, her chief product is wool. The
Province of the capital also supplies most of the
maize and practically all the oats, but in linseed is
far out-distanced by Santa Fe. Apart from Buenos
Aires, Santa Fe, Cordoba, and Entre Rios, the grain
production, except wheat, is insignificant.
Tucuman is the great sugar district, and tobacco
is largely grown there and in several of the other
northern Provinces. Mendoza accounts for more than
nine-tenths of the wine raised in the country, but San
Juan, Salta, Cordoba, and La Rioja are of some impor-
tance. La Rioja in Spain, it may be added, has given
AGRICULTURE 231
its name to a special kind of red wine, and we have
Peruvian Rioja just as we have Australian Burgundy.
Agriculture in Argentina is carried out on an enor-
mous scale, and the hopes of travellers who visited
the country a century ago have been realised. But
the country is too new, there is too much virgin soil
for settled agricultural conditions, and farmers prefer
pushing further afield and taking larger holdings to
tilling a farm with care for his son to hold after him. i
Consequently there is little of that petite culture which f
beautifies European countries and adds to the comfort
of life ; and, further, in most parts of Argentina, good
as are the means of transporting staples, they are not
of the kind which would make minute farming indus-
tries profitable. It is not probable that these conditions
will change until there has been a large increase of
population. As long as the increase is due to immi-
gration— and many of the settlers look forward to
returning to their native land when they have obtained
a competence — farming methods will be hasty and
extensive.
The forest industries of Argentina, though not fully
developed, are very valuable. There are said to be
60,000 square miles of timber in the Gran Chaco, and
parts of Patagonia are well wooded. Much of the
wood is of great value, and the following are among
the most useful for commercial purposes. The fian-
dubay, a kind of acacia, reaches a height of about
25 feet and is used for making fences and rafters.
The wood is extremely hard and durable. The al-
garroba also yields good timber, and its fruit and
leaves are used for fattening cattle, while the Indians
brew a kind of beer from the pods. The lapacho,
of the bignonia species, rises to a height of .100 feet,
and its wood is used for cabinet work. The urunday
232 ARGENTINA
is a tree of similar appearance but larger, and its
building wood is said to last two hundred years. The
palo amarillo is a mimosa and used for making furniture.
There are in the north cedars of excellent quality,
both red and white, which attain a height of i6o
feet. The Jesuits introduced into the country several
varieties of palms, and there are many of the trees
known in Europe, such as poplars, willows, and
walnuts. But by far the most valuable tree in Argen-
tina is the quebracho,^ which grows in two varieties,
red and white ; its full height is 80 feet, and it takes
a hundred years to come to maturity ; the trunk is about
30 inches in diameter. It is the commercial staple
in Argentine timber, and the railways have given a great
impetus to the trade, in which the Province of San-
tiago del Estero seems to have been the pioneer. In
1884 it had five thousand men engaged in cutting railway
sleepers, but it was not till 1889 that the export trade
began, when 14,000 tons of round logs were shipped
from Santa F6,
In the past few years many companies have been
formed for cutting wood in the Gran Chaco and also
for extracting tannin. The district of Resistencia is
extremely rich in quebracho, and Santiago del Estero
continues to produce it in increasing quantities, as well
as firewood, which is extensively used by the sugar-mills
of Tucuman. Firewood and posts are also largely pro-
duced in Cordoba, and Tucuman and Salta provide
woods for building and cabinet-making. The timber
industry has now been extended to Tierra del Fuego,
where saw-mills have also been established; and when
internal communications have been improved it will
* Quebracho means break-axe. Of the red variety Falkner says
that "in redness and colour it bears so strong a resemblance to
red marble, that it is a difficult matter to distinguish them."
NATURAL PRODUCTS 233
doubtless be developed on a large scale, for the wood is
used for sleepers, building, and furniture-making. It has
been suggested that the abundant poplars might be
employed in making paper pulp ; and, indeed, the timber
resources of Argentina, although less vast than those of
most of her neighbours, are certain to be a source of
increasing profit. The export of quebracho logs, which
now amounts to 254,571 tons, has been almost stationary
for some years ; but the figures for the extract, which in
1902 were only 9,099, are now 48,161.^
The oldest and most celebrated of the forest products
is yerha mate. Pedro Lozano declared that the tree
which produced that vegetable surpassed all other trees
in utility. "The tree," 2 he says, "is very high, leafy, and
bulky. The leaf is also somewhat bulky, very green, and
in shape like a tongue. The yerha is obtained by cutting
the branches, and placing them upon brushwood, and
roasting them slowly; by hand labour they grind the
leaves thus roasted in holes sunk in the ground and
lined with skins. In all this process the labour of the
Indians is so severe that they sweat profusely, because
they work the whole day without intermission and with
very little food. They eat nothing all day but such
forest fruits as chance gives them, and when they have
had their supper at night their repose is brief, for within
four hours they are obliged to rise and carry on their
shoulders the ground leaves to other places, where they
make leather packages to take them to other provinces."
Lozano speaks with indignation of this cruelty to the
Indians, which had depopulated all that part of the world
except the Misiones. He gives an elaborate account of
the history and uses of yerba mate. Its popularity has
* The total value of quebracho exported during the year 1905
amounted to over 7,000,000 dollars gold.
' " Coleccion," i. 199.
234 ARGENTINA
never waned, among the country people at least, for its
bitter taste and stimulating properties are invaluable to
the tired rider, and it fills the place that tea does to the
Australian Bushman or coffee to the South African Boer.
The tea is drunk through a homhillay or tube, which is
placed in the mate, or gourd containing the infusion,
and it is passed round among the company. Yerha mate
is raised more extensively in Paraguay and Brazil than in
Argentina ; but the value of the crop is well recognised,
and recently the Government distributed fifty thousand
plants among settlers.
The mineral wealth of Argentina is very much less
than that of most South American countries. In every
part of the Continent the difficulty of extracting the ore
and bringing it to the coast is considerable, and tends to
impair the value of even rich mines ; but in Argentina,
where the mineral veins are usually not very abundant,
the difficulties have seemed almost insuperable, and con-
sequently the capital employed in mining is small. As
might have been expected, the Andine and sub-Andine
regions almost monopolise the mining interest.
The most famous mine is that at Famatina in La Rioja.
The fields cover an area of 720 miles, but they are not
ancient workings like most of those in Peru and Bolivia.
As was said in the earlier chapters, Argentina was
fortunate enough to dispel the suspicion of possessing
the precious metals, and, as she is the poorest of South
American lands in minerals, so she is richest in all
else. But unquestionably she would be still richer, and
possibly an important manufacturing community, if
petroleum or coal could be discovered in great quan-
tities. To return to Famatina, it is said that some
Mexican miners passing by in the eighteenth century
were struck by the colour of the river and followed it
upward to the mountains, where they discovered great
BULLOCK-BREAKING IN JUJUY,
AN OSTRICH.
To face p. 234.
NATURAL PRODUCTS 235
treasure. This mine is called the Mexicana, and is
situated at an elevation of 16,500 feet, where the men
work in the fashion described by Darwin in Chile. Of
late the Government has been at pains to improve the
communications, but hitherto the ore (gold, silver, and
copper) has not been sufficiently rich to yield much
profit. In the neighbourhood silver and copper mines
have been worked fitfully, and occasionally fortunes have
been made; but the unsettled state of the country and
the death or disappearance of those who knew the secrets
of the hidden ore were unfavourable to enterprise. All
over the two continents it is believed that discoveries of
fabulous wealth would be made if the Indians told all
they knew ; but they keep their secrets tenaciously, and
make prospecting unsafe.
During the Spanish dominion little was done in the
way of mining. Shortly after the Revolution, when it
was believed that the South American countries, enjoying
the advantage of ** freedom," would go ahead, consider-
able interest was taken in Argentine mines, and Sir
Francis Head made an adventurous journey across the
Pampas and visited the gold-mines of San Lttis and
the silver-mines of Uspallata in the interests of the
Rio Plata Mining Association, which had been formed
in 1824. The Argentine Government did not deal
honestly with the company in the matter of concessions,
and Head came to the conclusion that there was no
probability of obtaining satisfactory results by the im-
portation of Cornish miners. The sum of ;£6o,ooo had
been spent without any return, and Head's relations
with his employers became strained. ^ The unfortunate
' •* I feel it a duty which I owe to the Association shortly to state
that, having ridden 6,000 miles in South America — having thrown
myself on the feeble resources of the country — having been' to the
bottom of every mine which has been inspected — having made all
/
236 ARGENTINA
company collapsed, and this was also the fate of the
Famatina Mines, another English company formed at
the same time, whose German manager was shot by the
ferocious Quiroga and its capital of 1,000,000 dollars lost.
Under Rosas, of course, mining and all other enter-
prise languished, but the belief in Argentina's mineral
wealth continued, and from time to time attempts were
made to develop it. A report published in the sixties
states : " Extensive tracts of country are also highly
auriferous, and gold-dust makes a considerable figure
in the exports of Jujuy. The sierra of Cordova possesses
silver, copper, lead, tin, zinc, and iron mines, besides a
number of quarries of splendid marbles ; and the same
may be said of several of the provinces we have named.
Petroleum, equal in quality to that of Pennsylvania, has
been lately discovered, and, if our information be not
altogether inaccurate, there is every reason to believe it
will soon become valuable as a source of revenue and
national wealth. Little has as yet been done to develop
the mineral affluence of the Republic; but it is hoped
effective efforts will shortly be made to work some of its
already celebrated mines, as well as many more which
diligent 'prospecting' would certainly reveal to the
knowledge of mankind."
In 1873 the export of metals of gold and copper
amounted to 320,000 dollars gold. Progress was prob-
ably slow, but it has made considerable positive advance,
the observations I was capable of making — having lived in deserts,
and almost in solitude, nearly a year, with no other subject on my
mind than the interests of the Association — I deliberately declare
upon my honour and upon my character, that it is my humble, but
decided opinion —
" ist. That the working of the mines in the provinces of Rio de la
Plate, by an English Association, is politically unsafe ; and —
"2nd. That if there were no such risk, the expense would far
exceed the returns." (Head, " Reports," pp. 51-2.)
NATURAL PRODUCTS 237
for the recent average of gold exports alone has been
about 382,000 dollars gold. Copper has, of late, remained
stationary. Salt is produced in considerable quantities,
chiefly in the south of the Province of Buenos Aires,
and for a time petroleum borings in several parts of the
Andes excited great hopes. Some trains were run by
petroleum; but, unfortunately, the yield dwindled, and no
fresh discoveries in satisfactory quantities have been made.
The principal mining Provinces are Jujuy, San Juan,
La Rioja, Mendoza, Salta, San Luis, and Catarnarca, as
well as several parts of Patagonia. Gold, in paying
quantities, is almost confined to the Famatina mines in
La Rioja; but there are also workings in Jujuy, Salta,
and Patagonia. Lead is found in La Rioja, Cordoba,
Mendoza, and San Luis. Copper occurs chiefly in La
Rioja. Iron has been discovered in Mendoza, Cordoba,
La Rioja, and San Juan, but the quality is poor. Coal
has been found in small quantities in Mendoza, San
Juan, and Neuquen. Petroleum occurs in Salta and
Mendoza ; while valuable borax deposits have been
worked in Salta, Jujuy, and the Territory of Andes.
It is not probable that as long as Argentina offers so
many more tempting opportunities to capital any very
great attention will be paid to mining ; but it may be
that when the outlying Provinces, which are the mining
districts, become settled and interlaced with roads and
railways, it will be possible to apply more economical
mining methods, and the task of discovery will be easy.
But unless coal and petroleum are discovered it is im-
probable that the mines of Argentina will be of a value
in any way comparable to her agricultural and pastoral
industries.
CHAPTER XIX
BAHIA BLANCA AND PATAGONIA
Bahia Blanca is one of the youngest of sea-ports.
It only obtained railway communication in 1885, and
it was not considered of sufficient importance for a
separate article in the tenth edition of the " Encyclopedia
Britannica." It has now a population of about forty
thousand.
Buenos Aires and Rosario have long been the great
wheat ports, but they have now a formidable rival in
the new southern city. Much of the best wheat land
is in the south of the Province of Buenos Aires and
Bahia Blanca is the natural outlet for it. There is
hardly a limit to the amount of grain that will be sent
to this port for shipment when the southern regions
are systematically irrigated, and the railways, always
alive to the importance of developing the country they
serve, are preparing large schemes. Bahia Blanca is
indeed one of the most important objectives of railway
enterprise in South America. The Great Southern was
the first in the field and for many years had a monopoly,
but the most enterprising of all the lines, the Buenos
Aires and Pacific, has lately been tempted by the
splendid prospects of the south and has acquired the
management of the Bahia Blanca and North-Western
system. It has built moles and warehouses and in
every way improved and enlarged the port.
i
BAHIA BLANCA AND PATAGONIA 239
The journey from the capital to Bahia Blanca is
not interesting, for the greater part is over a dead level
and the country is unrelieved by hedgerows or any of
the picturesque landscapes which we in the Old World
associate with the countryside. The journey is also
rendered disagreeable by the dust which is the invariable
concomitant of Argentine railway travelling. In the
latter half the monotony is relieved by a low range of
green mountains, the Sierra Tandil, which are practically
the only break in the plain between Brazil and the
extreme south. The town itself is not attractive on
first view, for it is white and bare. The shore is low
and fringed with lagoons and the glaring white roads
are not restful to the eye. This feature is due to tosca,
a kind of limestone with which all the roads in the
neighbourhood are made. But much has been done
by art to improve the tameness of nature.
There are two towns. Eastward is the Puerto
Militar, the great naval harbour, and some miles to
the west lies the Civil Port, Bahia Blanca proper,
which will soon be as familiar a name as Liverpool or
Rotterdam. The naval town is the work of the accom-
plished Italian engineer, Chevalier Luis Luiggi, who
has constructed magnificent naval works. The graving
dock is very fine and will receive battleships of the
largest size, nor was the Italian neglectful of the artistic
side of town planning, for he has transformed a desert
into a garden, and Puerto Belgrano, as it is called, is
likely to be in the future a fashionable watering-place,
as well as a naval base. Gums, acacias, and tamarisks
have been planted, and numerous gardens have been laid
out. On the Civil Port immense sums have been spent,
and it has been made thoroughly fit to deal with the
portentous grain traffic, large already and which must
very soon attain marvellous proportions. The com-
240 ARGENTINA
petition of two powerful railways assures Bahia Blanca
of being well served both in the matter of docks and
transport.
Patagonia, which a generation ago was hardly known
except by the reports of sailors, who had occasionally
explored its coasts, and which was fabled as a land of
giants, is now beginning to raise its veil of mystery
and to be known as an important seat of the wool
trade. But it is still imperfectly explored, and not long
ago an expedition was despatched to search for the
grypotherium, a strange beast which was rumoured to
live in the inaccessible forests. It may be doubted
whether it has more reality than the sea serpent.
As we saw in a previous chapter, Patagonia possesses
extreme interest for the geologist. It is a recent forma-
tion, for at one period, not very far distant from a
geological point of view, it formed the vast Pampean
sea. The late Colonel Church ^ has treated the subject in
an interesting paper of which the opening remarks are
a summary : " I shall try to show that the Plata
drainage area was, in a recent geological period, much
more extensive than it is to-day ; that its most northern
limit was in 10° 44' S. lat., and that nearly the entire
waters which now unite to form the Madeira River, the
main affluent of the Amazon, once flowed southward
into a Pampean sea, which penetrated north over the
plains of the present Argentine Republic, to about
190 S. lat." It was probably 1,400 miles in length with
an average breadth of 400 miles, and perhaps two-thirds
the size of the Mediterranean. The Pampean forma-
tion is estimated to have an age of seventy thousand years.
