Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-07-03
Geographic News
Bulletins BY the
National Geographic Society
Land Of Women and War

A country whose population IA
almost wiped out of existence. but
which has come back" successfully.
where women outnumber men Jew
eral times over: where cattle Craze
the year round under palm trees;
and where bearded cowboys wear
bloomers-such is the Paraguay of
today pictured in a bulletin from
the Washington, D.. c., headquarters
OF the National Geographic Society.
The bulletin was issued following
news dispatches which state that a
revolution has broken out in the
little South American republic.
Paraguay, which has refused the
offered mediation of foreign diplo-
mats and has announced its army
will take care of the country's lat
est revolution with rifles and cannon
is living up to the military tradi-
tons which have given it the most
tragic history of all the countries
Of the Americas" says the bulletin.
War Nearly Depopulated Country
Next to the smallest republic
in South America, with an area only
about as large as that of the state
of Wyoming. Paraguay in 1865 had a
population comparable to that of
extensive Argentina and huge Brazil,
and thanks to the military ambitions
OF its dictator, Francisco Lopez, the
most powerful army in South Amer
lea. Lopez believed himself destined
to be the Napoleon of the Western
Hemisphere, and in 1865 confident
ly led the army of his little country
against the combined forces of Bra
ziL Argentina and Uruguay.
THE fve-year conflict was so
bloody and the Paraguayans were
defeated so signally that between
two-thirds and ~f1ve-sixths Of the
population persisted. OF a popula-
ton that may have passed the mil
ton mark, only about 10000 wo-
men n less than 10000 men,
mostly old men and young boys
were left. The losses were heavier,
probably, than those suffered by any
other nation in modern times. Even
today Paraguay is largely a land of
women, the men being greatly in
the minority.
A Church State" for a Century
"Paraguay's history has been filled
with conflicts, violence and unusual
situations from the first. To begin
with there has been a slighter ad-
mixture Of European blood than in
any other South American country.
and the fire Of the old Indian blood
has been preserved. A little band
of Spaniards sailed up the Plata
and Paraguay rivers in 1886 and
in the heart Of South America
founded a settlement. They took
Indian wives. They and their de-
scendants became the ruling power
in the land eventually establishing
great haciendas on which the In
dians worked.
Missionaries who went to, the re-
gion in 1909 brought the Indians
together into settlements of their
own and taught them to carry on
agriculture for themselves. This was
resented by the ~half-breeds and the
situation was further complicated
by the arrival of other missionaries
who destroyed the early settlements.
The first corners armed the Indians
expelled the Spanish governor and
the later arrivals and wrote the sec
ond unusual chapter in Paraguayan
history. For more than 100 years
they conducted a sort of church.
Later Spanish governors, who
cruelty oppressed the people, came
back into power.
After independence from Spain
gained in 1910 Paraguay enter
ed upon a period of relationships
and became the hermit nation of the
west. Trade with outside countries
and the presence of foreigners was
strictly prohibited and the country
came to be entirely a self-reliant
A sort of communism was es-
tablished for many years. a portion
OF the land being worked for the
the proceeds being used for the
benefit of the people. De F~ranchia,
the first and most benevolent of the |
dictators, was absolute despot of the
country for 25 years. When he died
there was a short period of fighting
and turbulence from which Carlos
emerged as dictator. After
him came his son, Francisco, under
the population suffered its
greatest losses.
Like An Inland Florida
For some of Paraguay's greatest
troubles it is a case of 'cherzchez Ia
femme Francisco Lopez, who was
educated in Europe. was accompan-
led on his return by a woman who
became the Du Barry of South Am
Lopez was completely under
her control. and through him n
ruled impetuously and recklessly.
Paraguay Of today is a sort of in
land Florida of fertile soil, equable
climate, and an abundance of fruits
and food products. On its rich grass
lands vast herds of cattle Craze III
year round under palm trees tended
by cowboys who, instead OF the
chaps of our western plains, wear
baggy bloomers. Only Argen-
tina with its more extensive plains
Paraguay as a cattle u
try. Recently a number OF packing
plants have been established by
American interests.
The Paraguay River has a great
err flow than the Mississippi, and
the capital of Paraguay,
nearly a thousand miles
from the sea is a busy port for rade
with the outside world.
Paraguay had its after the war
problem a long time before 1t was
on the rest of the world; and
the little republic has largely solved
1t. 1t was necessary for the women
left after the war OF 1865 to bring
the country back to prosperity. and
their marked industry did IL. Today
there is a degree of general pros
perity in the republic that compares
with that in mos other
But it still has its re-
The present n is the