The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1915-09-01

army ana navy on ltS last duuudi
reckoning. Bolivia spent about ST.
100000. Chili's bill for defense cost
vas more than S9,000,000. Argen-
tina spent in the neighborhood of
SIS, 100000. Uruguay spent $685.
1872, and Venezuela S1,S51,5S6.
What Paraguay, Colombia and Peru
spent does not appear to be distinc-
lively segregated in their budgets.
A pertinent question, of course, is,
How are these nine South American
republics armed? Brazils infantry
uses a Mauser rifle, and the field and
horse artillery use a Krupp 12-pr.
Bolivian infantry is armed with
Mausers of 1898 model. Chili's army
uses a Chilian Mauser rifle of 1895.
The cavalry uses a carbine of the
same manufacture. The field artil-
lery has c. F. Krupp guns. Argen-
tina's infantry uses Mauser maga-
zine rifle, the cavalry a same make
| Of carbine and the artillery krupp
rs en-. guns. Uruguay uses Mausers
Ind it's field batteries are both
Schneider and Krupp 7-5 en-. guns.
Peru uses Mauser of 1891. Its
cavalry also uses a Mauser carbine.
.Ecuador's regular infantry is armed
with Mausers. Its artillery uses old
fashioned Krupps.
And the fighting spirit of the men?
Well, it is an old saying-that is, a
saying since Napoleon's time-that
Latins will fight quicker than other
peoples, but they can not be depend
ed upon to fight so we'll. 1t must be
remembered in the case of the South
American countries that there is a
very large percentage Of Indian in
:heir makeup. This alters the bet
Ting odds on their likely perform
ances. At least it complicates the
odds. In Bolivia, for instance, the
population is fifty per cent. Indian
and only twelve per cent. pure white.
Judged by the past, the South
Americans have done some very
creditable things on land and sea.
Chilli is especially noteworthy as
sea fighter. All of the republics in
the struggle against Spain for inde-
oendence achieved victory only after
lighting that revealed pluck, dash
and endurance. Climatic impedi-
ments to long and continuous fight
,ng must be taken into consideration.
dow much harder it might have been
,or the thirteen colonies to have
wrested victory from Great Britain
aad they had to fight along equa-
sorial mountain sides or plateaus may
be imagined.
1t was in 1917 that the South
American states, or most of them,
arose in rebellion against Spain. Cen
eral Simon Bolivar was famous fig
ure of the period and led armies that
whipped Spain soundly. Don Ber-
nardo O'Higgins, Chilian COM
nander, also took hand in the
Spanish walloping. He is greatly re-
veTed to this day. The rout of the
Spaniards at Chilenos on April 3,
1918, is down in the Chiiian calendar
as an event mighty in history.
In 1866 Chill and Peru declared
war against Spain, and on May OF
that year de-, ted the Spanish fleet
so badly that it had to withdraw
from Peruvian waters with the rem
nants of its warships. In this naval
fight and in other clashes on land the
troops of the two republics perform
ed creditably.
In the early days of their independ-
ence the South American republics
were very ''scrappy'' over their from
tiers. This kept up until the last
decade or two, when the various gov
ernments seem to have agreed gen.
orally that peace and prosperity were
better than war and ruin. There
have been rebellions and revolutions.
but not to the degree that has char
acteriZed Santo Domingo and Haiti,
for instance.
One critic Of the availability of the
nine republic as allies of the United
States says, will they stand to-
gether?" They have done much bet
ter than Mexico, and the nations Of
Europe have quarrelled with one an
other as often as these nine Monroe
Doctrine wards Of the United States
of America.