Between the history of its geological formation and our
own time the record of Patagonia, though picturesque,
is not important. It was a no-man's land, abandoned
* Geog. Journ,, October, 1898.
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II
BAHIA BLANCA AND PATAGONIA 241
as worthless to savages and only visited by the curious
or by those who were making their way to more profit-
able regions. As is well known, the explorer Magellan
was the first to set foot in this country, which he called
Tierra de Pantagones from the large footprints which
he found in the sand, and many of the places at which
he touched still bear the names he gave them. Several
Spanish navigators and also Drake visited it during
the sixteenth century, but Sarmiento de Gamboa, who
made useful surveys, was the only one to add much
to our knowledge of Patagonia. He also attempted
to settle the country, but without success, for Thomas
Cavendish (who named Port Desire after his own ship)
saw in 1586, twenty- three famished Spaniards, the only
survivors of the city of King Philip, founded by Gamboa
on the Straits. These poor creatures were trying to
return to the Plate district. Cavendish, therefore,
named the deserted settlement the Town of Famine,
and it retains the name of Port Famine to this day. »
In 1590 John Davys found a solitary straggler here,
and the bold navigator thus describes his barren ex-
periences 2 : " Here we made a boat of the boards of
our chests, which, being finished, we sent seven armed
men in the same on land on the north shore, being
wafted on land by the savages with certain white skins ;
who, as soon as they came on shore, were presently
killed by an hundred of the wild people in the sight
of two of our men, which rowed them on shore, which
two only escaped back again to us with the boat. After
* Darwin remarks of the remains of the Spanish settlement,
that " the style in which they were commenced shows the strong
and liberal hand of Spain in the old time. . . . Port Famine
expresses by its name the lingering and extreme sufferings of
several hundred wretched people, of whom one alone survived
to relate their misfortunes" ("Voyage of the Beagle," chap. viii.).
' Hakluyt, Extra Series, xi. 383.
17
242 ARGENTINA
this traitorous slaughter of our men, we fell back again
with our ship to the north-eastward of Port Famine
to a certain road, where we refreshed ourselves with
mussels, and took in water and wood." The country
was long neglected, but in 1670 Sir John Narborough
appeared off the coast with several men-of-war, when,
after coasting round as far as Valdivia, he found
that the Spaniards were too strong and returned to
England.
Reference has already been made to the famous
voyage of Anson. In his adventurous circumnavigation
he spent but a comparatively short time on the Pata-
gonian coast, and he gives little information about the
natives, but his account of the country exactly tallies
with that of other explorers. It was described as being
entirely treeless. "But though this country be so
destitute of wood, it abounds with pasture. For the
land appears in general to me, made up of downs of
a light dry gravelly soil, and produces great quantities
of long coarse grass, which grows in tufts interspersed
with large barren spots of gravel between them. This
grass, in many places, feeds immense herds of cattle ;
for the Spaniards at Buenos Ayres, having brought over
a few black cattle from Europe at their first settlement,
they have thriven prodigiously by the plenty of herb-
age which they have found here, and now increased
to that degree, and are extended so far into the country,
that they are not considered as private property ; but
many thousands at a time are slaughtered every year
by the hunters, only for their hides and tallow." ^
In 1764 Byron visited the coast of Patagonia and
made friends with the inhabitants, whose vast size
greatly impressed him. His scribe calls the chief a
"frightful Colossus," and thus describes the surprise
» Walter, « A Voyage Round the World," p. 55.
BAHIA BLANCA AND PATAGONIA 243
which the giants created ^ : " Mr. Gumming came up
with the tobacco, and I could not but smile at the
astonishment which I saw expressed in his countenance
upon perceiving himself, though six feet two inches
high, become at once a pigmy among giants ; for
these people may indeed more properly be called giants
than tall men ; of the few among us who are six feet
high, scarcely any are broad and muscular in pro-
portion to their stature, but look rather like men of
the common bulk, run up accidentally to an unusual
height ; and a man who should measure only six
feet two inches, and equally exceed a stout well-set
man of the common stature in breadth and muscle,
would strike us rather as being of gigantic race, than
as an individual accidentally anomalous ; our sensations
therefore, upon seeing five hundred people, the shortest
of whom were at least four inches taller, and bulky in
proportion, may be easily imagined." This is a point
upon which testimony varies. Sir John Narborough's
mate, Mr. Wood, declared that he saw no native who
was taller than himself.
In the eighteenth century the Spaniards made several
attempts to settle Patagonia, and the English Jesuit,
Thomas Falkner, wrote a most valuable account of
the country and people. He mentions a voyage of
discovery made in 1746, in which, however, the captain
neglected to explore the river Deseado. His reasons
were "that his orders were only to discover if there
was any port fit to make a settlement, near or
not very far from the mouth of the Straits, that might
afford supplies for ships in their passage to the South
Seas ; that he had surveyed all from Port Gallegos,
without finding one place fit for forming a settlement
upon, on account of the barrenness of the soil, - and
* Hawkesworth, "An Account of the Voyages," i. 26.
244 ARGENTINA
the want of the common necessaries of wood and
water ; that he had done what was sufficient to quiet
the King of Spain, with respect to any jealousies he
might have of a certain northern nation's being so
fooHsh as to attempt a settlement in such a country,
where as many as were left must perish ; that the Bay
Sans Fond was at too great a distance from Cape
Horn, to come within the circle of his instructions ;
that his stock of fresh water was scarce sufficient to
reach the river of Plata, and he was not certain whether
he should be able to get any more at the mouth of
the River of Sauces." ^
Falkner gave a very full account of the Tehuelches,
and his work was read with great interest by the
Spanish authorities, who began to fear that other nations
might make settlements in Patagonia. They accordingly
despatched two brothers, named Viedma, with ex-
peditions, and Francisco Viedma founded Carmen at
the mouth of the Rio Negro, while Antonio established
another colony at Port St. Julian. He also explored the
interior and made his way as far as the great inland lake
from which flows the Rio Santa Cruz.
In 1827 and for several years after Captain Fitzroy,
in command of the Adventure and Beagle explored
Patagonia, and wrote a long account of his experiences,
but, for information about the interior, he relies
chiefly upon Falkner. This valuable expedition added
immensely to our geographical and zoological know-
ledge, and Captain Fitzroy carefully observed such
natives as he met and endeavoured to civilise several
of them. He remarks 2 : " The moral restraints of these
people seem to be very slight. Each man is at liberty
to do as much as he feels inclined ; and if he does not
* " A Description of Patagonia," pp. 84-5.
' " Narrative of the Surveying Voyages,'' ii. 167-8.
BAHIA BLANCA AND PATAGONIA 245
injure or offend his neighbour, is not interfered with
by others. Their social habits are those handed down
by their ancestors, and adapted to the Hfe they are
compelled to lead. Ideas of improvement do not
trouble them. Contented with their fine climate —
plenty of wholesome food, and an extensive range of
country — they rather pity white people, who seem to
them always in want of provisions, and tossed about at
sea. These natives have a great dislike to the motion
of a ship ; yet, for novelty, they will go afloat when
opportunity offers." The Patagonians have an inveterate
belief in witchcraft ; it seems to be their strongest
quasi-religious sentiment. They are generally well-
behaved and good-tempered, but are liable to gusts of
passion, which make them uncertain, and there is a
Spanish proverb to the effect that one should never
trust an Indian.
The name of Darwin is inseparably associated with
that of Fitzroy and his ships. In 1834 the latter in
company with the great naturalist made a long voyage
up the Rio Santa Cruz. A party of twenty-five started
on April i8th, in three whale-boats with provisions for
three weeks. The river was several hundred yards
broad, and in the middle about 17 feet deep, the
water of a fine blue colour, and the current had
a velocity of from four to six miles an hour. The
boats were towed by relays of the crews. The country
was not uninhabited, for the explorers discovered
traces of Indians, but Darwin describes it as singularly
uninteresting ; it was shingle desert dotted with stunted
plants. Mice, foxes, guanacos, condors, and pumas were
abundant. On May 4th, they were in full view of the
Andes. Darwin ^ says : " Everywhere we met with the
same productions, and the same dreary landscape. . We
* " Voyage of the Beagle" chap. iv.
246 ARGENTINA
were now one hundred and forty miles distant from
the Atlantic, and about sixty from the nearest arm of
the Pacific. The valley in this upper part expanded
into a wide basin, bounded on the north and south
by the basaltic platforms, and fronted by the long range
of the snow-clad Cordillera. But we viewed these
grand mountains with regret, for we were obliged to
imagine their nature and productions, instead of standing,
as we had hoped, on their summits." Fitzroy was be-
coming anxious about the supplies, and the party rapidly
descended the river, reaching the Beagle by May 8th.
In spite of his disappointment, Darwin was well
pleased with his excursion, which had given him
useful knowledge of the geological formation of Pata-
gonia. In fact, the Darwin-Fitzroy expedition yielded,
on the whole, more valuable results than any that has
ever been made to that country.
As Chile and Argentina advanced in wealth and
became more settled, the unexplored plains of Pata-
gonia were coveted by both, and, as has been seen, a
long dispute was at last terminated in a satisfactory
manner. As was natural, the lion's share was obtained
by Argentina, but the most important parts of Tierra del
Fuego are in possession of Chile, and the flourishing
harbour of Punta Arenas, which is becoming a great
wool depot, is also Chilian. With prospects of industrial
development and greater security of attacks from the
Indians, explorers began to show activity. Some forty
years ago an adventurous Englishman joined himself to
a company of wandering Indians and went all over
the interior. He describes the country about the Rio
Chico as a barren desert of rocks and all intersected with
deep ravines which seemed to have been torn out of the
surface by some tremendous explosive force. Near the
coast is an inhospitable tract called the Devil's Country,
BAHIA BLANCA AND PATAGONIA 247
which even the Indians never enter, and they declare
that the country near the sea is so rough that an Indian
would take two years to march from Santa Cruz to the
Rio Negro. This circumstance, he thinks, has caused
sailors to describe Patagonia as an entirely arid country.
In fact, after the coast barrier has been passed, the coun-
try abounds in lagoons, springs, and frequent streams.
It is probable that within a generation Patagonia,
which has long been synonymous for an unknown
desert, and is still less than half explored, may be a
land of much industrial importance. A word may be
said on the interesting subject of the alleged gigantic
stature of the Patagonians, or Tehuelches, for these are
the only race to whom the term Patagonian properly
applies. Authorities are practically unanimous as to the
fact that they are tall, but as to how tall there is
considerable discrepancy.^ Musters^ says : " The average
' The following is the testimony of travellers : —
1520. Pigafetta. The least, taller than the tallest man in Castile.
1578. Drake. Not taller than some Englishmen.
1591. Knyvet. Fifteen or sixteen spans high.
1598. Van Noort. Natives of tall stature.
16 1 5. Schouten. Human skeletons ten or eleven feet long.
1669. Narborough. Mr. Wood was taller than any of them.
1750. Falkner. A cacique seven feet and some inches high.
1765. Byron. A chief about seven feet high, and few of the
others shorter.
1766. Wallis. Measured some of the tallest : one was six feet
seven inches, several six feet five inches ; the average
height was between five feet ten inches and six feet.
1783. Viedma. Generally six feet high.
1829. D'Orbigny. Never found any exceeding five feet eleven
inches ; average height, five feet four inches.
1833. Fitzroy and Darwin. Tallest of any people : average
height, six feet, some taller and a few shorter.
1867-8. Cunningham. Rarely less than five feet eleven inches in
height, and often exceeding six feet by a few inches
One measured six feet ten inches.
» "At Home with the Patagonians," pp. 165--6.
248 ARGENTINA
height of the Tehuelche male members of the party with
which I travelled was rather over than under five feet ten
inches. Of course, no other means of measurement
besides comparing my own height were available ; but
this result, noted at the time, coincides with that inde-
pendently arrived at by Mr. Cunningham. Two others,
who were measured carefully by Mr. Clarke, stood six
feet four inches each. After joining the Northern Tehu-
elches, although the Southerners proved generally to be
the tallest, I found no reason to alter this average, as any
smaller men that were met with in their company were
not pure Tehuelches, but half-bred Pampas. The extra-
ordinary muscular development of the arms and chest is
in all particularly striking, and as a rule they are well
proportioned throughout. This fact calls for especial
mention, as others have stated that the development and
strength of the legs is inferior to that of the arms. Even
Mr. Cunningham alleges this to be the case, but I cannot
at all agree with him." Mr. Campbell suggests ^ that as
the men have very long bodies they appear much taller
than they really are when seated upon horseback, but
there is ample evidence to prove that they are the largest
race of people in the world.
Most modern travellers give these natives a good
character ; they are tolerably honest, good-natured, and
treat their women well. They have no idols, but
worship a good and great spirit ; however, as said
before, witchcraft seems to be the strongest element in
their religion. One writer tells of a Patagonian setting
his daughter on a horse naked and galloping after the
animal lashing and shouting at it. The explanation
was that the girl had a severe attack of measles, and as
the devil was known greatly to dislike noise and cold,
it was thought that these vigorous measures would
^ " Through Patagonia," p. 6.
BAHIA BLANCA AND PATAGONIA 249
induce him to forsake the girl's body. Within recent
times they have not been ill-treated, but unfortunately,
like most savages, they cannot resist the mysterious,
wasting effect of civilisation. A recent traveller ^ says :
" Those surviving are all civilised, and there is not the
slightest danger for the traveller in associating with
them. They often possess fine troops of horses ; some
of them also own cattle. Many speak Spanish, and
once or twice a year they go down to Punta Arenas or
to Gallegos to exchange their guanaco mantles and
ostrich feathers for different kinds of provisions and
implements. But the number of guanacos is diminish-
ing day by day, the land is becoming absorbed, and
the Indians impoverished by the white traders ; they are
getting mixed with the whites, and so the day cannot
be far off when the last Patagonian in the old sense
shall have ceased to exist."
The most northerly part of Patagonia is the Gober-
nacion of Rio Negro. The only town of any importance
is Patagones, which was founded by Viedema in 1780
under the name of Carmen. That part which is
on the north bank of the Rio Negro is still called
Carmen de Patagones, and the southern town preserves
the name of Viedma. It has a good harbour, some miles
from the sea, and has steamboat connection with Buenos
Aires, while a coach runs to Bahia Blanca three times a
week. There is a large trade in salt and also in fruit.
The latter grows in abundance on the small islands of
the river,2 and the peaches and cherries are excellent,
* Otto Nordenskjold, Geog. Journ., October, 1897.
*" Never river seemed fairer to look upon, extending away on
either hand until it melted and was lost in the blue horizon, its low
shores clothed in all the glory of groves and fruit orchards, and
vineyards and fields of ripening maize" (Hudson, "Idle Days in
Patagonia," p. 17).
250 ARGENTINA
while irrigation is creating orchards on the mainland.
Far inland, also on the Rio Negro, is Roca, a small
military post. This Gobernacion is the most populous
part of Patagonia, and when railways and irrigation are
seriously applied to it, there will be no limit to its
development. On the west it is bounded by the Andean
territory of Nequen.
Next comes the Gobernacion of Chubut to the south.
Its interest and importance is due to the settlement of
plucky Welsh settlers, who now form a most valuable
body of colonists. Nearly fifty years ago a philanthropic
Welsh gentleman visited the United States and was dis-
tressed to find that his countrymen there had begun to
lose their nationality. He determined to found a Welsh
settlement in Argentina ; a grant of land was obtained
from the Government, and in 1865 the Welshmen arrived
at Port Madryn, and, after undergoing unexampled hard-
ships in the inhospitable valley of Chubut, developed
into a flourishing community of pastoralists and agri-
culturists. There are now four hundred Welsh farms in
the district. There is also a colony in the Andes of
about five hundred souls. It is nearly 400 miles from
Port Madryn. Rawson is the official capital of the colony
and lies about 5 miles up the Chubut River. Trelew,
the largest town, is 10 miles higher up. Gaiman is 9
miles further inland, and 13 miles from Gaiman
is the Anglican Church of St. David. Port Madryn
is 42 miles by rail from Trelew.^ In many of the
churches and chapels services are conducted in Welsh.
