F 8 5 A 406667 { )1.U4 22c{ -,7119f9&U F c 8' The Christ of the Andes THE Story of the Erection of the Great Peace Monument ON THE Andean Boundary Between Chile and Argentina Boston The American Peace Society 1905 The Christ of the Andes. The first anniversary, March 13, 1905, of the plac- ing of the colossal statue of Christ on the Andean border between Chile and the Argentine Republic, 14,000 feet above the sea, has recalled the unique and impressive events which led to the erection of this remarkable peace monument. The story of this series of events is sub- stantially as follows: Five years ago these two prosperous and high-spirited republics of South America were on the verge of war. They were increasing their armaments to the utmost of their ability. They had each two gigantic warships of the latest pattern building in the shipyards of Europe. They were spending incredible sums of money upon these preparations for war, amounting, as was reported at the time, to five dollars annually per capita of their population. What brought them so near to conflict was the revival of an old dispute which had caused much trouble and expense in the past, about the boundary between them on the Andes, a controversy involving the question of the title to about eighty thousand square miles of territory. The dispute had been rendered more acute by the dis- covery that in the Patagonian section the boundary was not continuously marked by mountain crests, and that there were valuable rivers in the region sending their waters through the hills to the sea on the Chilean side. 3 This discovery had caused Chile to put forward unex- pected claims to certain parts of the region. The British Ministers residing at Buenos Ayres and Santiago used their good offices with the two govern- ments to prevent the calamity of war and to secure a peaceful settlement of the dispute. This effort to pre- vent hostilities was powerfully supported by Dr. Marco- lino Benavente, Bishop of San Juan de Cuyo, Argentina, and Dr. Ramon Angel Jara, Bishop of San Carlos de Ancud, Chile. On Easter Sunday, 1900, during the festival of the Catholic Church at Buenos Ayres, Bishop Benavente made a fervent appeal in behalf of peace, and proposed that some day a statue of Christ should be placed on the Andean border between the two countries, where it might be seen by all comers and goers, and prevent, if possible, any recurrence of animos- ity and strife between the two republics. The two bishops traveled through their countries addressing crowds of men in the towns and villages. They were sustained by the local clergy and by the women, who labored enthusiastically for the policy of peace. Peti- tions were sent to the legislatures, and through these the executives were reached. The result was that a treaty was entered into by the two governments, submitting the controversy to the arbi- tration of the King of England. .; He entrusted the case to eminent jurists and expert geographers, who examined it carefully, and in due time submitted their decision, awarding a part of the disputed territory to one of the republics and a part to the other. f The decision was cheerfully accepted by both. --w ru e-N X"05171 9 4 Much gratified with the outcome of the arbitration, and urged forward by a powerful popular movement, the two governments then went further, and in June, 1903, concluded a treaty by the terms of which they pledged themselves for a period of five years to submit all controversies arising between them to arbitration, the first general arbitration treaty ever concluded. In a further treaty they agreed to reduce their armies to the proportions of police forces, to stop the building of the great battleships then under construction, and to dimin- ish the naval armaments which they already possessed. The provisions of these treaties, which have now been in force nearly two years, were carried out as fast as practicable. The land forces have been reduced, the heavy ordnance taken off the war vessels, and several of the vessels of the marine turned over to the commercial fleets. (Work on the four great warships was immedi- ately arrested, and some of them have been sold. One or two of them, unfortunately, went into the Japanese fleet off Port Arthur, in spite of the fact that both gov- ernments had, in the treaty, pledged themselves not to sell any ships to nations engaged in war.f The vessels were bought under disguise by a firm in New York, and then turned over to Japan; after which neither of the governments would sell any vessels to either Russia or Japan. The results of this disarmament - for it is a real dis- armament -- have been most remarkable. With the money saved by the lessening of military and naval expenses, internal and coast improvements have been made. Good roads have been constructed. Chile has 5 turned an arsenal into a school for