F 
 2808 
 
 C7 
 
 UC-NRLF 
 
 B 3 IID bl3 
 
 o 
 
 C..J 
 
' ARGENTINE 
 
 AST, PRESENT AND FUTURE, 
 
 A LECTURE 
 
 BY 
 
 ELMER L. CORTHELL, dr. sc. 
 
 onsulting engineer national public works of argentine. 
 1 Nassau Street, New Yokk City. 
 
 V^ OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 New York : 
 BOWNE & CO., PRINTERS. 
 
 190:i 
 
PHtbtHVAl IUI>» 
 
 COPY ADDED 
 ORIGINAL TO BE 
 RETAINED 
 
 NOV 1 S ^992 
 
>^ Of THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 Two YEARS IX ArGEXTIXE AS THE CoXSULTIT^O 
 
 Engineer of Xatioxal Public Works. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen-. 
 
 In 1899, the Argentine Government, having con- 
 ceived an extensive project of River and Harbor 
 improvement, and made the preliminary surveys, 
 requested the U. S. Government to recommend an 
 engineer who would come to Argentine and assist 
 the Government by his advice in forming and exe- 
 cuting the plans. 
 
 I had the honor of being selected for this position. 
 After carrying out a two years' contract with that 
 Government, I have returned to my own country 
 with some knowledge of the conditions and some 
 experience in meeting them which form the basis 
 of this lecture. 
 
 At the final general session of the International 
 Navigation Congress at Diisseldorf, July 4th, this 
 last year, when called upon to respond for the 
 Argentine Republic, I used the following words : 
 
 "It may not be out of place to make a few com- 
 parisons between the two countries, which by a 
 singular coincidence I have the honor to represent 
 —one as a delegate to this Congress ; the other as 
 a member of the Permanent International Commis- 
 sion. One of these countries is the Argentine Re- 
 public and the other the United States of Xorth 
 America. 
 
 "Both are cosmopolitan. both have been populated 
 largely from Europe ; both had the task of sup- 
 planting savagery by civilization. The red races 
 in each case had to give way to the Caucasian, or 
 be assimilated with it. Both have great plains and 
 immense river systems. The greatest river valley 
 of the one is almost exactly equal to that of the 
 other. Similar causes have produced nearly similar 
 hydraulic conditions in each case. Both countries 
 have temperate climates, both great mountain 
 
ranges ; both some extent of arid lands and run- 
 ning waters for irrigation. Botli iiiimense areas of 
 rich soils, made so by similar beneficent causes ; 
 both liave extensive pasture lands and millions of 
 cattle, sheep and horses. In their cereals they are 
 competitors with each other in the food uiarkets of 
 Europe— one is great and ambitious, the other 
 smaller but earnestly devoted to progress and am- 
 bitious to fulfill its high destiny among the nations 
 of the earth." 
 
 By comparisons of tlie unknown with the known 
 we appre^'iate and learn, and for that reason I shall 
 compare Argentine with the United States in re- 
 sjDect to some of its more important features, and 
 you will see that the two great countries have much 
 in common. 
 
 You must, if possible, imagine yourselves in 
 a situation exactly opposite from yours in the 
 United States in regard to the sun and the 
 ]Doles of the earth ; you must look north for warm 
 winds and south for cold ones. Your winter will 
 begin in June and your summer in December. The 
 north side of your house will be sunny and the 
 south side in the shade. As you travel north from 
 Buenos Aires, the Capital, it will grow warmer ; 
 as you go south you will at last reach the glaciers. 
 Y^our north star will be changed to the southern 
 cross, and in all these changes you will at first be 
 lost. Y^ou must also locate yourself geographic- 
 ally, and recollect that the northern line of Argen- 
 tine is in about the same latitude south of the 
 Equator as Havana is north of it, and that the 
 southern limit of Argentine corresponds to Labra- 
 dor and Kamscatka ; and that Buenos Aires, Cape- 
 town and Melbourne are all in about tli^ same 
 latitude. Also that there are east and west differ- 
 ences. Buenos Aires is in about the same longitude 
 as Cape Breton Island, east of Nova Scotia, and 
 the circle of longitude along the most westerly 
 boundary of Argentine nearly passes through Au- 
 gusta, Maine ; and the course from the entrance of 
 the River Plate to Liverpool is nearly a straight 
 line. In order that the location of Argentine in 
 reference to other South American countries may 
 be appreciated, it should be stated that Buenos 
 Aires is as far south of, say, Caracas, the present 
 center of revolutionary and unstable South Amer- 
 ica, as the north end of Lake AVinnipeg, in Mani- 
 toba, is north of Caracas, or as far as the northern 
 part of Greenland is north of New Orleans. 
 
Witli this orientation of ourselves on the XVest- 
 ern Hemispliere, and with these remarkable diflfer- 
 ences in position, let me call your attention to a 
 rery remarkable similarity wherein will be seen 
 and ap-preciated tlie beneticent worlv of the Great 
 Creator lono- before at least the present race of 
 mankind inhabited the two continents. 
 
 In a paper read before the American Association 
 for the Advancement of Science, at Buffalo, Aug. 
 5, 1806, upon the delta of the Mississippi, I de- 
 scribed the ancient conditions of that great river in 
 substance as folloW'S : 
 
 First, a deep shore line of the Gulf of Mexico, 
 wdien the site of Galveston was far out in the waters 
 and the coast Avas 100 miles inland from the site of 
 Xew Orleans, — a wide and deep estuary 1,000 miles 
 long, reaching into the heart of the continent to be- 
 tween St. Louis and Cairo, where, at Cape Gira- 
 deau, it met the ridge of the Ozark Mountains, 
 stretching across the valley and holding back the 
 ancient Great Lake, which covered Chicago 200 feet 
 deep and spread over all the great Prairie States 
 and received and distributed over its bed the im- 
 mense sediments of the Missouri and other great 
 rivers in theNorth. Then came the cyclic change lift- 
 ing Florida out of the water and turning continental 
 drainage north, cutting its way through the allu- 
 vion to Hudson's Bay". Then the breaking down 
 of the Ozark barrier ; the draining of the submerged 
 area ; the subsequent tilling of the Estuary and the 
 advance of the alluvial lands into the Gulf to their 
 present line, 110 ndles beyond New Orleans. A 
 great and wonderful beneficence for the use and 
 convenience of man by the Great Architect of the 
 universe. 
 
 Had not my engineering experience upon the 
 Mississippi Kiver a"nd its delta drawn my attention 
 to this extremely interesting ancient liistory of the 
 Great River of 'North America, I might not have 
 been so deeply impressed by its remarkable simi- 
 larity witli that of the Parana River in South 
 America; and for both histories lam indebted to 
 Engineering investigators; Gen. Warren in the 
 first instance, and Col. Geo. Earl Church, an Ameri- 
 can Engineer living in London, in the second 
 instance, the latter probably better acquainted by 
 personal contact with the geography and hydrau- 
 lics of South America than any living man. 
 
 I am indebted to him and the Royal Geographic 
 Society, of which he is a Director and a Correspond- 
 
6 
 
 ent, for most of what follows in relation to this 
 ancient history of the great rivers of Aro-entine 
 and Central South America. 
 
 There are four great breaks in ttie mountain - 
 fringed continent which we call its great commer- 
 cial doorways. The Orinoco, tlie Amazon, the La 
 Plata and the deep indentation of Bahia Blanca, 
 — one in Venezuela, one in Brazil and two in Ar- 
 gentine. The three river basins occupy two-thirds 
 of the entire area of South America. 
 
 The two with which we are most interested in 
 this lecture are the La Plata and Amazon, Avhich 
 have areas respectively of about l^WO.OOO square 
 miles and ,'?,7i?^,6'6'6'. But if we deduct from the 
 latter the valley of the Tocantins, Avhicli has no 
 direct connection with it, the valley of the 
 Amazon is '2,368^000 square miles ; its principal 
 branch, the Madeira, has a volume of discharge 
 nearly equal to the Amazon itself, and at the falls, 
 which I shall refer to later, it carries annually a 
 volume equal to that of the La Plata, which has a 
 minimum how of about 531^.^000 cubic feet per sec- 
 ond and a maximum of over '2,000,000—^ river 
 80 per cent, larger than the Mississippi, the 
 Father of Waters, if we compare their mean an- 
 nual discharges, the former being about 288 cubic 
 miles and the latter 156 cubic miles. The Parana 
 ("the mother of the sea" in Indian language), 
 the principal affluent of the La Plata, is itself 1^6% 
 larger than the Mississippi, its mean annual dis- 
 charge being about 230 cubic miles. 
 
 What a river the La Plata must have been in 
 ancient times, when it had a maximum discharge 
 of li-.OOOfiOO cubic feet per second, well up towards 
 the modern Amazon, estimated to be 5^297,000, 
 and greater than the ancient Amazon ! 
 
 I have described the ancient conditions of the 
 Mississippi— the Gulf of Mexico as a great estuary 
 and a deep shore line extending well into the heart 
 of the North American Continent. The same con- 
 ditions existed in the contour line of South America 
 in the La Plata estuary. It extended l,Jt.OO miles 
 into the Continent, and was 400 miles wide — eleven 
 times greater than the Empire State. It was the 
 •great Pampean Sea, receiving the drainage not only 
 of the present Parana and its tributaries, but of 
 the great Madeira River with its immense dis- 
 charge of waters and sedimentary matters — the 
 source of great alluvial formations, discharging 
 into a sea two-thirds the size of the Mediterranean. 
 
When, in tlie processes of Nature, tlie great un- 
 derwater plains of rich soil had been formed durinfj 
 the comparatively short period of less than 100, 000 
 years, a dam was thrown across the Madeira by the 
 rivers Grande and the Parapiti comini;- down from 
 
 Ancient Pampean Sea and Lake Mojos. 
 
 the Andes, and a deposit more than 170 feet deep 
 occurred forming this dam, which produced the 
 ancient Lake Mo]OS with an area of about 115,000 
 square miles, larger than that of the Great Lakes 
 of North America combined, which is less than 
 QJt.OOO. 
 
 The remarkable action of these rivers and the 
 changes caused by it is graphically told by Col. 
 Church in his paper upon " Argentine Geography 
 and the Ancient Pampean Sea." 
 
 " The Grande and the Parapiti entered the plain 
 with a northern trend to contest with the great 
 river of the north the possession of the gap. They 
 struck it almost at a right angle, and slowly 
 pushed their rival eastward over against the Chaco 
 base of the Chiqiiitos sierras. Here the final con- 
 flict must have taken place, as the Grande and 
 
8 
 
 Parapiti threw their dam across the outlet of the 
 Mojos River, thus cuttino- off its exit into the 
 ancient sea. 'No doubt the giant stream waged 
 fierce war for thousands of years to keep its chan- 
 nel open, alternately sweeping away the bamer 
 and again yielding to the ceaseless volume of sand 
 and clay, which, visible to-day, confirms the vic- 
 tory of the Grande and Parapiti. The dam having 
 finally become permanent, the formation of the 
 ancient Lake Mojos was assured. AVhen it reached 
 the level of the lip of Guajara-mirim, its waters 
 commenced to tumble over it and carve their way 
 to the Amazon. Since then huge volumes of allu- 
 vium have poured down the northern slopes of the 
 Bolivian Andes ; the ancient lake is now almost 
 loaded with material, but it is not yet entirely ob- 
 literated. The inuddy silt which covers the sur- 
 face of the basin is so fine that, when an Indian 
 goes up stream to the mountains, his friends ask 
 him to bring back a stone that they may see what 
 it is like. 
 
 "Since forming the dam, the Rio Grande has 
 slowly been returning westward down the counter- 
 slope which its own alluvium creates." 
 
 During the process we have described, the 
 Ancient Lake and the Pampean Sea were connected 
 and their relation Avas similar to that of the Black 
 Sea and the Mediterranean, Traces of it are still 
 observable, notably the great, low, flooded morass 
 of Xarayas on the ui)per Paraguay River, and the 
 ancient delta of the Parana, including the Ybara 
 lagoon. The Salina Grande was also an arm of it 
 — a great inland fiord. The sea, moreover, must 
 have covered large areas of Paraguay, Corrientes, 
 Entre Rios and Uruguay, and, before the uplifting 
 of the country, it extended southwest to the rivers 
 Chadi-Leofu and the Colorado, lapping round the 
 southern slope of the Ventana range, until the 
 curved rim, concave to the northeast, which con- 
 nects this with the Sierra de Cordova, was suffi- 
 ciently elevated to completely cut off its south- 
 western extension. 
 
 This range was high <-nough to lodge the glacial 
 rocks coming from the Andes, one of which at Tan- 
 dil is so poised and delicately balanced that the 
 hand can rock it, but it cannot be dislodged. This 
 range later prevented the entrance of the destruct- 
 ive sea, protecting the great area from its waves. 
 
 Then came another factor into the beneficent 
 problem of the Creator. Instead of draining the 
 
waters from the great (le]iosits under tlie Pampean 
 Sea, as He did "in North Ainerica, lie lifted the 
 Andes higher, and with them their Athuitic slopes, 
 until the latter were ultinuitely lifted to their pres- 
 ent level, forming the "Plains of the Pampas," 
 the soil of which is 50 feet deep and of surpassing 
 richness — an area of 600,000 square miles, one-fifth 
 the size of the United States and five times that of 
 Great Britain. Thus by cyclic changes in the 
 Northern Hemisphere, and by iiuvial and sedi- 
 mentary action and seismic changes in tlie Southern 
 Hemisi^here, have been formed the great interior 
 agricultural regions of the United States and 
 Argentina. 
 
 Let me now quote from Mr. Revy's work on 
 "Hydraulics of Great Rivers" (Argentine rivers 
 which he surveyed) where he compares the rivers 
 as we now find them with others well known. 
 
 " Great as the volume of the Parana River at its 
 lowest summer level is, immense in comparison to 
 the largest European river, and much larger than 
 that of all the European rivers put together, it is 
 but a small fraction of its flood volume during ex- 
 ceptional rises ; and we can only wonder at the 
 magnitude of the sources, which for months, nay 
 for whole years together, pour forth inconceivable 
 masses of sweet w^ater, every drop of wdiich has 
 been raised by the power of the sun from the Pa- 
 cific and Atlantic Oceans above the tops of the 
 highest mountains of Brazil and the Andes. 
 
 "To convey an idea of the magnitude of the 
 rivers which have been considered and analyzed in 
 the preceding chapters, we have show^i on Plate V 
 several of the larger known rivers, such as the Dan- 
 ube and Thames of Europe, and the Mississippi of 
 North America. They are all drawn to the same 
 scale, and their relative size may somewhat be ap- 
 preciated. The Mississ ippi isj iolujijike the IlriL- 
 guay in dimensions ^amT other' features — we have 
 "s imflarl Ly^in wndth, depth, currents and fall, al- 
 though the North American is the larger of the two. 
 Comparing, however, the Parana with the Missis- 
 sippi, the former might claim the latter as his ec- 
 centric daughter under fourteen. \ The low water 
 dimensions measure a river's greatness, although 
 things of different natures and character do not bear 
 strict comparison. What we, however, understand 
 by greatness is possessed in an exceptional degree 
 bv the Parana." 
 
