The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-03-16
RETURNS FROM
ARGENTINE
A. ]. Ash Tells of Conditions
in Republic.
VAS THERE SIX MONTHS
People are ImitatOrS Of Uncle
Sans Folks.


A J. Ash. who went to the Argentine
Republic seven months ago, to induce
the inhabitants OF that country to buy
American harvesting MACHINERY, has re-
turned to his home in this city lie
thinks there is q great opening for
Americans in the South American re-
/ public. ana states that the Inhabitants
of the country are imitators Of the
North Americans in everything To a
reporter for the Eagle, he said:
"Buenos Ayres. the capital of the Ar
gentine Republic is a city of lcooO0o in
habitants which is one-fourth the pop
ulation Of the entire country. It is one
of the most beautiful cities in the world
The streets are washed every night and
are thus Kept scrupulously clean. and
they are also well lighted In The busl-
ness portion, every building is five
stories high-none more and none less.
The city presents an appearance OF uni
forInitv which is quite different from the
appearance Of our own cities. IN tho
residence portion the streets are built
mp solid and every house touches abe
sidewalks. Instead of having lawns in
front of the houses, the plan Of III open
r'AAt .-l ttAN --4---- "a t-4N itte--r - 49,
lowed.
while the streets are modern in that
they are kept clean. they are narrow.
The city is well policed FOR on every
corner is a mounted policeman.
The people of Buenos Ayers dress
well. 1t is a fashionable city AMI every
evening the streets are filled with the
finest turn-outs I have ever seen.
Hundreds Of wei dressed women and
"a be-
streets. and band concerts are given
nightly. I'm the plazas.
The country is almost exclusively de-
voted 10 agriculture and stock raising.
The farmers however. lack the skill of
the American farmer FOR they use many
antiquated methods. American harvest
ing machinery. however has been in
troduced into the country and there is
a great field for Americans 10 teach the
people how to farm.
"The land is owned largely by land
lords. and the people lease the farms for
three or four years. After sowing a
large part of it in alfalfa they move or
The cattle of the country are fed ex-
clusively on alfalfa, and they are as
good as any of the corn-fed stock Of
Kansas.
The cattle are killed and exported to
Europe in refrigerator ships. There are
no packing houses in the republic SINH
lar 10 those in this country, but the
large American packers are planning
TO establish some there.
''The country has vast coal fields and
it is said there is also oil in the republic.
but these fields Of industry are unde-
veloped. There is a grea- opportunity
in these lines for American capital
AT present there are about i,co0 Amer
leans in the entire country, though there
are 5e00 English Americans. however +
5re beginning to see the opportunities
afforded by the country and they viii
go there.
Politics is corrupt. Elections are a
farce There is no secret ballot, and the .
people vote the way they are told. If
the government does not win, the police
see that the votes are counted in such
a manner that the election comes ont
all right. The newspapers are very in
dependent and freely criticise the man
ner in which affairs are rum but their
criticisms do no good.
The Argentine form of government +
is modelled after that Of the United
States The laws are the same bus they
are not enforced SO vigorously and the +
penalties are not so severe. A murderer
seldom spends more than two and a hair
years in prison and If his vote is reeded .
lie is set free before he has been in that
long.
The masses Of the people are ignor-
ant. and only the upper classes have
the advantages Of the schools IN re-
ligion. the country is Catholic. though
there are few Protestant churches i'm tho
capital In the city. there is but one
Methodist church
''The morals Of the country are low.
Everybody CANDLES. the women as well
as the men. The government operates
q race track and the pools. Elections
and horse races occur on Sunday The
people are great drinkers and drunken
ness is q common vice"