28 



ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



ten girls as pupils. It was in contemplation 

 to train and educate promising Indian youths 

 as missionaries and teachers. 



ARGENTINE REPUBLIC (REPUBLICA AB- 

 GENTINA), an independent state of South 

 America. The Republic proper extends from 

 latitude 20 to 41 south, and from longitude 

 53 to 71 17' west, being bounded on the north 

 by Bolivia; on the east, Paraguay, Brazil, 

 Uruguay, and the Atlantic Ocean ; on the 

 south, Patagonia; and on the west, Bolivia 

 and Chili, the dividing line with which last is 

 the Cordillera of the Andes. 



According to the Argentine claim, however, 

 the extreme northern latitude is 20, and the 

 southern 56, the extreme western longitude 

 being 71 30'; thus embracing the whole of 

 Patagonia east of the Andes, together with 

 Tierra del Fuego, Desolation Island, and the 

 other smaller islands south of the Brunswick 

 Peninsula.* 



" The discussion of the boundary question 

 with Chili," says the Minister of Foreign Af- 

 fairs, in his report in 1876, " has not been re- 

 sumed since its interruption last year, notwith- 

 standing the friendly disposition of this Gov- 

 ernment to do all in its power to the end that 

 a solution may be arrived at." The minister 

 then recapitulates the history of this long con- 

 test, from its commencement in 1843 ; makes 

 special mention of the treaty of 1856, by the 

 terms of which it was mutually agreed upon 

 that the limits thenceforward to be recognized 

 should be those claimed by both countries 

 respectively at the time of their separation 

 from the mother country (1810) ; and concludes 

 with a summary of the more recent negotia- 

 tions. " The principle of arbitration having been 

 admitted, Senor Barros Arana was accredited 

 as Chilian Minister Plenipotentiary to Buenos 

 Ayres in 1876. Before he had presented his 

 credentials, however, the capture of the Maria 

 Amalia (sailing under the Argentine flag), by 

 a Chilian vessel, took place; and that act, 

 together with many others of defiance on the 

 part of Chili as, for instance, the concession 

 of lands on the western shore of the Sea of 

 Otway to a French citizen, and others of sim- 

 ilar character was promptly and decidedly 

 protested against by the Argentine Govern- 

 ment." It may be added that, in the mean 

 time, the Chilian envoy set out for Brazil, he 

 being accredited to the court of Rio de Janeiro 

 also ; and the Argentine legation was recalled 

 from Santiago. 



The estimated population of the Republic in 

 1875 was set down at 1, 768,681, t exclusive of 

 savages; but, from a later statistical publica- 

 tion (Buenos Ayres, 1876), it would appear 

 that, " during the six years which have elapsed 

 since the census was taken, the population has 

 augmented in such a degree, not only by nat- 

 uraHncrease, but also by immigration, that its 



* From an official report, published at Buenos Ayres, in 

 1876. 

 t See ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1S76. 



total, at the end of 1875, ought to be calcu- 

 lated at not less than 2.400,000." 



The population of the capital Buenos Ayres 

 for the same year, was reckoned by Dr. G. 

 Rawson to have been not short of 230,000. 



The following table shows the number of 

 uncivilized Indians wandering over the various 

 territories of the Republic, according to the 

 census of 1869 : 



Territories. Population, 



Gran Chaco 45,291 



Misiones 8,000 



Pampa 21,000 



Patagonia* 24,000 



Total 93,291 



In the matter of immigration, the strenuous 

 efforts of the Government to attract Europeans 

 to the Republic would seem to have been 

 counteracted of late by some powerful in- 

 fluences, chief among which are, perhaps, the 

 reports of the unfavorable condition of com- 

 merce, and those (in all probability somewhat 

 exaggerated) of an unsettled state of political 

 affairs in the Plata provinces. The following 

 extract from the President's Message to Con- 

 gress, in 1876, will, with the subjoined table, 

 serve to show at the same time what has been 

 done in this department, the results so far ob- 

 tained, and what is expected of the future : 



In the year 1875,42,060 iinmi grants arrived. which 

 is about one-third of the number that arrived in the 

 years 1873 and 1874. Immigration, however, has 

 everywhere declined, and in the United States, the 

 home of immigrants, the arrivals, which, in 1673, 

 reached 369,487, fell to 208,089 in 1874, and the dim- 

 inution for the last year is even greater. The returns 

 for the first eight months of 1875, for New York, 

 give but 63,553 immigrants. The emigration of 

 man, like the movement of capital, obeys certain 

 fixed rules, and produces in all cases the most in- 

 evitable results. The immigrant asks for protection 

 in his adopted country, and to escape from the exac- 

 tions of privilege and the violence of anarchy. Re- 

 bellious and disturbed countries are not the lands 

 for immigration. The immigrant aims to acquire 

 real estate, and we, the owners of immense terri- 

 tories, have not been wise enough to offer it to him. 

 We must abolish every obstacle that impedes im- 

 migration. As yet we have done nothing to bring 

 the strong, laborious north-of-Europe emigrant to 

 Buenos Ayres or Rosario, for the same fare that car- 

 ries him to North America. We have to do all this, 

 and it is a misfortune when immigrants congregate 

 in commercial cities, where they are subject to 

 epidemics or commercial crises, which finally com- 

 pel them to leave the country, as is now the case 

 in Buenos Ayres and New York. The law (Coloni- 

 zation bill) proposed to you last year, and which was 

 so favorably received by the European press, had 

 this in view. But the passing of this law is not suf- 

 ficient ; we must facilitate the acquisition of land 

 for the immigrant ; we can waste EO further time in 

 determining national limits. The question is, \V hich 

 has the greater power to people a country the 

 nation or the province? The answer in the United 

 States is, the Nation, owing to its great resources, 

 its authority, and its simple and uniform price for 

 lands, which is the most permanent inducement to 

 immigrants. We can give lands to immigrants 

 without expense, since we own them ; but, if we 

 wish to help the immigrant, and reduce the passage- 



* Observe that Patagonia ii here included as an Argentine 

 territory. 