In order, further, to compare tlie Parana River 
 
 'itli others, it may be stated that its annualllowis 
 
 louble that of the Ganges, three times that of the 
 
 Saint Lawrence, four times that of the Danube, 
 
 and lin^ times that of the 2s^ile. We have records 
 
 of 608 cubic miles in one year. 
 
 There are differino- conditions of importance be- 
 tween the Parana and the Mississippi, explaining 
 the causes of the greater disclmrge of the Parana. 
 While they both How South, one flows from colder 
 to warmer and the other from warmer to colder 
 regions ; and it is in the warmer regions in both 
 cases that the rainfall is the greater. On the Mis- 
 sissippi, in the Northern regions, where we And 
 the greatest drainage area, the rainfall is about 85 
 inches per annum ; in the Southern, where the area 
 is less, the rainfall is QO inches per annum. With 
 the Parana there is a rainfall of about 60 inches in 
 the Northern part, where the drainage area is 
 greater, and about 40 inches in the Southern part, 
 where it is less. 
 
 The length of the Parana R iver is about 3001) 
 miles ; its navigable leng th, between Cuj^aba in 
 in the Xorth and the mouth of the Parana in the 
 delta of the La Plata, is 1825 miles. The Urugruay 
 River, from San Javier to the delta of tlje^taPlata, 
 has a navi.o-able leno-th of (308jniil£g,xn'lip Pnran.i 
 
 i-';ills of Y-sjuazil. 
 
 River is made up of the two important rivers which 
 unite at the City of Corrientes ; the Paraguay and 
 
11 
 
 the Alto Parana. The lenii:th of the latter a])ove 
 Coi-rientes, to the falls of the Yguazii, is 365 miles, 
 and it is navigable nearly t o that po int. These 
 wondrous falls' excel in beauty, as well as exceed 
 in dimensions, the Niagara Falls. 
 
 The latter are 160 feet high, as a maximum, and 
 four-fifths of a mile long, including Goat Island. 
 The Y-guazii are 218 feet high in one leap and 106 
 feet in two leaps, and 2 1/8 miles long, with, at 
 times, an immense volume of water. 
 
 The view before you is from a painting by a well- 
 known Bern painter, Mr. Methfessel, who was en- 
 gaged to come to Argentine, visit the Falls and 
 make a large paintingfor the La Plata Museum. 
 
 The gorgeous and varicolored foliage of the lux- 
 uriant subtropical vegetation, whidi abounds on 
 all sides, adds a charm to the falls. They rank 
 among the most beautiful and wonderful works of 
 the Creator. 
 
 The remolinos, or whirlpools, below the falls equal 
 the famous wliirl])ool at Niagara. 
 
 The Uruguay is an entirely different river, in 
 every respect, from the Parana. It is at times a 
 mighty river rivaling the Parana ; at others it sinks 
 into comparative insigniticance. The Parana is a 
 great river at all times 
 
 The Parantl is a type of a truly great river ; 
 the Uruguay represents a mighty torrent of ex- 
 traordinary dimensions. 
 
 The Uruguay rises near the Atlantic Seaboard in 
 Brazil, in the Sierra del Mar, then runs west to the 
 highland of the territory of Missiones. These 
 highlands prevent it from uniting with the Alto 
 Parana River at that point, which is only about 
 68 miles distant. .Vlong 600 miles of its course 
 from San Javier to Concordia, the bed of the river 
 is iilled with rocky ridges, which, at low water, 
 prevent continuous navigation, but during the floods, 
 which are quite sudden but not long continued, 
 the river is everywhere navigable. The river rises, 
 in floods, at Concordia about 46 feet. Compared 
 with the Parana, it is a clear stream, carrying very 
 little sediment in suspension. The Parana is an 
 entirely different river. Its source being in the 
 troi)ical and rainy region of Brazil, on the flanks of 
 the Andes, its floods are much longer continued. 
 At the confluence of the Parana and the Alto Pa- 
 rana at Corrientes, the rise of the floods is about 83 
 feet ; at Rosario, 225 miles above Buenos Aires, it 
 is from 19.7 to 23 feet or 23 1/2 feet in extreme 
 
12 
 
 floods. When these occur, the river is about 2'S 
 miles wide, covering the entire country with a depth 
 of 6 to 10 feet, and extending to the highlands of 
 the Province of Entre Rios. 
 
 The physical characteristics of the bed of the 
 river are, consequently, entirely different from those 
 of the Uruguay ; the bed of the latter is stable, 
 that of the former very unstable. The sedimentary 
 matters carried in suspension, however, are very 
 much less than those of the MississipxDi ; probably 
 only one-tenth of the amount carried in the Missis- 
 sippi in times of flood For this reason the changes 
 in the bed and banks are less radical ; the most 
 noticeable change is the movejuent of thn islands 
 
 River Parana from Grain Elevator. 
 
 and bars down stream. For example, the Island 
 of Espinillo, in front of the City of Rosario, lying 
 in the middle of the river and about 2 1/2 miles 
 long, has moved, flanking, down stream about 2 1/2 
 miles in the last oO years, and by this movement 
 the advancing bar of the island has approached the 
 river bank in front of Rosario and closed up the 
 navigation channel. 
 
 The maximum velocity in great floods often 
 reaches 6 1/2 feet per second, although usually it 
 is much less, equal to that of the lower Mississippi. 
 
 Both-rLvers are^s iisceptibl e of improvement by 
 dredging, the one to Asun cion, whlxjh is 842 ,miles 
 above the mouth, and the second to_Concordia, 
 which is 280 mijes above its mouth. In the Parana 
 there is nothing but sand to be removed through- 
 out its entire length ; in the Uruguay there are- 
 
18 
 
 several places where it is necessary to remove rock 
 and gravel. But, generally, the channel can be 
 deepened by hydraulic, or suction, dredging. 
 
 The National Government is under obligation, 
 by the law passed by Congress for building the 
 Port of Rosario, to make and maintain a depth of 
 21 feet at low water in the Parana River from the 
 head of the Delta to Rosario. and in the Delta of 
 the La Plata to Buenos Aires a depth of 19 feet at 
 low water, which is about 21 feet at mean high 
 tide. It has been proposed to make and maintain 
 a channel of the following dimensions : From the 
 mouth of the two rivers, at the Island of Martin 
 Garcia, at the head of the La Plata estuary, to 
 Rosario, a depth of 21 feet and a Avidth of 328 
 feet. Rosario to Santa Fe, 292 miles above Martin 
 Garcia, 19 feet deep and 828 feet wide ; Santa Fe 
 to Corrientes, 10 feet deep, and the same depth to 
 Asuncion. Santa Fe, or its seaport Colastine, is 
 the head of ocean navigation ; above that point it 
 is river navigation by steam boats. 
 
 On the Uruguay River it is XDroposed to make a 
 channel 19 feet deep and 328 feet wide, from Mar- 
 tin Garcia to Concepcion del Uruguay, 137 miles 
 above Martin Garcia, and thence lo feet deep to 
 Colon, aiid 9 feet deep and 8 feet over the rock to 
 Concordia, which is 230 miles above Martin 
 Garcia. 
 
 The low water plane, or zero, in both rivers is 
 that of extraordinary low water, so that, gener- 
 ally, the low water does not reach this plane within 
 about half a metre to one metre. Consequently, 
 there can generally be depended upon from 2 to 8 
 feet more" water than I have stated. Between 
 Rosario and Buenos Aires, there are now no bars 
 over which there is not 21 feet of water at Zero, al- 
 though two of them need to be dredged and buoyed 
 in order to make a straighter channel. This the 
 Government is jn-epared to do. 
 
 As to the Port of Rosario : a contract has re- 
 cently been made, under the Law of Congress, to 
 make a modern seaport at this point, with all the 
 latest and best facilities for handling cargo. _ The 
 commerce of Rosario is at present 11/2 million 
 tons per annum. It is a very imi)ortant exporting 
 point for cereals, and when the port is completed 
 according to the plans adopted, it is expected to be 
 an important importing port as Avell. There are 
 ports below Rosario, such as Villa Constitucion, 
 San Nicolas and San Pedro, and above Rosario, 
 
14 
 
 Diamante, Santa Fe, Colastine and Parana. On 
 the Uruguay River, Concordia, at tlie head of 
 steamboat navigation, is an important importing 
 and exporting port for that section of tlie country. 
 Its registered tonnage is about half a million tons, 
 and the actual weight tonnage about 100,000. 
 
 The country between the Parana and Uruguay 
 rivers is practically isolated from the rest of the 
 country, and its situation is very similar to the 
 country lying between the Euphrates and the 
 Tigris ; for that reason it has been called the 
 " Mesopotamia Argentina.'' 
 
 Ther e are a t^present in this area three railroad 
 systemsTTIie ^rgentin'e North Eastern , which runs 
 from Corrientes, on the Parana, to3fonte Caseros, 
 on the Uruguay, and from there to banto Tome, on 
 the same river ; the Ai- gentine E nstern from Monte 
 Caseros to Concordia, and the Entre Pios Railroads, 
 the main line of which connects Parana and Con- 
 ception del Urugiiay, with branches to Victoria, 
 Gaaleguay, Gualeguaychu and Villaguay. Within 
 a few months a connecting line will be completed to 
 Concordia, forming a link between the Argentine 
 Eastern and the Entre Rios systems. It has been 
 proposed to unite these three systems and to ex- 
 tend the Argentine North Eastern from Santo 
 Tome to Posadas on the Alto Parana, passing 
 through the colonies which the Government is 
 establishing in that territory. Posadas is its 
 capital. The Central Paraguay Railroad, which 
 runs in a south-easterly direction from Asuncion, 
 it is proposed to extend to Villa Encarnacion, a 
 small town on the opposite side of the River from 
 Posadas ; to change the gauge, which is 5 1/2 feet 
 to the normal gauge of the other three railroads, 
 which is 4 feet 8 1/2 inches ; make a transfer by car 
 iioat at Posadas ; extend the Entre Rios Railroads 
 to a port of deep water, either on the Parana or 
 Uruguay, and do a '' through " business between 
 Asuncion and this new seaport, which will be 
 only a few hours distant from Buenos Aires. 
 
 With the Parana River improved to Asuncion, 
 and the Uruguay improved to Concordia ; with the 
 railway systems united and extended to a good 
 seaport, this great interior district of the country 
 will have an idfiai_system of ^transportation, and 
 the shipper may takehis^chbice, to sliip by 'rail or 
 by water, thus establishing a very usefuland rea- 
 sonable competition between water and railway, to 
 the great advantage of the people. 
 
If) 
 
 111 reference to the Rio cle la Plata itself, it is an 
 immense shoal estuary- It is the depositini*- ground 
 of the great Parana River. This estuary, in a not 
 very remote x>eriod, extended above Santa Pe ; this 
 is shown by the comparison of old maps, of which 
 92 have been collected and copied and placed in the 
 Library of the Ministry of Public Works. These 
 maps date from the year 1529 to 1885. Even in this 
 comparatively short period, remarkable changes 
 are shown in the Delta of the Parana, which is 
 now a true delta, almost exactly in the form ol* the 
 Greek letter A. It is 40 miles across its face; it 
 
 UK.l.TAu, Mi, Itltl I'AHANA „, ,. , 
 
 ,::,:..,.,.„:.„ 
 
 ,,,,:,.„ 
 
 .V. ■ '. , ^^, 
 
 ^■- 
 
 
 /9^^^ 
 
 
 ; 
 
 ^J''^*^^_^^I-WN»t,.<^ 
 
 -3^:U 
 
 1 
 
 ^^^^'^' ■ ■■■ ' " 
 
 " ".- 
 
 ■ 1 
 
 La Plata Superii)r and Delia of Parana 
 
 slowly extends itself in the head of the estuary, 
 and through the Delta nearly a dozen outlets of the 
 Parana River find their way. It is very much like 
 the deltas of the Danube, Ganges and Mississippi. 
 
 The superficial extension of the Rio de la Plata 
 exceeds 18,000 square miles; it is about 186 miles 
 long and varies in width from 186 miles at the 
 Ocean, between Capes San Antonio and Santa 
 Maria, to 1.12 miles at the extreme point of the 
 head of the estuary, at Punta Gorda. 
 
 To understand the physical conditions of the es- 
 tuary, it is necessary to divide the Rio de la Plata 
 into Superior and Inferior, or upper and lower. 
 The Rio de la Plata Superior lies above a line ex- 
 tending between La Plata and Colonia, the Inferior 
 below that line to the sea. Over a distance of 
 about 25 to 30 miles between Martin Garcia and the 
 anchorage of Biienos Aires, there is a normal 
 depth through the best channels of from 16 to 20 
 feet at low water. 
 
16 
 
 . TJie National Government lias recently com- 
 pleted the dredging over the San Pedro bar lying 
 in this region, increasing the depth of 18 1/2 feet 
 to 21 feet, where there was formerly only 15 feet. 
 In the Canal de las Limetas, or Nnevo Canal, by 
 natural forces and by the constant movement 
 of steamers, there lias been obtained a depth 
 of about 19 1/2 feet, or 21 1/2 feet at mean high 
 tide. Opposite Farallon, a rocky point on the 
 Uruguay shore and opposite Buenos Aires, there 
 is, along the course of navigation, about 19 1/2 feet 
 at low water. The Government has buoyed with 
 luminous buoys the entire route from Buenos 
 Aires to the mouths of the Parana River, the 
 Bravo and the Guazu, and has placed a floating 
 semaphore below Martin Garcia for the beneilt of 
 navigation, recording constantly by signals by day 
 and by night the depth of water in the channel. 
 It is now proposing to connect this semaphore by a 
 telephone cable with the telegraph cable of Martin 
 Garcia, so that communication may be established 
 between tlie shii:)S lying at anchor (waiting for tlie 
 tide, or passing near the semaphore), and the 
 offices of the agents at Buenos Aires or Monte- 
 video. 
 
 A careful study of the different conditions in the 
 Delta of the La Plata shows that the only method 
 of improvement in such a vast expanse of water is 
 by dredging and buoying the best channels. 
 
 'in the lower Rio de la Plata there are very 
 serious conditions. A bar on which there is a least 
 depth of 20 feet at low tide lies between the an- 
 chorage of Buenos Aires and Montevideo ; the 
 material in this bar is very soft and vessels plough 
 their way through it on ordinarj^ tides, but the 
 great extent of the bar is the serious condition. 
 Between the 24 feet curves, straight through this 
 bar, tliere is a distance of 24 sea miles. To make a 
 ^ channel by dredging would require the removal of 
 
 ^ I)robably 10 1/2 to 13 million cubic yards ; and it 
 
 is veiy doubtful if, on such broad extension of 
 water and in such soft material, a channel could be 
 maintained. But it is hoped that the plan now 
 proposed of anchoring five lightships in the line of 
 navigation, and in the direction of the current, and 
 which can be seen from each other, will have an 
 effect upon the bar by the continued movement of 
 deep steamers through it. The examination of the 
 Rio de la Plata Inferior has been intrusted by the 
 Government to the Ministry of Marine, which is 
 
17 
 
 making" very extensive snrve^'s and examinations 
 over the entire area. 
 
