The Argentine section of the International Exposition of San Francisco admittedly holds high rank in every aspect of its partic.i.p.ation, not excluding the magnificence of its Pavilion and the area of s.p.a.ce allotted to Argentine exhibits, which reflect the indisputable importance and advance of the Republic. The s.p.a.ces occupied in the various Palaces of the Exposition embrace an area of 3,000 square meters which, added to the 4,000 meters occupied by the Pavilion and Garden, gives a total area of 7,000 square meters and const.i.tutes a s.p.a.ce record over all previous exhibitions in which the Argentine Republic has so far a.s.sisted. The areas excluding the Pavilion and Garden are divided as follows:
(1) Agriculture 1,140 square meters (2) Various Products 550 " "
(3) Food Products 385 " "
(4) Education and Social Economy 320 " "
(5) Liberal Arts 230 " "
(6) Mining and Metallurgy 215 " "
(7) Fine Arts 160 " "
----- Total 3,000 " "
The Argentine Pavilion, which has been accorded a prominent position amongst other palatial constructions of the Exposition, conveys an expressive idea of the higher standard of national art, both from the architectural and decorative standpoints. In the centre portion of the Pavilion there is a beautiful Conference Hall and a s.p.a.cious gallery in which there will be kinetoscopic and dioramic exhibitions of characteristic views of national life and activity and of some of the natural beauty spots of the country, such as the Iguazu Falls, the Nahuel Huapi and others. There is a Buffet for the testing and tasting of exclusively Argentine products, whilst other surrounding installations include a Library of national authors, a Reading Room, an Information Bureau, a Reception Hall and the various offices of the Commission. The princ.i.p.al frontage of the Pavilion is composed of two high laterals which coil on a central figure crowned by a handsome dome reaching to a height of 50 meters. Approach is obtained by a wide "stoop" which gives access to a porch adorned with caryatides forming a vestibule, the porch being decorated with a symbolic "vitrail" and enclosed in an imposing arch 21 meters high. On the right and left of this entrance there are two sculptured plaques, respectively, representing the profiles of San Martin and Washington, and throughout the graceful halls and buildings, all designed by Argentine architects and constructed by Argentine workmen, there are beautiful and graphic pictorial representations of the Port and City of Buenos Aires, of the Campo de Mayo, of the Puerto Militar, of the Immigrant Hotel and the natural fields and forests of Quebracho.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MARBLE AND ONYX ENTRANCE AND STAIRCASE OF THE JOCKEY CLUB, BUENOS AIRES]
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE MAY AVENUE (AVENIDA DE MAYO), BUENOS AIRES]
The main divisions of Argentine exhibits have been sub-divided into so many departments and cla.s.sifications as to render it difficult within the necessarily brief limits of this work to describe in detail the character of each of the sub-divisions and of the respective exhibits they contain. It will, therefore, suffice for the object in view to furnish merely an outline of the plans adopted by the Argentine Commission to demonstrate the high grade of excellence and perfection of the national products and industries. The most important of the buildings comprising the Argentine section is the Palace of Agriculture, which covers an area of about 1,400 square meters and embraces a collection of about 2,000 samples of cla.s.sified products covering the entire field of agriculture, including those of the crops of 1913-1914 and 1914-1915. In each sample of the collection there is specified the name of the product, the weight and measure in kilos and hectolitres, the weight in pounds per bushel, the output in pounds per acre, the zone of production, the name of the exhibitor and, in many cases, indications of the nature of the soil and other physical conditions. The arrangement of the exhibition of the various products has been moreover much simplified by the adoption of the plan of enclosing them in boxes with gla.s.s covers, giving to each product a unit of measure in a square of 15 centimeters, thus permitting the sample, once placed in its original packing, to remain unchanged and to be easily removed and cla.s.sified, whilst by this arrangement s.p.a.ce has been economized and facilities given for the addition of photographs and explanatory notes which serve the double purpose of giving useful information and decorative effect.
