24 



ARGENTINE EEPUBLIC. 



who are Protestants. Though the Catholic 

 countries of Southern Europe continue to fur- 

 nish a larger contingent of immigrants than 

 Germany and Switzerland, the latter have al- 

 ready established a number of colonies, in all 

 of which the Protestant element is strongly 

 represented. In the state of Entre Rios the 

 colony of Villa de Urquiza, near Parana, is al- 

 most wholly German. The next largest Ger- 

 man population is found in San Jose", near 

 Concepcion. La Esperanza, near Santa Fe", is 

 likewise a wholly German colony, which, in 

 1868, had 850 Catholics and 710 Protestants, 

 with a Protestant church and school. In San 

 Geronimo, a little farther to the southwest, 

 there were 460 German-Swiss ; in San Carlos, 

 406 Swiss and 16 Germans. In Buenos Ayres 

 the Germans have a Protestant church and 

 school, and a German newspaper. 



Immigration is increasing with great ra- 

 pidity. While from 1858 to 1862 the number 

 of immigrants amounted to 28,066, or an annu- 

 al average of 5,613, it rose, in the period from 

 1863 to 1867, to 64,599, an annual average of 

 12,920; and, during the year 1868, reached the 

 unprecedented figure of 29,284. According to 

 nationality, the immigrants were divided as 

 follows : 



The Argentine Central Railroad, to connect 

 Rosario and Cordova, 250 miles, is progress- 

 ing rapidly. A submarine telegraph connects 

 Buenos Ayres with Montevideo. The telegraph 

 from Buenos Ayres to Rosario is completed. 

 It is nearly 300 miles long. The tariff is, for 

 ten words, under 100 miles, 40 cents (gold) ; 

 over 100 and under 200 miles, 80 cents ; and 

 for over 200 miles, $1.20 (gold). President 

 Sarmientp had the wires of the telegraph car- 

 ried to his house, and his annual message to 

 Congress was conveyed by the wires to their 

 most distant point, and then it was taken by 

 couriers and spread over the republic in the 

 shortest time ever known in South America. 

 The province of Buenos Ayres passed a law 

 authorizing the loan of 800,000 sterling for 

 the extension of the Western Railroad. 



The export of meat forming an important 

 staple, Congress voted the sum of 40,000 francs 

 to be awarded as a prize to the inventor of that 

 process which, upon trial, should be proved to 

 bo the best for the preservation of fresh meat. 



The credit of the nation in 1869 greatly im- 

 proved, and the interest and percentage of 

 bonds were punctually paid. The budget of 

 the current financial year, it is true, showed a 

 deficit of $9,000,000, but it is chiefly caused by 



ARKANSAS. 



the extraordinary expenses of the Paraguayan 

 War. The annual revenue of the country is 

 rapidly increasing, the total receipts for the 

 past fiscal year having reached the unprece- 

 dented sum of $14,000,000. The indebtedness 

 for the war is $20,000,000 (gold). The esti- 

 mates for 1870 amount to $16,000,000. But for 

 the disastrous war with Paraguay, the govern- 

 ment would be in possession of a considerable 

 surplus. 



A bill passed Congress for removing the na- 

 tional capital to Rosario as early as the year 

 1872. The Executive has, however, vetoed 

 this measure. 



As to foreign policy, President Sarmiento 

 declared, in his opening speech, at the com- 

 mencement of the session of the Chambers, 

 that the strongest friendship existed between 

 the allied South American powers ; that they 

 felt none but generous feelings for the Para- 

 guayans, and they now proposed to establish 

 a provisional government at Asuncion for the 

 benefit of the people. (See PAKAGTJAY.) 



The new United States minister, Mr. Kirk, 

 was specially charged by our Government to 

 be vigilant in creating and perpetuating frater- 

 nal relations between the two governments. 

 Sarmiento's warm reply, on the occasion of the 

 new minister's reception, concluded with these 

 words: "If you have read our recent parlia- 

 mentary debates,, you will have observed 

 with satisfaction that Story, Webster, Taney, 

 Gushing, and Pomeroy, are almost Argentine 

 citizens, and masters who point out the way 

 establishing among us your institutions, as re- 

 markable for respect for private liberty as for 

 preserving public tranquillity and the suprem- 

 acy of the Federal Constitution. Be, then, 

 most cordially welcome, as minister resident 

 of the United States, to the Argentine Repub- 

 lic." 



ARKANSAS. A history of Arkansas, since 

 its first settlement by white men, and of its 

 political existence to the present time, has not 

 been published, perhaps not written. Some 

 statements upon this subject, put together 

 mainly from the official journal kept by de- 

 partmental regulations at the military post of 

 Little Rock, may prove not uninteresting. 

 Though the narrative is intended chiefly to 

 trace up the origin and subsequent growth of 

 Little Rock, now the capital of the State, it 

 points also to earlier explorations and settle- 

 ments made by Europeans in that region gen- 

 erally. It says : " No history of the State of 

 Arkansas has ever been published. Fernando 

 de Soto was its first explorer of any note, and 

 historians still disagree as to whether he was 

 buried beneath the waters of the mighty stream 

 with which his name is inseparably linked, or 

 under the turbid waves of the Arkansas. As 

 De Soto did not explore the country with a 

 direct view to its settlement or improvement, 

 neither he nor his Spanish followers left any 

 permanent memorials of their visits, in its 

 nomenclature, except in a single instance 