 The estuary at this point is 46 miles wide, and 
 iive higii towers on sliore and others anchored 
 within "tile area to be surveyed are necessary in 
 order to cover tliis great Punto Indio banlv. 
 
 Tliese are the general johysical conditions of the 
 Eio de la Plata and its great tributaries. 
 
 The very important project of making a deeper 
 channel of access to the Port of Bnenos Aires and 
 enlarging the port, to give it not only a greater area 
 and more facilities, but greater ciepth. in the en- 
 larged part, is now before the Government, and 
 the plans for it — made b}^ myself —have been ap- 
 proved. There are alternative projects to meet the 
 commercial necessities of the countrj^ ; one is to 
 deepen the present Port of La Plata and endow it 
 with more facilities, where vessels draAving 2-1 or 25 
 feet may come in and go out at any stage of the 
 tide ; or to build a deep water port, wdtli a depth of 
 not less than 30 feet, on the seaboard outside of the 
 difficult conditions of the Rio de la Plata. A con- 
 cession has been granted, and the ]:)roject submitted 
 to the National Government, for an artificial port 
 in the great bay of Samboronbon, which is nearly 
 opposite Montevideo, and another concession for a 
 port at Mar Chiquita, near Mar del Plata on the 
 ocean, has also been granted. 
 
 In addition to the great drainage basin of the La 
 Plata, there is further south the large rivers, Rio 
 Negro and Colorado, which, combined, have a 
 drainage area of 464,000 square miles. The channels 
 are not susceptible of improvement for a large com- 
 merce, but they will in the future furnish water for 
 an extensive irrigation and steamboat navigation. 
 
 The hj-diaulic conditions are great, but the moun- 
 tains are greater and have exerted a powerful in- 
 fluence on the continent, not only its climate and 
 its running waters, but upon mankind. On these 
 lofty table lands lived the Incas and flourished 
 their great empires. Among the clouds have fought 
 for supremacy the Incas troops and the Spanish 
 soldiers, and here, too, have the struggles for lil)erty 
 taken place ; here Bolivar and San Martin led their 
 
18 
 
 troops to victory and continental freedom from the 
 domination of Spain. 
 
 An orographic map of South America will 
 show Avhat immense areas are given up to mountain 
 ranges and lofty summits. In their widest part 
 the Andes are ^(H) miles in breadth. Some mighty 
 
 r^.. 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 1 
 
 'A 
 
 V 
 
 ■ ^4 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 
 " 1 
 
 Orographic Map of S. America. 
 
 force seems to have pushed them and the entire 
 continental line eastward and massed the ranges 
 into a complex system of mountains, towering iso- 
 lated peaks, and parallel, transverse and interlaced 
 ridges without number. In Bolivia, not far north 
 of the country we are describing, there are thirty- 
 two peaks above 17,000 feet high, some of them 
 reaching over 21,000 feet ; and in Argentine is the 
 lofty Aconcagua lifting its solitary crown to an 
 elevation of 23,080 feet,"rival]ing the loftiest moun- 
 tains of the world. And Famatina, in the Argen- 
 tine Province of Rioja, rises to 20,(i80 feet, and the 
 grand mountain Tupungato 22,015 feet high. 
 
 Between Argentine and ('hili, between latitude 
 23 and 3.")°, the tnountain passes, which are from 
 10,000 to 14,000 feet high, are blocked with snow 
 
19 
 
 from May to August, and tliey are swept by violent 
 storms. 
 
 Tlie height of the Passes, all the way from 7 to 
 87° south lat., Northern Peru to Southern Argen- 
 tine, shows the determination of Nature to oppose 
 transit by man, piling up in his pathway these al- 
 most insurmountable obstacles. AVhen it is con- 
 sidered that this immense barrier covers a sixth 
 part of the circumference of the globe, its influence 
 upon the development of the Continent is apparent. 
 The general condition as far as civilization is con- 
 cerned and the obstacles in the way of mankind 
 are forcibly and most interestingly described by 
 Col. Churcii, comparing them with the conditions 
 in North America. 
 
 " Tlie contrast between North and South America 
 is remarkable. Nature was in her kindest mood 
 when she created the former— gave it vast and fer- 
 tile plains ; low and readily transitable mountain 
 ranges ; extensive systems o"^!:' navigable lakes and 
 rivers, the latter not too difficult to bridge ; great 
 forests of the most useful timber ; immense mineral 
 wealth, including an abundance of coal and iron ; 
 a coast line offering numerous excellent harbours 
 easily accessible from the interior, and a temperate, 
 inviting climate over almost its whole area. It is 
 a land where man seems to live with Nature on 
 friendly terms, and where the wave of humanity, 
 as it rolls westward, encounters no obstacle which 
 it cannot readily overcome. 
 
 " How opposite to all this is South America ! It 
 lies mostly within the tropics. Its fertile plans, 
 except th()se of the Argentine Republic, are diffi- 
 cult of access ; it is a formidable task to scale and 
 cross its mountain ranges. Its rivers, with rare 
 excpptions, are of violent flow and full of obstacles 
 to navigation, and its largest ones not; within the 
 limit of practical engineering to bridge. Its vast 
 forests are hard to work and Irequently impenetra- 
 ble. Its mineral wealth, immense in nobler metals, 
 includes but little coal and iron. Its coast has but 
 few good harbors, and these are almost all mountain- 
 locked. Its climate, although in many parts de- 
 lightful, is uninviting over extensive regions. The 
 forces of Nature are so vigorous that man can 
 seldom count upon the unqualified control of them, 
 and, in general, they confer generous reward only 
 upon w^ell-applied and persistent energy." 
 
 The above is an introdu(;tion to his very import- 
 ant paper read before the Royal Geographical 
 
!9 
 
 Society Feb. 25, 1901, entitled ' ' Sou tli America, 
 A n Outline of its Physical j Geography,'^ a papeT- of 
 T'C printed pages. His conclnsions are as follows : 
 
 ''My analysis shows that, in general, man finds 
 himself confronted by severe conditions in his 
 struggle with nature in South America. Thus far. 
 however, his efforts to develop and ntilize its vast 
 lesources have made its commercial history an 
 epic. The thought naturally presents itself, that 
 had North America fallen to the lot of the Latin 
 race in the Europeau occupation of the New World, 
 and South America to the Anglo-Saxon, the former 
 might still have maintained its supremacy ; for 
 its more rapid progress may not be due so much to 
 racial superiority as to advantageous geographical 
 surroundings." 
 
 Having outlined the physical conditions and 
 shown their importance and influence, let us review 
 very briefly the history of man among these 
 extraordinary physical features of a great conti- 
 nent. 
 
 Mountains and streams and soils and nature in 
 general are always of interest, but man, his his- 
 tory, his ethnology and biography are of still 
 greater interest to us, especially when human life 
 and character have impressed themselves upon 
 the country in which we are immediately in- 
 terested. 
 
 I am tempted strongly to take you on an excur- 
 sion in the wdde field of American ethnology and 
 examine the races and tribes that were found by 
 onr first ancestors when they came and began the 
 development of both North and South America, 
 but time compels me to limit myself to an allusion 
 only: for a volume Avould be reqnired to take up 
 the subject of the savage tribes alone of America, 
 450 principal groups, and 2,000 if we separate them 
 by dialects. And another volume would be needed 
 to treat of the civilized Aborigines of the table 
 lands of Mexico and Pern ; of the Toltecs and 
 Astecs and of Quetzalcoatl and the Incas ;— the 
 pontifices who ruled over a vast population cover- 
 ing 40 degrees of latitude of South America from 
 Northern Argentine to the Antilles. The barbar- 
 ism of the savage and the civilization of the races 
 of the table lands have nearly disappeared. You 
 would have no better knowledge of that vast horde 
 of wandering tribes that infested the great plains 
 of the Pampas if I should mention their names. 
 
2^ 
 
 vy 
 
 Some few still exist; the census gives less than! 
 20,000 as the totiiLoi JndiLiniL stiLLexistiii^LiiLALi 
 gen!Tn£. Once numerous and brave, only about a 
 dozen remain of the Paraguas— tlie descendants of 
 the Agnas— and of the Tobas and Cliini])is, who 
 later "occupied their country, a, remnant only 
 exists. 
 
 It is unnecessary to go into the history and the 
 influence of the Incas ; they have been described in 
 the histories to be found in every library of the 
 land. But it may not be generally known that, 
 from the lirst arrival of the Spanish adventurers to 
 the successful end of the great struggle for liberty 
 in South America, there was always dissatisfaction, 
 unrest and hatred of the conquering race. The 
 seeds were sown in bloodshed, in the persecution by 
 the Inquisition and in false commercial and govern- 
 ing methods of Spain and Portugal, the mother 
 countries. The diflference between North and South 
 America in this respect was very great. 
 
 The symptoms of resistance against Spanish 
 domination showed themselves in the dawn of thn 
 history of South America. Frequently the Indian 
 tribes attempted to throw off the yoke of some 
 more than usually severe and cruel oppressor. 
 In the early days'^of the 18th century the revolu- 
 tion of the'Tupac-Amare was really a war of races 
 rather than a political revolution, as it had for its 
 principal purpose the extermination of the Spanish. 
 In \"enezuela in 1711 this same hatred showed it- 
 self in the proclamation of a Mulatto as King of 
 the Mestizos. Half a century later the seed sown 
 by Antequera bore fruit in New Granada, when an 
 army of 20,000 was raised and commanded by 
 Berber. 
 
 It is a significant and curious fact in the histoiy 
 of South America that, during the entire ISth cen- 
 tury, the same causes were producing the same 
 effects among people far separated from each other 
 and of a character entirely distinct, scattered from 
 the banks of the Paraguay River to the Colombian 
 Mountains. 
 
 Those effects may have been the precursors of 
 that great revolutionary movement that created our 
 great Republic and drove the Bourbons from the 
 throne of France and, later, shook to the centre the 
 monarchical fabric of Spain herself. 
 
 We may, therefore, say that the struggle and the 
 preparation of the ground for civil and religious 
 libertv began earlier in South America than in 
 
22 
 
 North America. In the British Colonies there was 
 no strong sentiment against foreign rule until the 
 imposition of the taxes required to furnish George 
 the Third with revenue to pay off his debt of 148 
 million pounds sterling. Even Washington, in 
 July, 1775, when he took command of the Conti- 
 nental army, declared that the idea of independ- 
 ence was repugnant to him. Only later, and soon, 
 when the war was suddenly upon the Colonies, did 
 events hasten and make inevitable the separation 
 from the Mother Country. 
 
 It would be a subject of great interest to enter 
 upon,- the three great leaders and heroes of Ameri- 
 can revolutions — 
 
 Washington — Bolivar— San Martin, 
 
 a triumvirate of liberators. 
 
 Of the two former you already know nuich, pos- 
 sibly of the latter, but you may not know that it 
 was by his patriotism and generalship that the 
 whole of southern South America was freed from 
 the yoke of Spain— Agentine, Cliili, Peru and 
 Bolivia. His biography is a romance of most ab- 
 goi'bing interest. 
 
 Statue of San Martin. 
 
 Born 1778, in Argentine, in Japeyu, his early 
 education in Buenos Aires, completed in Spain ; 
 
23 
 
 served witli distinction and great bravery in the 
 wars of Spain. Early lie was imbued with the 
 doctrine of liberty for his native country ; spent a 
 3'ear in Great Britain in 1811, forming associations 
 and a secret league devoted to the liberation 
 of Argentine. Landed in Buenos Aires in 1.S12 ; 
 soon in command of a regiment of Grenadiers ; 
 selected soldier by soldier, oflicer by officer, ini- 
 posed the most rigid discipline, forming so a rudi- 
 mentary school for a generation of heroes that fol- 
 lowed him, and producing nineteen generals and 
 nearly all the great men of the struggle for inde- 
 pendence. Placed in command of the army to reor- 
 ganize it he marched to Mendoza, the nearest point 
 to the Andes ; and, imbued with the idea that no 
 liberty would be secure for his country until the 
 Spanish armies were beaten and expelled from 
 Chili, Peru and Bolivia and the whole of South 
 America, he formed his plans for an invasion of 
 Chili. He was the very incarnation of determined 
 patriotism ; nothing, not even revolutions and dis- 
 cord behind him in his own country, could deter 
 him from his great work. At this moment Napo- 
 leon fell, and Spain prepared an expedition of 15.000 
 men destined for the Riode la Plata. In Chili and 
 Pern the Royalists weie victorious ; but in Argen- 
 tine on the 9th day of July, 1816, at Tiicuman, the 
 declaration of independence was i)roclaiined, which, 
 like our own, is sacred in the heart of every Argen- 
 tine. 
 
 In the midst of these great and momentous events, 
 San Martin recruited and drilled and clothed and 
 provisioned his little army destined to conquer a 
 continent, to scale high mountain passes and pour 
 clown upon an enemy largely ontnumbering his own. 
 His plans were known only to himself, and when 
 asked by those high in authority what they were, 
 he refused to tell and said no one should know them ; 
 and should his pillow get an idea of his plans, he 
 would cast ir, into the lire. He ostensibly made 
 roads over certain passes and, when all was ready, 
 led his army over another and very different pass 
 and came down upon his foe and defeated him in 
 Chacabuco ; and again on the plains of Maipu, 
 routing the enemy completely and assuring the in- 
 dependence of Chili. Then, though anarchy was 
 reigning in Argentine and his Government was 
 calling upon him to return, his hxed and irresistible 
 purpose of dealing the hnal blow to Spanish author- 
 ity in Peru pushed him forward. With a fleet 
 
24 
 
 hastily gotten together and commanded by Lord 
 Cochrane, and with English and II. S. officers in 
 command of the ships, he sailed from Valparaiso 
 with his troops up the coast in December, 1818. He 
 had only 4,430 men, Argentines and Chileans. The 
 Viceroy of Pern had 23,000 soldiers awaiting this 
 
 View iu the Cordilleras. 
 
 little army On Jnly 28, 1821, as a result of his 
 campaign, theindei)endenceof Pern was proclaimed 
 in Lima and San Martin made dictator. In the 
 meantime General Bolivar, after liberating Vene- 
 zuela and Colombia, reached Quito and his forces, 
 united with an Argentine division, routed the Span- 
 ish ai-my in the battle of Pichincha ; and then he 
 hastened on to Guayaquil, anxious to finish by him- 
 self the Peruvian Campaign. Here let me quote a 
 paragraph from the history of Argentine by the 
 Hon! Martin Garcia Merou, the Argentine Minister 
 at Washington. 
 
