The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-06-28
ny FRANK G. CARPENTER.

/ the south American Tibet. His
"A maine is Senior Don Ismael Monies.
He. Is tho President OF the republic OF
Bolivia, and his capital. La Paz. might
be called the high Andine i-hassa- In
his conduct Presid ent Montest pursues
much the same policy AS his prototype
of tho Himalayas. He keeps to himself
and does not give out newspaper inter
views for publication. He governs his
people In his own way. and practically
without let or hindrance. Like the CEN
'turion of the Scriptures. "Hc says unto
this man. come, and he cometh, and TO
that man, go, and he Koeth. and to
third, do this. and he docth it.. l am
not sure a s to the wording of this quo
tation. but II describes President Mon
ties. lie Is the big man OF Bolivia. and
I am told he is doing all he can to adj
vance 1t along the lines of the develop
ment of its great natural resources
Like President Wilson, he has all sorts
OF new schemes under way. He is
building railroads. establishing banks
and playing with other financial mat
tiers in such a way as to cause great
annoyance to the bankers and brokers.
He. Is like our President also in that
he has big things to play with. Since
] came here some weeks ago, ! have
devoted my time to learning about the
country and people. 4 have met men
from every large city, and with the
country with Don Manuel Vicente Bo-
livian, the chief OF the Bureau Of Sta
.istics. I AIN surprised At the size OF
the, republic and at it's enormous unde-
!eloped resources.
I have called Bolivia the Tibet OF
South America. or all the lands upon
eartn, IL kisses the sky next below
the. Hir1alayan Highlands. 1t has more
high mountains than any other country
outside of Asia. and its mighty plateau
Is. c1cclled In altitude only by that OF
Tibet. within its borders are more
than a score OF moun,.'ins that approx
Innate four miles in height. and. upheld
by these. great tablelAnd twice as
far UP In the air as the high plateaus
of the Rockies. Overlooking the
plateau from the west are the snow
clad peaks of Pomerape. Parinacota.
Sajama and lIuallatiri. all ranging
from 10000 feet 20 21.O0O feet high
and there arc four other volcanoes that
are almost MS high. On the way to tho
ocean You pass several smoking vol
capoes: and scattered oyer the country.
are mountains that surpAss anything
on the North American Continent ex-
ceptihg Mount Mckinley, Alaska. The
plateau itself is almost I3. 900 feet high
and IN many places ii rises far above
that
This gives one some idea Of the gen
exal altitude OF the republic. 1t must
be Remembered however. that Bolivia
hss.iaIso vast tracts of Iowlands On
the cast the land slopes down to some
OF the large tributaries OF the Anna
son. giving 1t every fruit of the tropics
and tine Temperate Zones. Right here
In la Paz you can buy bananas and
oranges. and also apples. peaches and
pears. Quinua. grain that will grow
only. at 1900 or $4,000 feet above the
sea level. grows we'll on The plateau,
and at the same time Bolivia has the
rubber. coca and coffee. which require
tropical heat. The country has all
attitudes. all climates and all sorts or
resources. II can produce every croo
known upon earth. and prospectivelv
1t Isl one OF the richest lands OF the
world.
] wonder il you have any idea of
the size Of Bolivia. Situated here In
the heart OF the continent. with
great desert between II and the ocean.
1t Is the third largest Of the South
American republics, 1t contains alto
gether more than 100000 square miles.
~ Us one-fourth as big as the United
states proper, six times as large as
Great Britain and ireland. more than
three times the size OF Germans. 'or
France. and three times as big ..s
Apstr1a-Hungary or the Spanish PENN
sula The republic extends from north
70 south as far as from Canada to the
VIZ OF Mexico. and it is almost as
"ide as from New York to Detroit.
All OF our New England and Middle
States and all OF the Southern states.
except Texas. taken together. would
just about cover Bolivia. and the high
plateau upon which ] am writing is
so large that IL would make more than
eight Massachusetts,. without touching
the slopes Of the mighty peaks that
skirt some of its edges.
This mighty country is vet In the
In other letters shall de-
scribe Its enormous RESOURCES in tin
copper. silver and gold. and also its
vast pastures. upon which hundreds
OF thousands OF cattle are now running
Wild Bolivia is one OF the most thin
1y populated OF the good lands still
left. upon earth. II has. all told less
people than the city OF Chicago. and
the most Of these are Aymara Indians,
Who work for the whites and mixed
breeds, and who are OF no creative
force whatsoever. The country has
only two or three people TO the square
mile.
Bolivia has no large cities. This town
OF La Paz has perhaps $4,000. ard the
next town In size, Cochahamba has
only about one-third as many. This is
so. Notwithstanding Cochabamba is
located in one of the most fertile val
icyS OF all SOUtn America SOtre has
less than 10000. and Potosi. which has
ADDED more than $4,000. 100000 in pre-
cious metals to the wealth of the
world. Is still smaller. Oruro. the chief
t!n-msning centre. away down in the
desert, does a great deal OF business
but IL has very few people. and alto
Rether there are probably not more
than 100000 In all OF Bolivia who are
living in towns. Outside are large
tracts that are given over TO the In
dians. and in Eastern Bolivia are
psmpas covered with grass that are
equal to the Argentine Republic In
their wonderful fertility. Indeed the
whole OF the republic is full OF ag-
r!culturai and mineral possibilities.
and II awaits only the advent OF capt.
tai and enterprise to make IT become
q live. active force In the work OF the
world.
The movement toward the taking up
OF the wild lands Of Bolivia and the
investigation Of their resources has al
ready begun. can sec that great
changes have been made within the
past hfteen years When ] first came
10 La Paz travelled across the plateau
on stage. and when left here for
Oruro. on my way to the sea. I rode