THE EAST COAST
CHAPTER XXXIII
ARGENTINA: AREA, HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, POPULATION, ETC.
Argentina, from the south the first country on the Atlantic coast, the second largest in South America, has been called not only the most progressive on that continent but the richest per capita on the globe.
Area, Population, Boundary
Area. Occupying the greater part of the southern extremity of the continent, Argentina is nearly 2300 miles long, with an extreme width just south of Paraguay of 930 miles. Nearly as broad in the centre, the country below the Province of Buenos Aires narrows rapidly towards the south. Extending from 22° to 56° S. Lat., it has an area of 1,154,000 square miles, equal to about one-third of Europe and more than one-third of the United States: approximately that of the part east of the Mississippi River with Texas in addition.
Population. In 1919 the inhabitants were reckoned as over 8,000,000. In 1921 there may be 9,000,000, at least 8,500,000; more than seven to a square mile. Ninety per cent of the population is found in 40 per cent of the territory, although the rest may be the richest.
Boundary. While boundary disputes have occurred with her neighbors as in the case of the other South American countries, all of Argentina’s have been amicably settled by arbitration or agreement. Bolivia and Paraguay, a trifle of Brazil and of Uruguay are on her northern border, the last three are on the east; a long stretch of the Atlantic Ocean is at the southeast; at the south is a bit of Chile, which country extends along the entire western boundary.
History
While a few settlements were made in Argentina (the country was discovered in 1508) from a half to a whole century earlier than those of our own coast cities, the country was so hampered by restrictions of immigration and commerce, exceeding those placed on the West Coast, that its growth was stifled. After proclaiming independence it suffered for years from internal disorders, but during the last half century its development has been phenomenal. In 1535, the same year that Pizarro founded Lima, Pedro de Mendoza landed on the south shore of La Plata River and made at Buenos Aires the first settlement on this part of the continent. But the Indians of the East Coast were more savage than most of those on the West, and a few years later, after many colonists had been killed, the little town was abandoned. In 1580 it was re-established by Juan de Garay, after a number of settlements had been made in other districts, as at Mendoza, Santiago, Tucumán, and Córdoba. Previously attached to the great dominion ruled from Peru, in 1776 a Viceroyalty was established at Buenos Aires.
In 1806-07, during a European war, the city was attacked by British forces which were ultimately obliged to retreat. By reason of this success the colonists became more self reliant, and May 25th, 1810, they formed a junta of citizens who took from the Viceroy the control of the Government. While this was done in the name of Ferdinand VII, the date is regarded as the birth of their independence. July 9th, the date of the Proclamation of Independence by an Argentine Congress in 1816, is alike celebrated. Not being at first obliged to fight a Spanish army in Argentina, some of the colonists under General San Martín kindly assisted in liberating Chile and later Peru from the Spanish yoke. Meanwhile Congress having declared independence had made Buenos Aires the seat of government. Yet during civil strife which for many years continued, the Province of Buenos Aires was at one time an independent State, separated from the Argentine Federation. In 1861 matters were finally settled and reunion was established. In the latter part of that decade occurred the Paraguayan War, which was followed by some internal difficulties; but with many able leaders, growth and prosperity for the most part have since prevailed.
Government
The Government of Argentina is that of a Federal rather than a Centralized Republic, although in fact the President has a preponderating influence, with certain rights of intervention in the affairs of any Province. The constitution following quite closely that of the United States, there are the three usual branches. The President of the Republic, elected for a term of six years, is not immediately eligible for reëlection. Congress has a Senate of 30 members and a Chamber of Deputies of 158.
The Provinces have each a Governor and a Legislative Assembly of its own choosing. The Governors of Territories are appointed by the President. A Territory has the privilege of becoming a Province when it has 50,000 inhabitants, but for some reason this right has not been exercised. The Federal District, the City of Buenos Aires, is governed by a Mayor and a Council elected by tax paying residents.
Male citizens have the right of suffrage at the age of 18. The passage of a law, at the initiative of President Dr. Roque Saenz Peña, made the exercise of the franchise obligatory upon all native born citizens, and on foreigners after two years of residence, thus inaugurating a great change. At the first election under the new law in 1916, Dr. Hipolito Irigoyen of the Radical Party was chosen President by the Electoral College, the first person outside of the previously governing class to be elected.