The South American Missionary Society has done noble
^ This little railway escaped notice in the chapter on railways.
It is an English company, the Central Railway of Chubut, which
was registered in 1886. Besides the original 42 miles an extension
of 10 miles to Gaiman will soon be open. In 1907-8 the net profits
on working were £6,()2().
BAHIA BLANCA AND PATAGONIA 251
work in supplying buildings and chaplains, and the
courage and enterprise of the hardy colonists is a
striking episode in the history of colonisation.
More than loo miles to the south is Camerones Bay,
near which are some fine estancias. There is great
promise for sheep-farming in this district, but the coast
has a waterless strip about 25 miles broad. Further
inland there is excellent water and pasture.
The most desolate Gobernacion of all this desolate
country is undoubtedly Santa Cruz itself. It takes its name
from that river, the second largest in Patagonia, which
Darwin found such difficulty in ascending. It is said
that it will be navigable by steamers when its channel is
ascertained, and Dr. Moreno has advanced as far as the
Lago Argentino. The town of Santa Cruz has only a
few hundred inhabitants, but it possesses a fine natural
harbour, and may some day be a place of importance.
Far to the North the Rio Deseado abounds in wild fowl,
and at its mouth is the once famous Port Desire.
Almost as far to the south and at no great distance
from the Straits of Magellan is the considerable town
of Port Gallegos, possessing a bank and a good trade.
More than ten years ago a traveller ^ said : " The coasts
of the Straits of Magellan and of the Atlantic have long
been occupied, but just lately many settlers have taken
up their quarters in the Gallegos valley and in the
region between Last Hope inlet, and the lakes right
away towards the dry Patagonian pampa. Until recently
land could be got very cheaply, and there is still a lot
of good * camp ' unoccupied, but that state of things
will not last long. Most of the settlers are Enghsh-
speaking people, hailing from England, Scotland, the
Falkland Islands, or Australia."
Something should now be said of the lake system
* O. Nordenskjold, Geog. Journ., October, 1897.
252 ARGENTINA
of Patagonia. The northernmost sheet of water of any
size is Buenos Aires. Its length is 75 miles, and
though it is close to the Andes, it is only 985 feet
above the level of the sea. It is the largest of the
lakes. Next in position and next in size is Lake Viedma.
Its elevation is 828 feet, and it lies in a savage region.
Somewhat less in area but consisting of three arms is
Lake Argentino at the head of the Rio Santa Cruz.
It is connected with Viedma by the Leona. This lake
was only discovered in 1868 by Gardiner. In some
cases the scenery is very fine ; Buenos Aires is a lake
of special beauty, and possibly in the future the district
will be one of the world's pleasure-grounds. The
development of Argentina has been so rapid that there
has been no leisure to spare for inaccessible spots, but
it may be that at some distant date the wealthy Argen-
tines will be glad to take advantage of their splendid
mountains and no longer be content with commonplace
seaside resorts.
The fauna of Patagonia are not specially varied.
Those who desire the results of keen observation on the
subject should turn to Darwin's " Voyage of the Beagle."
The guanaco and the ostrich are the most notable,
and the latter creature is in great favour in Northern
Argentina as a destroyer of locusts. Darwin ^ says :
'^The guanaco, or wild llama, is the characteristic
quadruped of the plains of Patagonia ; it is the South
American representative of the camel of the East. It
is an elegant animal in a state of nature, with a long
slender neck and fine legs. It is very common over
the whole of the temperate parts of the continent, as
far south as the islands near Cape Horn. It generally
lives in small herds of from half a dozen to thirty in
each ; but on the banks of the St. Cruz we saw one
* " Voyage of the Beagle^* chap, viii.
BAHIA BLANCA AND PATAGONIA 253
herd which must have contained at least five hundred."
It is a gentle animal and easily domesticated, but, of
course, in the plains it is not nearly as useful as the
invaluable llama of the Chilian and Peruvian Andes.
Patagonia is almost virgin land, a spacious adjunct
to a country whose wealth and scanty population has
hitherto prevented the inhabitants from seeking pastures
new when the new are less luxuriant than the old. For
long years it was considered almost worthless and was
abandoned to wandering tribes of Indians. Now it is
recognised as having a great future before it, and,
promising as have been the settlements already, it can
hardly be said that a beginning has yet been made, for
Patagonia has hardly any railways, and the abundant
rivers have scarcely been tapped for the purposes of
irrigation. When iron rails have opened up the fine
pasture-lands and when the waters of the great
streams shall have been utilised for agriculture, it is
safe to predict that the expansion of Argentina will
exceed beyond comparison the progress hitherto
made — a progress which even now fills the world with
astonishment.
CHAPTER XX
ACROSS THE CONTINENT TO MENDOZA UNDER
THE ANDES
The Buenos Aires and Pacific line across the continent
from the Argentine capital to Valparaiso is a magnificent
achievement in railway enterprise. Perhaps at no great
distance of time the Pan-American railway will be
completed and the traveller will be able to take the train
at New York for Valparaiso and so to Buenos Aires, but
as yet that line consists chiefly of missing links, and
the Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway Company (which,
curiously enough, happens to be English, not German),
is the first in South America to join the oceans. To
Mendoza the journey is easy and pleasant. The train
leaves the Retiro station at Buenos Aires at 8 a.m. and
reaches Mendoza early the next morning at about 5 a.m.
The trains are extremely comfortable ; the carriages are
on the American plan and restaurant cars are attached ;
a reasonable amount of luggage is allowed. Only first
and second (we should less logically say first and third)
carriages are in use and the fares are high. They will
doubtless be lowered when traffic increases ; at present
only three through trains are run a week. Compared
with English trains they are not fast, but they are faster
than the average of those of Continental Europe. Alto-
gether the Buenos Aires and Pacific is a very fine line
and under extremely efficient management.
254
MENDOZA UNDER THE ANDES 255
The journey affords no feature of natural interest, for
the country, covered with maize or grass, is extremely
flat, but it is pleasant to see the evidences of virealth — noble
cattle grazing in the fields, great flocks of sheep, and
the heavy crops of grain. The general air of prosperity
is the more pleasing to one who has recently passed
through Brazil and seen there every sign of wretched-
ness. There are few towns of importance on the route ;
indeed, such as there are owe their consequence chiefly
to the railway. This is the case with Mercedes, which
was founded in 1856 as an outpost against the Indians,
and their depredations were for a long time a bar to
its prosperity. It is now a great railway junction. San
Luis was a small village in 1788, and although it is
now the capital of the Province, it has had an unfor-
tunate history. Its sons fought valiantly for the inde-
pendence of Chile and Peru, but during the civil wars,
which were the result of the Rosas tyranny, its sufferings
were far greater. Up till recently the female population
far exceeded the male, and it was one of the poorest
cities in Argentina. The situation is excellent ; the
town stands high with views of the snow-peaks of the
Andes, and the country round about is well wooded.
It may one day be a place of remarkable prosperity.
The train reaches Mendoza at an unconscionably early
hour, and the cold and gloom prevent the formation
of any impression about the beauties of the garden city.
For South America, the Province and city of Mendoza
are extremely ancient. It was in 1559 that Garcia de
Mendoza, the Governor of Chile, sent Pedro Castillo
with a small force to annex the district of Cuyo. This
included not only Mendoza, but also the Provinces
of San Juan and San Luis, and for more than two
centuries it formed part of Chile, but the famo.us
Decree of 1776 transferred it to the Viceroyalty of
256 ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires. During the Revolution it was divided
into three provinces. Mendoza, the town, which is as
old as the Province, was in the early part of the nine-
teenth century a beautiful place, extremely prosperous,
and its dolce far niente won the hearts of all who visited
it.^ But it was destroyed by one of the most terrible
and devastating catastrophes that ever visited a com-
munity. It was the evening of Ash Wednesday,
March 20, 1861, and the whole of Mendoza was at
church. Suddenly a rumbling noise was heard, and
in a moment the city was razed to the ground
and thirteen thousand people destroyed. Barely two
thousand escaped. One of the survivors was a gentle-
man named Don Jaime Albarracin, who has given a
vivid account of the affair .2 He tells how the weather
had been sultry for some days. His family had gone
to church and he was sitting at the window of his
house talking to M. Bravard, the well-known French
geologist, whose researches had led him to predict the
destruction of Mendoza by earthquake. Don Jaime
heard a crash and immediately found himself buried
under the ruins of his house with a broken leg. Fires
had broken out and raged all night within a short
distance of him. All day long he remained there and
for another night. " The horror of my situation was
increased by a dreadful thirst ; the very air I breathed
was thick with dust and smoke. If seemed an inter-
* " If a man could but bear an indolent life, there can be no spot
upon earth where he might be more indolent and more independent
than at Mendoza, for he might sleep all day, and eat ices in the
evening, until his hour-glass was out. Provisions are cheap, and the
people who bring them quiet and civil ; the climate is exhausting,
and the whole population indolent " (Head, " Rough Notes,"
pp. 70, 71).
' See Mrs. Mulhall's "Between the Amazon and Andes,"
pp. 127-31.
MENDOZA UNDER THE ANDES 257
minable night. The second day I heard voices, and
summoning all my strength, called out loudly for
assistance. All was again silent for a couple of hours,
till the afternoon, when I woke from a short sleep to
hear footsteps quite close to me. The first man who
approached me replied with a coarse insult when
I begged him to lift the beam under which I lay. His
comrades were no less inhuman, for they were one of
the numerous gangs of banditti attracted like birds of
prey to the scene of disaster. They had seen the flames
afar off on the pampas, and came in scent of booty."
Yet another night was passed, but on the following
day he bribed a robber with his gold watch to Hft him
out of the debris, and finally he was taken to a hut.
The fires continued to rage and they were followed by
an unbearable smell from the decomposing carcases,
and the survivors had to be carried away to farm-
houses. The Governor perished, as also did the French
scientist who made the all too accurate prediction. ** So
complete was the destruction, that when a new Governor
was appointed a year later, and the site marked out for
reconstruction, the Government could find no heirs or
claimants on behalf of three-fourths of the families of
the old city." The only vestige of old Mendoza that
remains is the pillars of the Cathedral, to which is
affixed the following tablet : "Ruinas del templo de
San Augustin destruido por el terremoto del 20 de
Marzo de 1861."
The people of Mendoza are still very nervous about
earthquake shocks, which occur frequently, but there
has been nothing serious since 1861.
It is for this reason that the new Mendoza was laid
out with very wide streets and roomy squares and
almost all the houses were built of wood. This
spaciousness adds greatly to the attractiveness of the
18
258 ARGENTINA
town and is a great relief after Buenos Aires. The
town, thus covering a large area, appears to be more
considerable than it in reality is, but it is rapidly
growing, and its forty thousand population will
probably soon be doubled. Land in the outskirts is
rapidly rising in value, and great credit is due to the
State of Mendoza, which is planning the extensions on
a very handsome scale. At the west end a large park
and zoological gardens are being made, and at sunset
there is a beautiful prospect from their pleasant walks,
which seem to be under the very shadow of the Andes.
Their grim and jagged forms appear to be within an
easy walk. But Mendoza itself is like a large park ;
conduits of clear water run on each side of the streets
and their banks are lined with trees. The principal
street, the Calle San Martin, is quite as rustic as the
others, and it contains nearly all the shops which are
large and good for a provincial town. There is an
excellent English Club with a large membership, and
as the climate of Mendoza is genial, the town is by
no means a bad place of residence. The chief
peculiarity of the climate is the almost complete
absence of rain. Mendoza stands at an elevation of
nearly 3,000 feet above the level of the sea, and is
thus, as might have been expected, temperate. The
thermometer rarely touches freezing-point, and seldom
or never 100° F., but the rainfall is only a few
inches yearly, and this rich district is entirely depen-
dent for its fertility on irrigation. In the industrial
chapters something is said about the wine-growing at
Mendoza. Here it will be sufficient merely to mention
the system which covers the uplands with vine and
grain — an ancient system which was bequeathed to
the present inhabitants by the Guarpes, the peaceful
and industrious people who lived here before the
MENDOZA UNDER THE ANDES 259
Spaniards came. The Zanjon Canal passes from the
river Mendoza, near Luxan, traverses through the city
and joins the Tunuyan River, which in turn is united
by another canal to the Desaguadero River, far away
to the east. The canals and their branches are i,ioo
miles in length, and they are said to irrigate a quarter
of the Province. Much fruit is raised, also tobacco,
and in 1835 the mulberry was introduced, so the silk
industry flourishes. As far as its fruit and streams are
concerned, Mendoza may compare with Damascus, and
in every respect is the only Argentine city, except
Cordoba, which possesses any old-world charm. It
is an old Spanish city, and the people have the
leisurely ways and open-air habits of their forefathers.
From the nature of the case it cannot possess fine
buildings, because, in case of another earthquake, the
inhabitants desire light houses that will either resist
the shock, or, if they fall, do the minimum of damage.
But the Cathedral, though plain, is an imposing edifice,
and it attracts very large congregations of men as well
as women. The people of Mendoza are intensely
religious. In Spanish towns the charms of the streets
are quadrupled on Sundays and Holy Days, for they
are full of pretty women in mantillas hurrying to church.
Why the ladies do not always give this beautiful head-
dress preference over ugly imported hats is a mystery
to the masculine mind.
Adjacent is the Province of San Juan, and the Httle
capital of the same name is at no great distance and
is reached by a railway. Founded by the same Pedro
Castillo in 1561, it has few features of interest, but it
has a considerable trade and very good wine is manu-
factured at or near it. A considerable part of the
Province is a desert, but fortunately it possesses- a
useful river, the San Juan, by which parts are irrigated,
260 ARGENTINA
and this work will doubtless be extended. According
to trustworthy figures, the population of this Province
decreased from 91,000 in 1883 to 84,251 in 1895. This
was doubtless due to the commercial catastrophes of
the early nineties.
More interesting is the quiet little town of San Rafael
to the south. It is the capital of a department of that
name and is connected by rail with Mendoza. In the
early days of Rosas it was an important frontier post.
Population, owing to Indian wars and the undeveloped
nature of the country, increased but slowly, the figures
for the whole department being 1,000 in 1857 and 2,000
in 1883. San Rafael is now a flourishing little town,
and its prosperity is assisted by industrious French
settlers. The French language is to be heard almost
as often as Spanish in its streets.
When the traveller has exhausted the attractions of
Mendoza and the neighbourhood he will probably wish
to pursue his way along the Transandine Railway into
Chile. As the start is made very early in the morning
his first near view of the Andes will be made under
favourable circumstances, for the rising sun will flush
them with a glorious crimson.
"Full many a glorious morning have I seen
Flatter the mountain-tops with sovereign eye."
But the general scenery of the Mendoza Andes is
most disappointing. In autumn, at least, even the
mighty Aconcagua shows very little snow, and in
general the mountains are perfectly bare with the
straightest of contours. Their size is their only attrac-
tion. In the Province of Mendoza alone the following
huge mountains are to be found : —
Aconcagua 22,450 feet
Tupungato 22,140 „
':yim9mm!?!fW!r'fW9':
PUENTE DEL INCA.
To face p. 261.
