CHAPTER IX
THE PEOPLE AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS
Argentina is made up of a complex population. An Argentinian is a person born in the country, just as we class our own population. Perhaps nearly one-half of the inhabitants are foreign born, and most of them from the Latin countries. A large proportion of the remainder do not have to go back more than one or two generations until a European ancestor is discovered. The Latin races soon become mixed and cannot very easily be traced after a generation or two. The English and German settlers continue distinct and apart. They always remain foreign. The English traits in those who have lived there a generation or two are almost as marked as in those who have recently come over from the tight little island. The later Spanish and Italian immigrants are the workers and do most of the common labour. Wherever newer methods have been introduced the influences are distinctly English. The railways are all owned and operated by the English, and these have given the British touch to all the later developments.
There is an aristocracy in Argentina as in all countries. The real aristocrat here, as in other Spanish countries, is the pure-blooded Castilian, who follows unfalteringly the traditions of his native land, and who prides himself more upon the accomplishments of the past than upon anything his family or race have done in modern times. The greater aristocracy, however, is not an aristocracy of the old Spanish régime, such as one will find in Chile or Peru, but a more recent upper ten based upon wealth. The more picturesque attributes of a Spanish civilization have almost disappeared beneath the spirit of modernism in Buenos Aires. The development of social grades all over the republic has been rapid and has kept pace with the opening up of new lands. It is possible even now to watch this development, which is still in process of evolution in the newer communities. A material prosperity has sometimes overwhelmed the other virtues and inherited characteristics. Any way to make money is the aim of the Argentinian, and an aristocracy of money has grown up.
The Argentine magnate is not a man who has attained his prominence after a bitter and strenuous commercial struggle, which has developed a hard-headed, practical side, but his wealth has come through the automatic growth in the value of his expansive leagues of rich campo. His income has waxed greater each year through no effort of his own. So one will find the rich estanciero, intoxicated with his own wealth, disporting himself in the national capital on as lavish a scale as one will see in New York or London. These wealthy land aristocrats not only spend their money, but they are eternally bent on devising new ways for divesting themselves of the surplus pesos. It is spent lavishly and not always well, for the development of the finer tastes has not kept pace with the increase of material wealth.
Some of these moneyed estancieros are descended from honest farmers, whose fathers had no intimation of the wealth that would fall to their descendants. They lived the simplest of existences, and looked upon their broad acres only as a source of food and shelter. Then the land began to rise with almost incredible rapidity. A league that would have been wagered on a Camp race soon represented a small fortune. The approach of the railroad to his estancia showed the son that fortune was in his hands and he longed for excitement. A palace in Buenos Aires was added to his possessions, he joined the famous Jockey Club and became a devotee of sport—following the odds on horses even more closely than he did the price of wheat or cattle. He now visits Europe frequently and has added a sort of cosmopolitan veneer to himself, and may possibly have learned to speak two or three languages. Thus it is that this hidalgo has added up-to-date and European customs and habits to his inherited traits, of which perhaps the vices have been imbibed fully as generously as the virtues and graces. So also it is that his life passes along in smooth and easy channels, with little to worry him except the problem of amusement and sufficient excitement.
A GROUP OF PEONS
There is no doubt that the Argentinian is ambitious. We may laugh at some of his impractical ideas, or the seeming stupidity of some of the more ignorant ones, but the fact remains that each one is endeavouring to get ahead. The Porteño is aiming to make Buenos Aires the finest city in the world, the state governments vie with each other in prodigality, and the ranchman is trying to develop the very best breeds of stock on his estancia. They want the best modern appliances and luxuries, and even the ladies must have the very latest Parisian designed hats and gowns. The workmen join labour organizations and they are as free to strike as in any other country in the world; in every way they are breaking away from the old traditions and trying to enter into the spirit of the modern, be it for good or ill. The same trend is observable whether the person is the descendant of one of the old families, or is one of the recent importations from Spain or Italy. This modernizing spirit seems to be in the air and is as contagious as the most virulent form of fever or plague. All differences of social station fade away before this one vital force which pervades both Camp and city. It is almost as marked as in any part of the United States and cannot be overlooked by the most unobservant traveller.