Observations and Reflections 369 



painters born on the soil of the South American states 

 is very small, and the works of art produced by them 

 up to the present time are a negligible quantity. Still, 

 as I have remarked, art is appreciated, and I had 

 evidence of that fact as I went to and fro between La 

 Plata and Buenos Aires and saw beside the railway 

 track, in the middle of a muddy and neglected pond, 

 a plaster cast of the Venus de Milo, at sight of which 

 the gentlemen on the train looked forth with pleasure 

 and the senoras and senoritas held their fans before 

 their faces. What can have induced the implantation 

 of this effigy, recalling the Louvre, in the midst of a 

 frog-pond, except the rising and budding impulses of 

 aesthetic sentiment? There must be a future for art 

 in this New World. 



Since his return from South America the writer has 

 frequently been asked what is likely to be the result of 

 the opening of the Panama Canal, and particularly 

 whether it is going to result in the cheapening of food- 

 supplies in the United States. The canal will not bring 

 the meat and grain of Argentina and Uruguay, the 

 coffee and sugar of Brazil nearer to us than they now 

 are. The agriculturally productive regions of South 

 America lie on the eastern side of the Andes. There 

 is only a narrow strip of productive land on the 

 western coast of the South American continent, and 

 the crops of the region are not much more than 

 adequate at the present time to supply local wants. 

 The only railway which at present connects the rich 

 plains of the Atlantic side of the continent with the 

 ports on the western coast is not likely to be used 

 to any great extent for the transportation of grain and 

 cattle. The Trans-Andine Railway, which links 

 Buenos Aires with Valparaiso, has some very steep 