Other features of interest in this section comprise a collection of tobaccos cultivated in Argentina and on a wall of about 3 square meters in dimension there is exhibited a large ill.u.s.tration of a national tobacco manufactory in full operation. Considerable attention has been devoted to this particular department, one cabinet alone having cost $6,000 to construct. In the section set apart for textile products, there is an artistically arranged exhibition of samples of wool consisting of about 300 separate collections contributed in more, or less, equal proportion by public bodies and individual producers. The beautiful cabinet containing these samples also has a number of photographic views relating to the products shown as well as pictorial reproductions of sheep-shearing and other mechanical operations as carried out on the larger farms of the Republic. There are likewise shown here many cla.s.sified samples of cotton and a variety of vegetable fibres.
The collection of woods and other forestal products is another centre of attraction for visitors and gives a clear idea of the riches enclosed in Argentine forests. The collection consists of upwards of a thousand samples representing, in their varied forms, a hundred cla.s.ses of different woods. In addition to the great variety of this exhibit, its interest has been added to by the contribution of a number of maps and photographic views by the Forest Department of the Ministry of Agriculture. To make the Agricultural Section of the Argentine Republic more attractive and of added practical value, a number of the official Departments of the Republic have contributed statistics, plans and graphic ill.u.s.trations pertaining to the methods and progress of this branch of industry. The drawings, paintings and statistics shown by the Board of Rural Economy demonstrate the enormous growth and progress made in this direction, whilst the exhibits of the Argentine Meteorological Office and the National Board of Agriculture furnish every necessary detail in regard to climatic and meteorological conditions and the provision made against agricultural plagues. Added to all this, there is a collection of photographic views relating to pastoral and agricultural production which may be considered to excel both in detail and variety.
The development of other Argentine national industries is to be seen in the Palace of Industry, which occupies a rectangular s.p.a.ce of 30 meters frontage by 18 deep, on the Central Avenue. In this section are shown samples of a great variety of articles produced in the numerous factories devoted to the production of cloth, shoes, hats, decorative ornaments, electric light fittings, crockery, construction material, tools, implements, mechanical products, gla.s.sware, matches, tannery, saddlery and many others. As in all the other Argentine sections, the exhibition is made more complete by the display of splendid photographs which a.s.sist in demonstrating the rapid advance in the number and character of Argentine manufactures.
The justification of the description of the Argentine Republic as the "universal provider" of foodstuffs is to be found in the section a.s.signed to such products, notwithstanding the absence of an exhibition of chilled and frozen meats, together with some of their by-products, as a result of circ.u.mstances which have temporarily impeded the operations of the great packing houses. The vast proportions of this branch of industry may be gathered from the admirable collection of photographs displayed. The regrettable fact that the Argentine Republic is unable to offer any practical demonstration of its meat-producing capacity through circ.u.mstances over which neither the country nor the producers had any control is, to some extent, however, compensated for by the large and interesting exhibition of many of its other leading food products. The milling industry is amply represented by samples of excellent quality from the raw material down to such by-products as biscuits, nutritious pastes, sweets, candies and all the other articles made from it. Here important s.p.a.ce is also given to such articles of general consumption, as preserved fruits, condensed milk, sterilized and antiseptic, lard, cheese, conserved vegetables, etc. Beverages, wines, beer and liqueurs are abundantly represented, whilst there are numerous exhibits of other alcoholic products, oils and vinegars. A prominent feature of this section is the diorama ill.u.s.trating field sports and fishing and an interesting collection of embalmed animals, particularly birds and fishes, of many different species and dimensions.
