The Washington herald., 1912-10-20
Bryce's Impressions
OF South america
From England to United States
Writes of Present and Possible Future
OF Latin-American Countries.

VJSkSS " 4 SCSOSSS
| OF Latin-Ames
A position Of commercial and political
Importance among the nations OF the
world and . population not far short OF
"a, 100000 before the close Of the cen
ltury-these are the possibilities along
the lines Of progress that South Amert-
ca 10 pursuing to-day. according to that
keen observer in international anairs.
Ambassador James Bryce.
Mr.. Bryce recently returned to this
country from Journey through Western
and Southern South America. from
Panama to Argentina and Brasil via
the straits Of Magellan. From his boy
hood. he tells US. fired by the accounts
of primitive American people as given In
Prescotts Conquest Of Peru" and OF
travel In the Andes as portrayed by
Humboldt. he has lonsed to visit these
countries. To this early incentive Tor
Visiting South America he writes. there
was subsequently added q curiosity to
learn the causes which produced 30
many revolutions and civil wars In
Spanish America. and. still later.
sense that these countries. some OF them
issuing from a long period Of turbulence.
were becoming potent economic factors
in the modern world"
Having accomplished his journey. dur
ing which he visited seven Of the South
American republics-Panama, Peru. Bo-
livia, Chile. Argentina. Uruguay ana
Brazil-he has written on exhaustive &C
count Of what he has seen. c'South
America: Observations and Impressions,
published by the Macmillan Company
which seems destined to rank as an
Authoritative work on the subject treat
ed. From an advance copy Of this book
The Washington Herald Is able to pre-
| sent some Of Mr.. Bryce's interesting
| .forecasts' Of the possible future Of the
South American republics. Tbsse fore
casts, he tells US. ARE not meant as pre-
dictions. but rather as suggestions OF
possibilities which may serve to set 9TH
ers thinking"
Chances for Settlers.
forecasts ID the view that South America
may solve the problem Of the rapidly
Increasing population Of the world
IT We omit" he tells US. "the trop-
icaI countries inhabited by savages peo-
pies. Central Africa and the Islands
Of Southeastern Asia). 1t will appear
that. should the present increase OF
the civilized peoples be maintained. the
rest Of the world will not suffice for
their Agricultural expansion for more
than a short period. that is to say.
period shorter than the four centuries
which have elapsed since the outward
movement of the European peoples be-
gan with the discovery Of the New
World
What. then, Of South America 49,
1t is the only continent containing both
Ia large temperate and a large tropical
area capable of cultivation which still
remains. greatly underpeopled- 1t is.
therefore. the chief resource to which
the overpeopled countries may look As
providing a field for their emigration.
and to which the world at large may
look as capable of reinforcing its food
supply. That II has not been sooner oc-
cupied Is due largely to the political dis
orders which have given 1t . bad name.
partly to its being less accessible than
North America Both these adverse con-
ditions no longer apply to its temperate
regions. 4
considered as a field for emigration.
South America may be divided into
three sections. There are. first. the trop-
ical and forest-corered regions Of Co.
lombia. Venezuela. Guiana and Eastern
Brazil: secondly. the temperate and
grassy or wooded regions OF Argentina.
Uruguay, and Southern Brazil outside
the tropics: and lastly. the great central
plain Of the Amazon and its tributaries
which the Brazilians call the selvan
(woods). exclude altogether the noun
famous parts Of Ecuador. Peru and Bo-
livia. because they are already as we'll
inhabited as they deserve to be. A very
small part OF them is fit for stock or for
agriculture, and the climatic conditions
Except in a few Valleys. are repellent to
persons not accustomed to great alti-
tudes. Not even Italians can be expect
ed to cultivate fields 1000 feet above the
sea level.
THE other three sections just men
toned are much underpeopled. The first
is better fitted for negro or Indian labor
than for that Of whites, yet there are
many parts Of it where men Of South
European stock can work in the open
air and thrive In an area Of about
two millions OF square miles. It has
about seven and half million inhabi-
tants. Of whom a small minority are
pure whites. the rest Indians or negroes
mixed. Four or five times that number
could easily find accommodation.
White Mans Regions.
THE second section is the one pre-
eminently fitted to receive white men.
Its area may be roughly conjectured at
l.5o0.oo0 square miles, but SO much of
the Argentine part of 1t is desert that It
would not be safe to reckon more than
two-thirds of 1t as available for settle
ment. As there are now only 12.0OS 900
Of people in this l.oOO.O square miles,
there is evidently plenty Of room for
more.
This Is the part Of South America
which has drawn most immigrants dur
ing the last sixty years, Southern Brazil
leading the way. Argentina and Uruguay
following. 1t is also the region which
will chiefly continue to attract Europeans
for many years to come.
I'm Argentina and most Of Uruguay,
as in the prairie States Of North Amer
lea and the Canadian Northwest. there
are no trees to be felled. SO the land. |
extremely fertile, can be brought under
crops Immediately. The estates are at
present large. but II there were settlers
with enough capital to buy small lots.
these could soon be had. and already
some Italians are establishing themselves
as peasant cultivators.
After making all allowances. both
Argentina and the other tracts have
referred to are capable, supposing immi- |
grafton to continue at the present rate. |
Of providing work and homes for immi- |
grants for at least sixty or seventy years
to come. The estimate that before the
end Of the century Argentina may have |
80. 900. Co., Uruguay 1905. 900. and Southern !
Brazil 100000 Of people (assuming the /,
birth rate to be maintaineD need not ,
seem extravagant to any one who knows |
how rapfdly settlement has advanced in