There are two immediate reasons for this fervid patriotism of the younger generation: (1) the fact that all male children born in the Argentine are regarded as Argentine citizens and must perform their military service; and (2) the perfervid patriotism instilled into them at school, where the national flag is exhibited in every room and receives the homage of a sacred thing.
A Scene in the “Camp”—Peones outside a “Pulperia,” or Country Grocery and Liquor Store.
It is perfectly understandable that a young man, feeling himself a citizen of no mean country, in which his father is no more than a foreigner—rarely does a Frenchman become officially an Argentine, as that involves the renunciation of his own nationality; the Germans are less squeamish in this respect; while the Italians and Spanish readily nationalise themselves—will take a wholesome pride in his citizenship. And as language is the greatest instrument for binding a people together, and the predominance of Spanish in South America is unassailable, it is not surprising that the native-born should even prefer the language of his country to that of his father’s country. In the course of my stay I met quite a number of persons bearing the most familiar English and Scottish names, who could not even say “Good morning” in English. With certain of these I had frequent transactions, and it was interesting to study the racial characteristics of a gentleman named Campbell, a fanatical Argentine, whose parents two generations back spoke nothing but “braid Scots,” yet whose every action and trick of speech was peculiarly Argentine. Another gentleman, one of the most able and businesslike men I encountered, boasted the name of Harris (pronounced “Arrees”), which was about the only English word he knew. Thus it happens there are unnumbered thousands of Argentines without a single drop of Spanish blood, but with all sorts of infusions of British, German, French, Italian, Belgian, Russian, Scandinavian, etc. As regards the patriotic teaching, here is an example of the catechism in daily use throughout the public schools:
Question. How do you esteem yourself in relation to your compatriots?
Answer. I consider myself bound to them by a sentiment which unites us.
Q. And what is that?
A. The sentiment that the Argentine Republic is the finest country on earth.
Q. What are the duties of a good citizen?