In the Mineral and Metallurgy Department of the Exposition, the Argentine Republic has an effective display of a general collection of minerals and three special exhibits of petroleum and combustibles, borates, salts and materials for construction. In regard to these, more attention has been given to the object of securing typical samples which demonstrate the character of the various ore deposits, than to the consideration of the actual number of samples. In the collection of petroleum and combustibles, there are samples from the following deposits: Commodore Rivadavia, Laguna de la Brea, Cerro Buitres, San Rafael, Cacheta, Covunco (Neuquen), Cerro Sotena, Challaco, Mina Carmelo (Salta), Yacuiba, Garrapatal (Jujuy). This collection contains 39 different samples, with specific details and statistics especially tabulated in every case. The exhibition of marbles and stones for purposes of construction is most complete. Here are to be seen the famous marble onyx of San Luis and of San Rafael, the marbles from the Sierras of Cordoba (represented by 15 varieties), and specimens of the large granites of Sierras Bajas, Olavarria, etc. There is also a collection of mineral waters in which are included those mostly used in the thermal establishments of Rosario de la Frontera; whilst, as a decorative contribution to the exhibition there is a plastic representation of the Sierras of Famatina, showing a part of its wonderful aerial railway, together with an admirable series of photographs, maps, and diagrams embracing practically every branch of the mineral and metallurgical industries.
The designation of "Palace of Liberal Arts" is a somewhat inadequate description of the Argentine exhibits of Liberal Arts in the generic sense of the words, as, in addition to the branches of study usually embodied in that cla.s.sification, there are included under that head many exhibits of a scientific and technical character which, for the demonstration they afford of national progress in the direction referred to, might well have formed a separate collection. Here are to be seen a complete series of drawings, maps, statistics and plans of works graphically depicting, with full details, the princ.i.p.al river systems and general workings of the rivers and ports of the Republic, all prepared by the Department of Public Works. Nearly every technical division of the Government Departments is represented in this section, many of the exhibits having been sent by the General Board of Railways, the Board of Bridges and Roads, the Board of Architecture, the Board of Health, the Board of the Capital and various Divisions of the War Cabinet, each unit containing photographs, plans and diagrams indicating the advance that has been made in all these important public works.
Amongst other features of interest contained in this section, special mention should be made of the representation of the National and Foreign Press, which furnishes unquestionable evidence of the high state of efficiency and general excellence as well as the enterprise of Argentine journalism. Here also are the exhibits of the literary, scientific and educational works produced in the Republic and the contributions of the National Centre of Engineers, of the Argentine Graphic Inst.i.tute, of the Central Society of Architecture, of the Society of Architects and Construction of Works, etc., etc., all combining to ill.u.s.trate the high degree of Argentine progress in the field of Liberal Arts.
In an earlier chapter reference is made to the great advance made by the Argentine Republic, in recent years, in the development of education, to which cause successive Governments have given ever-increasing thought and attention, whilst Congress has, year by year, sympathetically supported the Government policy by augmented money votes for the addition to the number and the improvement of educational inst.i.tutions.
In the Palace of Education and Social Economy which was voluntarily accorded a place of honor by the Exposition Commission amongst the princ.i.p.al Palaces of the Fair, there has been formed a collection of detailed exhibits pertaining to Argentine national education which points to the very great importance given to this subject by the authorities of the Republic. The efforts of every official element in educational matters have been brought into play with a result that leaves no doubt, either as to the desire for, or the standard of culture in the Argentine Republic. This exhibition, moreover, is not only an effective exponent of national progress but will also serve to remove an easily understood, though generally prevailing ignorance in many foreign countries of true conditions in Argentina. In order to add perfect completeness to the educational exhibits, a new departure has been made to show full details of every branch of teaching, official and private, primary, secondary, university, commercial, industrial, agricultural, professional, etc., etc., for all cla.s.ses and ages, by means of plans, statistics and some 6,000 photographs representing 150 leading inst.i.tutions and upwards of 100,000 students and pupils whose physical characteristics at once reveal the predomination of the higher European types. As may be imagined, these ill.u.s.trations represent the scholarly activities of the country in their widest aspect and are not merely photographs of special groups of children such as are frequently shown in educational exhibitions. The statistics, which form an instructive addition to the pictorial matter, have been so compiled and tabulated as to make their full value and significance easy of comprehension and there is every reason to believe that those which accompany the ill.u.s.trations of the agricultural sections and experimental stations will be of special interest to the majority of American visitors to the Exposition.