There are 14 Provinces corresponding to our States, and 10 Territories, besides the Federal District, Buenos Aires. The best obtainable figures of the area and population of the Provinces and Territories with those of the population and altitude of their capitals follow. The Provinces are named in order from the north across from west to east in four rows, thus beginning at the northwest:
| Provinces | Area, in square miles | Population | Capitals | Population | Altitudes, in feet | Distance from Buenos Aires, in miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jujuy | 15,800 | 78,000 | Jujuy | 25,000 | 3,675 | 937 |
| Salta | 62,160 | 160,000 | Salta | 40,000 | 5,200 | 925 |
| Catamarca | 37,000 | 110,000 | Catamarca | 15,000 | 1,663 | 833 |
| Tucumán | 10,400 | 350,000 | Tucumán | 100,000 | 1,522 | 718 |
| Santiago del Estero | 75,000 | 265,000 | Santiago | 35,000 | 593 | 630 |
| San Juan | 38,000 | 130,000 | San Juan | 20,000 | 2,077 | 750 |
| La Rioja | 38,000 | 85,000 | La Rioja | 13,000 | 1,650 | 506 |
| Córdoba | 67,000 | 750,000 | Córdoba | 135,000 | 1,428 | 432 |
| Santa Fé | 50,000 | 1,000,000 | Santa Fé | 80,000 | 52 | 298 |
| Corrientes | 33,000 | 400,000 | Corrientes | 40,000 | .... | 838 |
| Entre Rios | 30,000 | 450,000 | Paraná | 80,000 | .... | 356 |
| Mendoza | 55,370 | 300,000 | Mendoza | 65,000 | 2,470 | 651 |
| San Luis | 30,000 | 127,000 | San Luis | 25,000 | 2,513 | 488 |
| Buenos Aires | 117,800 | 2,200,000 | La Plata | 135,000 | 34 | |
| Federal District | 72 | 1,800,000 | Buenos Aires | 1,800,000 | ||
| Territories | ||||||
| Los Andes | 35,000 | 2,600 | San Antonio | 1,000 | 11,000 | 1,056 |
| Formosa | 44,000 | 52,000 | Formosa | 4,200 | 208 | |
| Chaco | 386,000 | 65,000 | Resistencia | 12,000 | 144 | 840 |
| Misiones | 11,880 | 52,000 | Posadas | 10,000 | 407 | 700 |
| Pampa Central | 58,000 | 110,000 | Sta. Rosa de Toay | 5,400 | .... | 376 |
| Neuquen | 42,470 | 31,500 | Neuquen | 4,500 | 870 | 740 |
| Rio Negro | 77,220 | 42,000 | Viedma | 7,500 | .... | 577 |
| Chubut | 946,000 | 23,000 | Rawson | 8,000 | ||
| Santa Cruz | 111,000 | 10,000 | Puerto Gallegos | 3,000 | ||
| Tierra del Fuego | 8,300 | 2,500 | Ushuaiá | 1,600 | .... | 1,600 |
The Territories are four at the extreme north, and the remaining six south of a line from Mendoza to the City of Buenos Aires.
Population
With an estimated population of at least 8,600,000, Argentina suffered a large decrease in its previously great immigration, as well as a considerable emigration, during the Great War, which in other ways at first gravely interrupted its prosperity. In the 50 years preceding 1912, over 4,000,000 immigrants had entered the country, more than 3,000,000 remaining. Of those entering, the Italians numbered over 2,000,000, Spanish over 1,000,000; those of any other nationality except 200,000 French were each fewer than 100,000. The Negroes and the Indians of earlier days, except perhaps 100,000 of the latter in remote sections, have become assimilated or killed. The Chaco Indians, it is said, are not difficult to domesticate, especially the Tobas living near the Bermejo River. The people are generally considered the most homogeneous of any of the South American countries except Uruguay, as nearly all are of European descent. Here as in Chile we observe the effect of location in the temperate zone, all of the country being so situated except a small section at the north.
A great preponderance of population is in the cities, one fifth of the whole in the city of Buenos Aires. While the people are proud of its greatness they have begun to realize that this concentration is not for the general welfare. Forty-three per cent of the urban and 25 per cent of the entire population is said to be foreign born. Aside from the Capital of the Republic, there are in the Province of Buenos Aires five cities with a population above 50,000 and a dozen more with over 30,000. In Buenos Aires there is a large social circle of wealth and culture, as well as a laboring class with strong radical elements.
Education
Education receives much attention and $25,000,000 are annually devoted to this purpose. Primary education is free and called compulsory. There are primary and secondary schools, Universities, Normal Schools, Technical Colleges, Schools Agrarian and Veterinary, of Viticulture, Mines, Arts, and Music. The Universities are at Buenos Aires, La Plata, Córdoba, Tucumán, and Santa Fé; there are three Schools of Commerce at Buenos Aires, and one each at Rosario and Concordia. In various towns are private schools, some English and American. The schools generally are of high grade, and it was said by a former Argentine Ambassador, corroborated by other persons familiar with Buenos Aires, that their school children knew more about the United States than most of our business men and Members of Congress knew about Argentina. Many of their school buildings, though usually smaller than ours, are superior in architectural beauty.
Press, Religion, etc.
Press. As to the Press, Buenos Aires can boast of two of the wealthiest and best newspapers in the world, the Prensa and the Nación. Not many years ago, the Prensa contained as many pages of telegraphic and cable dispatches as any New York paper had columns, and articles superior in literary and intellectual ability. It was pronounced by some Europeans the best newspaper in the world. Buenos Aires has other papers of almost equal merit, besides several in English and in other foreign languages.
Religion. In Religion there is entire freedom, but the President must be of the Roman Catholic Church. One in Buenos Aires no longer sees women with manta or lace veil over their heads for church going as on the West Coast.