 " There he went to find San Martin, whose purity 
 of character and noble unselfishness formed a marked 
 contrast with the impetuous ambitions of his glori- 
 ous rival. The two liberators had a conference July 
 26, 1822, the details of which were kept secret ; but 
 it is a well-known fact that San Martin compre- 
 hended that, in order toaccomplishSouth American 
 independence and avoid the scandal to the world of 
 a break with Bolivar, caused by the latter s thirst for 
 glory, it would be l3est for him to dejDart from a 
 scene where his great presence had no i:)lace." 
 
25 
 
 The story of seU'-Mbnpoation and the rest of his 
 life is told in a word. lie resii>ned the dictatorship 
 of Peru ; passed to Chili, to Mendoza, to Buenos 
 Aires, to Europe, where he resided four years in 
 Brussels on a very modest pension. Once more, in 
 18^29, he returned to the La Plata, stoppiu"-' at 
 Montevideo, hut learning- that anarcliy ])revaile(l in 
 his own country and deaf to the entreaties of his 
 friends to come to their help, he took a steamer 
 back to Europe, saying "No, General San Martin 
 will never spill the* blood of liis fellow citizens ; he 
 will draw the sword only against the enemies of 
 America." And, without even seeing Buenos Aires, 
 he sailed for the last time to his voluntary exile, 
 dying suddenly August 19, 1850. He was free from 
 those theatrical qualities which appeal to the mul- 
 titude. In this great character predominated those 
 moralqualities which entitle San Martin to a i)rom- 
 inent place in South American history, Inflexible 
 in the discharge of duty, a rigid disciplinarian, 
 everything was subordinated to the high jnission to 
 which he had devoted himself, and he never sacri- 
 ficed his cause to ambitious or personal vain glory. 
 He loas the incarnation of an idea. Ilis modesty, 
 his pure and elevated character, the simplicity pi 
 his life and the nobility of his princii)les give him 
 rightfidly a]K)sition by the side of the great heroes 
 of historv. 
 
 Plaza Victoria and Statue of Belgrano. 
 
 In the vicissitudes of the epoch und<'r considera- 
 tion, when European wars and the disasters of 
 nations reflected themselves directly and indirectly 
 
26 
 
 upon the people of the River Plate and led slowly 
 to the formation of the Republics of Uruguay, 
 Argentine and Paraguay, many notable and great 
 men as well as despots and bloody tyrants and 
 l)olitical demagogues appeared upon the scene and 
 the pages of history. No name more illustrious, 
 contemporaneous with San Martin, is seen in the 
 records of that time, more brilliant and more im- 
 portant in results, than that of General Belgrano. 
 His generalsliip, diplomncy, statemansliip and ex- 
 alted patriotism give him a most distinguished 
 position in the annals of independence : as General 
 Mitre has well said in the opening sentence of his 
 History of Belgrano : "This book is at the same 
 time the biograj^hy of a man and the history of an 
 epoch.'' His statue is before us as we stand in the 
 archway of the National Government Building and 
 look out upon the beautiful Plaza Victoria. General 
 Belgrano was really the author of the national Hag. 
 The white and the blue are the colors of the Patric- 
 ios, the rngiuient of native Ameri)cans at the time 
 of the overthrow of the Spanish V^iceroy, on the 
 2nth of May, lolO. 
 
 Coming to later times, new and illustrious names 
 a[)pear, — men who were true patriots, who would 
 not stoop to fraud or unbecoming jDolitical act, 
 and who, amidst the errors of their time and 
 the temptations to do evil, came out pure as gold 
 tried in the lire. One of these men is the author of 
 the history of Belgrano, — General Mitre, — still 
 living, — the general who led the forces of Buenos 
 Aires in the last struggle for a United 
 Republic, and who maj^ be called the Father of his 
 country — for under his wise governorship, his 
 skilful generalship and wisdom as President, Sena- 
 tor and a public man always before the people, the 
 country has been strong, united, pros^Derous and 
 peaceful. 
 
 The sincerity of his motives, the purity of his 
 life, public and private, his self-abnegation, his 
 rigid honesty, his lofty ideas of public office, ad- 
 ministering it always as a public trust, his modest 
 and simple life, allexplains why the entire nation 
 recently honored his SOth birthday, and why the 
 statesmen of the Re[)ublic sit at his feet to learn, 
 and to follow his wise counsel. 
 
 I have refrained from developing ^ the 
 political history of the Republic, or giving 
 its earlier history — the discovery of the River 
 Plate— by de Solis, in 1515, giving the name of 
 
liis second offic^er. Martin (Turcin, to tlie now well- 
 known island at the head of the Estuary, or the 
 discovery in 1526 of the Paranji River, by Sebas- 
 tian Cabot, and all the subsequent and checkered 
 history ol" the Spanish Portu<^ese rule in the River 
 Plate countries. That they liave passed throu^-h 
 many trying periods, when the patriotism of the 
 leaders has been severely tested, goes withont say- 
 ing. The heterogeneons elements, the and:)itions 
 of designing men, the lack of integrity in the early 
 days of independence and the opportuinties which 
 selfish men had easily in their hands to enrich and 
 raise themselves in political station, gave varied 
 and not always envious political changes to decades 
 of x-\rgentine history, not necessary to inflict upon 
 yon now. Suffice it to say that the country has 
 passed safely throngh those terrible ordeals. The 
 jn-inciples of the 9tli of Jnly, 1816, in the Procla- 
 mation of Independence, and those laid down May 
 25, ]t^53, in the Constitution of the United Prov- 
 riTces, form the basis of the Republic— 14 Provinces 
 (States) and 10 Gobernaciones (Territories), — prin- 
 ciples which all hold sacred and which are almost 
 exactly similar to our own. 
 
 The world, and especiall}^ its republics, owe more 
 to Buenos Aires than is generally known or recog- 
 nized. The l)rief but eloquent summary of this 
 period of its history by General Mitre shows how 
 great has been its intluence in the development of 
 American national life. 
 
 •'On the same day when the Chieftain Ramirez 
 was routed and slain, and that Varrera fled, seek- 
 ing the sepulchre of his brethren, and the 
 farmers of Salta rose en masse to obey the order of 
 the dying Guemes, General San Martin, on the tenth 
 of July, 1821, was triumphantly entering Lima ; 
 and Bolivar, the conqueror of the north of Ecua- 
 dor, was going at the head of the armies of Colom- 
 bia, to meet the Argentine liberator in order to 
 seal the independence of the New World, already 
 iirevocably assured by the occupation of Lower 
 Peru, liberated by San Martin. 
 
 •' Here ends the history of the independence of 
 the Argentine Republic. If she was the precursor 
 in chronological order, she was also the flrst to give 
 the signal for the great insurrection, which eman- 
 cipated the Spanish-American Colonies from tlie 
 Mother Country. It conquered its independence 
 by its own efforts and without foreign help: it 
 fought eleven consecutive years; it expelled its 
 
28 
 
 enemies from its territory, taking possession of 
 their fortitied places and conquering tlieir squad- 
 rons upon the seas; it hurled back ' triumphantly 
 upon the land the nine Royalist invasions which 
 endeavored to subjugate it. Its revolution is the 
 only one which was not overcome, while all the 
 others were, from Chili to Mexico. 
 
 " Devoured by anarchy, it struggled with it arm 
 to arm, and at the same time carried its liberating 
 arms to Paraguay, to the Banda-Oriental, to Peru, 
 upper and lower, audits banners arrived victorious 
 at the boundaries of Ecuador in the struggle for 
 the independence of Colombia. 
 
 "Simultaneously its internal revolution took 
 form, and, upon concluding its second evolution 
 within its own organic elements, the United Prov 
 inces of the Rio de la Plata, now in peace and reor- 
 ganized according to the plan of an embryonic feder- 
 ation, which was to be the law of the Constitution 
 in the future, had sketched out their political ma]), 
 tracing upon it with the sword of independence the 
 inviolable line of its frontiers. 
 
 "It only remained for Jujuy, emancipated from 
 Salta, to resume its federal autonomy, and to rise 
 above tile horizon the fourteenth star of this new 
 National constellation. The Spanish power con- 
 quered, disorder dominated, and its organic ele- 
 ments reorganized and reconstituted, the Argentine 
 Republic, which, even in the midst of anarchy, had 
 contributed so much to secure its own independ- 
 ence and that of other South American nations, was 
 about to initiate a new propaganda of principles, 
 which, like its armies, should spread over the 
 entire South America. 
 
 "Buenos Aires was rhe initiator and the herald 
 of this new Pacific development. This province 
 departed from its primitive jdan of organization 
 and gave up the impossible task of uniting the 
 nation politically by means of revolutionary con- 
 gresses and governments of irresponsible dictators, 
 wdiich had shown themselves impotent to constitute 
 and to unify the country. Concentrating itself 
 within its own organic forces, it put in practice the 
 idea of creating the type of a federal state arranged 
 on a constitutional plan, which should serve as a 
 model to other provinces in the future. This 
 initiation took place under the administration of 
 General Martin Rodriguez. 
 
 " General Rodriguez called to his council, in order 
 to realize the w^ork of reorganization, first, Bernardi- 
 
29 
 
 no Rivndavia nnd then Manuel Jose Garcia. These 
 two statesmen carried it to a successful conclusion, 
 with the co-operation of the same men who had 
 fomented and sustained the revolution. Assuring 
 iudependence and the re-estal)lishment of order, 
 they inangnrated the republican system in Bnenos 
 Aires, bivaking forever wath colonial traditions ; 
 and they laid the foundations of a real republican 
 government which responded truly to liberty and 
 progress. A limited legislative power was created, 
 renewable on the base of universal and direct 
 suffrage. The powers of the Executive were deter- 
 mined" by its duration and making it responsible. 
 Institutions of credit were established, and im- 
 migration and popular education were promoted. 
 The iiK'ume and the estimate of expenses were for 
 the first time organized. The sciences and the arts 
 were cultivated, absolute amnesty proclaimed and 
 public opinion was given participation in the Gov- 
 ernment, and an extensive reform w-as carried out 
 in all political and social institutions. In this 
 manner Avas created the nucleus of Argentine, 
 creating the powder of a republican federal State 
 and making possible its organization in the fu- 
 ture." 
 
 Some eloquent words s])oken by General Mitre at 
 the unveiling of the statue of Belgrano, in the 
 Plaza Victoria in 1873 will illustrate the influ- 
 ence of a great patriot upon his country, and will 
 reveal the character of a patriotic people, who were 
 taught and led by such men as General Belgrano. 
 
 ''The author of this book (History of Belgrano) 
 in pronouncing the judgment of posterity before 
 the monument, said with a legitimate pride, and 
 with republican humility, that it could be assured 
 that never had a glory more pure or more modest 
 been modelled in the bronze of immortality. 
 
 "Thew^ar, he added, was a simple accident in 
 the laborious career of the precursor of our inde- 
 pendence and the founder of our first public 
 schools, Avhich, in their turn, taught lessons from 
 the revolution and left it as a, legacy to posterity. 
 He accepted the strife like a task placed upon a 
 laborer, and he accomplished it Avith fortitude, 
 wath abnegation and with humility, as well in 
 victory as in defeat, without withdrawing from any 
 sacrifices or asking for himself the crown of the 
 conqueror. 
 
80 
 
 '' General Belgrano is one of those historical fig- 
 ures, who, either with a flag or a sword, can also be 
 represented with the pen of the writer, or with the 
 book of law in hand, or blessing with both the 
 head of the cliild reading its first primer ; because 
 he was a man of action and a man of thought, and 
 because while he fought for liis beliefs, he scattered 
 along the furrow of life fructifying seeds of in- 
 struction and virtue. 
 
 " He was not a man of the genins of San Martin, 
 nor a statistician of the breadth of Bieytes, nor a 
 jurisconsult of the -knowdedge of Castro, nor an 
 orator of the consequence of Castelli, nor a writer 
 of the temper of Monteaguedo, nor a thinker of the 
 depth of Moreno, nor a politician of the character 
 of Rivadavia, all his contemporaries, his com- 
 panions, his friends of the epoch of the revolution ; 
 but he had all ol' their qualities in tlie midst of a 
 memorable epoch, Avith a sonl grand and pnre and 
 a character elevated and simple ; and for these 
 reasons he is one of our great meii of the past, and 
 of the present, as he will be of all future genera- 
 tions. 
 
 " His greatness, principally civic and moral, <lid 
 not result from a superiority of genius over the 
 common level, nor is it exclusively nnited to the 
 grand political and military cause in which he Avas 
 a modest actor. 
 
 "• It consists in the harmonious union of his high 
 moral qualities, which did not pretend to exalt 
 themselves before public rights ; in the equilib- 
 rium of soul, which did not leave itself to be de- 
 graded by pride, nor to be a vassal to egotism ; in 
 the authority with which he commanded ; in the 
 humility with which he o-be,y»ed ;^iai all of which 
 he was the representative of the generous aspira- 
 tions of all times, and which aspirations he served 
 in the name and interest of all, thus extending his 
 life to posterity, in which he was a humble and 
 persevering apostle, combatant and laborer ; and 
 he moistened with his swvat the field of human 
 labor, in battles, in the councils of government and 
 in the pages of literature, and even on the rustic 
 bench of the primary school, dying in obscurity 
 and poverty. 
 
 " He is an ideal type of the modest hero of de- 
 mocracy, which does not shine forth as a meteor 
 but brilliant as a star, unquenchable in the horizon 
 of the country, as shine the names of Washington, 
 William Tell, William of Orange, Hampden and 
 
81 
 
 Lincoln, who were not great geniuses, and who in 
 tlie name and in representation of the good and 
 memorable of all times and all countries, liave 
 been acclaimed great with the apphiuse of human 
 conscience and of universal morality." 
 
 The orator, in thus formulating the history and 
 judgment in the presence of the Statue, saluted 
 it saying : ' General Belgrano, in the name of all 
 present who honor thee at this time, from the La 
 Plata to the Andes, in the name of future genera- 
 tions which bow themselves with respect and sym- 
 pathy before thy noble image, I, thine humble 
 historian and one of thy grateful sojis, salute thee, 
 great and Father of our Country, the precursor of 
 our independence, the genius of labor and of all 
 moral and civic virtues, conqueror of Tucuman, 
 Salta and Piedras, conquered at Vilcapugio and 
 Ayohuma, you will live in the memory and in the 
 heart of men as long as the Argentine flag shall 
 wave in the breeze!^ and while the name of our 
 country pronounced by millions of free citizens, 
 shall make thy bronze vibrate with their acclama- 
 tions'. Of him it can be said, as of Hampden, 'he 
 was great without pretending it ; he found glory 
 without seeking it and in the pathway of duty.' " 
 I stated in my remarks at Diisseldorf that the 
 country was ambitious and determined to fulfil its 
 destiny among the nations of the earth. I cannot 
 close the political subject of my lecture without 
 confirming this statement by the w^ords found at 
 the close of Mr. Merou's "history of Argentine, 
 which he brings down to 1870. 
 