In regard to the group of exhibits corresponding to the section of Social Economy contained in the same artistically arranged building, much detail is furnished concerning many of the social and charitable inst.i.tutions of the Republic, in reference to which there is an absence of information abroad. The co-operation of the Argentine Social Museum and other important public bodies has enabled the Commission to present a comprehensive exhibition of views and of the methods of operation of the various national a.s.sociations established, as asylums, refuges, hospitals, poor-houses and other organizations for the protection of women and children and for the prevention of crime, as well as demonstrations of the work performed by these bodies, some of which also have for their purpose the extension of social improvement, of public order, economy, hygiene, labor, the construction of dwellings and other objects of public advantage. In this section there is also an exhibition of works of arts produced by Argentine artists embracing a careful selection of paintings and examples of sculpture representative and characteristic, in every sense, of national art; and with a view to demonstrating the artistic progress of the country, this collection is made up of only recent works, not one of which has previously been shown in any foreign Exposition.
[Ill.u.s.tration: SARMIENTO SCHOOL, BUENOS AIRES]
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CENTURY SCHOOL (ESCUELA DEL CENTENARIO)]
This shadowy outline of the nature and quality of the Argentine exhibits at the San Francisco Exposition, though utterly incomplete as a description of their importance and value, will convey a general idea of the position attained by the Argentine Republic in all those moral and material factors which go to make up a great nation; and if to these elements are added the initiative and beneficial labors of Argentina in the international sphere, a sense of pride should be awakened in the hearts of all Americans that in the arts of peace, the widely separated, though great, countries of the American Continent, stand out as shining examples, worthy of emulation even by many countries of the old world.
INTERCHANGE OF COMMERCE
In 1895 the exports from the United States to the Argentine Republic amounted in value to $6,686,999 and the imports from that country to $8,947,165. In 1912 the exports from the United States amounted to $53,158,179 and the imports to $29,847,016. These figures sufficiently indicate the results likely to follow the active campaign of the manufacturers and commercial bodies in this country, recently initiated as a consequence of the war. The conditions arising out of the great upheaval caused by that world disaster have furnished the occasion for the exercise of an effort without parallel in the United States in any previous attempt to secure a larger share of South American trade. In this movement the Argentine Republic must necessarily be the main objective, owing to the vastness of its resources and commercial activities. Yet, although there is no doubt that the United States should and will const.i.tute a still greater source of supply to that country of manufactured products, machinery and other articles, not only during the war, but for a long period after its close, it is necessary to consider that in order to secure a permanent extension of international trade upon a scale of magnitude apparently justified by superficial conditions, serious attention should be given to matters of reciprocal interests and the past relations of the Argentine Republic with the European countries to which it has freely opened its markets.
In this connection the words "reciprocal interests" must be taken rather in a literal sense than in the sense of reciprocity, as that expression is usually understood when applied to international treaties. Even though the question of tariffs does not now form so insuperable an obstacle to a large interchange of commerce between the two countries as was formerly the case, the fact that the balance of Argentine"s trade with the leading countries of Europe has always been in her favor, renders it a condition precedent to a permanent expansion of international commerce that there must be a greater quality of interest than exists at present. In other words, the United States must offer corresponding advantages to the Argentine Republic to attract a transfer of a considerable share of her commerce from European compet.i.tors.
In the instances of Great Britain, Germany and France, with which countries the Argentine Republic has always transacted the greater part of her foreign trade, there has not only been a steady and ever-increasing growth in the consumption of Argentine national products, but those countries have likewise furnished huge amounts of capital for the establishment on Argentine soil of industrial and commercial undertakings, which, by their own necessities, create a natural extension of commercial interchange. It must also be remembered that the main products of the Argentine Republic are also the main products of the United States, where they are protected by High Tariffs, whereas, in Great Britain, which is Argentina"s princ.i.p.al customer, there are no duties upon the imports of foodstuffs. In these circ.u.mstances it is obvious that some means must be found whereby the interests of Argentina in her commercial relations with the United States must be made more reciprocal, either by the introduction of American capital for the development of local industries, or by the remission, at least, of a substantial portion of the duties now imposed upon Argentine exports to the United States.
