The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-11-20
OUR GREAT SOUTH AERC COMPETITOR; Esg ay STATES
s' @tsa.rs OR THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC i'm 1898.

from here 10 Europe. There arg Others
which go south through Tie STRAIT o. Ma
Ships ~aich VIII sake you 100 miles On
the rivers into the heart q interior BEazI
and twice = week you may ride up The Pa
raE.a TO the capital OF Paraguay
Argentine Trade.
Four thousand vessels engaged IN foreign
trade go III and cut 81 me ports u Ar
gentine every year. and The volume u I'M
ports and exports IN 1885 amounted to more
than % millions Of hard American geld
dollars. One-fourta OF this commerce VA.
with Great Britain. the country that does
more than half of the whole oceaE-carry-
ing trade OF the Argentine. She sent IL
PER cent Of the imports. Germany coming
next and Italy next. After these came
France and Belgium and then the United
States. In things bought of the Argentine
France comes first. Belgium second: Eng
land third Germany fourth and the United
States fifth. Our purchases amount 10
about S6.l.1.fss a year. and ctr foreign
trade is Just about ! per cent. Of the whole.
Nearly all the business Is in foreign hands.
The capital u the business houses and
companies amounts 10 hundreds OF mill
ions Of dollars, and their establishments
are run on business principles: The toi-
e:gD banks alone have capital of 81. fo-
ee, and am told that nearly al OF them
pay big dividends
Intelligence I'm the Argentine.
The Argentine people are up 10 date IN
an intellectual way. The government
spends Sl0ee.t.1 a year on its schools. X
employs 5000 teachers and ii has over a
quarter Of a million of school children.
There are a number OF high schools. three
universities. two schools % agriculture. a
school OF mines and thiTty-five normal
schools. Both girls and boys attend these
schools. There are women teachers, Some
OF whom came out from the United States
years since 10 inauguraie the normal
school. When Sarmiento was president
Of the Argentine Republic a decade or SO
age, he made study OF the public schooi
systems OF the world. and decided thar
that used in Michigan was the best He
imported number Of hsgh-bred Yankee
sehoolmarns, and now the Argentine is
raising hrst-ciass sch0olmarms Of It's own.
lis normal schools are producing mere OF
the native variety than can be used. so
there IS no opening here for additional
Yankees
The language used in the schools is Span
ish. 1t is the language of the country.
Every one who has been here for year
or more speaks IL. AMI the children. what
ever their parents may be. lisp in Span-
ish There are private schools here where
not a word OF Spanish is taught. but IL Is
the language Of the playground. never
theless, and many a son Of an English ia
ther and an Argentine mother can speak
nothing else. Spanish Is the language Of
the government. of business and of So
ciety. Most Argentines can speak French.
and not a few converse fiuently in Italian
and English as well.
The POstofice and the Press.
The chief literature sold here in French
and Spanish. There are also Italian. Ger
man and Engiis..11 book stores The country
reads the newspapers Remember, It's pop
ulation all told is now not greater than
that OF the combined cities Of New YORK
and Philadelphia. Stin II has twenty-four
da:ijes and It6 weeklies. Fifteen IF the
dailies are published in Buenos Ayres, The
leading one. La Prensa. having a clrcula-
Of rocco copies. and another, the Diario,
an evening paper. 5000. There are three
these. the Buenos AyreS Herald. Is edited
and owned by Warren Lowe. n American.
The other twelve are in Spanish, Italian.
French and German.
The Argentines are letter writer's. They
use the mails. One hundred and seventy
five faillion letters passed through their
lao and odd pos;offtces last year. anu
their postal revenue was S3o."N,o1 There
Is n fair telegraph service under the gov
eminent The telegraph lines, II tied to-
gether, would reach round the world. They
exception Of the railroad lines. all are IA
the national system.
Cooperative Tclephoning.
There are plenty Of telephones TOO. and
the same trouble exists here as with us
that Is, the telephone rates are too high.
On this account there was founded in Bue-
nos Ayres about ten years ago what is
known as The Cooperative Telephone Com
pany. In 1883 it has 800 subscribers: II
now has 3.aro. Its capital has more than
doubled. and It's profits last year We're
about $50 Geo. 1t has 500 miles Of wires.
most OF which are in underground con-
duljs. This company gives reduction OF
IS l-3 per cent. 20 all business firms who
are among It's stockholders II is neces-
sary 70 buy about so worth Of stock 10
get the reduction. and the rates per tele-
phone are $3.50 a month in American gold
Private residences and doctors can have
the same rates without stock. business
firms not holding stock must pay 81
month and as the company is now pay
ing dividends Of about ) per cent. IL is
far cheaper To be a stakeholder.
FRANK q. CARPENTER.