MENDOZA UNDER THE ANDES 261
San Jose 20,130 feet
Iglesia 18,000 „
Cruz de Piedra 17*230 „
San Francisco 17,100 „
Nothing can be more desolate than the appearance
of these unlovely monsters. In some places there is
enough coarse herbage to afford scanty grazing for
ponies, but there is literally nothing else, not a tree,
not a blade of real grass, and all forage and supplies
of every kind have to be brought up by rail. The
valley up which the railway goes is redeemed to some
extent by the river Mendoza, which rushes down
crystal or foaming, but those who are accustomed to
the green forests and boundless snows and rugged
precipices of old-world mountains, will say, " The
old is better."
At Mendoza it was necessary to change carriages
and enter the narrow-gauge train. The locomotive is
a modest affair compared with the great trains which
climb to much greater heights in the Peruvian Andes,
but the gradients are very steep and sometimes the
rack and pinion have to be used. After a run of eight
or ten hours the famous Puente del Inca is reached.
This, standing at an elevation of 9,100 feet, is one
of the dreariest of places, being situated in a desert,
and consisting merely of the station and a hotel.
Beyond the Bridge there is no object of interest and
it is not necessary, perhaps, to speak of the hotel.
The Bridge ^ itself has a commonplace appearance,
* " When one hears of a natural bridge, one pictures to oneself
some deep and narrow ravine, across which a bold mass of rock
has fallen ; or a great arch hollowed out like the vault of a cavern.
Instead of this, the Inca's Bridge consists of a crust of stratified
shingle, cemented together by the deposits of the neighbouring
hot-springs. It appears as if the stream had scooped out a channel
262 ARGENTINA
but it is an extraordinary natural phenomenon. It
appears to be a natural dam of earth and rock lying
athwart the Cuevas River, which has managed to bore
a passage through the barrier. The stones, earth, and
shingle which compose the arch have been cemented
together by deposits from the hot-springs, and the
Bridge is 66 feet high, 120 feet wide, and 20 or 30 feet
thick. Underneath the vaulted arch there bubble up
springs of very high temperature, and the most striking
feature here is the glittering and jagged masses of
stalactite which adorn the grotto. The baths are con-
sidered to have great medicinal value, and there is a
variety called the champagne bath which all arrivals
are urged to take. In course of time Puente del Inca
will no doubt be a much-frequented health resort, and
there would not be the slightest difficulty in obtaining
from the perennial river sufficient water to make a
pretty town with trees and flowers, but it could never
be a place of any natural attractiveness owing to the
poverty of the scenery. Nobody seems to know why
it should be called the Inca's Bridge; probably the
name merely illustrates the tendency of simple people
to attribute strange natural phenomena to the most
powerful active force with which they are acquainted.
Our rustics invariably attribute such things to the
Devil.
However, the climate is cold and bracing, and the
walk — some 10 miles — to Las Cuevas, up the valley
and over the pass, is worth taking. There is, of course,
on one side, leaving an overhanging ledge, which was met by
earth and stones falling down from the opposite cliff. Certainly
an oblique junction, as would happen in such a case, was very
distinct on one side. The Bridge of the Incas is by no means
worthy of the great monarchs whose name it bears " (Darwin,
" Voyage of the Beagle^" chap. xv.).
MEl^DOZA UNDER THE ANDES 263
nothing to see on arrival but some tin huts, and there
is nothing to do but return on foot or by train to
Puente del Inca and long for the train to Valparaiso.
This calls only on alternate days. The journey up
the valley is renewed and the train slowly makes its
way to Las Cuevas. Here the traveller has the oppor-
tunity, which he will soon lose, of riding over the
Andes. The line comes to an end at Las Cuevas,
until it is linked up with that of Chile by the com-
pletion of the permanent way. Here it may be well
to advise the traveller to provide himself at Mendoza
with a supply of Chilian money, for, though the rail-
way officials are ready and anxious to change English
sovereigns into the grimy notes of Chile, their esti-
mate of the Chilian dollar is apt to be of a highly
optimistic character, which is rarely borne out by the
rate of exchange.
Some people amuse themselves with telling travellers
exciting stories of the dizzy precipices to be passed,
and advising them to go by carriage, as the slightest
false step on the part of the mule would result in
certain death. But, in fact, the journey over the pass
is perfectly safe and easy ; there is no precipice up
which a boy of twelve could not easily scramble, and
the mule, frequently disdaining the path, shuffles down
these dangerous heights at a great pace. This pleasant
break in the monotony of the journey is now to be
a thing of the past. The enterprise (English) of the
Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway knows no obstacle,
and succeeded in linking the Atlantic and Pacific with
hoops of iron. A few months ago the tunnel, nearly
2 miles long, was completed, the rails are now laid down,
and it is expected that the line will be open for traffic
by the time these lines are printed. Some people, how-
ever, doubt whether it will be possible to keep it open all
264 ARGENTINA
the year round. At present all passenger traffic is at
an end from about May to October, for the blizzards
and snow-drifts make it dangerous if not impossible,
and there is great difficulty in getting even the mail-
bags through by hand. It remains to be seen whether
snow-ploughs and other implements can be employed
which will be sufficient to clear the line and the
tunnel. But at least the tunnel will be a great con-
venience in summer, although some may regret the
short ride, breasting the keen air.
The mountain-peaks are, of course, as barren as ever,
though a few glittering glaciers can be seen on dis-
tant heights, but the bright sun, the lumbering carts,
the whistling wind, and the shouts of the mule-drivers
are pleasant sights and sounds.
The pleasant open-air conditions keep off the dreaded
soroche, or mountain sickness, which will probably
attack many of the future passengers through the
tunnel, but riding over the pass has merely an exhila-
rating effect. At the summit there is a board' with
Argentina on one side and Chile on the other. Here
also is a colossal statue of Christ. This boundary line
had long been a source of dispute between the two
nations. Several times their jealousies had appeared
to make the task of delimitation impossible, and the
two countries had been on the brink of war. At last,
aided by the good offices of King Edward VII., the
statesmen on either side composed their differences and
averted a fratricidal war by tracing a satisfactory boun-
dary line, and on that line, as a pledge that war and
discords from their lands should cease, the people
decided to place a visible sign of concord to show to
every traveller that the neighbours should wage no
more wars one with another. They placed on the
summit of the Andes a statue of the Prince of Peace.
CHAPTER XXI
THE PARANA, ROSARIO, AND SANTA FE
The Parana is one of the most magnificent rivers in
the world. It was in the earliest times the most valu-
able route for the Spaniards into the interior, as is
shown by the fact that while they were struggling for
a foothold at Buenos Aires, and several times aban-
doned the settlement altogether, they were in possession
of a flourishing colony in Asuncion. Up to recent
times few immigrants thought of going to Entre Rios
or Corrientes because of the difficulties of the journey,
but now there is a train-ferry across the Parana, and
there will soon be railway connection with the capital
of Paraguay. The territory, highly favoured by nature,
will in course of time be one of the richest parts of
Argentina.
It is impossible accurately to estimate the total course
of the river, but its length is between 2,100 and 2,800
miles. In its upper part it receives many large tribu-
taries— the Pardo, Paranahyba, Tiete, Paranapanema,
Ivahy, and Iguazu. In the north the falls impede
navigation, but it is practicable for vessels of 300 tons
as far as the Island of Apipe, which is 150 miles above
its junction with the river Parana. Lower down its
only important tributary is the Rio Salado. At Rosario
its breadth is 20 miles, and it would present the appear-
ance of the sea but for a group of islands which stand
966
266 ARGENTINA
in the mid-channel and limit the view. The railways
of Argentina are greatly indebted to the Parana, which
brought down enormous quantities of quebracho lumber
to be used as railway sleepers, and the various lines
now take 2,000,000 hard-wood sleepers from the Chaco
yearly. At Posadas 8,000 or 10,000 hands are needed
to handle the yerba and lumber trade of the Alto
Parana, and these are difficult to obtain, for the
southern regions have not sufficient labourers to supply
their own wants. Since 1902 more than 9,000 Rus-
sians and Poles have settled at Apostoles, near Posadas,
and arrangements have been made to settle 3,000 Finns
in the same neighbourhood. But at present the south
attracts most of the European immigrants, and it is
difficult to get the native, who inhabits the upper
basins, to work, on account of his low standard of
living and the exuberant fertility of the soil. Mr. Bar-
clay thinks that this fine country will for an indefinite
period be exploited only by traders, and does not
expect to see them properly colonised within the
limits of the present century. He suggests Chinese or
Japanese colonists ; but these people are already greatly
disliked in Chile, nor is it likely that they would be
more welcome in Argentina. It would be infinitely
better that the vast forests should continue to be in-
habited by savage Indians than that one of the noblest
of European races should be tainted with yellow blood.
It would be far preferable to imitate the excellent
example of the Jesuits, and teach the Indians habits
of industry, in which case they would multiply and
rapidly become civilised.
Possibly the hasty traveller of to-day loses something
by the development of the railways, for he naturally
takes the quick train in preference to the slow steamboat.
Rosario is only 186 miles from Buenos Aires, and the
I
ROSAKIO 267
journey occupies some seven hours on the Central
Argentine Railway, which for comfort is all that can
be desired. The officials (English) are most obliging ;
there is good sleeping and dining accommodation, and
the managers are most anxious to show the traveller all
that is to be seen ; nor is this surprising, for everything is
of the best. It could only be wished that the railway
companies would start terminus hotels in the large towns
in order that the passengers might not abandon comfort
when they quit the railway carriage ; but probably the
local caterers would object.
Rosario is the second city in the Republic, and is
certainly one of the most remarkable. Founded in
1725 by Don Francisco Godoy as a settlement for the
subjugated Calchaqui Indians, it was in 1854 but an
insignificant town. It was then made a port of entry by
General Urquiza, and has prospered exceedingly. In
1870 it had a population of 21,000, in 1883 of 45,000,
while in 1900 it stood at 112,000. At the present time it
must contain considerably more than 180,000 inhabitants.
In 1900 the imports were valued at ;^i,9i 3,803 and the
exports at ;^5, 85 1,239, while in 1907 the figures were
;£6,397,579 and ;f7,30i,398 respectively. It is the chief
port for wheat, maize, and linseed,^ but possibly, as the
south is developed, it may be surpassed as a grain port
by Bahia Blanca. On the other hand, as the north is
colonised Rosario will receive the principal share of the
increased trade. The great project now is to bring the
noble waterways of the Plate into railway communication
with the still more gigantic system of the Amazon. Then
Rosario will undoubtedly rival the huge cities in the
Rosario exported in 1907—
Wheat
,.,
2,850,000 tons
Linseed
...
580,000 „
Maize
...
1,400,000 „
268 ARGENTINA
northern continent, which have thriven by the trade
brought down the Mississippi and the Missouri. Great
sums have been spent on the harbour of Rosario and a
fine electric hft has been erected, but the navigation of
the Parana and its affluents suffers from floods and
erosion, and it has been questioned whether elaborate
and expensive appliances are necessary. ^ However,
Rosario remains a favourite port, and large vessels load
and unload there.
In one respect Rosario produces a much more pleasant
impression than Buenos Aires, for its streets are wide
and it has large parks. The Calle Cordoba is an extremely
handsome thoroughfare with good shops. There is a
busy Bolsa, many fine public buildings, and much-
frequented cafes. Large hotels have sprung up, and, it
may be hoped, will in course of time become comfort-
able. The people of Rosario have taken great pains in
* " The new port at Rosario is admittedly no improvement on the
old system of delivering wheat by shoots from the barrancas down
to vessels moored to wooden stages in deep channel. In a word,
the means of access from shore to river are most permanently
effective when capable of adaptation to the shifting character of the
stream " (W. S. Barclay, Geog. Journ., Jan., 1909).
"The works at the present time are sufficiently advanced to
provide berths for some 15 vessels. A channel of sufficient breadth
all along the frontage has been dredged so that large vessels drawing
24 feet or more can now manoeuvre without stranding on sand or
mud banks, as was formerly the case. The entire port can provide
loading berths for about 40 vessels and for 20 to 25 vessels to dis-
charge. The change that has been effected along the river frontage
in the short space of four years is remarkable, and when the works
are completed Rosario will possess one of the best ports in the
country, with excellent storage accommodation attached. The con-
tract price for constructing the port was fixed at 60,000,000 fr., but
a much larger sum will have been expended before completion,
exclusive of grain elevators and other works which the Company
is undertaking estimated at i7,ooo;ooo fr." (Consular Report, July,
1908).
i
ROSARIO 269
the laying out of their town and have provided for plenty
of open spaces and boulevards. The new park is very
beautiful, and handsome private dwellings are being
erected in the vicinity, but although there appears to
be no scarcity of sites, rents are said to be ruinously high.
Rosario has suffered more than any other town from
municipal imposts, and at the beginning of 1909 the
traders went on strike, with beneficial results. Com-
plaints are also made that this great provincial town has
its interests subordinated to the small provincial capital
of Santa Fe.
However, these affairs are mere inconveniences which
cannot impair the town's prosperity. Here, as is cus-
tomary in the Argentine, the English are greatly in
evidence and occupy an important place in the business
life. They have a pleasant Club and are very hospitable.
Rosario has also an advantage over Buenos Aires in
being naturally more open and picturesque. It is built
on the bank of the Parana, some 300 feet high, and a
fine view is obtained of the great waterway and the
far-off, poplar-clad islands. The climate is said to be
more relaxing than that of the capital, but the difference
is not great. When Rosario has got rid of its new and
unfinished appearance it will be an extremely pleasant
place of residence.
Perhaps the most interesting sight in Rosario and one
that best marks its progress on the stage to greatness is
the workshop of the Central Argentine Railway. When
it is considered that as yet only a beginning has been
made with railway communications in South America,
and yet here is a great industry engaged in repairing
numberless engines and building vast numbers of
carriages, imagination can hardly place a limit to the
greatness of Rosario as a railway centre when Brazil,
Paraguay, and Bolivia shall have through communica-
270 ARGENTINA
tion with Buenos Aires and Rosario. These countries,
with the greater part of the Argentine Gran Chaco,
represent to the Province of Buenos Aires what the
West represented to the Eastern States of North America
seventy years ago, but instead of being chiefly wheat
and cattle countries (all of which Buenos Aires already
has in abundance) they contain the priceless tropical
products which from time immemorial have been the
main objects of trade. And, again, the mines of Bolivia
and Brazil, the best of which are unworked, probably
unknown, will pour their wealth down the basin of the
Parana.! It is said that Brazil has coal equal in quality
to that of Yorkshire, and if this could be brought cheaply
into Argentina one main impediment to her manufactur-
ing efficiency would be removed.
The Central Argentine is an English company, and
thus our traders have a great advantage in Argentina,
as the English railways naturally buy engines and stores
from home. The Rosario workshop turns out carriages
and effects every kind of repair, but the locomotives are
imported. An engine made at Hunslet in 1875 is still
doing good work, whereas American engines go to the
scrap-heap in three years. Those of Kitson, of Leeds,
are of everlasting wear, and much of the work of Byer,
* "Now at last in our day progress is being made in the great
neglected central zone watered by the Parana, and here, as has been
shown, the main line of advance will still be south and north. For
if we accept the statement that mountains are the true frontiers of
nations then the reverse also holds true, and the valleys that con-
nect them are their best and natural highways. So when the rail-
roads which already link Patagonia to Paraguay extend further
along the great * llanos ' overshadowed by the Andes, right up to a
navigable port on the Amazon, they will strengthen, better than any
words or treaties, the ties of rational trade and intercourse between
the republics whose hinterlands meet in the Parana watershed"
(W. S. Barclay, Ibid.).
i
SANTA Ft 271
Peacock, Manchester, and of George Stephenson, Dar-
lington, is to be seen at Rosario. Some of the engines
and machinery at the forge are American, but Butler
and Co., of Halifax, are prominent. Of the carriages
some come from Milwaukee, some from Birmingham,
but now a very large proportion is made in the work-
shops. Most of the workmen appear to be Spaniards or
Italians, but in better positions Irishmen are numerous ;
in fact, on St. Patrick's Day hotel accommodation can
hardly be obtained at Rosario, and the Irish and Scotch
language is spoken with perfect purity by men who have
never been outside the boundaries of the Republic.