The enormous growth of population which has changed the position of the United States from an exporting to a consuming country, so far as foodstuffs are concerned, will, doubtless, in course of time, considerably ameliorate the restrictive conditions which have heretofore operated as a barrier to large exports of Argentine products to this country. On the other hand, the production of the Argentine Republic, by reason of the largely increased area placed under cultivation year after year, maintains her exporting capacity at a constantly higher level.
Thus, given equal conditions in other respects, the United States might ultimately become as free a market for Argentina"s meat and grain as any of the countries of Europe. Under similar circ.u.mstances as those indicated, there could also be infinitely larger imports of raw material which could subsequently be re-sold to the Argentine Republic in manufactured form.
The countries which have hitherto occupied the first place in Argentine foreign trade are those which not only gave initial impulse to the development of national industries by the founding of banks and the construction of railways, but likewise by the creation of adequate steamship services. There are to-day upwards of 33,000 kilometers of railway in operation in the Republic, with an aggregate capital of considerably over $2,000,000,000, more than 90 per cent, of which is entirely British, whilst the oversea communications are conducted by regular and rapid services of steamships flying the flags of the maritime countries of Europe. The great traction companies in the capital and the provinces are British; the street electric railways established on an important scale throughout the Republic are British; the foremost Light and Power concerns are German; with the exception of the National Bank of the Republic and the branch of the National City Bank of New York recently opened, the banking interests are largely European, whilst the great majority of the princ.i.p.al industrial and commercial enterprises are also European. Of the $400,000,000 of the Argentine External Debt, practically the whole of the issues making up this vast sum are in the hands of European investors and, in normal times, as further capital is called for to meet the requirements of any of the established enterprises, or of others formed on similar lines, it is invariably forthcoming from Europe; and to these advantages which the Argentine Republic enjoys in her commercial relations with the older countries, there is the additional fact that she derives all her immigration from northern and southern Europe.
Let us now examine the American interests, the most encouraging features of which are the establishment of a branch bank of the National City Bank of New York and the unqualified success in the United States of the loans recently made by that enterprising inst.i.tution and other American bankers to the Argentine Republic. These two factors point to the realization, by those who are best able to judge, of the necessity for a new basis of intercourse in the future; and that this fact is understood in the Argentine Republic may be seen by the appreciative opinions of the press and the public authorities of that country. In other forms of industrial or commercial enterprises, American interests are comparatively insignificant. The acquisition and establishment of local freezing plants by the American packing houses, though important in extent, involve considerations of too controversial a character to be dealt with in this survey of the commercial relations of the two countries. It is considered desirable, therefore, to treat only of such branches of industry, commerce and finance as embrace the general field of foreign enterprise. The only American interest in railways is in the Argentine Railway Company, which consists of a combination of three or four minor lines in the north and north-eastern provinces, with a small proportion of American capital. In the great cattle raising and agricultural industries there is little or no American capital employed and it is also conspicuous by its absence from the lengthy list of land, mortgage and finance companies established in the Republic. It is true that there are many manufacturing concerns of the United States represented by agencies, but apart from the Customs revenue this representation brings to the country it is in no sense a contributor to its development.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ANOTHER PRIVATE RESIDENCE IN BUENOS AIRES]
[Ill.u.s.tration: WATER WORKS BUILDING, BUENOS AIRES]
An impartial examination of these circ.u.mstances raises the question as to how, without some changes in the directions pointed to, the United States may hope to share with Europe, on anything like equal terms, the profitable and ever-growing trade of the Argentine Republic? To sum up the situation, it may be asked, in what way can the United States equalize the advantages which Europe offers to the Argentine Republic by way of the purchase of her products, the large and constant supply of capital and the labor of its emigrants? There are many articles of merchandise and items of machinery in regard to which Europe cannot successfully compete with the United States, notwithstanding the greater facilities for transportation; but there are also numberless articles of American production which could find a ready market in Argentine if the surrounding conditions approached a greater measure of equality.
