Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1880-01-10
The War I'm South America.

The course of events in Peru since the
conquest of Pisagua by the Chilians in
dicates that the invading army is more
! than match for any force which the
allied States are able to mass against
it. The fact that Chill, which seeming
Z " entered upon this contest against
great odds, should have managed in so
short time to secure an absolute mas
terry of the sea and a preponderance on
land, reflects not little credit on her
military and civil organization, and
reveals how signally she differs in both
these respects from most South Ameri-
can republics.
When this war began, few persons in
Lima or La Paz looked for any other
result than the ruin of Chilian COM
merce and the bombardment of Valpa-
raise by the Peruvian ironclads. There
was not vessel in the Chilian navy
which was supposed capable of with
standing for n moment the Huascar and
Independence, while a movement by
land against the joint forces of Bolivia
and Peru seemed out of the question.
The relative size of the armies which
could be mustered on both sides would
naturally be proportional to the popu-
lation, and it was known that Chill had
scarcely more than 100000 inhab-
itants, against some 5000, 600 in the al
lied States. Inasmuch, too, as the
great nitrate deposits near Cobija were
the prize contended for, all the advan-
tages of position seemed to belong to
the northern powers. Under such cir
cumstanees, "A war of conquest on the
part of Chill may well have looked to
the superficial observer as wild and
prepOsterous venture.
All these objections, however, might
have been met and overborne by one
decisive argument. Peru and Bolivia
We're bankrupt, whereas Chill possesses,
to an extent never equaled or even APP
preached by any nation of Spanish stock,
the power of the purse. Her credit in
{ the markets of Europe is SO good that
she can borrow for five per cent, rs was
shown in the loan of 1870. This fact,
we need not say, insured not only an
adequate commissariat and ample sup
/ plies of munitions of war, but it meant
/ the capacity to sustain a protracted
{ anu W Wal oui ~ Gil
durance the ill-equipped, ill-fed, and i'll
paid forces of the enemy. Nor was this
all. The mere existence of Chili's credit,
when we consider that the nation began
to contract foreign loans even earlier
] than Peru, attests sound and admirable
spirit in the mass of the population; for
only by foresight, economy, and rigor-
Gus self-control could country relatively
poor have comprised the punctual pay
ment of its just debts. BY their fiscal
and commercial probity, the Chillians
had well deserved the name of the En-
I glish of South America, and they have now
evinced in military operations the pre-
else habits of discipline, calculation, and
cooperation which are involved in the
virtue of making both ends meet. When
We review the political and financial
/ history of South American republics, we
must concede that Chill alone has vindi-
Gated right OF expansion and predom-
nance by the test OF experience
That Chill will annex the nitrate dis
trict, which she has long coveted, to-
gether probably with the gnano islands
lying off the southern coast of Peru,
seems to be tolerably well assured by
the success attending the movement of
the invading army during the past six
weeks. The landing al Pisagua, fol-