The daily times., 1921-08-26
INTERESTING DESCRIPTION
OF PARAGUAY

Rev. C. M. Morton, graduate OF
the Atlantic Christian College, no"
nresident of the Collegio Interna-
cional of Ascuncion, Paraguay, VINO
has been in Wilson for several
days. and will make an extended
tour of the States in the interest OF
the school gives us a very interesting
account of Paraguay and the people
of that country.
The school over which he presides
is fostered by the Christian church
and so far has been sustained In part
by the mission society of that de-
nomination. Mr.. Morton is seeking
an endowment of 100000 for the
purpose of erecting suitable build
ings for the school. 1t has eight
acres of ground at present and the
teaching is done in the building on
the ground, which was formerly used
by wealthy native as a residence.
This property was purchased from
him. The student body consists of
1O1 boys, sixteen of these are board
ers in the school, the rest are sons TO
the residents of the city of Ascun-
cion which has a population of So
900 souls. One of the students is a
nephew of the President.
The denomination has no church
in the city. In fact there are no
Protestant churches and only one re-
iigion that of the Catholics. The
students in the school are of Cath
olic parentage. Mr.. Morton says
that the Catholics have cooperated
with him in every way, and the school
is welcomed by the government, the
church and the pepole. The schools
of the city are very poor, and the
necessity for education very appa-
rent. on account of the general illit-
eracy of the people.
Paraguay is very small county
and it's population only a million
people. The main industry is cattle
raising. There is no specie, only IA
Ter money, and the pesa is worth two
cents in American money. Three
but the government issues more pa
per when it needs money, and this
increase of the paper with no gold
to redeem it quite naturally brings
about decrease in the value of that
Paraguay is a country of revolu-
'tions but they are more or less
peaceful. The government is a re-
public, and when they get tired of
one President, the people put him
out and another goes in. The pres
ent incumbent Monwell Gondra was
formerly ambassador to the United
States. He seems to be we'll inform
ed and is trying to place his country
on substantial basis. There was
talk of floating a loan in America be-
fore the war in order to place the
but the war stopped the plan, on &C
count of the difficulty of selling the
bonds
Mr.. Morton says the school is self
sustaining. with the exception of the
lack of building and equipment The
boahders are furnished tuition andI
board for $500 per month. This
will give some idea of the cost of
living in that country.
Before coming to America Mr.
Morton cashed an American check
for $4,000 and received therefor
$1,000 in American gold He ex-I
planned this by saying that during
the war in order to maintain the ex-
change, for the purpose of buying
foodstuffs and supplies in that coun-
try American gold was sent to Ar
gentlne to pay for these articles. This
gold is now worth more than par
there since checks can be mailed to
New York or to America, while if the
coin is sent, the freight rate and cost
of transfer would be considerable.
Before going to Paraguay Mr.
Morton spent two years in Buenos
Ayres where he was pastor of one of
the five Christian churches in that
city. He will be in America during
the next four months in the interest
of the school, and will then return
to Ascuncion.