San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-08-31
THE REPUBLIC OF PARAGUAY.
1t Is an interesting Country, but Little
Known to Americans.

1t Is IN interesting Country, but Little
Known to Americans.
The republic of Paraguay has hitherto
"een one of the least known of the South
merican states. Situated in the heart of
e continent, and communicating with
K sea only by the intermediary of the
Parana river, it has remained a far away
country, forgotten, unvisited, UNEMPLOYED.
And yet in the old days its territory was
the center of all the operations of the
Europeans on the Atlantic coast of Amer
lea.
During the early period of the Spanish
occupation the settlers found hospitality
in Paraguay sooner than on the more ac-
cessible banks of the river Plate, while its
fertility, climate and geographical position
recommended it to the Jesuits for the
establishment of their reductions" and
for the essay of a system of communism
which gave admirable results from the
point of view Of collective felicity. During
POO years the settlements of the Jesuits
prOspered. In 1854 the order was expelled;
when the architects left it, the communis-
tic ediiice, within whose pleasant precincts
the native Guarani population had learnt
the elements of a simple and almost idyllic
ClNlllLtIlOll, lCll llIO ENllllS, dul Vic "uplG
country and the people quickly declined.
In the beginning of the present century,
when the independence movement deprived
the crown of Spain Ct its American colo
MES, Paraguay did not Join in the generous
and cooperative work of liberty, but shut
itself up within its frontiers, trusting to
its wealth and wishing to owe nothing to
its neighbors. This policy was that of the
dictator Francia and of his successors,
Lopez | and Lopez ii, whose despOtic rule
from the beginning of the century up to
1870 was virtually a continuation of the
Jesuit system of state communism, minus
the religious and recreative elements.
Critics who persist in considering uni
versal suffrage to he the last word of pOlit-
ical science have severely condemned these
despots. The fact, however, remains that
under their rule Paraguay reached II high
degree of wealth and material we'll being,
and threatened to assume a supremacy
which alarmed its %neighbors. The result
of this uneasiness and jealousy was the war
eof the triple alliance of Brazil, Uruguay
and the Argentine against Paraguay, which
began 10 1864 and lasted five years, ending
an the ruin Of The latter country and the
almost complete anTi'iiation Of the young
aud adult ma.v population, and leaving in
the land none but one and aged men.
OF the riches and prosperity of Paraguay
there remained no vest.Ses. The army and
fleet were destroyed. Ruin and misery
were on all sides. The conquerOrs had
only to divide the spoils after Lopez died,
with arms in his hands, at Cerro CoraOn
March |, 1870. The P~araguayans fought
like heroes, Hui when. from want of men,
they could light no !nnGer, II handful of
patriots met ut AsUuc!ou, formed "A trium-
v!ratc. resisted the pressure of the allies in
the sphere of diplomacI $igued IA treaty Of
peace and on Aug. IL, 1910, opened a con
stituent assembly, when established the
new constitutional ha.t.-Theodore Child
in Harper's.