 "The Argentine Republic came out of this cam- 
 paign (1870, with the dictator and tyrant of Para- 
 guay) strengthen<^l:incl|inite(l. The sentiment of 
 NatlonalitJ^ (^i^^v!nii&rhy common sacrifices, was 
 from that time forth an indestructible fact and a 
 promise of days of prosperity and greatness, of a 
 country united, free and pow^erful. We can con- 
 template the problems of the future with tran- 
 quility, consecrating ourselves with all of our in 
 telligence and forces to build up with a broad and 
 generous spirit and a disinterested love for truth 
 and justice (following the traditions received from 
 our forefathers and realizing their noble ideals), 
 one of the greatest, most prosperous and most il- 
 lustrious Nations of the Earth." 
 
 The U. S. Government at a critical period in the 
 history of South America (1818) i^resented fearlessly 
 and iiVmly its pronounced views, and prevented a 
 
32 
 
 coalition of European powers for the purpose of 
 compelling- the American colonies of Spain to re- 
 turu, and thus re-establisli Spanisli domination in 
 South and Central America and Mexico. Much to 
 the surprise of the British Minister of Foreign 
 Affairs, our Minister, Mr Rush, boldly combat ted 
 the proposition by the statement that the decided 
 views of his Government were, that the American 
 Colonies of Spain should be completely emanci- 
 pated from the motlier country, and that in its 
 opinion there could be no other outcome of the 
 struggle which Bolivar and San Martin were en- 
 gaged in on the Andean plains. 
 
 As a concession to the American Minister, Lord 
 Castleraugh, the British Premier stated that Buenos 
 Aires (Argentine) among all the insurrectionary 
 colonies had given the best proof of its capacity 
 to exist as an independent nation, and its com- 
 merce had the greatest imi^ortance at the time, and 
 the best promise for the future. Our Minister in 
 Paris,Mr. Gallatin, aided by Lafayette,™ 1819 used 
 his influence for the acknowledgment 'of the inde- 
 pendence of the American Colonies of Spain. Our 
 Government in 1818 was the first power of the world 
 to recognize Argentine as a Nation, by granting an 
 "exequatur" to a Consul General appointed by 
 that Government. This same country having 
 pioven by its works its right to exist, now 
 stretches out the hand to its benefactor of nearly 
 a century ago, and asks the interchange of pro- 
 ducts and its co-operation in its efforts to fulfill its 
 high destiny among the nations. 
 
 It is pertinent here to remark that the principle 
 enunciated in 1818, five years before the message 
 of President Monroe, proclaiming the "Monroe 
 Doctrine " with such quiet but firm determin- 
 ation, viz.: that America is and shall be the 
 undisturbed home of Americans, has persisted 
 until the present day, and if attempts have been 
 made at any time to impair the sovereignty of 
 any American nation, there has always been a 
 Grant or a Cleveland to frustrate them. President 
 Roosevelt has recently clearly defined this much 
 misunderstood principle, or so-called " Monroe 
 Doctrine," when he said : "The nations now ex- 
 isting on the Western Continent must be left to 
 work out their destinies among themselves, " and 
 "America, North and South, is no longer to be 
 regarded as the colonizing ground of any European 
 power." Thus, it has happened that while the 
 
11 vy I » I V L. IX >^ I I I IJ 
 
 33 ^.^^_— -- 
 
 Dark Continent lias been partitioned among these 
 powers, no hand as yet lias been lai<I upon any part 
 of America. 
 
 A correct interpretation of this " Doctrine " is 
 absolutely essential to a complete understanding 
 and cordial accord between us and the other coun- 
 tries of North and South America. 
 
 An incorrect knowledge of it, particularly 
 among the South American people, has engendered 
 a popular antagonism to it as being unworthy of 
 themselves to accept without their consent the 
 suzerainty, or tutelage, of the United States, espec- 
 ially as their social and commercial affiliations are 
 witii European countries from whom our Govern- 
 ment has politically protected these republics for 
 nearly a century. 
 
 Truth and fairness required the statement here 
 that Lord Castlereaugh in 1818 did not express the 
 real view of the British people and that in 1823, 
 the very year of President Monroe's Message- 
 Canning who was then Foreign Minister quietly 
 opposed the '' Holy Alliance," which was headed 
 by Alexander of Russia, supported by France and 
 Germany, and which had for its object the Coer- 
 cion of the Spanish American Republics. 
 
 Canning desired their independence and sug- 
 gested to President Monroe that the prononcement 
 would come better from him than from Great 
 Britain, viz : '' There is to be no interference by 
 European potentates in the domestic affairs of the 
 Western Hemisphere" and Canning promised to 
 support President Monroe— who subsequently 
 wrote to our Minister in Paris quoting Canning's 
 despatch and saying he should follow his advice, 
 but adding " but what will happen if Canning is 
 not as good as his word." 
 
 All of which is a very interesting side light upon 
 the origin of the ''Monroe Doctrine". 
 
 Let us now take a bird's-eye view of the present 
 Argentine, a country one-third the size of the 
 "United States; a climate salubrious and comfortable; 
 of immense plains formed by nature, as I have al- 
 ready shown, for the use of man— plains where 
 the railroads find no natural obstacles worth men- 
 tioning in the way of their good alignment and 
 construction ; where we have, I think, the longest 
 railroad tangent in the world (186 miles), between 
 Junin and La Cautiva, on the Pacific Railroad; 
 plains covered with the cattle of the great festancias, 
 
34 
 
 thousands of them of the best breeds in one estan- 
 cia, and sheep by the millions, and great fields of 
 wheat, corn and linseed, the principal agricultural 
 products of the country. An "estancia" might be 
 called a " ranch " on the great plains of our West- 
 ern States. Their size varies from about three 
 thousand acres to seven hundred thousand acres ; 
 probably twenty-live thousand acres might be con- 
 sidered an average size. 
 
 As might be expected, the business of cattle 
 raising requires expert men similar to our cow- 
 . boys ; they are called " ganchos." They are fear- 
 less riders and masters of their trade. The horses 
 they ride are generally rather undersized, but wiry 
 and of great endurance. They are much like the 
 best class of Mexican horses. 
 
 As the cattle roam over great ranges, which are 
 unfenced, it is necessary to brand them, as we also 
 do on our great plains. 
 
 The homes of the ganchos on the estancias are 
 not elegant, to say the least, but in ^hA compara- 
 tively mild climate of Argentine they do not need 
 as much protection from the weather as in many oi 
 our cattle districts of the far West. They are a 
 contented people, and while they do not have the 
 facilities for entertainment which a city popula- 
 tion has, they nevertheless have their own fun on 
 feast days and whenever their arduous and roaming 
 life will permit. 
 
 As might be expected of a country stretching 
 through so many degrees of latitude and rising 
 along the circles of longitude from the level of the 
 sea to the highest Andes, there is a great variety of 
 climate and generally an abundant rainfall. Buenos 
 Aires is on the same parallel south of the Equator 
 as Wilmington, North Carolina, is north of it. 
 Snow is almost unknown, and scarcely ever is ice 
 or frost seen. The climate in the summer is tem- 
 pered with the great body of water of the River 
 Plate. 
 
 The rainiaU-of-&fteftos-Aires averages j5|_ inches 
 per annum, about equal to that of theT^orthern 
 States of the United States. At Asuncion, Para- 
 guay, it i s 53 inches, about equal to that of New 
 Orleans. The temperature is remarkably uniform. 
 The mean temi^erature fTi June and July, 1899, the 
 coldest months, wa s 54° (P.), and in January and 
 February, the hottestTT^'^ ; the annual mean being 
 ^°. In 20 years the mean was 63° ; summer, 77°; 
 autumn, 65°; winter, 54°, and spring, 63°; mean of 
 
36 
 
 Janaary, the warmest month, 79°; of July, the 
 coldest, 52°^ The extreme, or extracTrdinary, limits 
 were 107°, and very rare 104°, frequently 9o° and 
 in wdnter 28°, which occurred but three or four 
 times. In February, 1900, the heat rose to 103°, 
 but the period of intense heat was only ei.2:ht days. 
 Such conditions are extremely rare. 
 
 The agricKUural, indusirial and commercial 
 features are those of greatest interest, and yet, to 
 give you an adequate idea of them, I must give 
 you figures, and they are not ahvays interesting ; 
 but an intelligent audience prefers them to any 
 "glittering generalities" desirous of knowing 
 what Argentine really is and has. 
 
 The population of the whole country is now 
 about 5,000^000 ; its present rate of growth per de- 
 cade IS aDout JjBj2j:T_Q£jit. The United States is 
 W per cent., Germany 16jp_£]L-cmit. 
 
 "The Pi'ovince, or State, of Buenos Aires is as 
 large as Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Connecticut 
 and Massachusetts combined, or two and one-half 
 times as large as New York State, 120,000 square 
 miles, and mostly plains, with 750 miles of coast 
 line. It has 1,200, 000 inhabitants, 10,000,000 head 
 of cattle, 80,000,000 sheep and 2,200,000 horses. In 
 1901 it raised 762,000 tons of wheat and 1,360,271 
 tons of corn, a respectable showing ; and the value 
 of agricultural and pastoral products was $740, 000,- 
 000." The jvlieat aTga^ofjtlie Hepu-blic, mostly in 
 four provinces, Buenos Aires, SairUi J^ Cordolm 
 and Entre Rios, is'a bout "8, 500 ()00 acres. 80,000,-1 
 OCRJlx) T0070U[),000 bushels of wheat are exported^ 
 The total area under cultivation in the Republic in 
 1901 was 17,500,000 a cres" ^he increase over 1891 
 was 136 per cent. The crops w^ere : wheat, 1,964,- 
 000 tons; linseed, 490,000 tons; corn, 2,134,000 
 tons. The total of a rable lan d is 253 million acres , 
 of which 240 million do not need irrigation . 
 
 In the whole Republic there are over 30,000.000 
 head of cattle. The annual increase is 25 per cent. 
 5,600,000 horses and 120,000,000 sheep ; (in the U. S. 
 there are 62,000,000.) Tlie annual increase in 
 Argentine is 33 per cent. 3,000,000 carcasses were 
 sent to Europe in 1901. 
 
 One of the i mj)o rtant i nd u stries of the country 
 is the " Sala dero y ' wh icirfro m its name signilies 
 salted or jerked beef and extract of beef, etc. 
 Nearly S 46.000,Od(L are invested in them. Brazil is 
 the ])ilncipal market. Over 1,000,000 head of cattle 
 weie killetl for tluj Saladeros in 1900. The meat- 
 
ir eezino- fa(;tories ex ported 100,0 00 tons of meat in 
 19UL An importantTacLoi' in Llle Ai'^-entine meat 
 trade, and it may be said in tlie meat trade of tlie 
 world, is the snccessful result of continued efforts 
 to send chilled meat to Great Britain. The River 
 Plate Fresh Meat Company started this trade in 
 1901, exporting in that year 29,919 quarters of beef ; 
 and from Jan. 1st to jSlay 31, 1902, o months, it ex- 
 ported 88,148 quarters. 
 
 Since that date the imports into Great Britain 
 have rapidly increased, and recent dispatches from 
 London relate how this factor in the London meat 
 market is alarming the Beef Trust of the United 
 States and the Australian shippers. Argentine is 
 placing its chilled meat in London at a co nsider- 
 ably low er price, and is competing succes sfully 
 with mearfrom tlie United" States. ' 
 
 Flock of Sheep. 
 
 As might be expected, the Wool indnstry is very 
 important, about one-half million bales shipped to 
 Europe being the export product in the year 1901- 
 1902,-31.000 to U. S. and 28,000 to Great Britain. 
 
 Argentine is a protectionist country, and its re- 
 sources for conducting the Government are largely 
 raised from the Custom dues. In 1899 the imports 
 free of duty amounted to 814,769,933 (gold), and 
 those subject to dnty 8102,080.738 (gold). The ex- 
 ports were 8184,917,531 (gold). The United States 
 imports three hnndred millions per annum of sugar, 
 hides, linseed, jute, hemp, wood and fruit, and 
 thirty-six millions of wool and Avoolen articles. 
 All of these are produced by Argentine, yet only 
 
37 
 
 six million of the 33G millions come from Argentine;, 
 or two i)er cent. 
 
 The United States exports, in(;Iu(lini^ cereals,, 
 meat antf live stock, about 920 inillioiis. and 
 only 10 millions of this go to Argentine, or about 
 one per cent ; wirTTe'Ai'gentine's i)urclTases of the 
 same articles in England were 3U millions, and GO 
 millions from other countries. "^^ 
 
 Reciprocal traTle^ would open the United States 
 to Argentine wool and treble the production in a 
 few years. There should be direct lines to that 
 country from the United States, and the time should 
 be reduced from about 27 days to 15 or 18 days. 
 We should ship to Argentine our manufactures, 
 our coal, pine wood, petroleum, etc., and we should 
 receive from Argentine its w^ool, hides, grease, dried 
 fruits, hard wood for tanning and dyeing, etc. 
 Now, for want of return freights, steamers load at 
 U. S. ports for Buenos Aires, and return via Liver- 
 pool to New York, frequently via South Africa. 
 
 In reference to wool, I have already stated that 
 in the entire United States there are only about 
 62 million sheep, while there are 120 million 
 in Argentine. It is a well known fact that the 
 ranges in the far West of the United States, 
 which are absolutely necessary for sheep-rais- 
 ing, are rapidly being reduced by the extension 
 of our population westward, and the cutting up of 
 great areas into smaller farms. Not only do the 
 smaller farmers as they go West wage constant war 
 with the sheep herders, but the cattle raisers do 
 the same ; so that the time is sure to come very 
 soon when we will need the wool of Argentine. 
 What this country should do with a great agricul- 
 tural country like Argentine, capable of immense 
 productions, is to receive its raw materials, and ship 
 to it our manufactured goods. 
 
 It is proper in closing this part of the subject, to 
 quote a short ])aragraph which appears in the Ar- 
 gentine Year IBook, recently published, from the 
 j)en of Mr. Ronaldo Tidblom, Chief of the National 
 Dept. of Agriculture and Live-Stock Industry. In 
 closing up a long and very important article in that 
 Y'ear Book on the agriculture of Argentine, he 
 makes the following statement : 
 
 " Nature has undoubtedly endowed Argentina 
 with advantages for agricultural and pastoral farm- 
 ing not to be found in any other country of the 
 world, and it is not too bold a forecast to say that 
 if the country continues to improve her natural 
 
38 
 
 gifts in the same degree in which they have been 
 cared for and ini])roved np to the present time, the 
 day will come when the Argentine farmers will have 
 absolute control of the world's food markets." 
 