An a.n.a.lysis of the figures of the foreign trade of the Argentine Republic for the past twenty years establishes the fact that the United States is in a position to successfully compete with Europe in many lines far beyond the limits already reached; and there is certainly no lack of effort or inclination on the part of American manufacturers to enter into such compet.i.tion. It is therefore reasonable to a.s.sume that there are other causes operating to check a growth in the volume of American trade with the Argentine Republic.
There are no laws in the Argentine Republic, either of a fiscal or domestic nature, which are calculated to affect ruling market prices, or which admit of inequality of treatment. Tariffs are based upon a reciprocal policy, the tariff laws of the Argentine Republic being so framed as to permit the Executive to relax and reduce in favor of those countries which accord similar treatment to her national products.
Credits are intrinsically sound and in ordinary periods are usually regulated with foreign countries by purchase at ninety, or one hundred-and-twenty days" sight drafts. In the discussion of this point it may also be urged that the statements so generally made in regard to the alleged long credit demanded by Argentine buyers owe their origin to the conditions prevailing in regard to shipping matters in days gone by, when the steamship services between North and South America were more irregular and far less rapid than is the case to-day. It was no fault of the Argentine importer that merchandise was frequently tied up for weeks together in an American port and that the trip took much longer than it now does. Yet, those delays caused the exporter to wait weeks and frequently months longer than was necessary to receive his money. Hence, the currency of the statement that long credit is an indispensable condition to trading with Argentine. At the present moment the Argentine Republic is gradually recovering from the effects of a financial and commercial crisis brought about through conditions which it had no power to change; and, in order to secure immediate results, it may be necessary at the present time to extend the customary terms of credit, but this may be done with perfect safety and with commensurate profit if the exporter avails himself of the services created by the National City Bank of New York and others for the investigation of prospective buyers.
Irrespective, however, of all other conditions, satisfactory banking and shipping facilities are essential requirements of an extended commerce between the United States and the Argentine Republic. The establishment of an American bank has paved the way for the removal of many of the difficulties. .h.i.therto imposed on the American exporter, but there still remains the important question of ocean transport. The service of steamships now in regular operation between North and South American ports is wholly inadequate to support a rapidly developing trade unless the ships now running are subst.i.tuted by vessels of adequate speed and capacity. To secure this object some provision would have to be made to cover the increased cost of construction and of operation of the larger vessels and also to overcome the difficulty of return cargoes.
Practically all of the European steamships trading with South America carry full return cargoes, but owing to the reasons already given and princ.i.p.ally because of the fact that the shipments from Argentina to the United States are at present limited to a small number of products, the services established between North and South America cannot compete in the matter of freight until they are placed on a similar footing as the European lines in regard to return cargoes, which, under existing conditions, are unavailable and must remain so until either the laws or the needs of the United States will permit of larger and more general imports from the Argentine Republic.
The figures already given in the relation to the trade of the United States with the Argentine Republic show a considerable balance, almost amounting to forty per cent in favor of the former. Now let us see what are the proportions of Argentine trade with some of the countries of Europe. Argentine imports from the United Kingdom in 1912 amounted to $118,669,226, and her exports to $121,373,858. In the same year her exports to Germany amounted to $53,995,175, and her imports to $63,941,503. To France the exports were valued at $36,052,009, and her imports $37,618,578. To Belgium her exports totalled $37,258,225, and her imports $20,370,530. These figures speak for themselves and taken in conjunction with the other solid inducements offered by the countries of Europe in return for the benefits of a larger trade with the Argentine Republic, should form a subject for serious consideration in the effort to secure for the United States a proportionate share of Argentine commerce.