In another place an account will be given -of the
Central Argentine Railway, and the other lines by which
the town is well served, but it may here be mentioned
that the English company, like its rival lines in the
country, has been doing its utmost to develop the district
with which it is concerned, and a considerable part of the
port accommodation is due to its enterprise. It has con-
structed a wharf which can contain five large steamers
in single line, and owns more than a mile and a half of
river-front in a convenient position for shipping grain.
Besides this the Company possesses the port of Villa
Constitucion, 32 miles from Rosario, and it is being
rapidly developed. In 1907 this port was entered by
British ships with a tonnage of 80,457, and German with a
tonnage of 15,838. Much of the prosperity of Rosario
— and its advance is very rapid — is due to its excellent
railways. The town has every natural advantage and
possesses an industrious and enterprising community
which would be one of the most favoured in the world
if its government were better.
Santa Fe, the capital of the Province, is a comparatively
insignificant town with about thirty thousand inhabitants.
It is an old place, dating from 1573, and thus is really
272 ARGENTINA
more ancient than Buenos Aires. Padre Pedro Lozano ^
states : ^^ Garay founded the city of Santa Fe upon a
delightful plain and by the same river, ^ three leagues
from the Parana. This port afforded admirable shelter
to vessels of all kinds and the soil was extremely
fertile, rendering with bounteous increase all the seeds
entrusted to it. There was abundance of game and
fish and there was a large population round about
consisting of many nationalities and of widely different
languages, but these tribes are now quite extinct, and a
genuine Indian of the country is hardly ever to be seen
in these days. The latitude of this city was originally
31°, but owing to inconveniences for land trade which
afterwards manifested themselves, and to the unfriendly
attitude of the heathen, the site was shifted in the year
1660 to a more convenient position on the river Salado,
and three leagues distant from the great river Parana. The
latitude of the new site was 31° 58' and its longitude 47°.
Santa F6 is the seat of a Bishop and possesses a Jesuit
Church and College, which dates back to 1654. Sixty
years ago a traveller described it as a pleasant town with
fifteen thousand inhabitants, and the population seems to
have increased very little until quite recent years, for it has
never had any prominent industries 3 and must always
be greatly inferior to Rosario, although the older city is
the capital. Like Head at Mendoza, the observer was
struck by the practice of promiscuous river-bathing.
He thus describes the town 4 : " The city occupies a large
* " Coleccion de Obras," iii. 121. " The Rio Salado.
3 " The future of Santa Fe is rather in agriculture, the raising of
hogs, and the production of butter and cheese, than in the old-
fashioned system of stock-raising, which has already become an
employment for which the land gives a scant return, and which,
moreover, will become absolutely impossible at no distant date, when
the price of land rises still further " (Latzina, " Geographie," p. 239).
4 MacCann, " Two Thousand Miles' Ride," ii. 32.
SANTA FE 273
space of ground ; for, like all the towns in this country,
a considerable portion is planted as fruit gardens. The
houses are either flat-roofed, or covered with tiles, and
only one storey in height. A majority of them were
built without any provision for glass windows ; the light
and air being admitted only through apertures fitted with
an open framework of wood, having strong shutters
inside ; neither are there fireplaces in the houses.
There are four large churches, one of which, built in
1834, is remarkable for its solidity and fine proportions.
It consists of a nave and aisles, separated by square
pillars supporting arches ; light is admitted from the
windows of a clerestory. It contains a beautiful bap-
tismal font of silver, with four richly carved holy-water
fonts. The high altar is in the Gothic style, and enriched
with gilding."
As remarked before, Santa F6 is not a city of remark-
able prosperity. The building of small river craft is an
industry of some importance, but the main occupation
of its inhabitants is the export of quebracho wood.
In 1907 the shipments were 174,126 tons. The river
here gives considerable trouble and requires constant
dredging, but a new port is rapidly approaching com-
pletion, when it will be possible for vessels with a draught
of 20 feet to enter.
The great river country to the north is full of interest,
but reference can only be made to one subject — the
famous Falls of Iguazu. These Falls were known and
described by Padre Lozano, but political troubles and the
general backwardness of the north after the expulsion of
the Jesuits caused them to be forgotten. Now the
Government is alive to the possibilities of using them as
a great national " lion," and a commission some years ago
was appointed to survey the route and make it more
accessible. As yet not much has been done in that
19
274 ARGENTINA
direction, but the journey to and from Buenos Aires can
be made in less than a fortnight, and a rest-house has
been provided. The traveller starts from Buenos Aires
in a steamboat and proceeds up the Plate and Uruguay
Rivers to Concordia. There he leaves the river and takes
train to Corrientes, where he re-embarks in a steamer,
and, passing up the Rio Alta Parano to Posadas, makes
his way far north to the confines of Argentina, Brazil,
and Paraguay, where the Falls are. The Rio Iguazu joins
the Parana at the place of disembarkation, and there is a
long ride through the forest to the Falls. Twelve miles
from the junction with the Parana there is a sudden
bend, and the river makes its mighty leap of 210 feet.
These are the Brazilian Falls, but lower down there are
two other magnificent cascades, each of 100 feet, which
fall into a narrow gorge. These are the Argentine Falls
and are about 10,000 feet distant from the Brazilian.
At the highest point the width of the river is 3,000 feet,
but the gorge into which the magnificent columns of
water finally discharge themselves is no more than 400
feet wide, and the volume of the discharge is greatly
increased in the rainy season. The spectacle is no less
magnificent than that of Niagara. As a mere discharge
of water in a single sheet the North American fall is more
impressive, but the beauty of the Argentine scene is
enhanced by the luxuriant forests, and the long-drawn-
out course of the foaming stream amid its sylvan
scenery is unmatched.
Some day, no doubt, there will be a fashionable water-
ing-place within the sound of the roaring waters, with
great hotels and a casino, but now the Falls are, like
all the rest of the vast region, an almost unknown place.
The great rivers offer the finest waterway, and nothing is
required but men and energy to make this borderland a
country of fabulous wealth.
f
n
CHAPTER XXII
THE GRAN CHACO AND THE NORTHERN TOWNS
The Gran Chaco is the least-known part of Argentina
which has the reputation of being a land of Pampas,
although these grassy plains cover but one-fourth of the
total area of the Republic. In the Chaco are to be found
the great majority of the flora and fauna which occur in
Argentina, for except in its semi-tropical forests there is
no considerable variety of either vegetable or animal life.
Concerning the origin of the name, the worthy Padre
Lozano says ^ : " The Etymology of the name Chaco
indicates the great multitude of tribes which people this
region. When the Indians go out hunting and drive
together from different quarters the vicunas and
guanacos, that vast mob of animals is called Chacu in
the Quichoa language which is the common tongue of
Peru. Thus, because the land in question contained a
number of different tribes, they received by analogy the
name ChacUj which the Spaniards have corrupted into
Chaco."
Since the early wars of the Spaniards with the various
tribes this magnificent territory has not figured much in
the history of the country, but in natural interest it sur-
passes every other part of the Republic, and its potential
wealth is enormous. The climate, though tropical, is not
* " Descripcion Chorographica," p. i.
275
276 ARGENTINA
oppressive, and although the country is subject to
periodical floods, these greatly increase the natural wealth
of the soil, and almost every kind of vegetable product
can be grown.
The principal tribes which inhabit this undeveloped
region are the Matacos, the Tobas, the Macovies, the
Vilelas, the Chinipies, and the Payaguas. Of these the
Matacos and the Tobas are the most numerous. The
Matacos are tall and bony with strong frames. They
have prominent cheek-bones and black, hairy skins.
Their teeth are white and far apart, their noses are flat.
They cultivate the ground and raise crops of maize. The
Tobas, who used to be a warlike race, are more pre-
possessing in appearance and are slightly more civilised.
In the Chaco there is a considerable variety of fauna.
The most savage beast of South America, the jaguar, is
found in Riacho Ancho and on the islands of Cerrito.
Its ferocity and cunning are well known, and it is very
destructive both to men and cattle. The puma also
belongs to the feline race, and is also destructive.^ The
wild cat {felis Geoffroyi) is common. A less familiar
animal is a large fox {cants jubatus), red in skin and not
unlike a hyena in both appearance and habits, for it feeds
on carrion. The tapir is one of the ugliest of living
creatures. It belongs to the hog family and somewhat
resembles the wild boar, but its long snout and ugly dark
skin give it an insignificant appearance. It is not savage.
There are numerous species of deer and a great variety
of small animals. The alligator is very common. The
fish of the rivers is good and plentiful, and the chief
varieties are the pacu, armado, raya, suruvi, bagre, and
palometa.
The natural history of the Gran Chaco has been well
" South Americans say that it will not harm man under any
circumstances.
CHIRIGUAXOS AXD MATACOS.
cA.Ui' IKA'vivi..
To face p. 276.
THE GRAN CHACO 277
described by Felix de Azara. The fauna, though
abundant, are not particularly remarkable, and differ in
few particulars from those of other South American
forest tracts. Vegetation grows in boundless profusion,
and the most valuable product is timber, of which a brief
description is given in one of the industrial chapters.
An Argentine writer ^ remarks : " The forest land or
woody portion of the Chaco can be said to occupy a
third part of the total area of the territory. The woods
of the Chaco are met with on the banks of rivers to
which they make a broad fringe ; also in clumps or
masses of trees more or less extensive ; or as brows of
brush, as they are called in the neighbourhood — that is
to say, narrow strips of trees stretching from one clump
to the other — or else scattered in the form that is called
thin bush. These varied formations are not capricious.
They obey geological laws with that regularity which
Nature demands from her handiwork, seeing that the
Chaco has no artificially planted trees whatever."
The Gobernacion of the Chaco itself is a comparatively
small region, not very much larger than England and
Wales, and the population is only 13,937. It is bounded
on the north by the Vermejo, on the east by the Parana
and Paraguay, and on the west by the Provinces of
Santiago del Estero and Salta. The north is marshy,
the south is covered with dense forests. The capital is
Resistencia, but the only place in the Territory which
has any railway communication with the outer world is
La Sabana, which is on a narrow-gauge railway to Santa
F6. A line, however, is projected to run through Chaco
into Bolivia.
In this work the term Gran Chaco is used, as it was by
the old Spaniards, to embrace all the tropical and semi-
tropical north, and this opportunity is taken of giving a
' M. Gonzalez, " El Gran Chaco Argentins," pp. 89, 90.
278 ARGENTINA
brief account of a few of the more interesting places,
most of which are, thanks to the railways, now within
easy reach of Buenos Aires.
This is the case with the pleasant town of Cordoba, to
which the Central Argentine Railway provides a swift
and comfortable service. It was founded in 1573 by
Don Geronimo de Cabrera, and it soon became the
religious and educational headquarters of the La Plata
settlements. In the Spanish days it was famed as a seat
of intellectual culture, but its importance seemed to have
waned during the revolutionary wars. Some eighty years
ago a traveller I described it as situated in a shallow
valley. " The hills around are insignificant in size ; but
partially wooded, and kept in a state of excellent irriga-
tion. The population, from the best source of informa-
tion I could obtain, in the absence of correct data, may
be from eight to nine thousand, or perhaps ten. . . . The
granite hills in its vicinity afford abundant ores, and they
possess the necessaries of wood, water, mules, and
pasturage for cattle in abundance. The only impedi-
ment is the want of practical miners to teach the unem-
ployed peasants of the country the rudiments of the art."
Andrews observed that even at that time, when the people
were enraged with priests and bishops on account of
their loyal attitude, the ecclesiastical influence was prob-
ably more powerful than in any other place in South
America. Trade and all prosperous activity was then in
a state of stagnation owing to the wars and the traffic in
mules with Peru, Cordoba's staple industry, had been
completely destroyed. Andrews admired the " fine eyes "
and the " symmetry " of the ladies of Cordoba, and
describes an excursion to the country house of "the
celebrated Dean Funes," the historian, but unfortunately
says nothing about his host. He seems to have enjoyed
' Captain Andrews, "Journey from Buenos Aires," i. pp. 59, 60.
THE NORTHERN TOWNS 279
his visit to Cordoba. About twenty years later another
traveller ^ estimates the population at fifteen thousand and
says : " The city presents an extremely clean and orderly
appearance ; the streets, which intersect at right angles,
are well kept and well lighted. The only manufacture
in the place is that of leather. There is no newspaper,
although formerly there were two weekly journals pub-
lished. . . . The climate is very salubrious, though the
rain does not fall in sufficient quantity. There are no
foreigners in the town, nor even in the province, except
a few French and two or three English : the government
architect is a Frenchman, who possesses both wealth and
influence." Cordoba must at that time have been a much
pleasanter place of residence than Buenos Aires, and
possibly is so still. With peace, renewed prosperity has
visited the town, and it now has a population of about
sixty thousand. It is distant 435 miles from Buenos Aires,
and is an important railway centre. In old times it stood
on the high road to Peru, and it is now on what will be
the trunk line to the central Pacific coast. It is already
connected with Bolivia by a line running northwards
through Jujuy. Twelve miles from Cordoba are the
reservoir and dam (Dique San Roque), on the river
Prisnero, which supply the city with water and are the
largest works of the kind in South America. The city is
lighted by the electric light and has electric trams.
Cordoba with Mendoza has the reputation of being the
town in Argentina where the religious spirit is strongest.
The number of churches is remarkably large and some of
them are handsome.
The University is the oldest in South America with
the exception of that at Lima. It was founded in 1613
by the Jesuits, who were always foremost in the encour-
» W. MacCann, " Two Thousand Miles* Ride through the Argen-
tine Provinces," ii. 52, 3.
280 ARGENTINA
agement of learning and piety, and in 162 1 it was con-
firmed by the Bull of Pope Gregory XV. In Spanish
times it had a high reputation, but it greatly decayed
under the tyranny of Rosas, and in 1861 possessed only
two faculties — Law and Theology. It was much improved
in 1880. Cordoba also is reputed to be a place where
culture is highly valued, but provincial seats of learning
tend to be overshadowed by Buenos Aires. Dr. Ernesto
Quesada remarked ; *' In Cordoba there is an active
literary life, and a band of young men who in society
and magazines work with ardour, but their names are
hardly known in the capital." However, Cordoba has
better than any other town maintained its humanistic
position, as Rosario has its commercial, against this
overpowering preponderance, and it may be hoped that
healthy non-political rivalries will be kept up and
strengthened all over the country.
Another large and flourishing city is Tucuman, a town
of forty-nine thousand inhabitants, situated on the right
bank of the Tala, a sub-tributary of the Salado. It was
founded in 1565 ^ by Diego de Villaruel, and has always
played a prominent part in history. The old house in
which the declaration of independence was signed is
still preserved. In revolutionary days the communicative
Andrews 2 thus describes it : " The city of Tucuman is
like most others in South America, of rectangular form.
The public edifices and works are in a wretched state.
The arts and sciences are almost unknown, literature, of
course, included. Music alone seems to be a little
* " The land was rich in wheat, barley, and maize, and had fine
pastures to fatten fine cattle. Game was abundant, the trees were
of hard wood and of great size, and there was much cotton and
flax which was woven into fine linen. There were traces of gold,
and above all the cHmate was the best in the whole governorship "
(Pedro de Lozano, "Coleccion," iv. 228).
* " Journey from Buenos Aires," i. 241, 2.
THE NORTHERN TOWNS 281
cultivated, but a general spirit of liberality, a wish to
improve, and a thirst for knowledge, is very observedly
diffusing itself, and will not allow this state of things to
last. Unfortunately, the channels of information are
few and narrow, and I fear the people are without
instructors, or have very ill-chosen ones, though perhaps
the best they can obtain." He estimates the population
at ten or twelve thousand.
