SUPREME GUARD AT FRONTIER

Evening Star, Issue 20990, 2 January 1932, Page 5

SUPREME GUARD AT FRONTIER

CHRIST OF THE ANDES ■" STATUE MADE FROM THE GUNS OF WAR. Twelve-thousand feet above sea level, on the slopes of the Andes ; in La Cumbre Pass, stands a massive bronze statue of Jesus Christ. One of the inscriptions on the pedestal declares : Sooner shall these mountains crumble into dust than the peoples of Argentina and Chile-break the peace which at the feet of Christ the Redeemer they have sworn to maintain. • This remarkable ' monument was erected bythe organised workers of Argentina. The metal used' for the Divine figure was taken from the guns which previously had guarded the Chilean arid Argentine frontier. At the unveiling ceremony the Chilean side of the frontier was occupied by the people of Argentina, and vice versa. Beneath the memorial runs the tunnel which links the railways of the two nations. The statue—universally knbwn as “ The Christ of the Andes ” —is a permanent and inspiring demonstration of the value of international arbitration which may appropriately be recalled today when all minds are turned,towards the sacrifices of the Great War. For many years the boundary line between Argentina and Chile* was a matter of grave and cijritinuous dispute. ,In 1881 a treaty of settlement was made, but it remained unratified. Twenty-one ye’ars later, when the ‘two countries were on the verge of war, an appeal was made to King-Edward VIL, arid the British Government agreed to act as arbitrator conditionally upon the cessation of hostile preparations. _ _ Under the presidency of Sir ; Thomas Holdich, the British Commission gave a decision .which was accepted unreserve- y by both sides. “ The Christ of the Andes ”,Js an earnest of;the sincerity of their agreement.