ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



21 



stream of the Negro, will form a double barrier 

 against the Indians of Patagonia. On the first sec- 

 tion, Patagones to Choelechoel, no troops will be 

 required, as the Indians are tame and iriendly on 

 the southern bank of the Negro hereabouts, say a 

 stretch of 40 leagues, leaving a distance of only 70 

 leagues to be garrisoned, from Choelechoel to the 

 Andes. Colonel Guerrico's surveys (1872) show that 

 the Negro has a depth of from 16 to 32 feet all the 

 way between Choelechoel and the meeting of the 

 waters at Limay Neuquen ; in fact, that the Rio Ne- 

 gro is navigable from Patagones up to the foot of the 

 Andes at Lake Nahuel Huapi, for vessels of 10 feet 

 in dry seasons, and of 15 feet draught in wet seasons. 

 Supposing, therefore, a force of 2,000 men for this 

 new frontier line, the cost would be barely one third 

 of what our present frontier costs : 



Present cost $2.361,199 per annum. 



Eio Negro ' 692,394 



Saving $1,668,805 " 



Not only shall we save over $1,500,000 yearly, but 

 we shall also by this measure annex 15,000 square 

 leagues, say 150,000 square miles, of valuable terri- 

 tory. Moreover, the navigation of the Rio Negjo 

 will enable us to establish agricultural and industrial 

 colonies in the fertile valley of Limay Neuquen, fa- 

 mous for its rich deposits of copper and coal. The 

 present Indian population is about 20,000 souls, of 

 the Araucanian tribe, who are semi-civilized and will 

 soon fall into the habits of our gauchos; they can 

 muster at present about 2,000 lances, and live by 

 plunder. As for the Ranqueles, they are barely able 

 to count 600 fighting men, so many of their people 

 having accepted land grants and settled down peace- 

 ably on the frontiers of Cordoba and San Luis. Gen- 

 eral Roca has ridden over most of the country, and 

 found everywhere fine pasturages and plenty of good 

 water. Cacique Namuncura has now only 100 war- 

 riors left, at Marco Grande. Pinzen, the lion of the 

 Pampas, has about the same number at Malalico, 10 

 leagues outside of Colonel Alsina's frontier. All 

 these can make little opposition to our occupation of 

 the Rio Negro, the richness of which country was 

 described in England by the Jesuit Father Faulkner 

 more than a hundred years ago. Those Indians who 

 will not accept land grants must be driven over the 

 Rio Negro to Patagonia. Those who submit will re- 

 ceive kind treatment and protection. 



AVELLANEDA. 



GEN. ROCA. 



PROJECT OF LAW. 



ART. 1. The Rio Negro is to be made the southern 

 frontier. 



ART. 2. The Government is authorized to spend 

 $1,500,000 for this end. 



ART. 3. The lands acquired shall be duly measured 

 out. 



_ART. 4. These reservations are set apart for In- 

 dians : 



50 square leagues outside Alsina's frontier at Gua- 

 nimi. 



50 square loagues on the south bank of Rio Quinto. 



30 square leagues between Rio Grande and Neu- 

 quen. JULIO ROCA. 



President Avellaneda has also issued a mes- 

 sage with reference to a new census of the 

 republic the cost not to exceed $200,000 

 to be perfected and published within three 

 years. The Constitution will be reformed be- 

 fore 1884, and the present number of Deputies 

 to the National Congress reduced. This last 

 measure is dictated by motives of economy, as 

 Argentine representatives are paid out of the 

 national Treasury. 



The republic has not been entirely free from 

 disturbances in its distant provinces. On the 

 14th of April an insurrection broke out at 

 Santa Fe, the capital of the province of that 

 name. The barracks were attacked by the in- 

 surgents armed with revolvers and poniards, 

 but they were easily repulsed by the national 

 troops, who have been lately provided with 

 Remington rifles, which gives them such supe- 

 riority over revolutionists that hereafter peace 

 will be more easily maintained in the provinces. 

 Other insurrections in the provinces of Salta 

 and Corrientes were also put down without 

 much loss of life or property. 



The Argentine Commissioner-General in Eu- 

 rope reports that emigration to the Argentine 

 Republic is approximating that of the most 

 prosperous years preceding the financial crisis 

 from which the country is now recovering, and 

 that he has succeeded in obtaining a reduction 

 of 40 per cent, from the ordinary fare, and a 

 saving of six months' interest <m the amount 

 paid by the Commissioner of Immigration at 

 Buenos Ay res to the steamship companies. 

 Near Oblaria 170 square miles of good agri- 

 cultural land have been set apart for Mennonite 

 colonies ; and the current of immigration is 

 diffused through the various provinces, with 

 due regard to the extension of railways and 

 internal navigation. The agricultural districts 

 have enjoyed a season of unexampled pros- 

 perity, and the policy of retrenchment inau- 

 gurated hy the Minister of Finance, Dr. De la 

 Plaza, has imparted more confidence to foreign 

 bondholders and to financial and commercial 

 circles in the republic. 



Mr. Vaillant, in statistics compiled for the 

 Paris Exposition, gives the number of cattle 

 and sheep in several countries, and shows that, 