Another traveller,^ who was at Tucuman at the time
the overthrow of Rosas was announced, remarks : " If
the tide of immigration could only be diverted for a time
towards this quarter, it appears to me that this province
is capable, in an agricultural point of view, of largely
supplying an export commerce. The sugar-cane, coffee,
cocoa, cotton, fruits of the most delicious kinds, and an
abundance of superior cattle, offer to the enterprising
and industrious a certain field of ultimate success. The
united provinces of Cordova, Tucuman, and Salta, have
already gained a well-merited reputation for their tanned
leather, saddlery, and boots, superior to that of other
parts of South America." He declares that he left
Tucuman with the conviction that it stood unrivalled
as the garden of the Argentine Republic.
Like all other up-country towns, it long remained
depressed by the political troubles, and in 1875 the
population was no more than seventeen thousand. It
had increased to twenty-seven thousand by 1884, and has
since been making steady progress. The Matriz Church
is a fine Doric building, erected in 1856, and there is a
large National College. In the suburbs stands the
Plaza Belgrano on the site of the village formerly called
Cuidadela, where Belgrano gained a great victory over
the Spaniards. Like Cordoba, the city is on the trunk
line to Bolivia. The Province of Tucuman is famous
* Bonelli, " Travels in Bolivia," &c., ii. 247.
282 ARGENTINA
for the sugar industry, and many of the plantations and
factories are near the town.
The Province of Salta one day can hardly fail to be
of great importance. It was first settled by one Lerma
in 1852, and until 1776 was in the charge of a Lieutenant-
Governor under the Governor of Tucuman. During the
first half of the nineteenth century it suffered less than
its neighbours owing to its remote situation. The forests,
hills, and rich pasture make the scenery charming, and
the soil is remarkably fertile, maize, wheat, lucerne, and
sugar being extensively cultivated. The mineral wealth,
though insufficiently exploited, is very great. The town
of Salta, which is 935 miles from Buenos Aires, has a
population of about twenty thousand. It is well built,
but not particularly healthy, owing to malaria and bad
water.
The fertile northern region of Argentina has hitherto
been somewhat neglected, in spite of the fact that it is
the oldest settled part of the country. When communi-
cations between Tucuman and Peru were interrupted
the country declined, and the easily earned wealth of the
Pampas diverted the attention of capital from less acces-
sible parts. On the western side communications are
excellent, and on the east they are fast improving. The
towns and provinces are gradually increasing in wealth
and population and, besides their great fertility in soil
and every kind of produce, they will also be important
as recipients of trade from places over the frontier. This
importance, of course, will depend upon the develop-
ment of the places in question. Those countries that lie
about the upper waters of the Parana will not be trade
centres for many years. As regards Bolivia, the case is
doubtful. That country has a large mining industry, but
her population is scanty and backward, and it is probable
that it will still be more economical to despatch the
I
t
THE NORTHERN TOWNS 283
greater part of its products by sea. In fact, the Argentine
Government has raised objections to the prolongation of
the railway into Bolivia, on the ground that it will not
be a commercial success. However that may be, Tucu-
man, Salta, Cordoba, Parana, and many other towns
with their adjacent districts will always have sufficient
wealth to be of considerable importance in themselves,
and when more immigrants have been attracted thither
they will be regarded, in many respects, as the best part
of the Republic.
CHAPTER XXIII
INFORMATION FOR ENGLISH TRAVELLERS
The first information which the traveller seeks is, natu-
rally, how to get to Buenos Aires, and though such
information is very accessible, it seldom seems to come
his way, for not uncommonly persons are found who
appear to have no idea that there is any route except
that which they hit on by chance, and if in the course of
the journey any change becomes necessary, they usually
have considerable difficulty in discovering the means of
making the change. Of course any agent will furnish a
number of particulars, and any given line will give the
fullest information about itself. The ocean voyage is
not made as quickly as it might be, for the liners proceed
first to Brazil and call at one or two ports, and there are
also several stops made in Europe and the islands. The
best thing to do is to take one of the fine vessels of the
Pacific Steam Navigation Company from Liverpool.
The boats call at La Pallice — La Rochelle, Corunna,
Vigo, Leixoes (Oporto), Lisbon, St. Vincent, Rio de
Janeiro. The only drawback is that the vessels do not
go to Buenos Aires, but stop at Montevideo ; however, the
passengers are speedily transhipped, and the whole voyage
lasts about twenty-four days. In comfort and safety the
service reaches the highest possible standards, and the
traveller can, if he wishes, continue his voyage south-
ward and proceed up the Pacific Coast as far as Panama ;
I
„x
INFORMATION FOR TRAVELLERS 285
this is a charming trip, for the Pacific is usually smooth,
and some of the very best boats engage in the coasting
service. There are many other English lines — the Royal
Mail Steam Packet, Southampton to Buenos Aires, the
Lamport and Holt from Liverpool, the Harrison Line,
Houlder Bros., the Houston Line, the Allan, the Nelson,
the David Maclver, all from Liverpool, the Prince Line
from London. The New Zealand Shipping Company's
boats, on the homeward voyage only, call at Montevideo.
There are many foreign lines. France is represented
by the famous Messageries from Bordeaux, and also
by the Soc. Gen^rale de Transports from Genoa,
Marseilles, and Barcelona, and the Chargeurs R^unis
from Havre. The Italian boats from Genoa and
Barcelona are very numerous. A Spanish line, the
Cia Transatlantica de Barcelona, plies between the
latter port and Buenos Aires. Germany has the Ham-
burg-American, the Norddeutscher Lloyd, and the
Kosmos. There is also a Dutch line. The Italian boats
are large, well-fitted, and fast. If time were an important
object, probably the quickest way would be to take an
Italian boat to Barcelona, whence London is rapidly
reached by rail, but though there is a good accom-
modation, both British and foreign, it is safe to say
that the P.S.N. Co. will be found the most satis-
factory.
The traveller ought to carry with him everything he
needs, and his needs should be few, because luggage is a
great trouble. Unlike some South American lines, the
railway companies in Argentina are responsible in that
respect, but porters and others are exorbitant, and a
piece of luggage rapidly devours its own value in trans-
port charges. Exactly the same clothing should be
taken as in England, and ordinary riding kit should be
added, also a soft hat, as affording a better protection
286 ARGENTINA
against the sun than a hard felt or cap. Revolvers or
other weapons are unnecessary ; indeed nothing is
required but what is constantly used at home.
Banks are to be found everywhere, so there is no
difficulty about money. The Argentine dollar, which
is in universal use, is worth about is. Qd.
The hotels at Buenos Aires, as has been said, are not
remarkably good, and they are certainly expensive. All
are noisy, for the trams run early and late, and a very
high price has to be paid for good rooms. But any one
who is prepared to pay handsomely can make himself
very comfortable. As regards up-country hotels, it
is not possible to give a favourable account. At
Rosario there are several good-sized houses of enter-
tainment, but they have no particular merit, except
that they are cheaper than in the capital. In this
rapidly expanding city a very large hotel is being
built, which will certainly supply a long-felt want, and
doubtless it will be much superior to anything at
present to be found at Rosario. At Mendoza there is
a large hotel of very handsome appearance, but
probably the best accommodation there is to be
afforded by a hotel kept by a genial old Frenchman,
who has almost abandoned the Parisian in favour of
the tongue of Castile. The courtyard, dotted with
fruit-trees, and the low buildings with their screened
doors, are strongly reminiscent of an Indian up-country
hotel. Hotels in other provincial towns are by no
means good. It is from the cooking that the traveller
will chiefly suffer, for there is usually little to complain
of on the score of cleanliness, and the rooms are large,
though bare. The Argentine has a good appetite, but
he appears to be content to satisfy it chiefly with meat,
and this is more often tough than not. The menu con-
tains an imposing array of dishes, which are served
I
INFORMATION FOR TRAVELLERS 287
without stint, but they are almost all beef, mutton, or
veal in some form or other, and this diet, moderate in
quality and cooked without art, is extremely monotonous.
The light wines of the country are a valuable help in
getting through these indigestible meals, and the white
wine is particularly good. The peaches, grapes, and other
fruits are of excellent quality, but they are not always
easy to obtain.
As regards travelling in Argentina, the traveller will
find no difficulty as long as he keeps to the rail-
way lines, which give a splendid service to almost
every part of the country except Patagonia. When
the railway fails, he will of course have to make his
own arrangements for horses and mules and the like.
An extremely useful work is the fifth edition of the
Mulhalls' " Handbook of the River Plate." A new
edition of this book is urgently needed,^ for the last
appeared in 1885, and the extremely full statistical
information is quite out of date, and travelling in the
country, which the handbook well describes, is much
easier than it was in those days. But the writers draw up
with great care a number of interesting routes, and the
traveller, using them as a foundation, can easily bring
the information up to date, and will find an interesting
study in noting the wonderful changes which have come
over Argentina in exactly a quarter of a century. In the
bibliography an attempt has been made to enumerate the
important books on the whole subject, and that of
Captain Musters on Patagonia may be recommended.
A great many wanderers in the early part of the nine-
teenth century have left highly interesting accounts of
their adventurous travels. In those days ferocious
Indians, who massacred every small party of white
* The Argentine Year Book supplies useful up-to-date information
in small compass.
288 ARGENTINA
men at sight, revolutionary soldiers, and cruel bandits
added greatly to the dangers of such excursions, and a
journey across the Pampas was looked upon as almost
equivalent to taking leave of the world. A young gentle-
man in the first edition of his book remarks with gentle
melancholy that, being disappointed in his hopes of
happiness by a "beloved female," he had decided to
travel in the Plate district. His editorial friend appends
a note that the gentleman had been last heard of in a
remote part of Chile many years ago, and was believed to
have perished. However, the traveller happily returned
and published a second edition or work in which he ac-
counted for his long silence by a series of hardships,
among which a lengthy term of imprisonment was only
one item. Among these books that of Head is one of
the most entertaining, but Darwin's " Voyage of the
BeagUy' must be held to be probably the best work ever
published on Argentina, and he observed the country at
a most interesting period. Adventures would be hard to
find nowadays in the Pampas, but the greater part of
Patagonia is as wild and inaccessible as ever, and in many
regions of the Gran Chaco the explorer carries his life
in his hands owing to the fierce disposition of the
Indians.
Indeed, about Argentina as usually visited by Euro-
peans everything is so simple in the matter of getting
there and travelling north, south, or west, that there is
very little to say, and no more special information is
required than in a journey to the United States. But
the pioneer still has ample scope in Argentina without
crossing the frontier. The impenetrable forests of the
north have formed a rich field of exploration for Mr.
W. S. Barclay, of the Royal Geographical Society, and
there and in the neighbouring wilds of Paraguay the
primitive ravage still wanders. " In 1893," says Mr.
INFORMATION FOR TRAVELLERS 289
Barclay,! '* a party of 700 native-born Australians took
up land in the forests of northern Paraguay. In these
new surroundings they deteriorated to such an extent
that in 1905 the remnants of the original settlers, with
their few descendants, attracted the serious attention of
the South American Mission, whose ordinary field of
work lies among the Indian aborigines of the Chaco.
In the tropic forest a man's moral and mental horizon
appears to shrink in direct proportion to the range of
his physical vision. No aborigines yet discovered, not
even the canoe-dwellers round Cape Horn or the black-
fellows of Australia, have sunk to the brutish degradation
of the Bootcudo club Indians, who smash their trails
through the bamboo-smothered forests at the back of
Panana and Sao Paulo states." In fact, from Colombia
to Entre Rios there lies a tract which will hardly be fully
explored, certainly not settled, by the end of the century.
Again there are vast fields in the Andes and Patagonia of
which many explorers have taken advantage, but con-
sidering their importance, due to their being the actual
territory or borderland of two great and flourishing
Republics, the mountains and plains of the south may
be considered to have been neglected.
In the matter of information for travellers to South
America, mention must be made of the South American
edition of the Times, published December 28, 1909.
This colossal number of 56 pages contains an invaluable
store of accurate articles by the best authorities on South
America, and Argentina has its full share. It is char-
acteristic of our history in Argentina that this fine piece
of work is due to private enterprise.
To celebrate the Centenary of the Revolution of the
25th of May, 1 8 10, there will be held this year a
group of exhibitions in Buenos Aires. They will ' be
' The Geographical journal, January, 1909.
20
290 ARGENTINA
as follows : The International Exhibition of Railways
and Land Transport ; the International Exhibition of
Agricultural and Pastoral Products ; the International
Exhibition of Hygiene ; the National Exhibition of
Industry ; the International Exhibition of Art. There
will also be held the International Congress of America,
and the International Congress of South American
Railways.
The Railway Exhibition will have its site in the city
itself. English exhibitors have applied for a far larger
space than any of their foreign rivals. The Agricultural
Exhibition will be held in the suburb of Palermo, and
is sure to present splendid stock. Of cattle (excluding
dairy cattle) there will be the following classes — Short-
horns (Durhams), Polled Durhams, Herefords, Polled
Angus, Red Polled, Red Lincoln, Devon. The classes
of sheep will be — Merinos, Lincolns, Leicesters, Romney
Marsh, Southdowns, Shropshires, Oxford and Suffolk,
Hampshires.
The increased number of English people visiting
Buenos Aires this year will add to the interest which
the average newspaper reader takes in this country. Our
stake in the country is already so large that, well known
as Argentina now is compared to most parts of South
America, it is surprising that the country does not fill a
larger space in the public mind. The English railways
are being fast extended by English capital. English
farmers and ranchers are busily at work, and English
blood is improving the breeds of sheep and cattle. It
is certain, therefore, that our relation with Argentina will
become yearly closer and still more mutually advan-
tageous, and the more we learn about the country the
better. We have to depend almost entirely upon private
enterprise, for, as has been shown in an earlier part of
this book, our Government does little in the way of
INFORMATION FOR TRAVELLERS 291
collecting information and putting it in an accessible and
attractive form. There are many ways in which the
Foreign Office could help traders and others without
extravagant expense or incurring the suspicion of grand-
motherly legislation. However, these defects are balanced
by the splendid enterprise and liberal attitude of private
companies which have for years been instructing our
countrymen in South American affairs. The railway
offices, whether in London or Buenos Aires, are ever
ready to give facilities to those who wish to study the
industries of Argentina and the same is the case with
other commercial organisations. The building up and
consolidating of our position in Argentina is one of the
proudest exploits of English industry.
Argentina is a nation of which the historical con-
tinuity was very roughly broken, and within the last
half-century she had to begin her life over again with
less help from the past than is afforded to most peoples
by tradition and historical associations. Kept in sub-
jection by the Spaniards as one of the less important
corners of their dominions, and regarded with a certain
measure of indifference and even suspicion as being a
discordant factor in the Colonial system and its great
industry of exporting gold and silver, Argentina owed
her spiritual and intellectual progress chiefly to the Jesuits
and her material progress chiefly to benevolent Governors
and spirited Creoles. The first rude shock was the ex-
pulsion of the Jesuits, and this was followed by a much
ruder breach of historical continuity in the Revolution.
Misfortune and incompetence long paralysed her, and in
fifty years she lost most of what was good in the old
system and gained little good from the new. Then the
revival came. It was a revival in material prosperity,
and also in courage and self-reliance, strenuously fostered
by one or two great men. She has prospered beyond
292 ARGENTINA
the utmost expectations of the world, but hitherto has
experienced the usual fate of new countries in failing
to grow in wealth of ideas in proportion to her increase
in material riches.
One good legacy she had from old days — the Spanish
love of liberty. This became perverted as years of
anarchy and tyranny ran their demoralising course,
and now it is somewhat overgrown by abuses which
have been described in the earlier chapters.
