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The National Geographic Magazine 



tical working of the principles of equal- 

 ity and freedom, limited only by law, 

 which fact I consider as the mainspring 

 of all your advancement and power. 



When I contemplate the humblest 

 citizen enjoying all the privileges and 

 having open to him all the honors and 

 the rights that in some other nations 

 are the patrimony of the few, I cannot 

 help exclaim that American democracy 

 is truly the consummation of the con- 

 quests of liberty and justice in the 

 world. 



Now, on the other hand, if you 

 please, remember for a moment how 

 different was the material that came to 

 colonize and settle the other portions 

 of the American continent. When you 

 consider that the men who conquered 

 Peru and Mexico were nothing but ad- 

 venturers seeking for gold and the sat- 

 isfaction of their hunger for wealth, 

 that after vanquishing and destroying 

 highly organized nations submitted 

 their inhabitants to serfdom, that the 

 history of the three centuries of Span- 

 ish' dominion is only a long chain of 

 despotism and tyranny, you readily 

 understand that when the Latin-Ameri- 

 can republics, after many years of fight- 

 ing for their freedom, succeeded at last 

 and made themselves independent 

 through their own exertions, their tra- 

 ditions and their education was far 

 from suited for the proper exercise of 

 free and orderly government. 



That is why during the early times 

 of their independence, and some of 

 them even up to this day, had to pass 

 through a dark period of formation 

 and revolutions. 



Fortunately the majority of the re- 

 publics in that section that is really 

 South America have entered firmly 

 upon an era of peaceful development of 

 their natural resources, under well- 

 established governments. 



Bolivia had also an epoch of misfor- 

 tunes, and after sad experiences that 

 cost her the loss of much of her terri- 

 tory is now earnestly seeking to de- 

 velop her great wealth and future. 



Her mineral resources are second to 

 none, and the Bolivian mountains con- 

 tain a wonderful variety of minerals. 

 The silver mines of Potosi are famous 

 in the history of the world, and have 

 contributed a large share to its wealth. 



Silver, copper, antimony, bismuth, 

 gold, and at present tin are the princi- 

 pal of many minerals that her territory 

 produces. 



An Italian scientist, Mr Raymondi, 

 who has devoted his whole life to the 

 study of Peru, has called Bolivia "a 

 silver table standing on legs of gold." 



The Andes getting into Bolivian ter- 

 ritory divide themselves into two big 

 branches. One toward the coast forms 

 the western Cordillera, and the other 

 leading toward the interior and the east 

 is called the Cordillera Real. Between 

 these two branches extends the high 

 plateau where most of that mineral 

 wealth is to be found. 



In the eastern section are vast plains, 

 where wild cattle and horses roam, and 

 the virgin forests, where rubber, Peru- 

 vian bark, and a great many other 

 medicinal plants and all kinds of fine 

 woods grow luxuriantly. The reason 

 why in the commerce of the world a 

 great many of these Bolivian products 

 are not known as such is because on 

 passing through neighboring republics' 

 territory they are shipped from their 

 ports, and hence the Bolivian copper, 

 for instance, passing through Chilean 

 ports is considered as Chilean copper. 

 The Bolivian rubber shipped at Para 

 is called Para rubber, etc. 



My government is at present en- 

 deavoring to build a system of rail- 

 ways that will connect the north and 

 the south of the country and facilitate 

 the development of its resources. An 

 idea of their importance may be had 

 in knowing that in a few years, and 

 notwithstanding the absolute lack of 

 means of transportation, we have in- 

 creased our exports of tin from about 

 2,000 tons of crude ore to 25,000 tons 

 last year ; and it is a remarkable fact 

 that Bolivia is the only tin-producing 