 The money of the country is on a jDaper basis, 
 and the minimum value of a dollar was fixed in 
 1899 at 44 cents gold, or 127 per cent, premium. 
 The market value of a gold dollar expressed in 
 paper money varies now between $2.27 and $2.84, 
 and the gold dollar of the United States is at a 4 
 per cent, premium over that of Argentine. 
 
 "Ra ilways have had an extensive development. 
 In 1 867 tTiere were 855 milg s: in 1880 there were 
 1568TTrr-mO, 5,862 ; in 1 9()0^ 1 0,601^ of which 
 1,'^48 belong to the*Government and 9,858 to foreign 
 companies. In length of line Argentine stands 
 ninth on the list of countries, but as compared with 
 the United States the mileage is about 5 per cent. 
 The paid-up capital is $550,()0(),()()0 (gold). The 
 total receipts in J 900 were $4o, 000, 000 (gold). Com- 
 paring the railroads of Argentine with those of the 
 rest of the world, we find that in Argentine the 
 length of line per one thousand inhabitants is 8.46 
 kilometers, while it is 4.86 in tlie United States, 
 0.98 in Germany and 1.70 in France. 
 
 The great Southern, the Western and some other 
 lines are still making extensions, and the Southern 
 has crossed the Neuquen River and is looking for 
 a pass to cross the Andes. 
 
 There are three gauges — 5 feet, which is really 
 the standard, 4 feet 8| inches, and a narrow gauge, 
 usually about 8'8'' (1 meter). 
 
 The total length of telegraph lines is 28,000 miles, 
 of which 12,000 belong to the Government. Com- 
 pared with the United States, the Western Union 
 alone has 192,705 miles of poles and cable. 
 
 One of the most interesting railroad lines now in 
 construction Is the Transandine, which, upon leav- 
 ing Mendoza, follows the Mendoza River to its 
 source and climbs to the summit of the Pass of the 
 Andes, 8,900 meters (18,000 feet) above sea level. 
 The Abt system of adhesion up to 2^ per cent., and 
 then Rack to six per cent, is employed. 
 
 Some very interesting views can be had of the 
 iipproach from the Argentine side. Lofty moun- 
 tains, rugged slopes, rushing rivers and the Puente 
 del Inca (the Incas' bridge), a natural bridge 
 formed evidently by the river breaking through a 
 great deposit of cemented material, caused by an 
 
39 
 
 avalanche. The railroad is not completed, and 
 some of tlie most difficult work is yet to be done 
 
 First Tunuel out of Mendoza. 
 
 Speaking- generally of the Kailroads, they are 
 well constructed, though good ballast on the great 
 plains is lacking. The cars are like American cars, 
 but the tirst-class day coaches are much more 
 luxurious than ours. All the long distance trains 
 have comfortable sleepers ; a buffet and dining car 
 goes with all throngh trains. 
 
 In regard to the industries of the country, while 
 the main products are agricultural and the export 
 as well, important industries are slowly develop- 
 ing. While sugar is an agricultural product, the 
 40 sugar mills may be classed among the industries. 
 In 1870 Argentine imported 22,000 J ons, but in 
 1899~exiwrted 5S,000_t^is.'T^iere are .^52, 000, 000 
 invested. 
 
 There are over 60 b.reweries in the country. 
 The annual product is about 440,000 gallons. 
 
 Tliere are 1 82 disti lleries ; the alcohol is made 
 principally from corn. The annual product is about 
 3,()00,0()() gallons. 
 
 VMriijio-jf<j]^vpry important iudustry, The first 
 flour mill was built in 1S50 in the City of Cordova ; 
 the lirst steam flour mill was built in Buenos 
 Aires in 1845. In 189o, by the census of that year, 
 there were 659 mills,— 234 worked by steam, an 
 
40 
 
 303 by water ; the total amount of flour made was 
 383,147 tons. The country now exports about 
 80,000 tons, all in bao-s and mostly to Brazil, valued 
 at about $3,000,000 (gold). At present the Brazilian 
 market is giving- a preference to United States 
 flour because it arrives in barrels, which must lead 
 to the same method in Argentine, although the 
 wood suitable for barrel staves is very limited. 
 
 The A^IneJndustry is one of the most important. 
 The soil suitabTeT'or grapes covers an immense area, 
 extending from the Northern to the Southern 
 Provinces along the slopes of the mountains. 
 Mendoza and San Juan, west of Buenos Aires, are, 
 however, the best adapted to vine-growing. In 
 1900 there were 89,000 acres in vines valued at 
 about $10,000,000 (gold). The transportation of 
 the wine by rail in 1901, in Mendoza alone, 
 amounted tol60,000 tons, and the stock of wine in 
 the wine establishments (bodegas) was 33,000,000 
 litres (871,000 gallons). ' 
 
 The D airy industry a few years a go mad i>rac- 
 tica lly no existenc e, and nothing at all was d one 
 with 'the milk of the millions of cows in the 
 country, Now, large dairies are springing up in 
 all tile pastoral parts of the country ; 
 the neatest and most tempting places to enter in 
 the City of Buenos Aires, are the white-painted, 
 scrupulously clean places for drinking milk, 
 scattered all over the city, the milk being sent 
 in from the great "estancias." These dairies are 
 being built in the most approved style, and they 
 prepare pasteurized, maternized, sterilized and all 
 other kinds of milk preparations. The exports of 
 butter alone in 1901 were 3,322,391 lbs. In the year 
 1895 it was only 880,000 lbs. 
 
 Iron and Steel industries are important, although 
 there is practically no ore or coal in the country. 
 In 1895 there were 154 iron foundries and 156 re- 
 pair shops, with a capital of $15,000,000. Every 
 class of machinery is now manufactured, even to 
 small engines and boilers. 
 
 Matches : the tax alone in 1899 amounted to 
 2,000,000 dollars. 
 
 Tobacco : the excise tax on which and its pro- 
 ducts in 1901 amounted to $4,200,000 (gold). 
 
 Four million dollars (gold) are invested in textile 
 manufactures employing 6,200 persons ; canvas 
 factories one million (gold), employing 2,000 per- 
 sons and making 5,000,000 yards, and ten million 
 dollars in hat factories employing 700 hands. 
 
41 
 
 As_lo minino", there are valuable copper mines 
 containing gold and silver, also rich veins of golTT, 
 with recent discoveries of iron ore^ but tliese var- 
 ious products have not been developed to any great 
 extent, due to remoteness from railroads and the 
 roughness of tlie country, making the exportation 
 very costly. These minerals include gold, borax, 
 copper, marble, silver ore, lead ore, etc. 
 
 After this cursory and possibly uninteresting 
 statement of statistics, it is a relief to turn to the 
 beautiful and a really great City of the World- 
 Buenos Aires— and give you a brief outline of its 
 most important characteristics. First, a little his- 
 tory and more dry figures to give an adequate idea 
 of its size and general features. 
 
 Its early history is full of trouble. Founded in 
 1535, destroyed and rebuilt ; and then from 1650, 
 
 • 'V 
 
 SUiJ«9B*l!!mKB 
 
 City of Buenos Aires. 
 
 when there were 400 houses, it grew slowly under 
 the old Spanish regime, and later, under dictators 
 and bad rulers, it slowly advanced in spite of an 
 unstable Government. In 1852, when the noted 
 Rosas was turned out, it had 76,000 inhabitants. 
 Chicago was just then passing through the hard 
 trials of a little Western town, and had not more 
 than 20,000 people. In 1864 Buenos Aires had 
 140,000 inhabitants, and Chicago about the same ; 
 
42 
 
 in 1869, 178,000. But Chicago had already started 
 on its j)henomenal growth and reached over 
 300,000. In ] 887 Buenos Aires had 400,000, and 
 Chicago 1,000,000. 
 
 In October, 1902, Buenos Aires had 864.518, and 
 it is growing at the rate of about 40 per cent, per 
 decade. It is destined to reach the million mark 
 by the year 1906. It is now the largest City in 
 the World, South of PliiUidelphia, if we except 
 Chinese Cities. 
 
 Comparing its present rate of growth per decade 
 with some other cities, we tind the following: 
 Greater London, 20 i)er cent.: Xew York, HI per 
 cent.; Chicago, 54 per cent ; Phila., 23 per cent.; 
 Greater Berlin, 19 per cent.; Buenos Aires, 40 ijer 
 cent. 
 
 The City is on the right bank of the Kiver Plate, 
 a sloping bank 50 or 60 feet above the level of water, 
 rising up to considerably greater elevations in the 
 centre of the city. It is about 120 miles from the 
 sea at Montevideo. Its area is one of tite greatest 
 in the World, 44,830 acres ; Paris has only 19,280, 
 Berlin, 15,625, Hamburg, 15,681, and Vienna 13,690. 
 It would be a good day's journey to go around the 
 City, as its perimeter measnies 39 miles. 
 
 [•".ilucio dol ConiiTosso. 
 
 As far as the natural conditions permit, the 
 streets are laid out in the form of a chessboard, 
 and are generally about 360 feet apart from centre 
 to^ centre. In the central part of the City the 
 
43 
 
 streets are narrow ; it isdifficuilt for three eni'i-ingcs 
 to pass. There are, liowever, a few 88 feet wide, 
 Mild one or two aveiines about :i hundred feet. 
 The hnest, :iud said to be the best-lighted sli'eet 
 in the World, is the Avenida de Mayo, whieh is in 
 the centre of Ihe City as to the nund)ei'in,<;' of the 
 houses North inid South. It has a line asi)ludt 
 l)avenient and double elect lie li^lils in the centre. 
 It was cut through IIk^ blocks a. few years a.uo from 
 the Casa de (Tol)i<'rn() (Government House), near 
 the port, to the 18th strc^et, somewhat less than a 
 mile. At tlie other end tliere is being built a 
 beautiful Cai)it<)l building that will cost about 
 5,()0(),(i()() dollai's (gohl). 
 
 PtBei- 
 
 _^.fW 
 
 -j5arii 
 
 . 
 
 simf 
 
 I.I ■ 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 ^1 
 
 H 
 
 I^^QI 
 
 muH 
 
 I^H 
 
 
 1 
 
 ■ 
 
 iS 
 
 ||H 
 
 ^H 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 m 
 
 ^1 
 
 H 
 
 PlMza Libertiid. 
 
 Thei-e are 72 ])arks and small areas outside the 
 main streets, with a cond)ined aiea of al)()ut 1,400 
 acres. These parks are more tastefully laid out 
 and more neatly kei)t than can be found in any 
 other country in the world, Paris excepted. In 
 fact, in many respects the City, in its streets, 
 lights, ])arks "and stru(;tures, resend)h\s Paris, ex- 
 cept that there are more one story residences than 
 in Paris. The prevailing style is Spanish, vyith a 
 patio (a kind of open area) and the rooms all facing 
 it,and in this patio a garden and fountain, when 
 the proprietor is able to have it ; if not, pots of 
 flowers very much like the ordinary city house in 
 Mexico. The style of the houses of the wealthy 
 may be seen on Avenida Alvear, 
 
44 
 
 The pavements are wood (nearly all liaid, suit- 
 able wood of the country), asphalt, granite blocks, 
 macadam and rubble. No city has better pave- 
 ments in the central part. In the outskirts, how- 
 ever, much of the pavement is very bad and un- 
 even, merel}^ rubble, but immeuse sums are being 
 expended in substituting- rubble for granite blocks 
 and asphalt. 
 
 Aveuida Alvear. 
 
 There is no city auywhere with mor.- lines of 
 street cars ; in fact, with the exception of two 
 streets, there is a line in every one of the principal 
 thoroughfares. And leading out to the pleasant 
 suburban towns, Belgrano, Palermo and Flores 
 there are electric lines similar to those in American 
 cities, using the overhead trolley. In fact, all the 
 eqnipnient from rails to trolle}^ comes from the 
 United iStates. Very extensive changes are being 
 made in all parts of the City, substituting horse- 
 cars for electric. There are now 275 miles of street 
 car lines, which carried, in 1900, 116,447,982 pas- 
 sengers. 
 
 There is a pioject and a national concession for a 
 system of underground electric tram lines, connect- 
 ing the three main railway stations with the Plaza 
 Victoria and, in one direction, extending by a sur- 
 face line far out in the country. If underground 
 
45 
 
 lines pay in any city in tlie world, they will in 
 Buenos Aires,' for the conditions are especially 
 adapted to their easy construction, tlie material 
 being suitable for tunneliiio-, :uul a great mass of 
 IDeople crowded into the '* Centre'' with its narrow 
 streets, where the present surface movement is 
 often extremely congested. A United States 
 citizen has the concession. 
 
 In 1868 there was a terrible epidemic of yellow 
 fever due, in a large part, to unsanitary 'condi- 
 tions, but immediately afterward the city 'began a 
 very extensive system of water and drainage works 
 costing 33 millions of dollars (gold), discharging 
 the sewerage 15 miles distant, and the storm waters 
 by great intercepting sewers, now being completed, 
 into the river in front of the city. The City 
 Water-works take their water above the city, 
 where it is never contaminated. These works were 
 designed by Messrs. Bateman and Parsons, Engi- 
 neers, of London, and the main construction was 
 carried out under their supervision. 
 
 Water Works Biiildin< 
 
 The water of the River Plate is good but 
 muddy, and it is clarified in settling basins before 
 being delivered to the distributing reservoir built 
 on one of the highest points of the city. This dis- 
 tributing reservoir is a work of art, covered with 
 glazed tiles over pressed brick. These works all 
 
46 
 
 too^ether have made Buenes Aires one of the 
 healthiest cities in the World, as the death rate 
 proves. 
 
 Ten years ao;o, upon the completion of the main 
 works, the mortality per 1,000 was 30 ; now it is 
 16 1/2. This compares very favorably with other 
 large cities. London has 19.2, Glasgow 21.6, Liv- 
 erpool 26.3, Manchester 24.1, Dublin, 30.4, Paris 
 20.1, St. Petersburgh 24.7, Vienna 20.7, Madrid 
 30.1, Rome 17.6, Venice 22.8, New York 19.7, 
 Philadelphia 17.7, Brussels 17.9. Boston 19.0 and 
 New Orleans (white) 17.9. 
 
 The Government is soon to extend the works at a 
 cost of 5 millions (gold). 
 
 The climate, taking the whole year round, is very 
 equable and very agreeable. The parks are always 
 green ; vi;ies and palms and a species of banana 
 Ijlants are seen everywhere, and flowers all the 
 year in the open. It has a semi-tropical country 
 in the North and in Paraguay from which to pro- 
 cure the plants, where the Victoria Re^^ and 
 other beautiful plants grow wild. 
 
 In reference to education, the primary education 
 is compulsory from the age of nine to fourteen ; 
 
 Cat bed 1 
 
 secondary education from fourteen to nineteen is 
 optional, as also the university, or higher education, 
 from nineteen to twenty-five or twenty-six. No 
 man can enter into any of the professions, includ 
 
47 
 
 inff engineering, and take a prominent position in 
 the Govei-nnient witliont l)eing a graduate of the 
 National University, and having talven the course 
 outlined in the above division of ages. 
 
