The Press.
London, England, 1853-12-10 00:00:00

758.

THE TREATY WITH PARAGUAY—ITS
COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE.
[Frew the L.loorpool Albion.]

Tutu was always a strong presentiment among commtr.
cial men in this country that a treaty with Paraguay, such
as has been brought about by Lord Malineshury's side
• niaaary, Sir L. llotluun, would be productive of great ad-
vantages ; and thew is an strong conviction now,
despite the apprehended Obstacles ranted lay the Buenos
Apra.' Government in respect to the enfore•ed protect°.
rate of the isle of Martin Garcia, diet the treaty ratified on
tho 2nd tilt. by Lord elaretidon and lain Excellency lion
F. Lopez will, in due time, ellect most of the benefits an-
ticipated. /tut 140 complete is the ignorance in of
the real mereatitile resources of Paraguay, that even public
writers most disposed to augur well of the treaty in pies-
timal 11441,0111 t canrernitig 11111 t territory see far
shoat of the minal fact, that• if they were true, certain poli-
ticians might be almost justified in now laboh-poolaing what
has been aceomplisheil, just as they did when it Willi
attempted some years ago. Fair instance, an evening
journal long eelebrated for its taipposseel peculiarly accurate
inGirmation on foreign topic* ham mated that Pautguoiy was
the most populous of all the Is Plata provinces, "except
Buenos A'ress," the truth being that the Paraguaytua
lotion exceeds the Buenos Ayreati upwards of threefold—
eireeds that of all the Argentine Stan s anal the Banda
Oriental put together ! while, contrary to the olieral
even in South America, its power ieferinstuttption is greater
than the rent of the interior province of the 'onfederistion.
'insisidcring its e%tri.iiie isalatiota hitheli.,.llll4 OHO 11114 KII.III
waiters, profensing to trent of it, have almost invariably
drawn their information from second-hand or apocryphal
'sources, it is, perhaps, last natural that there 'should ha'
extatat but little. reliable knowledge iviwetil,g Parirgisa-
We believe we. arc in et condition be suppl, intuit of the
Yield complained of; and, ill presees.elitag to u o sn, the first
filet to whirl. we would draw the attention aif mercantile
men is, tint set annals its varied preslitette, many of theist
most suitable to British purposes, nor its advantages
peculiarly fitting it tea nourish an inalseatant commerce.,
reasaidering its fine dentate, fruitful "mail, mad 'teats
papulation—last to the stable and enduring nature of its
governmental status.
Unlike all the Platine provinces, Paraguay is blest With
a a ioVellllllellt which, doing!' republic in 1111111 e, and ill the
forms lot its adnainistrul , guarantees the preservation of
public order ; and is not exposed to those constant revolu-
tionary viciaaitudes that have conic to be n•garded as the
nortnal condition of the neighbouring powers of Spanish
origin. lieni•e, to our thinking, the great value of this
treaty with a tiovernment not only willing but able tee
realise its intentleil sham in the 0111111getIlellt. We have
not only fully entered into relations with a country new,
rich ii natural t 11401110%, peopled with a dew& nice well
(biassed towards 104, 11101 situate at the head of a vast in-
ternal navigation, but We may rely mien the utmost itl.et
being given by the Exectitive no the stipalatieinx it lass
undertaken to alle.erVe, and that the open tiu%igatiun of the
l'aragnay and l'pper Parana shall be favored to the British
flag, free frisin all alteration or sudden (leasing of those
rivers, thus completing that security so essential to sue.
coastal enterprise and speculation. No census ear statis-
tics having ever been published, it is, of 1401114 e, i111110,40111C
to estimate with atertarary the population of Paraguay ; but,
from the slats furnished by parties tumbling then. during
the last few )(ars, there is 110 reals4lll to doltht that it ex-
ceeds a million. The populati )))) of Assumption, the %alai.
tal, has been stated at 1 I,olflo, which is certainly 011SilIVE14.
bly under the nal tllll When Rostra, In him ',notelet,
announced that he ens preparing grunt military and naval
arlinunents with a View of itriauling mid inceqaterating her
111 the Argentine Its Irnt I iota Paraguay speedily raised
an effective tutioy of more than M N) men; and, calcula-
ting that force at the sisoilerate rate of two per cent. on the
entire population, the rysidt is alsave st militant, which, as
already stated, is more than double the poimifttioti of the
Argentine provinces and the State. of I't•u nac united—a
fact which explains why it is that Paraguay imports more
than all the itate.risar provinces of the confederation, in-
cluding the prtaince. though not the port, of Buenos Ayres

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routic as are we ninny portions of Solidi .1111erieft, there
is no one art* of anything like the same magnitude to be
compared for a moment with Paraguay. There are culti•
valet! with SO easy success, to %%hid. the MOMS of the in•
habitants are the only limit, cotton, sugar. indigo, ciichi•
:teal, and the finest tobacco in the world ; dyew of great
value abound, as also various wild plants of the hemp
kind, capable of being converted to the greatest utility ;
resinous Dees—ai tttttt them several producing doe
indiarubber and giittais.reha gums ; copxiba, rhubarb, and
medicinal plants of unequalled cirtuc. I.lBntittiOllB of
coffee have lately been et ttttt lowed. mill answer excel.
lently. The forest timber, which is inexhaustible in Tian-
lily, is of the liest spiality, not only Air shipbuilding. lon
for cabinet work. Fruits and grain 4'llll,llWe nearly all
that are indigenous to the temperate lied the torrid tone ;
and the cattle may be multiplied to an indefinite curia if
advantage be taken for that portsise of the illimitable pas.
throw-611 1111111‘tt alit emisideration just now. bearing in
mind the %moves of our 'supply of hides and tallow, whether
from the north of Europe or South America itself. Direct
European interrounw, by means of the Nlalinesloary, treaty,
not only promises to be productive of the utmost good to
Paraguay prirr, but, through Paraguay, to the remotest
provinces of the Confederation, and heyon4l, to the spurs
of the Andes. The Vermeil), already twice explon.il, puts
l'aragnay in communication with the vast prm ;neer of
and Turemilan ; and if, as there is good ren•
son to believe, the Pilcomayo is navigable considerably
above Paraguay. her e tree would go straight to the
beau of 1i1.11% lat. lty the riser Paraguav itself ships of
;NMI tons can ascend to the capital of the linutilian
province of Mato u ireesso ; while the interior of Paraguay is
interlaced all over with oat igable streams emptying them.
lei Veil Auto dr snot fluvial ado.). after nhick the rrimucc