WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 1910. A, CHAPTER IN SOUTH AMERICAN HISTORY.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13742, 25 May 1910, Page 6

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 1910. A, CHAPTER IN SOUTH AMERICAN HISTORY.

The .people of tho Argentine will hold high . Holiday to-day, and celebrate with nil duo ceremony and enthusiasm the centenary of their independence. May 25th, 1810, from which the Argentine dates its independence, is a landmark in South American history. Tho wavo of revolt that swept over South America in tho early years of last century was the inevitable result of a system of government as stupid as it was tyrannical. Spain governed, , her colonies entirely in her own interests. They were appanages of, the Crown, and-©very available penny was squeezed out of them for the. benefit of the Court and Spanish merchants. The Governors of jilie colonies were representatives of an absolute monarchy that ruled from across thousands of miles of sea. The people had some municipal liberties, but no voico in largo questions of policy, and official posts were nearly always given to men. from Spain, .who had bo sym■pathy with aspirations for greater freedom. Tho administration was tyrannical and corrupt.. After an insurrection in 1781, several suspects were tortuxed, printing presses were forbidden,, and boolis of nearly every kind proscribed. Commercial restrictions of astotuiding severity were imposed. > The "colonies must send their prod nets to Spain alone, and import .everything from tho same country. All goods 'had to be carried in Spanish shape. Even intercourse between ono colony and another was forbidden, or hedged round with intolerable restrictions. At ono timo all commerce between Spain end the province of Bueno3 Ayxes had, owing to the jealousy of Spanish merchants, to bo carried on by way of Pacific portsi.

Such a mediieval system of government, was bound to provoke revolution in tho end; tho only wonder is that it lasted so long. Strange io Bay, until towards the end of the 18th century, and even until the.outbreak of revolution, tho Spanish-Americans were as a class very loyal to their king. But events elsewhere quickened into life all through the continent the latent passion for liberty. • Tho successful revolt of the North American colonies showed what could bo done by colonists against the might of a great country. Tho French Revolution's waves of impulse reached every distant Spanish dependency. In the case of the Argentine, British policy strengthened tho movement for independence, though in a manner quite contrary to tho expectations, of his Majesty's Ministers. Thero

are few more inglorious pages in our military history than tho stories of our intervention in South America in 1806 and 1807. The British Government believed that the inhabitants wore ready to throw off the Spanish yoke at the iirst\)pportunity, but General Bereeford found that this was by no means the caso. After entering Buenos Ayres with ease, he was attacked and obliged to surrender. The foUowingyear General "Whitelock was sent with 10,000 British troops to take tho capital. Tho inhabitants . had made full preparations, and when the invaders entered the city they were mown down by a murderous fire from houses and barricades, towhich they could not reply' with any effect. Again a British commander had to surrender, ignominiotisly to the enemy. But the invasions bad., indirectly, most important consequences. Tho defeats cave confidoxtce- to the Spanish-Americans, with whom most of " tho credit rested, while the feeble stand made by tho Spanish authorities weakened the Government's hold on the country. ■:'■:.'■ .

ultimately provoked the risings i*n South America was the deposition of Ferdinand of Spain by Nanoleon, and the setting up of another king in his place. The Americans would Hot recognise the new king, but they were equally averse to recognising the Spanish Juntas. They claimed the to form Juntas of their own, to art unti! Ferdinand should return to his throne. From this attitude of veiled, to one of real, independence, the transition was easy. In the Argentine the people, backed by Spanish-American troops, a legacy of the British invasions, compelled the authorities to consent to tho formation of a Provisional Government, which was declared on May 25th, 1810. Ihiring the nest few years a sanguinary war between the Royalists and the party of independence spread over tbo province, and it was not until 1816 that separation from Spain was formally announced, and comparative order established. It is impossible to go into tho details of the wars before and after that date, but mention must be made of the help the Argentine gave to the revolutionary movement outside her borders. San Martin, the famoue Argentine leader, is second only to Bolivar on the roll of tho great men who fought for South American liberty. When in 1817 the revolutionists were hard pressed in Chili, San Martin, emulating Hannibal, led an army across tho Andes, to tho complete surprise of tbo Spaniards, who were crushingly defeated by the combined forces. Thence San Martin marched to Peru, and entered in triumph the greatest and most historic stronghold of Spanish power in South America. Afterwards, finding that Bolivar's ambitions did not coincide with his ideas, with rare self-efface-ment ho retired into private life, and died abroad. His memory, and that of many other brave men, will be honoured in many ways to-day in tho country ■which they helped to raise from the status gf. a starved and stunted colony to that of a sreat nation.