Argentina From a British Point of View, and Notes on Argentine Life

Part 1

ARGENTINA FROM A BRITISH POINT OF VIEW

AND

NOTES ON ARGENTINE LIFE.

With Photographs and Diagrams.

EDITED BY CAMPBELL P. OGILVIE.

LONDON: WERTHEIMER, LEA & CO., CLIFTON HOUSE, WORSHIP STREET, E.C 1910.

PRINTED BY WERTHEIMER, LEA & CO., CLIFTON HOUSE, WORSHIP STREET, LONDON, E.C

DEDICATED To all THE SHAREHOLDERS OF THE SANTA FÉ LAND COMPANY, LIMITED, who take a real interest in the Company.

PREFACE.

In May last I was asked to read, towards the end of the year, a paper on Argentina, before the Royal Society of Arts. The task of compiling that paper was one of absorbing interest to me; and though I fully realise how inadequately I have dealt with so interesting a subject, I venture to think that the facts and figures which the paper contains may be of interest to some, at any rate, of the Shareholders of the Santa Fé Land Company. It is upon this supposition that it is published.

Whilst I was obtaining the latest information for the paper (which was read before the Royal Society of Arts on November 30th, 1910), several members of the staff of the Santa Fé Land Company aided me by writing some useful and interesting notes on subjects connected with Argentina, and also giving various experiences which they had undergone whilst resident there. I am indebted to the writers for many hints on life in Argentina, and as I think that others will find the reading of the notes as engaging as I did, they are now reproduced just as I received them, and incorporated with my own paper in a book of which they form by no means the least interesting part.

The final portion of the book--Leaves from a journal entitled "The Tacuru"--is written in a lighter vein. It describes a trip through some of the Northern lands of the Santa Fé Land Company, and it is included because, although frankly humorous, it contains much really useful information and many capital illustrations, I should, however, mention that this journal was written by members of the expedition, and was originally intended solely for their own private edification and amusement; therefore all the happier phases of the trip are noted; but I can assure my English readers that the trip, well though it was planned, was not all luxury.

To the many who have helped me in this work I tender my most sincere thanks.

CAMPBELL P. OGILVIE.

LAWFORD PLACE, MANNINGTREE, ESSEX, December, 1910.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

ARGENTINA FROM A BRITISH POINT OF VIEW 1

HISTORY OF THE SANTA FÉ LAND COMPANY, LIMITED 33

THE VALUE OF LAND IN ARGENTINA 45

REMARKS ON STORMS AND THE CLIMATE OF THE ARGENTINE 51

SOME EXPERIENCE OF WORKING ON ESTANCIAS 57

THE SOCIAL SIDE OF CAMP LIFE 69

CARNIVAL IN THE ARGENTINE 75

HORSE-RACING IN THE ARGENTINE 79

SUNDAYS IN CAMP 87

THE SERVANT PROBLEM IN ARGENTINA 91

POLICE OF A BYGONE DAY 97

Part 2

A VISIT TO THE NORTHERN CHACO 107

WORK IN THE WOODS 119

CACHAPÉS, AND OTHER THINGS 125

MY FRIEND THE AXEMAN 131

DUST AND OTHER STORMS 141

LOCUSTS 147

CONSCRIPT LIFE IN THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC 155

ACROSS THE BOLIVIAN ANDES IN 1901 161

PROGRESS OF THE PORT OF BUENOS AIRES 185

JUST MY LUCK! 193

"THE TACURU" 199

LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS.

FACING PAGE

CATTLE TRAIN ON CENTRAL ARGENTINE RAILWAY, BRINGING CATTLE TO BARRANCOSA 39

LOADING WHEAT AT ROSARIO FROM THE "BARRANCA" 40

SAN CRISTOBAL ESTANCIA HOUSE 41

WATERING-PLACE AT BARRANCOSA 42

WOOD ON THE COMPANY'S OWN LINE READY FOR LOADING 43

LOADING TIMBER AT WAYSIDE STATION 44

WHEAT READY FOR LOADING AT STATION ON CENTRAL ARGENTINE RAILWAY 48

THE MAKER OF LAND VALUES 50

TENNIS PARTY AT VERA 73

CARNIVAL AT VERA 77

"A DAY OF REAL ENJOYMENT" 90

SQUARE QUEBRACHO LOGS WORKED BY THE AXEMAN, SHOWING RESIN OOZING THEREFROM 134

LOADING WHEAT AT THE PORT OF BUENOS AIRES 187

HORSES AWAITING INSPECTION 209

STACKING ALFALFA 210

Part 3

ALFALFA ELEVATOR AT WORK 211

THE GREEN FIELDS OF ALFALFA 212

HERD OF CATTLE 215

EXPANSE OF ALFALFA 221

DISC-PLOUGH AT WORK 222

ROADMAKER AND RAILROAD BUILDER 223

PLOUGHING VIRGIN CAMP 226

HART-PARR ENGINE, DRAWING ROADMAKER 228

CATTLE LEAVING DIP 233

CROSSING THE SALADO 240

THE EFFECT OF A LONG DROUGHT 241

REFINED CAMPS 242

"RICH BLACK ALLUVIAL SOIL" 251

WATER KNEE-DEEP 265

QUEBRACHO COLORADO TREE 266

SLEEPERS AWAITING TRANSPORT AT VERA 267

TANNIN EXTRACT FACTORY 268

SOME OF THE HORSES 271

"AWFUL FLOOD" 276

ON THE WAY TO OLMOS 277

LIST OF DIAGRAMS.

