The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1877-04-06
Under the Southern Cross.

II has become a stock notion among
North Americans that civilization and
the arts have their exclusive western
hobitdt in that portion of the new world
peopled by the English-speaking races.
This mistaken idea is fostered and per-
petuated by the ignorance or careless
ness of the compilcrs of school geogra-
phies. Our children are taught that
the Spanish h-Amcricans are a bigoted,
priest-ridden and unenicrprsng race.
whose chief amusement is revolution,
and whose condition is that of semi
civilization. These CONGRATULATIONS APP
proXimated the truth twenty years ago.
But to-day there are no more progress
i've nations than the Argentine Republic.
Uruguay, Chill and Peru. They have.
ii is true, Il great deal yet TO accomplish
But they are on the road to high
achievements. While the United States
is contemplating the taxation of immi-
grants, the South American republics
are spending hundreds of thousands of
dollars to people their fertile lands with
Europeans. Peru has undertaken the
magnificent experiment of colonizing
with immigrants the upper waters of
the Amazon, region abounding in rich
timbers, precious woods and minerals.
Il paradise for sportsmcn. A superb
railway is TO be built from Lima TO the
far interior, TO open up lands capable
of supporting millions of men. OF Chi
Ii, the best governed country beneath
the southern cross, mention has been
made in a previous article. Let us
glance at the Argentine Republic, whose
Washington was the illustrious Sarmi-
ento, cultured scholar profound So
cial philosopher, and a combination of
the virtues of a Napoleon, a Franklin
and Washington. This republic is,
to-day, pursuing the enlightened and
progressive policy marked out by Sar-
miento. Territorally it consists of an
almost unbroken plain, bounded on the
north by Bolivia, on the west by the
lofty SUBMITS of the Andes, on the south
by the straits of Magellan. Cn the east
by Brazil, Uruguay and the Atlantic.
Its capital is the city of. Buenos Ayres.
happily called the Athens of South
America. Nearly 100000 immigrants
land yearly on the quays of the capital.
The city contains over 100000 inhabi-
tants, is now well drained, lighted with
gas. and supplied with pure water. Its
intellectual activity may be- Judged
from the fact that ii support wenty
daily newspapers, Theaters. clubs,
hospitals and schools abound. There
are eighty miles OF horse railroads in the
city. But il is of the republic at large
that we would speak. Its principal riv-
er is the Rio Plata, the silver river,
navigable for over two thousand miles.
and this, too, in a steamboat. Opposite
the city of Buenos Ayres the river is
twenty-eight milos in width. There
arc now nearly two thousand public
schools in operation, and over four
thousand boys are receiving university
education ai the national colleges.
There are one thousand five hundred
miles of railway, and over six thousand
miles oftelegraph. The navy is cred
it to the government. The different
provinces correspond to our states,
each having its legislature and governor.
The total population is two million
souls, and the enormous annual acces-
sions by immigration, together with
the natural Increase, must soon render
this republic one of the most populous
in the world. The river system affords
cheap means of communication to every
section of the domain. The staple eX-
ports are wool, hides and tallow. The
sheep farms support no less than eigh
ty million sheep, and the annual export
of wool exceeds two hundred and twen-
ty-ivc million pounds. How much
room there Is for human habiialion is |
shown by the fact that the population
per square mile is one hundred times
less than in Europe. The farming
stock of the fourteen province may be
roughly set down al fifteen million
horned cattle, four million horses, and
eighty million sheep The value of all
this live stock cannot fall short of $3.50.
600, 900, yielding about $ij 5000, 600 an
nually in exportable produce, These
facts are gathered from the annual re-
port of the secretary of the Interior.
This officer calls the Argentine Repub-
lie the poor mans FL Dorado, and he
tortifies his assertion by some surpris-
ing figures. Ii appears that there are
some four thousand families scattered
over the thirty-four colonies In the two
provinces of Santa Fe and Enire Rios.
They own some SlO,00O,000 worth of
farm and cattle property, a proportion
of S2250 to each family, and most ofl
these families landed at Buenos Ayres
ten years ago without a dollar. The
immigrants come from Ireland, Italy. |
Germany, France, Spain and England,
very few from the United States, There
are many thousands of Irish people in
the republic, generally much more
prosperous than with us. They devote
themselves mainly to sheep farming
The policy pursued by the government
towards immigrants Is exceedingly lib |
eral. Nobody is allowed 10 remain
idle, there is no poverty. The Ian
guage is, of course, Spanish, and the
established religion Is the Roman Gath
oic, but there Is the utmost toleration
and political liberty, The policy of the
South American republic, in the pro-
motion of immigration, Is worthy of
consideration by our Lawmakers.
Il Boston Herald.