But it is not extinct, and political theory is certainly better
than political practice, and the people themselves are keen
and shrewd critics of their system of government. As they
gain more political experience and better assimilate their
immigrants, they will force reform after reform upon the
office-holders. In one respect they have followed Spain
too closely. Madrid usurped the rights of the local
governments in Spain, Buenos Aires has done the same.
As far as political power goes, the preponderance of the
Argentine capital is inevitable and probably beneficent,
for the various Provinces are small, weak, and thinly
populated ; they need a strong and intelligent head. But
it is unfortunate that the various provincial centres
should be neglected, and that Buenos Aires should be
the Mecca of every Argentine. The course of trade is
tending somewhat towards decentralisation, and Rosario
and Bahia Blanca are growing perhaps as rapidly as
Buenos Aires. But it would be well if the many
picturesque old Spanish towns in remote districts
became, instead of seats of somewhat unimportant
governments, real centres of light and leading. There
is somewhat of a tendency to regard them as mere
places of business at which a man must work until he
has time or money to spend in the capital.
Another Spanish tradition which Argentina has re-
ceived is that of religion. This, it may be feared, has
INFORMATION FOR TRAVELLERS 293
been dulled among the intellectual classes, but the
numerous, large, and well-kept churches, well attended
by reverent worshippers, show that the tradition is not
forgotten. In course of time, when the glamour of
new wealth is less powerful, the people of Argentina
will turn in increasing numbers for teaching from the
few who are now keeping alive the intellectual and
spiritual life.
It is certain that Argentines are essentially teachable.
They welcome foreigners and travel to seats of civilisa-
tion to educate their children and to learn new ideas.
They are extremely sensitive to foreign opinion, and
newspapers constantly argue against this or that course
by urging that it would give other nations an unfavour-
able impression of Argentina. In this they are aided
by their Government. It has been necessary to say
some hard things about it, but this may be said as a
set-off — that the Government, on its bureaucratic side
at least, represents the considered intellect of the nation
and is intelligent and indefatigable in encouraging the
best methods in commerce and industry, in beautifying
the cities and raising splendid edifices to serve as homes
for useful institutions. It has many methods and many
enterprises which England might imitate with advan-
tage. Working in a new country, while lacking in
traditions to guide it, the Government has, on the
other hand, the less rubbish to impede its progress
and can make spacious plans.
England has had a long and close connection with
Argentina, and each is deeply interested in the other's
prosperity. The country may become as great a political
force in the world as she is now an industrial, and
England, the peace-preserving nation, will then have
a redoubled interest, for Argentina has showed herself
above all Latin-American nations ever resolute to main-
294 ARGENTINA
tain peace and submit all reasonable claims to arbitration,
and while not abusing her superior strength, she sets
an example to other nations of firmness, dignity, and
good faith in foreign politics. Her increase, then, in
power and population, will be for the good of South
America and for the good of the world.
Although within the limits of a single volume it is
impossible to make an adequate presentation of a
country so vast and varied as Argentina, an attempt
has been made to view this wonderful land and people
as a whole, and it is hoped that this sketch, though
inadequate, may be judged not untrustworthy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Much information is to be found in small publications
too numerous to be specified. Many are issued by the
Oficina Meterologica Argentina at Buenos Aires and by
other Government Departments, and a large number of
pamphlets, newspapers, and periodicals, both current and
extinct, may be consulted with advantage. This list aims
at giving a catalogue of useful books dealing with the
history of Argentina and the country in general.
HISTORICAL.
Akers, C. E. A History of South America (1854-1904). London,
1904.
Angelis, Pedro de. Coleccion de Obras y Documentos. 3 vols.
Buenos Aires, 1900.
Anonymous —
An account of the Spanish Settlements in South America.
London, 1904.
The Argentine Republic, by a Friend of Free Government.
London, 1865.
An Authentic Narrative of the . . . Expedition . . . of . . , Gen.
Craufurd. London, 1808.
Les Dissensions des Republiques de La Plata. Paris, 1865.
La Doctrina Drago. London, 1908.
Emancipation of South America. Edinburgh Review, January,
1809.
The History of Don Francisco Miranda's Attempt, &c. Boston,
1810.
The Missiones Award. Washington, 1895.
Report . . . upon the Differences . . . with regard to the Frontier
between the Argentine and Chilian Republics. 2, vols.
London, 1900.
Arcos, S. La Plata. Etude Historique. Paris, 1865.
296 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Blanchard and Ramsay. The Trial at Large of Lieut.-Gen. White-
locke. London, 1808.
Blanco White, J. El Espanol. 8 vols. London, 18 10-14.
Bonny castle, R. H. Spanish America. London, 1818.
Brackenridge, H. M. Voyage to South America. 2 vols. Baltimore,
1819.
Brossard, Alfred de. Considerations sur les Republiques de la
Plata. Paris, 1850.
Calvo, C. Coleccion Completa de los Tratados de la America
Latina. 16 vols. Paris, 1862-7.
Cole. J. W. Memoirs of British Generals. 2 vols. London, 1856.
Dawson, T. C. The South American Republics. 2 vols. London,
1893.
Deberle, Alfred. Histoire de I'Amerique du Sud. Paris, 1897.
Dominguez, Luis, L. Historia Argentina. Buenos Aires, 1870.
Echeverria, Estevan. Insurreccion del Sud. Buenos Aires,
1854.
Estrado, J. M. La PoUtica Liberal bajo la Tirannia de Rosas.
Buenos Aires, 1873.
Funes, G. Ensayo de la Historia Civil del Paraguay, Buenos Aires,
y Tucuman. 3 vols. Buenos Aires, 1816-17.
Hernandez, Jose. El Gaucho Martin Fierro. Buenos Aires,
1874.
Herrera, Antonio de. History of America, Vol. VL Translated
by Captain John Stevens. London, 1726.
Herrera, Antonio de. M. Purchas, His Pilgrimage by Samuel
Purchas, B.D., Vol. XIV. Glasgow, 1906.
Kennedy, C. The Drago Doctrine. North American Review, New
York, July 31, 1907.
King, Colonel J. A. Twenty-four Years in the Argentine Republic.
London, 1846.
Kirkpatrick, F. A. The Spanish Dominions in America. The
Establishment of Independence in Spanish America. The
Cambridge Modern History, Vol. X., Chaps. VIII. and
IX.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 297
Lopez, V. F. Manual de la Historia Argentina. Buenos Aires,
1907.
Mitre, Bartolome. Historia de Belgrano. 2 vols. Buenos Aires,
1859.
Mitre, Bartolome. Historia de San Martin. 3 vols. Buenos Aires,
1887-8.
Moses, Benjamin. The Establishment of Spanish Rule in America.
New York, 1898.
Mulhall, M. G. The English in South America. Buenos Aires,
1878.
Parish, Sir Woodbine. Buenos Ayres and the Provinces of the Rio
de la Plata. London, 1852.
Payne, E. J. History of the New World called America. Oxford,
1892-4.
Pradt, Archbishop M. de. The Colonies and the Present American
Revolution. Translated from the French. London, 1817.
Robertson, W. The History of South America. 4 vols. 12th ed.
London, 1812.
Rodney and Graham. The Reports ... of South America.
London, 1819.
Root, J. W. Spain and its Colonies. London, 1898.
Sarmiento, D. F. Life in the Argentine Republic in the Days of the
Tyrants. Translated from the Spanish by Mrs. Horace Mann.
New York, 1868.
Sarmiento, D. F. Vida de Facundo Quiroga. Santiago, 1851.
Southey, Robert. History of Brazil. 3 vols. London, 18 10-19.
Torrente, D. M. Historia de la Revolucion Hispano-Americana.
3 vols. Madrid, 1829-30.
Watson, R. G. Spanish and Portuguese South America. 2 vols.
London, 1884.
Wilcocke, S. H. History of the Viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres.
London, 1807.
Winsor, J. History of America. 8 vols. London, 1886-9.
Zinny, A. Biografia Historica. Buenos Aires. 1875.
Zinny, A. Historia de las Provincias Argentinas. 4 vols. Buenos
Aires, 1879-82.
298 BIBLIOGRAPHY
GENERAL.
Akers, C. E. Argentine, Patagonia, &c. London, 1893.
Akers, C. E. Article in Enc, Brit., Vol. XXV., loth ed. London,
1902.
Alberdi, J. B. Confederacion Argentina. Valparaiso, 1854.
Alcock, F. Trade and Travel in South America. London, 1903.
Alsina, J. A. La Immigracion Europea en la Republica Argentina.
Buenos Aires, 1903.
Ameghino, Florentino. La Antiguedad del H ombre en La Plata.
2 vols. Paris. 1880.
Andrevi^s, Captain. A Journey from Buenos Ayres, &c. 2 vols.
London, 1827.
Anonymous —
The River Plate as a Field for Immigration. London.
Azara, Felix de. Essais sur I'Histoire Naturelle. 2 vols. Paris,
1801.
Barclay, W. S. To the Falls of Iguazu. Buenos Aires, 1903.
Barclay, W. S. The Land of Magellanes. Geog. Journ., January,
1904.
Barclay, W. S. The River Parana. Geog. Journ., January, 1909.
Bernandez, M. The Argentine Estancia. Buenos Aires, 1903.
Bonelli, L. Hugh de. Travels in Bolivia, with a Tour across the
Pampas to Buenos Aires. London, 1854.
Bougainville, Louis de. Voyage autour du Monde. Paris, 1771.
Bresson, Andre. Sept Annees dans I'Amerique Australe.
Burmeister, H. Description Physique de la Republique Argentine.
Paris, 1876-8.
Campbell, W. D. Through Patagonia. London, 1901.
Caldcleugh, Alexander. Travels in South America. 2 vols. London,
1825.
Carpenter, F. G. South America. New York, 1900.
Child, Theodore. The South American Republics. New York,
1892.
Church, Colonel G. E. South America : An Outline of its Physical
Geography. Geog. Journ., April, 1901.
Church, Colonel G. E. Argentine Geography and the Ancient
Pampean Sea. Geog. Journ., October, 1898.
Conway, Sir Martin. Aconcagua and Tierra del Fuego. London,
1902.
Cunninghame-Graham, R. B. A Vanished Arcadia. London, 1901.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 299
Daireaux, Emile. La Vie et les Moeurs a la Plata. 2 vols. Paris,
1889.
Darwin, Charles. Journal of Researches during the Voyage of
H.M.S. Beagle. London, 1843.
Davie, J. C. Letters from Paraguay, &c. London, 1805.
Davie, J. C. Letters from Buenos Ayres and Chile. 2 vols.
London, 18 19.
Dixie, Lady Florence (Julius Beerbohm). Across Patagonia.
London, 1880.
Dixie, Lady Florence (Julius Beerbohm). Wanderings in Pata-
gonia. London, 1879.
D'Orbigny, Alcide. L' Homme Americaine. Paris, 1839.
D'Orbigny, Alcide. Voyage dans I'Amerique Meridionale. 4 vols.
Paris, 1835-39.
D'Ursel, Charles. Sud Amerique. Paris, 1879.
Evans, Patrick F. From Peru to the Plate Overland. London,
1899.
Falkner, Thomas. A Description of Patagonia. Hereford, 1774.
Farrell, H. W. The Argentine Year Book. London, 1909.
Ford, L N. Tropical America. London, 1893.
Fitzroy, Admiral R. The Surveying Voyages of H.M.'s ships
Adventure and Beagle. London, 1839.
Gallois, Eugene. En Amerique du Sud. Paris, 1906.
Gibson, Herbert. Sheep Breeding Industry in the Argentine
Republic. Buenos Aires, 1893.
Gonnard, Rene. L'lmmigration Europeenne au XIX® Siecle. Paris,
1906.
Gonzalez, Meliton. El Gran Chaco, Argentine. Buenos Aires,
1890.
Granillo, A. Tucuman. Buenos Aires, 1872.
Guilaine, Louis. La Republique Argentine. Paris, 1889.
Haigh, S. Sketches of Buenos Aires and Chile. London, 1829.
Harrisse, Henry. John Cabot. London, 1896.
Hawkesworth,John. An Account of the Voyages. 2 vols. Dublin,
1775.
Head, Captain F. B. Reports relating to the Failure of the Rio
Plata Mining Association. London, 1827.
Head, Captain F. B. Royal Notes taken during some Rapid
Journeys across the Pampas. London, 1826.
300 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Helps, Sir Arthur. The Spanish Conquests in America. London,
1900.
Holdich, Sir T. H. The Countries of the King's Award. London,
1904.
Holdich, Sir T. H. The Patagonian Andes. Geog. Journ., February,
1904.
Hudson, W. H. The Naturalist in La Plata. London, 1903.
Jordan, W. Leighton. Article in Enc. Brit, Vol. H., 9th ed.
London, 1875.
Keane, A. H., and Markham, C. R. Central and South America.
London, 2nd ed., 1909.
Keltic, J. Scott. The Statesman's Year Book. London, 1909.
Killik, S. H. M. Manual of Argentine Railways. London, 1910,
Koebel, W. H. Modern Argentina. London, 1907.
Latzina, F. L' Agriculture et L'^levage dans la Republique Argen-
tine. Buenos Aires, 1891.
Latzina, F. Diccionario Geografico Argentine. Buenos Aires,
1890.
Latzina, F. Geographic de la Republique Argentine. Paris,
1889.
Leach, Walter. Exploration of the Bermejo River. Geog. Journ.,
June, 1890.
Le Bon, Gustave. Les Lois Psychologiques de I'Evolutions des
Peuples. Paris, 1894.
MacCann, William. Two Thousand Miles' Ride through the
Argentine Provinces. London, 1853.
Mangel du Mesnil, E. Notoriedades del Plata, Buenos Aires,
1862.
Mansfield, C. B. Paraguay, Brazil, and the Plate. Cambridge,
1856.
Markwich, W. F., and Smith, W. A. The South American Re-
publics. New York, 1901.
Martin, Percy F. Through Five Republics. London, 1905.
Martinez, A. B., and Lewandowski, M. L' Argentine au XX^ Siecle.
3rd. ed. Paris, 1909.
Moncousin, M. P. Notes sur les Tehuelches. Paris, 1900.
Moreno, F. P. Neuquen, Rio Negro, Chubut, y Santa Cruz. La
Plata, 1897.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 301
Moreno, F. P. Explorations in Patagonia. Geog. Journ., September
and October, 1899.
Moreno, F. P. Patagonia. Article in Enc. Brit., loth ed. London,
1902.
Mulhall, M. G. and E. T. Handbook of the River Plate. Buenos
Aires, 1885.
Mulhall, Mrs. M. G. Between the Amazon and Andes. London,
1881.
Musters, G. C. At Home with the Patagonians. London, 1873.
Napp, Richard. The Argentine Republic. Buenos Aires, 1876.
Nordenskjold, Otto. A Journey in South Western Patagonia.
Geog. Journ., October, 1897.
O'Driscoll, Florence. A Journey to the North of the Argentine
Republic. Geog. Journ., October, 1904.
Pearce-Edgcumbe, Sir E. R. Zephyrus. London, 1887.
Pelleschi, Juan. Los Indies Matacos. Buenos Aires. 1897.
Pillado, Ricardo. Politica Comercial Argentina. Buenos Aires, 1906.
Prichard, H. H. Through the Heart of Patagonia. London, 1902.
Quesada, Ernesto. La Iglesia Catolica y la Cuestion Social.
Buenos Aires, 1895.
Rumbold, Sir H. The Great Silver River. London, 1888.
Scarlett, Hon. P. Campbell. South America and the Pacific. 2 vols.
London, 1838.
Sclater, P. L., and Hudson, W. H. Argentine Ornithology. 2 vols.