FACING PAGE

IMMIGRATION RETURNS 2

AGRICULTURAL EXPORTATION 14

CULTIVATED AREA IN HECTARES 15

VALUE IN £ STERLING OF THE TOTAL EXPORTS OF ARGENTINA, 1900-09 22

ARGENTINA FROM A BRITISH POINT OF VIEW.

Argentina, which does not profess to be a manufacturing country, exported in 1909 material grown on her own lands to the value of £79,000,000, and imported goods to the extent of £60,000,000. This fact arrests our attention, and forces us to recognise that there is a trade balance of nearly 20 millions sterling in her favour, and to realise the saving power of the country.

Part 4

It is not mere curiosity which prompts us to ask: "Are these £79,000,000 worth of exports of any value to us? Do we consume any of them? Do we manufacture any of them? And do we send any of this same stuff back again after it has been dealt with by our British artisans?" It would be difficult to follow definitely any one article, but upon broad lines the questions are simple and can be easily answered. Amongst the agricultural exports we find wheat, oats, maize, linseed, and flour. The value placed upon these in 1908 amounted to £48,000,000, and England pays for and consumes nearly 42 per cent. of these exports. Other goods, such as frozen beef, chilled beef, mutton, pork, wool, and articles which may be justly grouped as the results of the cattle and sheep industry, amounted to no less a figure than £23,000,000. All these exports represent foodstuffs or other necessities of life, and are consumed by those nations which do not produce enough from their own soil to keep their teeming populations. Another export which is worthy of particular mention comes from the forests, viz., quebracho, which, in the form of logs and extract, was exported in 1908 to the value of £1,200,000. The value of material of all sorts sent from England to Argentina in 1908 was £16,938,872 (this figure includes such things as manufactured woollen goods, leather goods, oils, and paints), therefore it is clear that we have, and must continue to take, a practical and financial interest in the welfare and prosperity of Argentina.

New countries cannot get on without men willing and ready to exploit Nature's gifts, and, naturally, we look to the immigration returns when considering Argentina's progress. To give each year's return for the last 50 years would be wearisome, but, taking the average figures for ten-year periods from 1860 to 1909, we have the following interesting table. (The figures represent the balance of those left in the country after allowing for emigration):--

Yearly Average. From 1860 to 1869 (inclusive) ... 15,044 " 1870 " 1879 " ... 29,462 " 1880 " 1889 " ... 84,586 " 1890 " 1899 " ... 43,618 " 1900 " 1909 " ... 100,998

Sixty-five per cent. of the immigrants are agricultural labourers, who soon find work in the country, and again add their quota to the increasing quantity and value of materials to be exported. Facing this page is a diagram of the Immigration Returns from 1857 to 1909.

Nature has been lavish in her gifts to Argentina, and man has taken great advantage of these gifts. My desire now is to show what has been done in the way of developing agriculture in this richly-endowed country during the last fifty years. One name which should never be forgotten in Argentina is that of William Wheelwright, whose entrance into active life in Buenos Aires was not particularly dignified; in 1826 he was shipwrecked at the mouth of the River Plate, and struggled on barefooted, hatless and starving to the small town of Quilmes.

NOTE:--IN THE YEARS 1888, 1889 & 1890 THE ARGENTINE GOVERNMENT ASSISTED PASSAGES.]

Mr. Wheelwright was an earnest and far-seeing man, and his knowledge of railways in the United States helped him to realise their great possibilities in Argentina; but, strange to say, upon his return to his native land he could not impress any of those men who afterwards became such great "Railway Kings" in the U.S.A. Failing to obtain capital for Argentine railway development in his own country, Wheelwright came to England, and interested Thomas Brassey, whose name was then a household word amongst railway pioneers. These two men associated themselves with Messrs. Ogilvie & Wythes, forming themselves into the firm of Brassey, Ogilvie, Wythes & Wheelwright, whose first work was the building of a railway 17,480 kilometres long between Buenos Aires and Quilmes in 1863; afterwards they built the line from Rosario to Cordova, which is embodied to-day in the Central Argentine Railway. Other railways were projected, and this policy of progress and extension of the steel road still holds good in Argentina.

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