manual training. She is building a much needed breakwater in the harbor of Valparaiso, and has commenced systematically the im- provement of her commercial facilities along the coast. One or two of Argentina's previous war vessels have gone into her commercial fleet and are now plying back and forth across the Atlantic in honorable and lucrative business. The great trans-Andean railway through the heart of the mountains, which will bring Buenos Ayres and Santiago within eighteen hours of each other and bind them together in the most intimate relations of trade and travel, will be completed this year. But more significant than any of these material results has been the change in the attitude of the Argentines and Chileans toward each other. All the old bitterness and distrust have passed away, and the most cordial good feeling and confidence have taken their place. The suggestion of Bishop Benavente as to the erection of a statue of Christ on th% boundary at Puente del Inca was quickly carried into execution. As early as 1901, on the initiative of Senora de Costa, president of the Christian Mothers' Association of Buenos Ayres, one of the largest women's organizations in the world, the women of Buenos Ayres, who had already manifested the deepest interest in the new movement, undertook the task of securing funds and having a statue created. The work was entrusted to the young Argentine sculptor, Mateo Alonso. (When his design was completed and accepted, the statue was cast at the arsenal of Buenos Ayres from old cannon taken from the ancient fortress outside of the city. 6 It was more than a year from the time that it was cast until it was placed in its destined position. On May 21, 1903, the Chilean representatives, bearing the treaties for final ratification, came by sea to Buenos Ayres. They were met down the river and escorted to the city by a large fleet of gaily decked steamers. For a week there was a round of festivities. When the treaties were finally signed on the 28th of May, Seiora de Costa invited all the dignitaries present -cabinet officials, for- eign ministers, bishops, newspaper men, generals, ad- mirals, etc.-to inspect the statue of Christ in the courtyard of the college, and standing at its foot with the distinguished audience about her she pleaded that it might be placed on the highest accessible point of the Andes between the two countries. It was not till in February, 1904, that the final steps were taken for its erection. It was carried by rail in huge crates from Buenos Ayres to Mendoza, then on gun carriages up the mountains, the soldiers and sailors them- selves taking the ropes in critical places, where there was danger of the mules stumbling. Hundreds of persons had come up the night before and encamped on the ground to be present at the ceremony. The Argentines ranged themselves on the soil of Chile and the Chileans on the Argentine side. There was music and the boom- ing of guns, whose echoes resounded through the mountains. The moment of unveiling, after the parts had been placed in position, was one of solemn silence. The statue was then dedicated to the whole world as a practical lesson of peace and goodwill. The ceremonies of the day, March 13, 1904, were closed, as the sun went down, with a prayer that love and kindness might pene- trate the hearts of men everywhere. The base of the statue is in granite. On this is a granite sphere, weighing some fourteen tons, on which the outlines of the world are sketched, resting upon a granite column twenty-two feet high. The figure of Christ above, in bronze, is twenty-six feet in height. The cross supported in his left hand is five feet higher. The right hand is stretched out in blessing. On the granite base are two bronze tablets, one of them given by the Workingmen's Union of Buenos Ayres, the other by the Working Women. One of them gives the record of the creation and erection of the statue; on the other are inscribed the words : "Sooner shall these mountains crumble into dust than Ar- gentines and Chileans break the peace to which they have pledged themselves at the feet of Christ the Redeemer." It is not easy to compare events and say which is the greatest. But taking it all in all, the long quarrel of seventy years which it closed, the arbitration of the boundary dispute, the general treaty of arbitration and the practical disarmament which preceded it, the remark- able transformation of public opinion expressed in its consummation, and the sublime prophecy of peace for the future which it gives not only for Chile and Argen- tina but for the whole world, the erection of the Christ of the Andes stands without parallel, among the events of recent years. de< y r ' x", ' {'"c" - k y + . +l ]+,-4 k- sf 7 ' } r - "A '' t s Y '' mot, : F ice. k ° ^ 2) ,Zt { : il 1' s ?. 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