The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1877-10-17
The seasa Americas St.se.-

The condition of the South Ameri
can continent, taken as a whole, il
not . satisfactory one, whatever WAY
We view it. Politically Il is split uE
into q number OF separate states, fes
os which possess any real poliEiea
vitality, and nearly all Of which are
too poor to obtain any stable position
As traders among the nations OF the
world The same doninance Of The
soldiery which has nearly destroyed
old Spain has helped TO prevent hith-
erto the development Of those OF
shoots from her which form The
states Of Central and South America.
There is, TO all appearances, an ab-
selee for the capacity Of creating
solidly based civil Institutions 10 the
Spanish race, sad although the Span
ish colonies have al thrown Of the
yoke Of the mother country, they
have made next to no progress in the
art Of self-government Not one Of
them can show any orderly, we'll
knit system Of authority, sach as
Prescott, for instance, says-no
doubt with exsggersiion-ihe lncas
of Perne or the Aztecs OF Mexico
possessed
The Spanisrd Of America is ciFilly
degraded being, through the super
stirions which have 50 long nodded
the quality Of his mind, and the mix
ed races and natives whom he has
called into being or subdued, have
risen to the peaceful. orderloTing
citizens Of tree states Therefore We
find continual wars going on, brig
andage and murder rife, 10 even the
most promising Of the states, and sn
absence Of any progress worthy OF
the name in every Spanish rePablic
saye one. Public Offices are filed
through corruption, and integrity and
fair dealing are qualities almost un-
known When contrssied with the
United States the utter bsekvsrdness
of ali South American states comes
with startling force on the mind Of
the political student The very be-
ginnings Of life which society evinees
there serve but to suggest, ss It were,
the corruption which makes one al
most despair of these states ever de-
reloping into healthy poliueal organ
iZstio1s-
Chill alone among the Spanish
states Of South America has made
real progress in the art Of selfgov-
erumeni, and has been blessed with
internal peace for q generation.
Among the rest, the Argentine Con-
federation, Peru, and Mexico stand
prominently forward as communities
Of whom much has been expected,
bar which have yet performed little.
The Argentine Confederation bad 8
war on the occasion Of the election Of
the last president, and has bad more
than one civil disturbance since
The government is TOO weak either
to repress the soldiery or prevent
crime, and its outlying provinces are
subjected 10 9 terrorism from bands
OF rutsans. which St times threatens
TO depopulste the country. What
progress and enlightenment the re-
public has is due mainly TO the infiu-
ence of people Of other than Spanish
nstionality-English, German, Itsl-
ian,-snd If these cannot get and
maintain the upper hand, revolutions,
bIoodshed, possibly dismembermeDl,
will attend the future Of this state.
More dishesrtening, perhaps, IS the
condition Of Peru, where the Span
lard has more exclusive possession Of
the destinies of the country, and
wastes It's xeslih 70 bis bent To
End another orderly government we
have to leave Spanish possessions al
together, and betake ourselves TO the
vast Portuguese empire Of Brazil,
which under the old reigning house
Of Portugal has attained to 8 certain
importance and order. Poor as this
NAV be, compared with the higher
civilizations of the old world, it new
ertbeless places Brazil hrst among
the states of South America a-Fra-
ser's Magazine.