The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-01-02

Chile and the Argentine Republic
have for a long time been rivals. Since
1871 they have been watching each
other with anxious eyes, and not less
| than five times since that date have
they made active preparations for hos
| tilities. For ten years they have been
anticipating what has come to be re-
| garded in some quarters as an inev-
liable conflict. AS a consequence each
government has a small but effective
navy, a we'll drilled standing army
and an army reserve of national guards
that will compare with the reserve of
about any other country in efficiency.
! The reserve of the Argentine is esti-
mated at $4,000 men and that of Chile
! slightly less. The Argentine's stand
ing army numbers 10000 men, and that
of Chile is a little larger. On both
sides the troops, regular and reserve,
are armed with Mauser rifles and have
large stocks of ammunition. Both
armies, too, have modern rified field
and rapid-fire guns. 1t will be un-
derstood, therefore, that armed con-
flict between these countries would be
something different from the average
South American war, that abounds in
comic opera features.
The germ of the whole difficulty lies
in the fact that Chile must expand or
stif1e. She must have more territory,
and it must consist of land that is fer
tile. 1t was the necessity for expan-
sion that caused her to go to war with
Peru some years ago and seize those
two provinces which Peru has been
trying ever since to get back. The
Argentine has just the rich uplands
that Chile needs. They are on the
western side of the mountain water
shed, but east of what would be the
straight line of the highest mountain
chain if the line were unbroken. Chile
claims that since the water from these
highlands runs towards her the land
should be hers. The Argentine claims
that the straight line of the apex of
the Andes forms the boundary. The
two claims are widely divergent. Chile
is 2,400 miles long and only so miles
across at the widest place. Standing
on an eminence the Chilean may see
across his country, the mountains on
one side and the ocean on the other.
And very much of the country is
mountainous and unproductive. At
places the Andes have their feet in
the ocean. To get more good farm
ing land is Chiles aim.
1t is interesting to note the racial
affiliations of the people of the two
countries. The Argentine trades
mainly with France, Spain and Italy;
Chile mainly with Great Britain and
Germany. The major portion of the
immigration into the Argentine of late
years has been from the South of Eu-
rope, and into Chile during the same
time from the North of Europe. The
Argentine army is organized after the
French and Italian plans; the Chilean
army after the German and English
plans and a number of German Off
GERS, headed by Gen. Korner, have
trained the army up to the highest
pitch of efficiency, measured by Ger
man standards. In Argentina the
population is now more largely italian
than Spanish, the French following the
Spanish in numbers. In Chile one
finds a great many English, German
and Irish names among the leading
men and families, though the major
ity of the population is still Spanish
in language and names.
In the navies the same lines of de-
markation exist. The backbone of the
Argentine navy is four powerful cruis-
ers, practically of the class of the
Spanish Cristobal Colon. which lived
longest in the Santiago de Cuba fight;
and, like the Cristobal Colon, they
were constructed in Italy. The main
dependence of the Chilean navy is four
cruisers of approximately the same
tonnage as the Argentine ships, and
they were built in Great Britain. Chile,
however, has three powerful, though
smaller ships that were constructed
in France. The Chilean navy has a
brilliant history; the Argentine navy
has practically none, never having
distinguished itself The former con-
sists of fourteen fighting ships, and
the latter eighteen.