ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



ARGYLL, DUKE OF. 



and peace and order at home, have the first claim to 

 the attention of Congress and of the new Government. 



The present army of the republic is a model of dis- 

 interestedness, fortitude, valor, and loyalty to its flag, 

 but at the mercy of arbitrary dispositions, and without 

 rules for its guidance or laws for its organization on a 

 regular and systematized plan. 



To the reforms required in this direction I shall de- 

 vote my best endeavors, in order to avert the dangers 

 of militarism, which is the suppression of liberty, at 

 a more or less distant day, and make of the army a 

 veritable institution, according to the terms of the 

 Constitution and the requirements of modern prog- 

 ress. By this means, and being removed from party 

 influence, it will occupy, as it now does, an exalted 

 place in public opinion, and in the unfortunate event 

 of our country's rights being endangered, be in a po- 

 sition to disinvolve an irresistible force. This meas- 

 ure will prove advantageous also in an economical 

 point of view, doing away with useless expenses which 

 weigh heavily upon the Treasury because of the impos- 

 sibility for previous Governments to establish a per- 

 fect system of civil and military administration in the 

 services connected with the army. 



As for internal means of communication, they pre- 

 sent to my mind an imperative and unavoidable neces- 

 sity, which can not be neglected without injury to the 

 common weal. It is indispensable to complete our 

 railways to their natural termini in the north, west, 

 and east, with their several branches, thus perfecting 

 the facilities of travel and cementing the bonds of 

 union between the provinces. 



Such as have attentively watched the progress of 

 this country can not have failed to observe, as you 

 yourselves well know, the marked changes economi- 

 cal, social, and political effected by railways and tel- 

 egraph lines in their progressive extension through 

 the interior. 



> Eich and fertile provinces but await the construc- 

 tion of railways to increase their yielding powers a 

 hundred-fold, with ready means of transportation to 

 markets and the seacoast for their varied and magnifi- 

 cent products, representing the three kingdoms of na- 

 ture. 



For my part, I shall regard it as the greatest glory 

 of my Government if, in three years from this day, we 

 succeed in saluting with the whistle of the locomotive 

 the towns of San Juan and Mendoza (the region of the 

 vine and the olive), of Salta and Jujuy (the region of 

 coffee, sugar, and other tropical products), and. throw- 

 ing wide open at the same time our gates to the com- 

 merce of Bolivia, to receive the metals from her rich 

 and inexhaustible mines. 



I rely upon your aid, and that of the whole country, 

 for the realization of these projects within the time 

 specified, or sooner if possible '; nor will the works 

 mentioned be at all extraordinary or superior to our 

 resources, if we can only live in peace. 



The other branches of administration, such as im- 

 migration, public instruction, the enlightenment of all 

 classes of society, the fostering care due to relioion, 

 commerce, arts, and industry these have becomenor- 

 mal duties which no Government can now neglect. 



I must, nevertheless, make special mention of the 

 necessity of peopling the desert territories, but yester- 

 day the home of savage tribes and to-day the possible 

 seat of populous towns, as the most efficient means of 

 securing their possession. 



I shall continue our military operations alon^ the 

 present frontier lines, north and south, until the "com- 

 plete subjection of the Patagonian and Chaco Indians, 

 in order to blot out the military frontiers for ever, and 

 not leave a single span of Argentine soil beyond the 

 jurisdiction of the laws of the'land. 



Let us rid completely those broad and fertile regions 

 of their traditional enemies who, since the days of the 

 conquest, have ever retarded the development of our 

 pastoral wealth ; let us offer absolute security of life 

 and property to those who engage their capital and 

 their hands in the labor of fertilizing them, and we 



shall soon see them peopled by eager multitudes of 

 every race and from every clime, the future founders 

 of new states to swell the power and greatness of the 

 republic. 



A young and vigorous nation like our own, with a 

 vast extent of territory, fertile lands, a favored cli- 

 mate, and liberal institutions, ought not to look with 

 amazement at such feats as these, of the accomplish- 

 ment of which elsewhere under similar circumstances 

 numerous examples are recorded in the history of hu- 

 man societies. 



We are the outline of a great nation destined to ex- 

 ercise powerful influence in the civilization of Amer- 

 ica and of the world ; but in order to complete the 

 picture with full perfection of detail, we must enter 

 with firm tread the path of regular life, as a people 

 constituted in the image of those we have chosen for 

 our model : that is to say, we require lasting peace, 

 order unbroken, and permanent liberty. And, touch- 

 ing these particulars, I declare aloud from this exalted 

 seat that I may be heard throughout the entire re- 

 public, I will make use of all means and authority 

 placed by the Constitution in the hands of the Execu- 

 tive power of the nation to avert, crush, and repress 

 any attempt against the public _ peace. If in any spot 

 of Argentine territory a fratricidal arm be raised, or a 

 movement subversive of the constituted authority, 

 thither the nation's whole power shall be directed to 

 restrain them. Yet I trust there shall be no need of 

 this ; for there are now none either individuals or 

 parties any longer mighty enough to arrest the char- 

 iot of the republic's progress by the crime of a civil 

 war. On the other hand, the liberties and rights of 

 citizens will be faithfully protected ; and political par- 

 ties, so long as they keep within constitutional bounds 

 and do not degenerate into revolutionary parties, 

 may remain in peaceful security from interference or 

 hindrance on the part of my Government. The door 

 of the Constitution and the law is wide enough for all 

 parties and all noble ambitions. And thus, who can 

 doubt that the party which twice in the course of six 

 years committed the error of attempting to repair 

 electoral defeats by force of arms might this day be 

 the legitimate directors of the destinies of the nation, 

 had they not resorted to such odious extremes ? In 

 cases of doubt or of impossibility to discern where 

 the rights of the citizen end and the attributes of the 

 Government begin, my preference will always be to 

 refrain from action, leaving time and public reason to 

 solve the difficulty ; and, should I be forced to take 

 any steps that might affect the political interests of 

 even the unworthiest of Argentines, I shall proceed 

 upon mature reflection, and after having heard the 

 opinion of my natural advisers and of the acknowl- 

 edged eminent authorities which the country happily 



Our relations with foreign powers will be zealously 

 maintained and fostered by my Government, care be- 

 ing taken to augment and strengthen the oonds of 

 union between this republic and the most advanced 

 nations. It will be my especial endeavor to preserve 

 harmony with our neighbors, while strictly abstaining 

 from interference in their internal concerns. And as 

 for those with whom, in relation to boundaries, we 

 have difficulties still pending, I shall seek to solve 

 these in a manner worthy of all concerned, without 

 yielding one iota where I understand the dignity, 

 rights, or integrity of the republic to be affected. 



As a consequence of these views, our obligations 

 toward foreign commerce shall be regarded as sacred, 

 and I shall spare neither pains nor sacrifices to pre- 

 serve our credit, both at home and abroad, by scrupu- 

 lous attention to the service of our debts ; for I regard 

 the national honor as dependent upon the faithful dis- 

 charge of that duty. 



ARGYLL, Duke of, GEORGE DOUGLAS CAMP- 

 BELL, K. T., the Lord Privy Seal in the new 

 English Cabinet, was born April 30, 1823. He 

 is the only surviving son of the seventh Duke 