Telegraph. Argentina has about 45,000 miles of telegraph lines, ample cable connections, and a dozen or more wireless stations. Telephones are in general use in all the large cities and in many smaller places.
Money current in Argentina is paper, with coins for small change. A paper peso is equal to .44 of a gold peso, which is a little less than an American dollar, 96.48 cents; but for practical purposes except in large transactions a paper peso may be reckoned as 44 cents.
CHAPTER XXXIV
ARGENTINA: PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Argentina is oftenest thought of as a country of broad plains, but while a large portion of the country is of this character there are three distinct sections: the Mountains, the Plateau, and the Plains, with several subdivisions.
Mountains
We know that the Andes form the western boundary of the country for the entire distance from north to south, and that some of the loftiest summits including the highest, Aconcagua, are in Argentine territory; but east of the great Cordillera, which as already noted is less steep on this than on the Chilian side, are other ranges of the same and other systems. Two or three extend from the Bolivian plateau, and farther down spurs run out from the main chain. In Córdoba are three ranges separate from the Andes, with one peak above 9000 feet; a peak in San Luis is over 7000. Near the sea in the Province of Buenos Aires, are low mountains, mere hills in comparison, one reaching a height of 4000 feet; and in Misiones are spurs from the Brazilian Coast Range, the highest a hill about 1300 feet.
Plateaus
There are plateaus in the north among the mountains, but the distinctive Plateau Region is in what used to be called Patagonia, a name not so much employed in Argentina as formerly. This section is arranged in terraces, falling from the Andes to the east, the western part called the Plateau, having an altitude of 2000-500 feet; near the sea it goes from the latter figure to sea level. The Plateau has many sterile plains, some strewn with boulders, others with dunes of sand; also good grazing and forest land, and some suitable for farming.
Lakes. The Andine lakes in the Patagonia section are of glacial origin, with much scenic beauty. One of these, Nahuel-Huapi, 40 miles long, is said to be 1000 feet deep. Lake Buenos Aires, partly in Chile, is 75 miles long. The lakes number more than 400; at the north are many swampy lagoons.
Plains
The plains, once under the sea, and now for the most part less than 500 feet above it with a very gradual rise from the ocean to the Andes, extend from the Pilcomayo River, the boundary line with Western Paraguay, on the north, to the Rio Negro on the south. The northern part belongs to the Gran Chaco, swampy and partly wooded, with so slight a southeastward slope that large spaces are regularly flooded in the rainy season. South of the Bermejo River which is parallel with the Pilcomayo, the land is higher, some of it 800 feet above the sea, and the forests are heavier; but there are still marshy lagoons. Then come open grassy plains with occasional salt pans. The section between the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers, called the Argentine Mesopotamia, in Corrientes at the north is of somewhat similar character, but has higher land in Entre Rios at the south. The remainder of the plain is the real Pampa, the part west of the Paraná River and below that extending to the ocean, mainly, treeless and grassy. It includes the Provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fé, Córdoba, San Luis, Mendoza, and the Territory Pampa Central. In the far west is a depressed region containing some lakes and swamps with no outlet, but with too little rain.
Rivers
The rivers of Argentina are of great importance, being navigable for immense distances. Chief among them are those of the System of La Plata, this river being formed by the union of the Paraná and the Uruguay: a great river indeed, the outflow of water being 80 per cent more than that of the Mississippi, and the drainage basin covering 1,500,000 square miles. The Paraguay, Pilcomayo, Bermejo, Salado del Norte, Iguassú, and many others belong to this basin. The Iguassú, though not navigable except for a mile from the Paraná, is world famed for its magnificent waterfall, surpassing Niagara in height, width, and most of the year in volume of water; while it is rendered altogether incomparable by the extraordinary beauty of its setting.
The Plata River, 250 miles long, is much like a gulf, having a width of over 100 miles at its mouth between Capes Santa Maria in Uruguay and San Antonio in the Province of Buenos Aires. The Paraná River with many tributaries has two principal sources well up in Brazil and a total length of 2600 miles, about one half in or on the border of Argentine territory. At first flowing south it turns west between Argentina and Paraguay, and after receiving the Paraguay River again flows south in Argentina. From January to September, nine months, it is open to trans-Atlantic steamers to Rosario; for 6000 ton vessels, 12 foot draft, to Paraná or Colastiné, the port of Santa Fé; for smaller steamers up the Alto Paraná nearly to the Falls of La Guayra, a little above the northeast extremity of Argentina. Steamers of 7 foot draft go up the Paraguay to Asunción and smaller steamers to Corumbá in Matto Grosso, Brazil, 2000 miles from Buenos Aires, and beyond to Cuyabá. Forty-two miles up stream from Buenos Aires is Ibicuy, a port where a steam ferry operates, carrying trains to and from Zarate on the Buenos Aires side.
A few small streams flow into lagoons with no outlet; a number in the Buenos Aires Province flow into the Atlantic. Farther south are rivers of more importance, among these the Rio Negro and the Colorado, the only ones of this section easily and regularly navigable.