New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-04-07
INVITATION PERIOD.


ED AMERICAN FARMERs-THE
IMITATION PERIOD
CORRESPONDENT THE TRrBrSE.l
Rosario A. r., January "a.
r:oo % Santa Fe is the chief forcing
..oeo agricultural colonies to which the
'" s.;.o o,ros q large portion of its wonderful
-Ss.oes aurro the last twenty wears IL was IN
Pr ~. Tho first of these colonies was cs'ab-
,,Os -. tsneronza by Don Aaron Castellanos.
.1o rocruitcd a company of Swiss settlers IN
,e.e-,Eo two additional colonies were founded
. G., Geronimo and San Carlos. During the
"' 90" ,.oars ten colonies were established in
Al, province: during the succeeding seven years
~. tour were added. and from 1877 10 1884
,.a ,rerc thirty-nine new colonies by means
..l.oo o;ch,een colonies 6G. 265 immigrants were
,,.o,cbt into the Province. and nearly 100000
oor.s under cultivation. These agricultural
,ohorors of whom nearly co per cent were Italian.
,,,b the remainder Swiss. French German, Span
;sh and English were a producing class adding
enormously 10 the wealth and material resources
NJ the Province Their purchases OF reaping-
machines thrcshers. plOughs and farming nipple
tents cxceeded $4,000 a year; their cattle and
stock was valued at 80, 800 600: their houses and
,mocbiucrr were estimated to he worth $4,000
and their lanus cAtttutu I's''''''' III No'"''
Since 1854 the number of colonies has been largely
increased and all these valuations and estimates
have been doubled. The same system was intro
duccd in the adjoining Provinces of Cordova Entire
Pins and Buenos Ayres. and now there are Hour
;shinr colonies even in Patagonia. San LUIS.
Misiones and the Pampas
The practical results of systematic measures
for the promotion of immigration and the estao-
lishment of European farm laborers on Argentine
soil are shown in the remarkable increase Oh
nopulation in the Province of Santa re. Nheh
the first colony founded in 1886 there were
only Al 300 inhabitants in district as large as
Portugal By the census of 1887 there were
22O332 inhabitants. nearly one-half OF whom
were European immigrants employed in agrlcult'
ural industries \ large proportion OF TINS IN
oroosc is the direct result Of the colonial rStab
lishmcnts Of the last ten years. In 1871 immiSra-
tion was still inconsiderable. only ?0.03o Euro
mans entering the Argentine. In lsss there
were 1s0.993 immigrants and during eleven
months of 1850 there were 100000 Santa re.
Buenos Ayrcs and Entire Rios are the principal
swarming places for these hives of Italian. Spanish
and French agricultural ahorers The Natioral
and Provincial Governments have We'd with each
other in Offering liberal terms TO incoming I'M
migrants. Everything has been done 10 draw
I0fONdDS
Mediterranean into these pampas farms. 1mmi-
grafton AGENTS have been sent 80 every country
in Europe During the last year free uanspor-
tation was offered. until the swarming Of pauperS.
the lame and tie blind compelled halt In
every modern tongue the Argentine has been pro-
claimed to be the Eden and the FL Dorado of the
New World Immigrants have been welcomed
from every ouartcr-even from RusSa-and they
have been allowed to retain their national char
acteristics ard race sympathies in settlements
or communities where their own language Is
spoken Tie colonies have been al once popular
with new settlers who desired to live among those
Of their own race and tongue. and successful as
land spcculations. No more effective cNpedicnt
of stimulating immigration has ever been devised
The Argentine. which in 1857 had population OF
100000, now has at least 100000 people, rep
resenting European nations of every race and
language
Such colonies as have passed through on the
way TO Santa Fc do not differ essentially In their
general aspects from ordinary farming conmuni-
ties in the United States. \ colony is collection
of small farms operated by Italians or Spanards
or French agricutursts who lave obtained the
ownership of the land under conditions more or
less favorable Both the houses and the holdings
are small and unpretentious. There are few out
ward signs of prosperity 10 he seen III these COM
munities. but the immigrants seem contcntee
with their lot, and are represented as being much
more prosperous than they were in their own
countries. When the first colony was founded
the Swiss settlers received each about eighty
acres of land, and in the course of a generation
most of the families have laid by considerable
money Many OF them have purchased large
holdings in other colonies, and are now in pros
perous circumstances. In some instances land
owners have founded colonies by cutting up their
estates into a chcss-board Of squares and giving
every other one away 10 the pioneer settlers In
the course OF few years. when the colony has
been established, the prices Of land have risen
and the squares which were reserved have been
sold at a good advance, either 10 newcomers or 70
the original settlers AT a few oil the "lcer
colonies the first settlers received twenty acres
two oxen and two cows but when they found
their holdings too small 10 live upon, they were
compelled to pay high prices for additional land
AS time went on, the practice OF giving away land
was discontinued in the main. and new settlers
were invited TO pay Sl60 or more Tor
a cuadfa Of eighty acres LANDOWNERS
undertook the business management OF their col
onies selling farms to settlers on the lnstaimcnt
plan, assisting them in building houses and STOCK
Ing their holdings. and even building factories
ana nluS. In many instances 'htsc PoPii''oi'
have been financially embarrassed and compelled
10 sell their interests 10 spectators, who were
Indifferent 10 the fortunes Of the coonists. Some
Of the most promising settlements have been
ruined in this way.
Where there are hundreds OF agricultural col
onies, as there are now in the Argentine, striking
contrasts are offered in their management and in
the fortunes Of the settlers. At San Carlos,
where $4,000 acres are under cultivation, and
where churches schools. hotels, factories and
steam mills have been built, nearly every settler
has done well, and some Of the more thrifty and
industrious farmers have accumulated small fort
unes In some Of the Central Argentine colonies
tAe prices of land have been so high that the
settlers have found themselves overwhelmed with
The Interest OIL their debts and have abandoned
their holdings, sinking everything which they had