ARGENTINE THE PARADISE

Dunstan Times, Issue 3136, 25 September 1922, Page 7

ARGENTINE THE PARADISE

That is what Mr Lloyd George calls the groat South American republic. The •occasion of the Imperial Prime Ministers eulogy was a banquet in Loudon given in honor of Dr Marcclot de Alvear, President-elect of the republic. Mr Lloyd George proposed the health of the guest, and in doing so made a •speech which was at once historical, statistical, humorous, and pathetic, being punctuated with outbursts of applause and laughter drawn from a disl tmgui.shed company. Mr Lloyd George said: "We welcome Dr Alvear to this country for his own sake. He bears one of the most honored names in his own country. His ancestor was one of those associated with the great movement for the liberation of the Argentine. It is always a matter of pride to us that we have sheltered many liberators, and Dr Alvear's ancestor was one of them. His projects and plans and ereeds were formulated in this atmosphere, and ho sailed from

London in the British frigate bearing Hie name of George Canning. I think our guest's ancestor was a minister in this country, so that from generation to generation the association between our honored guest ami this country has been kept up to this hour, and wo arc delighted to see the President-elect here renewing the acquaintance of which we are proud. Ho knows Europe well. He was .Minister in France during the great war and until a very few weeks ago. He was on board the European ship during the greatest hurricane that lias ever swept over this storm-swept Continent. He was hero as a passenger, I believe, but, all the same, he saw something of the tenipi'st and the waves of destruction and, devastation. Therefore, when he goes back to the Argentine, he will carry 111 his heart and mind the knowledge of and sympathy for this Continent, which has become fated for so much torment and destruction, and we can always count upon him to judge our problems with knowledge and with sympathy We, therefore, welcome him here for his own sake, but we welcome, inn, above all things, because he has been called upon to preside over the councils and the festines of a -great country now, and a very much greater country to be, which has been on terms or the closest and friendliest intimacy with our own land for over a century We depend very largely for our daily bread' upon the Argentine, and therefore, we have the friendliest feelings towards that country. At everv meal we praise the Argentine I re hiemberin the'time of the Great War the anxiety with which Ave watched the Argentine harvest. Australia was too ifflr to etch our food, although we knew that there was plenty of food there awaiting us. India was also too far but the Argentine was just within reach, and we watched the weatherglass— not here; it is no use watching tlie weather-glass here—it would take lip too much of your time, and during the war we were too busy to follow the weather-glass. But the weather in the Argentine was of vital consequence because our food came from there. Tn I act, the war was won by the Allies very largely on Argentine beef and wheat 1 remember something of its plains between the Andes and the Atlantic. T remember traversing them and looking at them with wonder, their immensity, their richness, and they poured their fertility to the hungry cities ot Europe. ]t is a great countrv. they are no doubt suffering, not from their own lack of resources or industry, and skill of developing and exploiting those resources, but thev are muttering from what Ave arc ail suffering from, the impoverishment of the world, because of the conditions of the world. We are all learning the lesson of interdependence of the nations, that no nation, hoAvever rich, hoAvever resourceful, however powerful, can walk alone, and live without its neighbors, and that the prosperity of every country, ineludnig the Argentine, depends 'upon the general restoration of good conditions m the world at large. But there is a good deal in their conditions Avhich makes us envy them. They have no Avar debt, no Avorry about exchange*, except ours. They have no heavy burden of taxation which bends * their backs. What a paradise! It used to be said that good Americans, when they died, Avent to Paris. It Avould be equally true hoav, I think, that all the weary taxpayers, Avhen they pass awav, will go to Buenos Ayres. We are glad to have the Presidentelect ot this great countrv here. We are, I think, the greatest 'importers of Argentine produce. Last year Ave imported 50 per cent, of all 'the produce of the Argentine Republic. The year before we imported CO per cent, rather a gloomy reflection upon us. It simply shows how important good trade is in England for the Republic. When trade is bad here vv <> buy 10 per cent. less. On the other hand, I think the Argentine are very good customers of curs, and I think they eoiuo fourth "ii the list. Then> is a commercial tie. a tie of mutual interest. We have taken a great interest in the development of that country through our capital than any other country in the Avorld. We arc incomparably the greatest investors in Argentina. That shows the wisdom and foresight of our iuvestors. They invested generation ago, when people did not believe in the Argentine; but British investors saw the possibilities. It is a country of infinite possibilities with its 250,000.000 acres, the vast majority of which have never been under the plough. It is a country whose potential greatness is beyond the limits of our horizon. It Avill be one day. one of the greatest countries in the Avorld. when it is fully developed, and the men it lias chosen for its presidents, men of the quality of our guest, is a proof that the democracy of the country has made up its mind that the progress of the land shall be on Avise, sane, and steadfast lines. By such choice it will Avin respect even higher than now amongst the great civilised nations of the world. l)r do Alvear, in his reply, paid a glowing tribute to England, saying, amongst other complimentary references, that he would not be a true democrat did he not profess special alfoetion and great admiration for England, the cradle of modern political civilisation .whose liberal institutions of lawf ill representation and respect for men's personally were a lofty example by which the most advanced by which the most advanced and powerful democracies <>V the wovM \r.u\ VrtHMi inspived. Magna Charta was not only an instrument on Avhich was inscribed with legal fn'."iditv the precepts of liberty. It was something greater still. In th" dark periods of humanity it was a bright light which radiated even to the confines-*!' the world, illuminating the spirit of those Avho.se great patriotism was glowing for their country, now conquests and further prom-ess. The people of the Argentine could not Forget nor would they ever forget IiOAV. in the first uncertain hours of their nationality they received the support /.r Croat Britain, which believed in the Future of their country when it was still in doubt. Under such favorable circumstances the economic relations between the two countries rapidly developed. Croat Britain's cnnital gave the Argentine credit, thus allowing h<w to develop her great national wealth. British brooders, by sending to the Argentine the purest of creeds, found-

Ed the national .stock, and British merchants opened up the commerce of tho country. The two countries were indissolubly bound together, and this union was guaranteed by the true spirit of friendship. British patriots inspired the people of tho Argentine hith great and profound sympathy. They admired the British energy and calmness. Tho people of Great Britain had a generous feeling of respect for the dignity of others, and they had formed that typo of man known throughout tho world by the mime of "genfrlemon." He concluded: "I raise my glass in honor of Great Britain, her invincible Navy, her victorious Army, and express my sincerest wishes for the prosperity of the august family of his Majesty King George, whose ylorious reign will. 1 hope, happily continue for many .years.