Assumption, 20th May, 1845.
In respect to what Sir Woodbine says in reference to the products of Paraguay not bearing the expense of transport, it will perhaps be sufficient to cite in a note[105] the opinions of practical men upon the exceeding desirability and the feasibility of Europeans availing themselves of one of its staples most essential to English manufactures, as set forth in the leading journal a few months back.
There was always a strong presentiment among commercial men in this country that a treaty with Paraguay would be productive of great advantages; and there is an equally strong conviction still, despite the apprehended obstacles raised by the Buenos Ayrean Government in respect to the enforced protectorate of the island of Martin Garcia, that the treaty ratified on November 2nd, by Lord Clarendon and his Excellency Don F. Lopez, the accomplished son and representative of the President of Paraguay at the British Court, and a copy of which was presented to parliament the opening day of the present Session, by Lord John Russell,[106] will, in due time, effect most of the benefits anticipated. But so complete is the ignorance in England of the real mercantile resources of Paraguay, that even public writers most disposed to augur well of the treaty in question propagated notions concerning that territory so far short of the actual fact, that, if they were true, certain politicians might be almost justified in now pooh-poohing what has been accomplished, just as they did when it was attempted some years ago. For instance, one journal, long celebrated for its supposed peculiarly accurate information on foreign topics, mercantile as well as political, stated, immediately after the ratification of the treaty, as a piece of intelligence of great significance, that Paraguay was the most populous of all the La Plata provinces, ‘except Buenos Ayres’—the truth being that the Paraguayan population exceeds the Buenos Ayrean upwards of threefold—exceeds that of all the Argentine States and the Banda Oriental put together! while, contrary to the general belief even in South America, its power of consumption is greater than the rest of the interior provinces of the Confederation.[107] Considering its extreme isolation hitherto, and that modern writers professing to treat of it have almost invariably drawn their information from second-hand or apocryphal sources, it is perhaps but natural that there should be extant but little reliable knowledge respecting Paraguay. In proceeding to supply much of the void complained of, the first fact to which we would draw the attention of mercantile men is, not so much its varied products, many of them most suitable to British purposes, nor its advantages, peculiarly fitting it to nourish an important commerce, considering its fine climate,[108] fruitful soil, and numerous[109] population, but to the stable and enduring nature of its governmental status.
VIEW NEAR ASSUMPTION.
Unlike all the Platine provinces, Paraguay is blest with a government which, though Republican in name and in the forms of its administration, guarantees the preservation of public order; and is not exposed to those constant revolutionary vicissitudes that have come to be regarded as the normal condition of the neighbouring powers of Spanish origin. Hence, to our thinking, the great value of this treaty with a government not only willing but able to realize its intended share in the arrangement. We have not only fully entered into relations with a country new, rich in natural treasures, peopled with a docile race well disposed towards us,[110] and situate at the head of a vast internal navigation, but we may rely upon the utmost effect being given by the executive to the stipulations it has undertaken to observe, and that the open navigation of the Paraguay and Upper Parana shall be secured to the British flag, free from all alteration or sudden closing of these rivers;—thus completing that security so essential to successful enterprise and speculation.
Surely we are not too sanguine in believing that a noble territory geographically so situate, politically so secure under the firm and sagacious guidance of President Lopez,[111] whose capacity promises to be hereditary, and affluent in so many of the raw materials of European manufacture and necessity, will speedily develope itself among nations in a manner worthy of its natural endowments. The prospective mutual benefits that are likely to be derived from this treaty are of far greater magnitude than appear to be generally understood in England, or perhaps even in Paraguay itself, although they must, in a great measure, depend on the spirit in which the new reciprocal relations may be cultivated and extended; but, be the result what it may hereafter, we have abundant reason to be grateful for the exertions of Sir Charles Hotham in having done so much to lay the foundation of future commercial prosperity. Probably opposition will continue to be made by Buenos Ayres to the execution of the other treaty with Urquiza, although the active energies of Sir Charles were, in both cases, exerted only for the obvious mutual advantage of all parties concerned; but as regards the Paraguay treaty, at all events, no such obstacles are to be apprehended. The government of Paraguay have constantly shown a laudable desire to establish European intimacy, which circumstances not depending upon itself have too long delayed. Had the project so wisely entertained, and so vigorously promoted, as far as his power extended, by our able Minister at Monte Video in 1845-6, been prosecuted to the end, and the independence of Paraguay recognized by the British Government in conformity with the wishes of Sir W. Gore Ouseley, when, in conjunction with Baron Defaudis, the French Minister, Captain (now Sir C.) Hotham was sent to Assumption, to treat with President Lopez, there can be no question that many of the subsequent troubles and difficulties of the La Plata question would have been altogether obviated; Rosas would long ago have been expelled; his vast property (the non-sequestration of which was the grand error of Urquiza) would not have been employed to promote the revolutionary intrigues it has since done, but which it will do no longer, as it is now confiscated; and Paraguay, instead of merely being about entering on its noviciate, would have had seven years’ experience of reciprocity with the old world by this time.
LOOKING TOWARDS ASSUMPTION.