London, 1888-9.
Seeber, Francisco. Great Argentina, &c. Buenos Aires, 1903.
Turner, T. A. Argentina and the Argentines. London, 1892.
UUoa, Antonio de and G. Juan. A Voyage to South America, trans-
lated by John Adams. 2 vols. London, 1807.
Vaulx, M. Henry de. A Travers la Patagonia. Paris, 1898.
Wallace, Professor Robert. Argentine Shows and Live Stock.
Edinburgh, 1904.
302 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Walter, Richard. A Voyage round the World. Dublin, 1748.
Webster, H. A. Patagonia. Article in Enc. Brit. London, 1885.
Wiener, Charles. La Republique Argentine. Paris, 1899.
Zeballos, E. S. Descripcion Amena de la Republica Argentina.
3 vols. Buenos Aires, 188 1-8.
I
1
INDEX
[For plants and animals, see Flora and Fauna ; and for names of
firms and railways, see English Engineers, and Railways.]
Aconcagua, 260
Adams, 77
Aguirre, 94
Akers, 109
Albarracin, 256
Alberoni, 39
Alcorta, 109, no, 113
Alem, 103
Alfafa, see Lucerne
Alfaro, 55
Almargo, 28
Alvear, 81
Alzaga, 88
Amusements, 183, 184
Anchorena, 90
Andes, 3, 4, 28, 106-108, 258, 260-
264
Andrewes, Capt., 160, 278, 280
Anson, 43, 242
Apipe, 265
Apostoles, 266
Arbitration, 109, no, 121, 122
Arcos, 78
Army, 116-119
Asiento de Negros, 38, 39, 40
Asuncion, 26, 27, 28, 97, 188
Atahualpa, 159
Auchmuty, 69-71
Avellanada, 100
Azara, 276
Azolas, 26
Bahia Blanca, I, 9, 13, 121, 151,
216, 238-240, 292
Baird, 66, 74
Balcarce, 90
Banks, 180, 286
Barclay, 266, 268, 270, 288
Battle of Acari, 28
Angostura, 97
Campo Grande, 97
Casseros, 92
Chacabuco, 82
Curupaiti, 97
India Muerta, 92
Ituzaingo, 88
Maipu, 82
Riachuelo, 96
Tucuman, 80
Belgium, i8i, 212
Belgrano (port) , 121, 239
(soldier), 79-81, 83
(suburb), 147, 149, 150
Bell, 164
Beresford, 66-68
Bernandez, 202
Bohorquez, 34, 35
Bolivar, 84
Bolivia, 2, 10, 90, 121, 163, 269,
277, 279, 282
Bonelli, 281
Bovril, 204, 205
Bradford, 201
Bravard, 8, 256
Brazil, 10, 37, 48, 87, 95-98, 105,
116, 163, 187, 269, 274
Brewing, 194
Brossard, 90, 93
Brown, 83
Buchanan, 109
304
INDEX
f
Budget, 104
Buenos Aires, 139-151, and passim
Burke, 40
Byron, 242, 247
Cabot, 24, 25
Calchaquies, 34 35
Calvo, 168, 169
Camerones Bay, 251
Campbell, 3, 248
Canning, 85
Capital, British, 180
Carlyle, 40, 53, 125
Carmen, 244, 249
Casas, La, 159
Catamarca, 15, 33, 113, 146, 257
Cathedral, 67, 146, 257, 259
Cattle, 140, 156, 196-209
Cavendish, 241
Caxias, 97
Cedulas, 60
Celman, loi, 105, 129, 142, 215
Cerrito, 276
Chaco, El, 114, 138, 187
Charles III., 61
Charles IV., 76
Charles V., 25
Chatham, Lord, 53
Child, 132
Children, Argentine, 153
Chile, 2, 63, 68, 82, 106, 107-110,
n6, 118, 163, 165, 230, 246, 255,
263, 264
Chinipies, 276
Chubut, 114, 136, 161, 204,249
Church, see Religion
Church, Col., 240
Cigars, 148, 222
Cisneros, 77-79
Clarke, 248
Clapham, Prof., 200
Clement XIV., 47
Cleveland, 105
CHmate, 13-15
Clubs, 146, 149, 208 258, 269
Coal, 214, 237
Cole, 69
Colombia, 174
Colonial System, Spanish, 49-64
Commerce, 210-214, and passim
Conchas, 81
Concordia, 274
Congress, 108, 112, 123, 146
Consuls, 179, 268
Cordillera, 6, 7, 12, 106, 107
Cordoba, 4, 13, 14, 28, 33, 66, 79,
89,103,161,185,230,232,259,
277-280, 283
Corrientes, 10, 11, 29, 30, 95, 96,
113, 207, 265
Costa, 103, 104
Cotton, 281
Cotton-spinning, 195
Crawford, 68, 70-72
Credit, loi
Crossbreeds, 201
Cunningham, 247, 248
Currency, 196
Cuzo, 265
Daireaux, 163, 171
Darwin, 5-9, 12, 13, 15, 19, 89,
141, 156, 235, 241, 245, 246,
247, 250, 252, 262
Davis, 241
Dawson, 99
Deputies, House of, 112, 113
Desire, Port, 241
Diamond Jubilee, 150
Distilleries, 194
D'Orbigny, 8, 9, 12, 20-22, 247
Dorrego, 87-89
Drago, 169, 170
Drake, 38, 241, 247
Duff, 72
Durhams, 205, 208, 290
Durqui, 94
Education, 161-163
Edward VII., no, 150 208, 264
Ehrenberg, 5
Elio, 80
INDEX
305
England, 65-75, and passim
English Engineers, 270, 271
Trade, 211, 212, and passim
Ensenado, 70
Entre Rios, 11, 30, 47, 92, 99, 113,
187, 215, 230
Estancias, 196-209, and passim
Ethnology, 20-23
Exports, 213, 214
Falkner, 243, 244, 247
Falkland Islands, 202
Famatina, 234, 235
Famine, Port, 241
Fauna, 251-253, 276
Federalists, 87, 93, 100
Ferdinand, 50, 76, 79
Finns, 266
Flora, 276
Flores, 95
Flotsam, 150
Flour, 195
Formosa, 95, 114, 194
France, 63, 78, 212, and passim
Francia, 92
Free Trade, 218, 219, 224
French Railways, 191
Funes, 34, 167, 278
Gallegos, Port, 241, 243
Gamboa, 241
Garay, 28-31, 272
Gardiner, 252
Gaucho, 117, 155-157, 198
Germany, 179, 180, 211, 212
Giants, 243
Giebert, 206
Goats, 197
Gobernaciones, 113, 114
Godoy, 267
Gold, 56, 289
Gonnard, 131, 135
Gonzalez, 277
Gran Chaco, 2, 4, ii, 195, 270,
275-277
Gregory XV., 279
Guaranies, 20, 21, 28
Guarpes, 258
Guatemala, 174
Guilaine, 132
Hague Congress, 169, 170
Hawkes worth, 243
Hay, 169
Head, 141, 235, 236, 256, 272, 288
Herefords, 207, 208, 290
Hernan Darias, 31
Hernandez, Jose, 157
Hides, 46, 56, 206
Hogs, 197
Holditch, Sir T., 109, no, 117, 1 18
Holland, Lord, 69
Horn, Cape, 2, 38, 252
Horses, 117, 150, 197, 249
Hotels, 144, 286
Howorth, Sir H. H., 8, 19
Hudson, 249
Humaita, 96, 97
Ibicuy, 187
Iguazu Falls, 273, 274
Immigration, 131-138, 266
Imports, 211, 212
Incas, 22, 60
Industries, 178, and passim
Indians, 2, loo, 159, 253, 275
Irala, 28
Italy, 133-135
Jenkins' Ear, War of, 40-44
Jesuits, 22, 29, 33, 35, 44-47, 61,
91, 160, 266, 279, 289
Jordan, 99
Journalism, 163-166
Jubileo, 207
Justice, 105, 114
Jujuy, H4, 163, 279
KiRKPATRICK, 62
La Luis, 207
La Madrid, 189
La Plata, 143, 162
La Quevas, 185
La Rioja, 14, 113
21
306
INDEX
La Sabana, 227
Lakes, 251, 252
Larreta, 173, 174
Lavalle, 88, 89
Laughton, 41
Lebon, 132
Lemco, 205
Lerma, 281
Leveson-Gower, 71
Lewandowski, 198
Lewis, 69
Licences, 130
Liebig, 206
Lincolns, 201
Liniers, 67, 72, 73, 79
Linseed, 228
Literature, 166-177
Locusts, 288
Londonderry, Lord, 82
Lopez, 88, 90, 91, 95-98
Dr., 104
Los Andes, 114
Lozano, 223, 274, 280
Lucerne, 228, 229
Luiggi, 239
Luscan, 259
Lumley, 70
Lynch, 97
MacCann, 215
Macovies, 276
Magellan, 26, 37, 106, 107
Explorer, 241
Mahon, 70
Maize, 214, 227, 228
Mammoth, 19
Mansfield, 141
Marmol, 172, 175
Martinez, 198
Manufacturers, 53
Marriage, 153
Matacos, 276
Maza, 91
Meat, 204-207
Mendoza, 4, 13, 15, 129, 130, 154,
161, 254-261
Mercado, 34
Merou, M. G., 170, 171, 176, 219
Miranda, 77
Misiones, 14, 67, 96, 105, 114, I94
Mitre, A, 176
General, 94, 95, 97. I03. 167
Moore, 38
Moreno, 79
Mules, 197
Mulhalls, The, 164, 198, 256, 287
Munroe Doctrine, 83, 169
Musters, 247
Mutton, 201
" Nacion, La," and other journals,
see Journalism
Napp, 201
Navy, I19-121
Nequen, 114
Nordenskjold, 249, 251
Nova Colonia, 37, 38, 44, 67
Oats, 229
Ocantos, 172
Officers, Army, 117
Pacific Steam Navigation Com-
pany, 143, 284, 285
Palermo, 142, 147, 149
Pampa, 114
Pampas, 2, 4, 5, 11, 15, 90, 155,
199, 204, 205, 275
Pampean mud, 7-9
Sea, 240
Paper, 195
Paraguay, 10, 28, 31, 38, 45, 80, 92,
94-98, 139, 140, 161, 163, 187
River, see Rivers
Parana, river, see Rivers
town, 162
Parish, 39, 83
Patagonia, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15,
31, 107, 108, 136, 199, 240,
242, 244-253
Patagonians, size of, 2, 3, 100, 247,
248
INDEX
307
Paulistas, 21, 35, 36, 61
Pa von, 94
Payaguas, 276
Payne, 18
Paz, General, 89, 90
Jose C, 164
Pellegrini, loi, 105, 133
Pena, 103, 104
Pcribebuy, 97
Peru, 31, 38, 43, 63, 119, 140, 163,
174, 200, 255, 275, 278
Petroleum, 236, 237
Pettenkofer, 206
Philip II., 143
Pigafetta, 247
Pillado, 220, 223
Pitt, 77
Poles, 266
Politics, 122-124
Polled Angus, 205, 290
Polo, 149
Pombal, 44
Popham, 66, 68, 74
Population, 99, 113, 114
Port Madryn, 250
Port St. Julian, 5, 6
Ports and Docks, 180, 183, 216, 239
Porteiios, 94, 100, loi, 103
Portuguese, 18, 61
Posadas, 8i, 187, 266, 274
President, 112
Vice, 113
Provinces, 113, 114
Puente del Inca, 261-263
Puirredon, 67, 81, 82
Puna de Atacama, 108, 109
Punta Arenas, 249
Purchas, 25
QuESADA, Ernesto, 166, 167, 171,
280
V. G., 166
Quilmes, 66
Quiroga, 88-91
Racing, 149, 150
Rafaela, 189
Railways, 178-194
Rain, 5, 14
Rams, 201
Religion, 158-161
ReseHas y Criticas, and other
works, see Literature
Resistencia, 277
Rio Negro, see Rivers
Gobernacion, 114, 249, 250
Rivadavia, 82, 88, 90, no
Rivers, Chico, 12
Chubut, 3, 12
Colorado, 2, 4, 6, il
Coyly, 3
Desaguerdo, 259
Deseado, 243, 251
Gallegos, 3, 12, 251
Ivahi, 265
Iguazu, 265
Limaz, 12
Mendoza, n
Nequen, 12
Negro, 4, 9, 90, 100, 244, 249,
250
Paraguay, 25, 28, 29
Parana, 10, 12, 28, 45, 93, 96, 143,
184, 265-272
Paranahybo, 265
Paranapaneraa, 265
Pardo, 265
Pepiri, 105
Pilcomayo, 11
Salado, 11, 265
San Antonio, 105
Santa Cruz, 3, 6, 12, 244, 252
Saranai, 11
Sauces, 244
Tiete, 245
Tunuyan, 259
Uruguay, passim
Vermejo, 11
Robles, 96
Roca, 100-103, io5f no, 112, 250
Rojas, 188, 189
Romney Marsh, 201
Rondeau, 82
308
INDEX
Rosario, lo, 13, 94, 103, 129, 130,
151, 185, 190, 238, 290
Rosas, 89-93, 100, 112, 122, 132,
142, 175, 255, 279, 281
Rum, 194
Russia, 200, 216, 266
Saavedra, 79, 80
Salta, 14, 91, 114, 189, 232, 277,
281, 282
San Javier, 205
Juan, 13, 14, 113, 185, 230, 255
Luis, 13, 114, 255
Martin, 81, 82, 83, 118
Rafael, 135, 185, 260
Santa Cruz, 114, 204, 249, 251, 252
Elena, 205
Fe, 13, 80, 92, 103, 113, 162, 189,
230, 268, 272
Santiago del Ertero, 114, 163, 277
Schouten, 38
Seeber, 117
Seeley, 52
Senate, 112
Seneca, 17
Sheep, 196-209
Shoes, 195
Smith, Adam, 54, 56
Smollett, 43
Solis, de, 34
South American Missionary So-
ciety, 250
Southey, 29, 36
Spain, passim
StaUions, 150, 199
Statesmen's Yearbook, 211, 217
Steamship Lines, 284, 285
Sterling, 65
Stuart, 83:
Sugar, 4, 194, 223, 229
Tallow, 205
Tanning, 195
Tariff, 218-224
Tehuelches, 244, 247
Thucydides, 23
Tierra del Fuego, 106, 114, 202
Timber, 214, 231-233
Tobas, 276
Tobacco, 56, 229
Tosca, 7
Tramways, 180, 188
Tucuman, i, 11, 14, 31, 35. 38, 55,
80, 83, 90, 91, 189, 194, 195,
200, 223, 232
United States, 109, no, 116, 211,
212, 215, 216, 219
Universities, 33, 162, 279, 280
Urquiza, 91, 92-94, 95, 96
Uruguay, 36, 37, 47, 81, 84, 88, 94,
95, 142, 187, 199, 206
river, see Rivers
Ushwiya, 13
Vaca, Cabeza de, 27
Valparaiso, 185, 254
Valverde, 159
Van Noort, 247
Venezuela, 169
Vernon, 42
Viamont, 89
Viedmas, 244, 245, 247, 249
Vilelas, 276
Villa Corta, 38
Mercedes, 196
Villaruel, 280
Wages, 126-129
Waleffe, 174
Wallis, 247
Walpole, 40
Wentworth, 42
Wheat, 225-227, and passim
Whitelocke, 68, 70
Whittingham, 73
Windham, 83
Windsor, 159
Wine, 56
Witchcraft, 248, 249
Women, Argentine, 152, 153, 259
Wool, 214
Yerba Mate, 233, 234
Zarate, 188, 200
UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WGKINC AND LONDON,
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
LIBRARY
Acme Library Card Pocket
Under Pat. " Ref. Index File."
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