 In 1900 there were 450 thousand pupils in the 
 public soliools, whicli are free to all, and free to 
 people of all religions. Although the Catholic re- 
 ligion is the national religion, neither it nor any 
 other religion is allowed to be taught in the 
 schools. 
 
 In the National University there are four facul- 
 ties—law, and social science, medicine, exact physi- 
 cal and natural science, and philosophy and letters. 
 In 1901 there were 8,562 students in the University. 
 
 In leference to religion, everywhere in Argentine 
 under the Constitution all may worship God freely, 
 according to the dictates of their own conscience. 
 While the Government itself, like the Government 
 of Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, etc., rec- 
 ognizes an established Church and assists in its 
 maintenance, it also often assists in benevolent and 
 educational work undertaken by other denotnina- 
 tions. 
 
 A very important work of this kind is the Ar- 
 gentine Evangelical Schools, initiated, promoted 
 and carried on by Mr. William C. Morris. The 
 report of 1901, just issued, shows there were 
 1,820 pupils in various departments ; in the previ- 
 ous year there were 1,076. This school is really a 
 National school and is assisted in a measure by Con- 
 gress, although largely dependent upon private 
 subscriptions, which are made to it by not only 
 Protestants, but leading Catholics as well. It is 
 devoted entirely to the education and care of chil- 
 dren of the poor, who cannot enter the ]mblic 
 schools for want of suitable clothing. 
 
 The general style of the city is cosmopolitan, in 
 buildings, in stores, in residences, in dress, in 
 habits and customs of the people. It is made up 
 of many nationalities. According to the Census of 
 1895, there w^ere in the country about 3,000,000 Ar- 
 gentines (all children born there of foreign parents 
 are Argentines) and about 500,000 Italians — by far 
 the largest number of immigrants— and they are 
 far better than the immigrants of the same nation- 
 ality that come to the United States. Some of the 
 best and most intelligent x^^<>ph^ in all kinds of 
 business and industries, especially in agriculture, 
 are Italians. Next come the Spaniards, about 
 200,000 ; next the French, somewhat less than 
 
48 
 
 100,000 ; next the English, 22,000 ; next the Swiss, 
 15,000, and lastly the North Americans, as we are 
 called, 1,400. These figures refer to the year 1895 ; 
 the number of foreigners in the countr}^ December 
 31, 1899, was 1,199,808, an increase of 20 per cent. 
 on the returns of the year 1895. 
 
 Immigrants 
 
 in 44 years . . 
 
 ..1,935,077 
 
 Italians 
 
 it u 
 
 ..1,108,550 
 
 Spaniards 
 
 " "■ . . 
 
 . . 361,079 
 
 French 
 
 " *■' . . 
 
 .. 102,636 
 
 British 
 
 " '^ . . 
 
 34,031 
 
 Austrians 
 
 " '' . . 
 
 . . ;a,698 
 
 Germans 
 
 " " . . 
 
 27,834 
 
 Swiss 
 
 " " . . 
 
 . . 24,873 
 
 Belgians 
 
 
 . . 19,082 
 
 The history of the lighting of streets in the city 
 is very interesting, and shows that the city keeps 
 pace witli others in this respect. The itirst record 
 of public lighting was in 1778, when the city had 
 lamps in the shape of a tin of horse-oil with a wick ; 
 then came tallow dips, then oil lamps ; then came 
 gas in 1885, and in 1888 electricity began to replace 
 it in part ; and on December 31st, 1900, the city 
 was lighted with 889 arc lamps, 318 incandescent 
 of 16 cp., 14,084 gas lamps, many with the Wels- 
 bach burner, and 8,590 kerosene lamps, and there 
 were 36 electric light stations, with a capital of 9 
 million dollars (gold), and with a capacity of 23,300 
 electric horse-x^ower. 
 
 In addition to telegraph lines, there are four 
 Cable Companies working Avith Europe and the 
 United States, keeping up a close connection 
 with all parts of the World. The service is very 
 good and prompt ; its time of transmission 
 between Buenos Aires and London, " via Gal- 
 veston " and Western Union lines and cables, 
 is about 60 minutes, and with New York 30 min- 
 utes. When we consider the distance and the 
 route, we are astonished at the working of this 
 line, which crosses over the Andes 12,000 feet above 
 the sea level, tunnels under the snow and avalanches 
 and reaches the Pacific Ocean, only to take suc- 
 cessive leaps by loops along the coast to Tehuan- 
 tepec, in Mexico ; over the Isthmus, across and 
 under the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, to Gal 
 veston, s])eeding then its swift flight over the poles 
 of the AVestern Union to New York City ; and 
 then, without stopping to rest, plunges into the 
 
40 
 
 depths ol" the Atlantic Ocean and tnlks to the re- 
 ceiver in London in 60 niinntes after it left the 
 operator's lingers in l^uenos Aires. By a wonder- 
 fnl invention of recent years, this message lias 
 passed i"rt)ni ocean to laixd many times and hack to 
 ocean withont stopping, through a '' human re- 
 lay,"— a machine worked by a human. 
 
 It is an interesting fact that the difference in 
 level between the highest point on land of tlie 
 lines of the Centi'al and South American Telegraph 
 Company and the lowest point of its cables in the 
 Pacific Ocean, is about 31,000 feet— six miles. 
 
 This Company has three underground cables 
 which cross the Andes and work uninterruptedly, 
 notwithstanding that they are co\-ered with snow, 
 in some i^laces at great depth, for about eight 
 months of the year. 
 
 The telephone service is in the hands of private 
 companies ; the capital invested is over $10,000,000 
 (gold); there are about 11,000 subscribers. Tliere 
 are no really long-distance lines, except one re- 
 cently opened to Rosario. 
 
 The house-fronts, when kept in repair and 
 painted, are neat and aichitecturally beautiful. 
 The w^ords "repair" and "painted" must be ex- 
 plained. There are no wooden houses, which 
 these words might imply ; they are almost always 
 made of rough brick, covered with what is called 
 "revoque," a covering of plaster or "staff," and 
 sometimes artilicial stone. The better class of 
 houses generally have a base of granite, marble or 
 other natural stone three or four feet high, and 
 then brick covered w^ith "revoque." Sometimes 
 the natural stone extends to the second story, and 
 then invariably comes the artificial covering ; after 
 a while— two or three years— this begins to discolor 
 and flake off, requiring painting and repairing ; 
 after ten years it begins to become an " eyesore," 
 and at the end of tw'enty years it must all come off 
 at very considerable expense. An instance to be 
 cited is the American Church, Methodist Episco- 
 pal, wdiich was built 25 years ago, but for hve or 
 six years past it has presented such a dilapidated 
 appearance that it has become necessary to remove 
 the revoque from the sides and front from the base 
 to the steeple, and renew it at a cost of !?10,0()0— a 
 lai'ge sum for a poor church. 
 
 A question came up recently about the Congress 
 Palace Just mentioned, as to what should be the 
 external covering of this grand striu'ture. Fortu- 
 
50 
 
 Tiately, the commission of engineers to pass upon 
 this 'and other questions decided upon a marble 
 covering, and their decision was approved by the 
 Government. 
 
 One of the finest constructions now being finished, 
 after standing uncomi)leted for ten years, is the 
 beautiful Theatre Colon, which by the kindness of 
 Mr. Meano, the architect (who is also the architect 
 of the Congi-ess Palace), I am able to show you 
 from some slides he has sent me. 
 
 The means of locomotion about the city are abun- 
 dant—street cars everywhere, and a very good and 
 economical cab service. There are few^ coupes, no 
 public hansoms and only one or two private ones ; 
 but the street carriages are two-liorse victorias 
 which carry four people. The private turnouts 
 are equal to those of any city of the United 
 States, especially the horses, whicli^re of thn 
 best imported 'stock. The " Corso " and the 
 approaches to it on a Saturday or Sunday after- 
 noon are very attractive. It is in the beautiful 
 park of Palermo, one of the suburbs, broad ave- 
 nues, beautiful shrubbery, lakes and shady drives, 
 and immediately in fro'nt the broad river Plate, 
 Avhose further shore is beyond the horizon. 
 
 The people show great taste in the arrangement 
 of their stores, and particularly the shop windows; 
 from a butcher's shop to a confectioner's and a lace 
 store, the fine French taste is visible everywhere. 
 A walk along Florida, the principal shopping 
 street, a fiae asphalt street with no street cars in 
 it, is one of the delights of Buenos Aires, and one 
 never tires of it. If, for a fortnight, you miss this 
 promenade, you hardly know the street, foi- the ap- 
 pearance of the stores has greatly changed in the 
 meantime, by a complete change of the decora- 
 tions. 
 
 The manner of living is Continental, not even 
 English— a cup of coffee with a roll in the early 
 morning ; breakfast at 11 to 12:30 (which is a meal 
 in courses), and dinner at 7.30, the principal meal 
 of the day. This is the custom among all classes, 
 high and'low ; and there is another custom (it is 
 strange how soon you fall into it) :— tea or coffee 
 or matte (a species of steeped herb [yerbaj, pressed 
 into a peculiar little gourd used as a bowl and 
 drawn out of it with a hollow silver tube called a 
 matte stick). This 4 o'clock drink is as necessary 
 as any meal. In the (jfovernment House (Casa de 
 Gobie'rno), the Government provides tea or coffee 
 
for all of its officials and employes, and little rooms 
 are seen in various ))arts of the buildini;- where it 
 is made and served from, always acconii)anied with 
 some kind of delicate biscuit. 
 
 Perhaps some current i)rices may he of interest, 
 remembering always that, to get the price into 
 American money, you must take only four-tenths 
 of the price, to allow for the discount. 
 
 Foreign letter postage is loc. per 1/2 oz (6c.) 
 
 Domestic letter postage is 5c. perl/2 oz. (2c.) 
 
 Telegrams each of first ten words, 5c. (2c.), and 
 the snccessive words 3c. (1 .2c.). Telegrams in any 
 other language than Spanish, double price. Ad- 
 dress and signature are counted as in Europe. 
 
 The nsnal fare for a victoria is a dollar (40c. 
 gold), whether you take it by the course or by the 
 hour. 
 
 The foreign debt of the National Government in 
 1900 was 8388,771,614 (gold), and the internal debt 
 $3,322,500 (gold). There are thirty different loans, 
 the interest on which ranges from 3 1/2 to 6 per 
 cent. ; the total interest charge per annum in 1900 
 was $22,349,900.84 (gold). It requires annually, to 
 pav the interest on the total debt,8lS, 661, 864 (gold) 
 and 811,695,218 (paper). 
 
 The total revenue of the Government in 1900 
 was 862,045,458 paper and 837,998,704 (gold). 
 
 It is generally known that in 1890 a terrible 
 financial crash came upon the country, at the time 
 of the Baring failure ; since then it has had to 
 struggle to carry the load imposed by the disasters 
 of those days ; "^however, perhaps not more disas- 
 trous than happened to Chicago in 1893, as many 
 Avill attest who were cauo-ht in the Columbia Na- 
 tional Bank failure and others. 
 
 What language is spoken? Spanish, which is 
 the nationallanguage ; but, as might be expected 
 in a cosmopolitan city, French, Italian, English and 
 German are spoken almost everywhere, particu- 
 larly French. 
 
 As English money and Englishmen have done more 
 than any to develop the country, have built, own 
 and run^iearly all the railways, many of the great 
 estancias and other businesses, particularly com- 
 mercial, the English language is very generally 
 used in railroad and navigation circles. 
 
 With these general characteristics of the country 
 and the Capital City, I must ii;ive you a brief 
 resume of the ocean commerce, which has done so 
 much for the country, and, situated as it is at these 
 
52 
 
 antipodes of the Avorlcl, so necessary. First, a few 
 dry facts and then the description of commercial 
 facilities. 
 
 In 1899 the valne in gold of goods imported was 
 about $117,000,000, exported 8185,000,000. Of 
 these $44,000,000 imports came from Great Britain 
 and $15,000,000 from the United States ; Italy 
 comes next with $14,000,000 and Germany next 
 with $18,000,000, then France with $11,000,000 and 
 Belgium with $9,000,000. But exports show a 
 different distribution, for France took $41,000,000. 
 Germany $29,00(>,000, Belgium $24,000,000, Great 
 Britain $22,000,000, the United States $8,000, ouo 
 and Italy $5,000,000. Of the foreign trade Buenos 
 Aires had 87.2 per cent, of the imports, Rosario 
 8.8, La Plata 1.2 and Bahia Blanca 0.80. Of tlie 
 exports Buenos Aires had 55.5 per cent., Rosario 
 18.4, La Plata 2.30 and Bahia Blanca >00. These 
 ports are mentioned, as some information about 
 them is needed to explain the commercial situation. 
 Of all the goods reaching the River Plate Coun- 
 tries SO per cent, comes to Argentine. 
 
 In 1885 the National Government began the con- 
 struction of very large docks at Buenos Aires ; 
 hitherto all the business had been done from the 
 anchorage, about 12 miles from the city, the inter- 
 vening space being a great n.ud bar, the water from 
 
 Riachuelo, 1901. 
 
 a depth of 25 feet gradually shoaling to the shore 
 line at the city. This was so Hat that it was neces- 
 sary often to transfer the passengers and goods 
 
53 
 
 from the lighters, with wliich tliey had cdiih' thus 
 far from the vessels, to small boats and lo^i-reat 
 wlieel-carts that went out a long distance in the 
 water to meet the lighters. 
 
 The new docks are very extensive, and lie along 
 the immediate front of the city and connected with 
 it ; they were designed by the well-known English 
 firm of engineers, Hawkshaw and llayter, and car- 
 ried ont under the supervision of Mr. James Dob- 
 son, the resident engineer. The concessionaire was 
 an Argentine citizen, Mr. Madero : the contractors 
 Awre the exi)erienced English hrm of Walker & 
 (yo., wdio built the Manchester Ship Canal. These 
 men all deserve the higliest credit for carrying 
 through, under the financial difficulties of the 
 period above mentioned, a great public woi-k, cost- 
 ing :t:38,(H)0,()0() (uold). 
 
 Entrance Darsena Norte. 
 
