The Rio de la Plata is the second largest river system in the world. It is one of the three main outlets from the interior of South America to the sea, and carries almost twice as much water as the Mississippi. At its mouth the river is one hundred and eighty miles across from Cape San Antonio, Uruguay, to Cape Santa Maria, in Argentina. A little further inland, which some consider as the real mouth, the distance is one hundred and forty miles. Opposite Montevideo the width has narrowed down to sixty-five miles, and at Buenos Aires it is about twenty-eight miles from shore to shore. Just above Buenos Aires the river is divided into a number of forks, which form an extensive delta through which the great branches run and a number of islands have been created. The principal branches of this river in Argentina are the Paraná, Uruguay and Paraguay. The Uruguay River rises in Brazil, less than one hundred miles from the Atlantic Ocean, and has a length of one thousand miles. The Paraguay and Paraná Rivers also have their sources in Brazil, near the centre of the continent, and the former has a length of seventeen hundred miles before its waters mingle with the latter. It has two tributaries, the Pilcomayo and Bermejo, which are navigable for small craft. Each of these rivers is more than five hundred miles long, but they are exceedingly tortuous, so that navigation is rather difficult and uncertain. The Paraná River reaches way up into Brazil. It has its source only a few miles from one of the principal tributaries of the Amazon, over a stretch of swampy ground of which a part of the water flows into one river and part into the other. All of these rivers carry down immense quantities of mud. In places the deposit on the river bottom is from thirteen to twenty-five feet deep, and it has many banks and shoals. The problem of keeping channels open to Buenos Aires is a big one, and many dredges are kept constantly at work. It is generally believed that the interior of Argentina was at one time a vast inland sea, and that the flat plains have been formed by the soil which has been deposited by these rivers during the prehistoric geological ages. The waters of the Atlantic are coloured by this mud long before the mouth of the river is reached. The water in the bath-tub looks almost like thin pea soup.
ON THE UPPER PARANÁ RIVER
The range of temperature and climatic conditions is very great. In the extreme northern provinces the temperature is similar to that of Mexico and Florida. On the central pampas the summer heat is connatural with that of Southern California and Tennessee, while the winter temperature resembles that of the Ohio Valley. The thermometric range between the extremes of heat and cold, however, is much less than in the corresponding latitudes of the northern hemisphere. In general the climate of the central pampas may be said to correspond roughly with that of the great cereal producing sections of North America, although the yearly average is rather higher and the fluctuations are somewhat less violent. It is better adapted for the growth of grain and raising of stock then the newly opened provinces of Canada and is more habitable for man. In fact the name of Buenos Aires (good airs), applied to a city and province, is not a misnomer. North of Buenos Aires snow is rare and frost unusual, except in the higher altitudes. South of there it grows progressively colder as one travels towards Cape Horn.
In the matter of rainfall, also, there are great variations in different sections. The zonal distribution of rainfall runs in belts from east to west. This is due to the prevailing winds. The great agricultural district receives from twenty to forty inches annually, or about the same as the region around the Great Lakes of the United States. West of this is a narrow strip that receives only about half of this amount of rain, and then along the slopes of the Andes is a belt which does not receive to exceed ten inches. This would favourably compare with New Mexico and Arizona. In Patagonia the conditions are reversed and the arid belt is along the Atlantic coast, while the districts near the Andes receive a fair amount of rainfall. This distribution of rainfall is of utmost importance in the development of the country. As agriculture extends it occupies the watered area, and the pastoral industry is driven little by little farther into the more arid sections. Sheep and cattle are gradually moving west and southwest into the semi-arid districts. The province of Buenos Aires, which a few years ago was the pastoral centre, is now one of the most important agricultural sections. As the process continues it will become increasingly necessary to open up more southerly ports for the shipment of animal products, while the northerly ports will remain the chief exporters of grain.
There are at least a half billion acres of fertile arable land in Argentina, that can be turned to the cultivation of products for the sustenance of man. All of this land is easily accessible to the Atlantic. There are no natural barriers such as transverse ranges of mountains. The northern provinces can reach Rosario or Buenos Aires by the La Plata system of waterways, while the rest of the country can, by the simplest railway construction, be joined up with one of those ports, or with Bahia Blanca, or one of the new ports in Patagonia. At present these three ports are the only ones needed, or that will be until Patagonia has undergone greater development. Only the upper edge of the country is within the tropics. From there as far south as Buenos Aires the climate is almost that of the Gulf States, while that city has a climate very similar to Los Angeles. The heat in summer is sometimes oppressive, but not more so than in New York or Chicago. It is doubtful whether there are so many of those oppressive humid days in the southern as in the northern metropolis. It is never so cold in winter as to prevent out-of-door life. Even in Tierra del Fuego the winter climate is no more severe than that of Northern Michigan. The pampas of middle Argentina probably have less rain than our own middle west. Water is, however, not far below the surface, and wells are easy to construct for the windmills, which form so prominent a feature of the landscape on the estancias. In Misiones the landscape is Brazilian, and in parts of Patagonia it resembles Arizona, only they do not have such extreme drouths. Anything that can be successfully raised in the United States can be grown in Argentina, and generally much cheaper. The country, however, lacks our great mineral wealth. Iron is scarcer than gold, and coal is imported by the millions of tons each year. Great discoveries may be made in the future, but Argentina will never be a great competitor of the United States in mineral products.