THE CITY OF BUENOS AIRES
Favored by nature and by the conditions under which it was founded, the City of Buenos Aires from its earliest days has been endowed with elements which have considerably influenced the vast growth and development that have made it the leading Latin city of the new world.
Situated on the banks of the River Plate and at the gateway of the Atlantic, nature has largely contributed towards making it a great commercial centre. At the time of its foundation, it attracted but few of the adventurers, who, in their quest of gold, migrated to other parts of South America, the wealth of the soil and the abundance of the flocks and herds having brought to its sh.o.r.es a less turbulent and more laborious cla.s.s of immigrants who sought a new home and a new outlet for their activities in the "City of Good Airs." The pure European origin and the commercial spirit of the new inhabitants soon produced changes in pre-existing conditions and in marking out the path for the present Argentine metropolis to become the hub of South America. Founded in 1535 by Pedro de Mendoza, and subsequently destroyed and twice depopulated, the modern rise of the capital of what is now the Argentine Republic may be said to date from 1824, after the formulation of the Monroe Doctrine and the recognition of the independence of the people of Buenos Aires by the United States and Great Britain. At about that time efforts were initiated to provide the means of facilitating the transport of its products to foreign markets and in order to establish the necessary facilities for that purpose, Buenos Aires raised (in England) its first loan of $5,000,000. To that comparatively small financial transaction may be traced the reasons for the enormous investment of foreign capital--chiefly British--which has since enabled the country to serve humanity by the increasing development of its numerous sources of wealth. Following this preliminary introduction of foreign capital, there was established a regular line of sailing packets between Buenos Aires and Montevideo and, later, a line of steamers between Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, which progressive measures were added to an official bank and, within the next thirty years, a line of railway extending in a westerly direction from the capital.
These were the beginnings of the evolution of modern Buenos Aires, which now properly ranks as the second Latin city of the world. Nor is it by any means alone to material progress that the City of Buenos Aires owes its present proud position. The spirit and qualities of its early founders are manifested to-day in the outward expression of all the attributes of a highly civilized and enlightened community. The architecture and adornments of the city, the culture, education and manners of the inhabitants, their inborn courtesy and generous instincts combine to explain the admiration which all who visit the city never fail to entertain and express. The cosmopolitan character of the population, the palatial residences--the broad and s.p.a.cious avenues, museums, libraries, art galleries and other unmistakable signs of the high degree of culture of the citizens, fully justify the description of Buenos Aires as the Paris of the western hemisphere.
Originally built up on Spanish lines of single-story houses and narrow streets, the mason has been superseded by the architect and many of the old narrow thoroughfares by wide and beautiful avenues intersecting the central portions of the city. The domestic architecture of the time of Rozas was gradually succeeded by the introduction of the architectural beauty of the period of the Renaissance and subsequently by the various Grecian orders, culminating in the advent of European architects and artists who evolved many unique and distinct styles which are to-day ill.u.s.trated in a number of the imposing and artistic edifices that adorn the city and, with the surrounding parks, trees, gardens, flowerbeds and running waters, both in the centre and in the suburbs, reveal a panorama of unsurpa.s.sing beauty. Many of the ancient houses with flat roofs and severely simple facades have been subst.i.tuted by highly ornamented dwellings of two, three, or more stories; and, with a desire to add to the embellishment of the city, the Munic.i.p.ality offers a gold medal and a diploma to the architect, and an immunity from payment of the building tax to the owner, of the building for the most artistic facade, the jury being composed of representatives of different bodies exercising authority in relation to such matters as architecture, surveys, public works, engineering and fine arts. By the employment of these methods, Buenos Aires, in recent years, has made notable advance in architecture, not only in regard to private dwellings, but also in its public buildings and the unquestionable increase in number and quality of the monuments, statues, and sculptural groups dotted over every part of the city. During the last twenty years there have been constructed new avenues and thoroughfares of great width and length lined by handsome buildings, paved with asphalt and lighted with huge electric globes, whilst the Munic.i.p.ality has spared no expense in widening many existing streets to meet the growing demands of the population and to give more light and air to quarters of the city which are densely inhabited.