 In order to reach the docks from the sea, a chan- 
 nel had to be excavated in the mud foreshore from 
 the anchorage. This channel (the North one) is at 
 low^ tide 21 feet deep and 380 feet wdde, and about 
 5y2 miles long from its intersection with a chan- 
 nel wliich already existed by previous dredging 
 from the other end of the port, at the mouth ol a 
 small, sluggish stream called the Riachuelo, in 
 which channel there generally is about 19 feet 
 of water at low tide. The tide of 2 or 3 feet, de- 
 pending largely ujion the direction and force of 
 the wind and very uncertain, ])ermits vessels draw- 
 ing about 23 1/2 feet to enter the port by the North 
 
54 
 
 Cliaimel. The new port was connected with the 
 older port, and now both channels are being nsed, 
 and the depths in them are abont as I have stated. 
 The Government lias recently begun the exten- 
 sion of the IS'orth Channel straight out to the an- 
 chorage, and later will deepen it to 22 feet. In the 
 meantime the navigation uses a crooked channel 
 beyond the intersection, which has been partly 
 dredged, curving round from the South Channel to 
 the anchorage. The depth of water in the noi'th- 
 
 Darseuii Nurte, and docks, &c, 
 
 ern entrance basin of the Port is 21 feet, but in 
 the four great docks 28 feet, with tidal gates so 
 that the vessels at low tide may be afloat. 
 
 The works are built in the most substantial man- 
 ner—masonry walls founded on what is called 
 " tosca " (loess), the hard substratum that is found 
 in this part of the country. The four docks, oi- 
 basins, are from 620 to 750 yards long, and ai"e all 
 170 yards Avide, connected by passageways 22 to 27 
 yards wide, over which passes by hydraulic turn- 
 ing bridges, the foot, vehicular and rail traffic. 
 A sea wail in front protects the entire port. On 
 the citj^ side are three and four-story brick ware- 
 
o5 
 
 houses, 24 in all, witli u total ri'()nta<i:<' of I 1/2 
 miles. Sheds, cattle yards, railroad tracks, hy- 
 draulic cranes and capstans and other important 
 appurtenances give the port modern facilities for 
 handling- cargo. 
 
 When the docks were opened at the Sonthcrn 
 end in 1899, the registered tonnage of vessels arriv- 
 ing and dei)arting \\t the Port of Buenos Aires was 
 3,800,000; in 1901, 8,661,299, more than 100 ])er 
 cent, increase. There are only twelve ports in the 
 world of greater tonnage, and none of them show 
 such xdienonienal growth. 
 
 In 1880, about the time that th(> works wrre pro- 
 posed, the tonnage was 644,r)70, and the plans were 
 made for 2,(H)0.()00 tons only. 
 
 View of the Docks. 
 
 The extraordinary growth of the coinnicrce has 
 made it necessary to make an enlargement of the 
 facilities, and th'is was one of the works intrusted 
 to me during the last year of my stay in Argen- 
 tine. I am able to show you the general plan of 
 the actual port with the proposed enlargement, 
 which will have free access from the sea and a depth 
 of 26 feet. 
 
 The plan also provides facilities foi' ••iiillamma 
 bles"— coal, petroleum, gasoline, iiapliiha and 
 some explosives. 
 
 The Standard Oil Com])any of New York is ik.w 
 arranuina- to bring l)ulk oil in tank steam. "is to 
 Argentine, and the Shell Transport ('ompany is 
 preparing to make a specialty of the importation 
 of fuel ()il from Texas and the Dutch East Imlies. 
 
56 
 
 The work of enlargement of the port is divided 
 into sections, so that it can be carried out section 
 by section, as the increase of commerce will re- 
 quire. The general plan also includes the protec- 
 tion and deepening of the entrance channels. 
 
 r~ 
 
 
 ., \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ' ' ' '^^■*-^4 
 
 Port of Buenos Aires and Plan of enlargement. 
 
 One of the principal ports of the country is 
 Rosario. Ocean navigation reaches it, and, for 
 that matter, reaches Colastine, the port of The city 
 of Santa Fe, the capital of the Province. The i-eg- 
 istered tonnage of the Port of Rosario in 1899 was 
 3,000,000, of which more than 2,000,000 were over 
 sea vessels, about 700 per annum. The merchan- 
 dise entered and cleared was about 1,650,000 tons ; 
 67 per cent, of the exportation was wheat. In the 
 busy months there are often over 30 vessels seen at 
 one time along the wharves and the barranca, where 
 the wheat is loaded in bags, sliding down from the 
 high cliff GO feet above the vessel, in what are 
 called "canaletas." The imports amount to about 
 $10,000,000 (gold), and the exports to 830,000,000. 
 
 The N'ational (iovernment is making a great port 
 of Rosario, endowed with m11 modern facilities for 
 handling cargo. It sent out to Europe and the 
 United States a full report with all necessary data, 
 submitting the project to capitalists and con- 
 tractors, with the request for propositions to build 
 and operate the port. It will cost from $10,000, 000 
 to 112,000,000 (gold). 
 
67 
 
 The contract, after nn examination of mid icpoi-t 
 upon the projects ])re.sente(l by a Board of wliidi 1 
 had the honor to be President, has been let to tlie 
 well-known and experien(;ed firm of contractors, 
 Mess. Hersent. of Paris, associated with Schneider 
 and Co., of Creusot, the Krupp of France. The 
 works of construction were inaui^-united by the 
 President of tlie Republic on Oct. 20th, l',)()2. 
 
 The plans of tlu^ work have been based on the 
 data above mentioned. 
 
 Some important x^roblems had to be solved in 
 connection with the improvement of so great a 
 river as the Parana, the bed of which is subject to 
 such important changes, and also its islands and 
 banks. 
 
 The front line of the proposed wharves is over 
 21/2 miles long-. The masonry piers must go down 
 into the tertiary sand below the scour of the river, 
 and their foundations will be from 60 to 80 feet 
 below the low watei- level. 
 
 The importance of this work, furnishing a mod- 
 ern seaport to the second city of the country, can 
 scarcely be over-estimated. In my report on the 
 project made in Sept., 1900, I used the following 
 words, which two years of subsequent study have 
 corroborated : 
 
 "It is safe to say that the establishment of a 
 first-class port at Rosario with suitable channels of 
 access, will revolutionize completely the commerce 
 and industrj^ of this Republic." /^ 
 
 I can now show you some interesting views of tfie 
 more important buildings of the city. 
 
 La Plata port and city were built by the Pro- 
 vincial Government, when, in about 188*0, the Na- 
 tional Government came to Buenos Aires to occupy 
 it as the capitol of the nation. It is an excellent 
 port; it is built on the shore of the Riode la Plata, 
 about 35 miles from Buenos Aires, and cost about 
 $14,000,000 (gold). The opening of the national 
 port at Buenos Aires has driven most of the com- 
 merce from La Plata, but it is capable of being 
 made, with a comparatively small sum of nion^^y, 
 deep enough, in its entrance channel (five miles 
 long) and in its port areas, to accommodate vessels 
 of 26 feet draught at low tide; it now has 21 feet. 
 
 The remaining port of importance and rapidly 
 growing is outside of the River Plate, in the South, 
 Bahia Bianca ; it is the principal ship])ing port of 
 agricultural products by the Great South^ni Rail- 
 way, the largest system in the Republic. This port 
 
58 
 
 is in an estuary of the Ocean, and is a protected 
 liarbor; in fact, the terminal of the Railway is about 
 35 miles from the open ocean. The Railway is 
 buildino- a steel pier, 1640 feet long, with spacious 
 
 The Dock, Keel aud Bilge Blocks. 
 
 warehouses and 19 miles of siding ; and theie will 
 be, when all works are completed, over half a mile 
 of Avharf frontage, supplied with electric crimes. 
 The National Government is buildino- in this 
 
 The President inayurating the Dock 
 
 Estuary at Puerto Militar, or Puerto Belgrano, a 
 system of dry docks and basins on a large scale. 
 The tirst dry dock, one of the best and largest in 
 the world, is completed and now in use. It was de- 
 signed and built under the immediate supervision 
 
of the well-known Italian Knuint'er, Chev. I^iiigi 
 Luiggi, who liad charge oC siinihir work at (icnoa. 
 
 The San JIartin in tlic dock. 
 
 This dock, built of first class materials and upon 
 the most modern methods, can take the lai-gest 
 naval or merchant ships of the World, as it has a 
 useful length of 713 feet and an entrance width of 
 85 feet, and a depth over the sill of 32 1/2 ("(vt a1 
 
 L. S. UaUkship l.)wa (.■iilci ing ilu W-'.U. 
 
 mean high-tide, 22 feet at low tide it has jntrr 
 mediate gates, so that two or thrre small vessch 
 can be docked at the same time or separately. 
 
60 
 
 I cannot liere go into details of construction wbicli 
 were fully given in a paper on the subject submit- 
 ted by Mr. Luiggi toi^tlie IX International Naviga- 
 tion Congress at Diisseldorf, July, 1902. He has 
 very kindly given me over 30 lantern slides, of 
 which I can show you a few to give you a general 
 idea of the dock. The plans, photographs and, 
 possibly, a relief model of the dock will be exhibit- 
 ed at the World's Fair in St. Louis, in 1904. 
 
 In October last the U. S. Battleship Iowa, the 
 flagship of the South Atlantic Squadron, was 
 docked at Puerto Militar. 
 
 You will be interested to know that at Buenos 
 Aires, there is a large business with New York by 
 means of five steamship lines, and throngh New 
 
 Entrance Government House. 
 
 York with Chicago and other cities, from which 
 are shipped a large amount of agricultural ma- 
 chinery of all classes, from cultivators and plows 
 to great steam threshing machines of the J. I. Case 
 Co., of Racine, Wisconsin. Not only from Chicago, 
 bnt from all manufacturing districts, the trade of 
 our country is increasing. You see our machinery 
 everywhere, and it is everywhere considered equal 
 to any— Baldwin Locomotives, Jackson and Sharp 
 Cars, and Harlan and Hollingsworth's. The Amer- 
 ican freight car of 25 and 80 tons is replacing the 
 
61 
 
 old Bel,o;ian, Frencli and Englisli 7 and 10-ton cars. 
 If the xVnierican cars are not all made in Ttlie 
 United States, they are copied from ours. ^3 'I'he 
 most approved bridges are from the United States. 
 I have been over several and examined one on 
 the Transandine Kailway, built by the Phoenix 
 Bridge Co., of Phihidelphia, excellent bridges 
 and giving entire satisfa(!tion. The Boston Bridge 
 Co. sent out some very good bridges. The horse- 
 cars by John Steplienscm and Co., of New York. 
 Electric cars by the J. G. Brill Co. ; and the West- 
 inghouse Co., is doing well there. Large quantities 
 of Southern and Oregon pine are imported. From 
 the U. S. comes all the kerosene used in the coun- 
 try. I might go on enumerating many other 
 
 
 I'lensa Building. 
 
 United States products. 1 can well say that^the 
 prospects of American trade witli Argentine are 
 exceedingly good. 
 
 The Argentine Government is determined to im- 
 prove the great rivers of the country by methods 
 which have been found to be best in other countries 
 under similar conditions. The results of our experi- 
 ence upon the Mississippi are being closely watched, 
 studied and applied. The reports of the Missis- 
 sippi River Commission are of great value to that 
 country. I may further say that the engineers, 
 and the methods pursued by them ni-e equal to 
 
62 
 
 those of any country. Every Government Engi- 
 neer, to take a promi^ient position, must have a 
 diploma from the Engineering Department of the 
 National University. The graduates of this excel- 
 lent school are as well equip})ed for their work as 
 those from any school in the world ; this I know by 
 experience, for four of them (young men) have 
 been associated with me as my immediate assistants, 
 and in my position as Consulting Engineer of the 
 Government, I have been brought into close rela- 
 tions with many other engineers, and I have the 
 highest opinion of their ability. 
 
 I will now select at random a few subjects of 
 special interest, and a few views. 
 
 The Government Building— Casa Gobierno — 
 sometimes called the " Casa Rosada ' ' from its light 
 
 Sarmieuto School. 
 
 rose color, and in which was my office, is one of the 
 most prominent buildings in Buenos Aires. 
 
 It stands in a prominent and central position, 
 facing the Ave. Mayo, and looking out on the other 
 side over the port ancl the River Plate. 
 
 One of the finest structures in Buenos Aires is 
 the " Prensa " Building, devoted entirely to that 
 morning paper. I know of no newspaper offices in 
 the woi-ld that can compare Avith this in elegance 
 and convenience in all its interior appointments. 
 
 The leading newspapers of Buenos Aires are 
 equal to any, both in editorial ability and in tele- 
 graphic news from all i^arts of the world. 
 
63 
 
 The Snrniiento School gives me an oppor- 
 tunity to call to your attention this, one of 
 the most learned and best of Presidents, who, 
 when lie was Minister at Wasliin<it(m, became so 
 enamored of our country, and particularly our edu- 
 cational methods, that he engaged a large number 
 of onr young lady teachers to go to Argentine as 
 Normal School Teachers. Many of them are there 
 yet, after nearly twenty j' ears' service, a service 
 that has reflected honor upon themselves and their 
 country. 
 
 An institution of importance is the Jockey Club, 
 for by its intlueuce the Argentine blooded stock of 
 horses has been made equal to any in the world, 
 and its domicile is one of the finest and most ex- 
 pensive of any club house in existence, and its 
 stand at the race course at Palermo is a beautiful 
 structure. 
 
 Some views of Recoleta, the principal Cemetery, 
 will show you the general method of burying the 
 dead. 
 
 It is proper for me to say that considerable of the 
 statistical data was obtained from " The Argentine 
 Year Book," Just issued for the first time (1902), 
 and that some of the hydraulics are from a con- 
 tribution to that work Avritten by myself. The 
 Annual can be obtained from the Moorgate Pub- 
 lishing Company, of London. 
 
 I cannot close this lecture without introducing 
 you to the Pi-esident of the Republic, General 
 Roca, under whose wise administration the country 
 lias prospered and by whose determined purpose to 
 maintain the peace the impending war with Chili 
 has been happily averted and a permanent peace 
 established, based on the arbitration of the trouble- 
 some question of the international boundaries. 
 
 You mnj properly ask me why I have brought 
 before you the subject of Argentine. I can easily 
 reply — First, because in two years of close relations 
 with the country, and especially, with the Govern- 
 ment officials, I formed a very favorable idea of the 
 character of the j^teople and of the possibilities of 
 business and in-ofitable enterprise for our own peo- 
 ple there. And second, because the high officials 
 of the Government and leading men of the Coun- 
 try desire to have the "'Norte Americanos," as we 
 are called, come to Argentine with their business 
 energy, integrity and ability, and their capital as 
 well, ito help build npand move forward to its high 
 
64 
 
 destiny that great cjHintry of South America, so 
 like our own in its climate, soil, rivers, Coast line 
 and other general features. 
 
 _ If I have succeeded in interesting you in Argen- 
 tine, and in giving you more knowledge of it than 
 you had before, I shall be satisfied with my efforts 
 and feel that I have done a service to that country 
 and to my own. 
 
RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 
 
 TO— ^ 202 Main Library 
 
 LOAN PERIOD 1 
 HOME USE 
 
 2 / 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 
 Renewals and Recharges may be made 4 days prior to the due date. 
 
 Books may be Renewed by catling 642-3405. 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 AUTO DISC CIRC D 
 
 EC 09 '92 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FORM NO. DD6 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY 
 BERKELEY, CA 94720