Argentina is a land of big things. Farms are reckoned by the square league, consisting of nearly six thousand acres, instead of by the paltry acre. All grains are measured and sold by the metric ton of twenty-two hundred and five pounds, instead of by the diminutive bushel. That country is now the greatest flax-producing country in the world, and ranks third in wheat and second in corn. It has more horses than any country except Russia and the United States, more sheep than any country except Australia, and is exceeded in the number of cattle only by the United States. If all the sheep in Argentina were marched across the United States two abreast they would form a solid column reaching from Sandy Hook to the Golden Gate. Argentina contains within her borders the largest city in the southern hemisphere, and the second Latin city in the world. She probably exports more foodstuffs than any nation on the globe, if you include both meat and grains. And yet the real resources of the country have only been scratched on the surface. It is predicted by good authority that the United States will have to import meat from foreign markets before a not very distant day. There is no other country that can be looked to except Argentina with her millions of sheep and cattle and thousands of fertile leagues that invite development. A brilliant future certainly awaits this great republic on South American soil, and North Americans may well inform themselves upon the country, its people and resources.
Argentina might be divided into two parts, Buenos Aires and the Camp—the name given to the country. Buenos Aires is at once the London, New York and Paris of the republic and dominates the country as no other capital of the world does. It is the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world, being more than twice as large as Madrid. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, was a far more important place. It contains most of the factories of the country, receives the greater part of the foreign trade, does the banking of the nation through its great moneyed institutions, and is the social and business centre where the money made by those in the interior of the republic is spent. It is growing at the rate of nearly one hundred thousand persons each year. The large admixture of foreigners coming in keep this city, as well as the nation, up to date. New ideas are thus brought in from everywhere, and the latest inventions and improvements follow. The Spanish type has been considerably modified by the foreign commingling so that this capital is now as cosmopolitan as any in the world.
Most people are accustomed to think of all the South American republics as opera bouffe affairs. Unfortunately there has been too much foundation for that reputation in the past. This has probably been the greatest obstacle to advancement hitherto. Paraguay is still in that condition, and Uruguay has its almost annual struggle between the blancos (whites) and colorados (reds). These uprisings are generally trivial affairs and do not deserve the importance given them. There are, as a rule, no great principles involved, and the struggle is primarily for the control of the government between different leaders. They are usually of short duration and attended with little bloodshed. They are due to that mediæval idea so strongly intrenched in the Spanish character that changes can only be brought about by fighting. The idea of settling these questions at the ballot box has not been fully developed. The writer was in Uruguay during one of these revolutions, and Montevideo was as quiet as one could expect to find a city of that size. A great many young men had fled for fear of conscription in the army. The only way in which he was discommoded was by the necessity of going to the authorities to get a permit to leave the city, as no one could embark on a steamer without this government passport. This revolution was the most severe one that they had had for five years. There had been several conflicts in the interior between the blancos and colorados, and some blood shed. Argentina was blamed by the press for the trouble, as it was alleged that Argentina wanted to create disorder and then seize the country on the plea that only in that way could property interests be protected.
Argentina in times past went through the same performances. Revolution followed revolution and dictator followed dictator; but that time has passed. The principal reminder left is the despotic and arbitrary rule of the prevailing party. The “elections” are controlled and manipulated by the party in power. It is always easy to foretell who will be the successful candidate by looking at his support. A political campaign was in progress during the writer’s visit, so that he had an opportunity to observe the trend. The billboards and fences were covered with proclamations of the candidates and announcements of their policies, mass meetings were held in the Plaza de Mayo, and other public places, but the administration had selected its own successor and there never was the slightest doubt as to the result. Although these high-handed methods still prevail, it is daily growing less possible for serious disturbances to arise. The building of railroads and telegraphs has brought the different sections into touch with each other. The great investment of foreign capital has had a steadying influence toward more stable conditions, and has compelled the leaders to appreciate the necessity for improved political conditions because of the country’s need for additional foreign gold in developing its natural resources. They realize that such aid can only be secured by carefully safeguarding the financial, commercial and industrial interests, and they have set themselves at work to provide the necessary guarantees of good behaviour.