The aesthetic side of the city of Buenos Aires is to be found in its splendid museums, art galleries and public and private libraries, of which there are many of unquestionable merit. Amongst these, special mention should be made of the Natural History Museum, which is of great interest from the point of view of educational value and intellectual progress. The Zoological, Botanical, Mineral, Archeological and Ethnographical specimens, numbering many thousands, have been cla.s.sified on a scientific basis by eminent authorities over a period of many years and form a collection of objects and curiosities of nature unexcelled for their variety and interest. The National Historical Museum possesses a collection of historic trophies and works, ma.n.u.scripts, ancient coins and other objects, over 4,000 in number. Here are also halls and galleries, containing portraits of the Viceroys, pictures of naval and military battles, trophies of the war with Great Britain, the room in which San Martin lived and died, furniture, uniforms, arms, decorations and a variety of other articles of great historic interest. On the same order and limited to its expressed purpose, there is a Museum of Arms which contains a collection of weapons with records of their authenticity attached. In this collection there are many specimens of rare weapons and accoutrements of different periods ranging from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries. There are, besides, many flags and other articles a.s.sociated with the wars of different periods. Of much more recent date and, perhaps, also of greater practical interest, is the Natural Agricultural Museum, the objects of which are to promote the knowledge of agriculture by instructive exhibits and to demonstrate the measures best adapted to the scientific methods of cultivation and to overcome the natural drawbacks besetting that branch of national industry. The collection comprises upwards of twenty thousand specimens of agricultural products of every description as well as statistics and information pertaining to rural economy.
The libraries of the city are both extensive and numerous and contain in addition to modern works of importance in different languages bibliographical treasures of different periods representing the world"s various cycles of literature.
The public and private art galleries of the city with their varied collections embrace a great number of old masters and of modern productions in painting, sculpture, pottery, engraving and every form of art representing all known periods and all nations. First amongst these exhibitions is the Museum of Fine Arts, which contains a number of important works collected and arranged with great skill and taste, whilst many of the private galleries have been especially erected in the palaces of wealthy residents for the purpose of housing some of the priceless objects which are to be found in the capital of the Argentine Republic.
A feature of striking interest in the life of Buenos Aires is the number and excellence of the many hospitals, asylums and other charitable organizations established to provide for the afflicted and poorer cla.s.ses of the community. Apart from those endowed by the various foreign colonies residing in the city, the majority of these inst.i.tutions are largely supported by State aid in form of appropriation or specific revenues. On the other hand, vast sums are privately subscribed to those not entirely of an official character.
As a great commercial centre, the aspect and movement of the city are equally striking. The port, docks, railroad depots, wharves, warehouses, street railways, lighting and other signs of industrial activity abound in every direction and make Buenos Aires to the Argentine Republic what New York is to the United States. It is, moreover, the princ.i.p.al mart for the agricultural and pastoral products of many of the leading ranches of the Republic and draws to its periodical sales of wool, hides, cattle and sheep, buyers from many foreign countries.
Buenos Aires, like many other great capitals, is confronted with the difficulty of a congestion of traffic owing to the large increase of population and the narrowness of the streets in the older sections of the city, but this problem is being gradually solved by the construction of new broad diagonal avenues and by the building of subways which are now being rapidly extended. With all these evidences of progress on every side, it will not be a surprising revelation to add that Buenos Aires possesses some of the greatest newspapers, one of the finest Opera Houses and the finest Club Houses in the world. There are other large and flourishing cities in the Republic, such as Rosario, Santa Fe, Cordova, La Plata (capital of the province of Buenos Aires) and Bahia Blanca, but the City of Buenos Aires is the brain and heart of the Republic and must always maintain its supremacy as the leading metropolis of Latin America.
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