OUR COMMERCIAL RIVAL. THE ARGENTINE AS IT IS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2805, 18 December 1907, Page 15

OUR COMMERCIAL RIVAL. THE ARGENTINE AS IT IS.

REV. R- .F. ELDER JUNTERVpWED^ t t ' a CountriesT fw.- distant are *pt to regard each "oiher- as outlandish^ and the people to shake their heads over' "weird stories brought from.' the benighted" places by playful sailor foli. ' India .to. many- is but a' large slic^pf^njij^erd/am;. Alaska, , snowy mountains" where frost-bitten diggers get gold "frith pickaxes ; ' and gorgeous " Br&zil merely "the plaoef"' where the nuts come from." 'The gUwnoor.'of romarice, however, has always clung tenaciously to the Argentine. There » a- wealthy sound in the Very name, and the highly imaginative intending emigrant' has visions of golden streams red ■H.'ith wine aad the blood of revolutionaries. The Argentine, as it is, will be found briefly sketched 'in* lie- following iriterestinterview 'accorded to the Times on the IQtb'by. the Rev. Robert F. Elder, of the "Regions Bejond" Missionary Cnion. ' Mr Elder left New Zealand eight years ago for ' a f out years' course of study at Mr Spurgeon's college in 'London. Incident' ally he comes from Oaroaru. Toucb^g at , Monte Video^h'e was' struck with the possibilities offered by the Argentine as a mission field. So few had visited it in that way. Therefore,' his * London studies over, he ■ took ship, and landed in'"]the Argentine in May, 1900. ,' • BUENOS ATRES. . 1 He found Buenos, Aires a magnificent city ot . 1,0X9,000 inhabitants, with electric 'light,, .abd trams and many fine buildings. 'In- otte,' splendid street, - the Avenda d« Mayo,' "ho building less than 90ft in height may be eredteav This avenue is lined od either* •Me^'with' trees, and bears a striking^ resemblance to the Rue de Honore in' Paris. It is -by# no tramway, but electrio cars' cross it at every block. For- tfite'inost'- part' tW "city is .of Jbrick^ pla*tefcea^#hic& grres it aya v white and/ clean .appearance.. Buenos Aires, however, has its slums, which Are as cramped and filthy. as any in Madrid- Here are the Conventil.lo, small * oob&fc^foned ,-coucts. with tiews of rooitte built rbjacid- them. Each court is surrounded by ab6ut*ac hundred rooms, and each room oorrtatinaL- 'at 'least ,<jne fapaijy. As there are "no' L grass,' trees, 1 * space, and hardly any air, the condition of the occupants and premises can. be imagined. Mr Elder went on to say ihat^France was taken as 'effiHgaTn'otkoly" in religion. The State creed wee Roman Catholic, but there Tvas.,a <deoided tendency :ftctfdj#t. dwa^tcjg pdjffers&ci . and AtheiSm. "'Papers hid. clamoured for separation of State a.nd Church; and -as Fragce had done so would Argentina do. Freethought and Atheistical t literature from JJurope was cheap, _and K bi 'wide' cfreulatiofl^ The relations Dec ween Capital ana labour cpu^a hot -potisittb/ a& morb «tnuwed, dan strikes' were oe trequent as the <t«ily papers. These upaesA'ttls tometimea ctflminasea' in riots, in wiuqo kawes «ad xevolvets played * promuient part. To illustrate tne existing, teeiing,, J&t ifilder quoted an instance wherein two "bosses' f>ad been brutally* assaulted, and because toe. dtfenojer* were punished the Labour Union . accused the Government of favouring Capital, «nd ordered' a general strike, which oislocated commerce as long an it lasted. Wages ior unskilled labour amounted to from 6s to 7» per day. Wages on the whole were" gradually rising, but so vru the cost of living, and this was another source of exasperation to the workidg man. Buenos, Aires had doubled its population in 14 years. The English-speaking; population of the city numbered 30,000. Mr Elder spent 18 months there studying the language, and supplementing the pulpit of the Methodist Episcopal Church for Engliehspeaking people. ' Mr Elder said "he did not find the language very difficult to learn. It was pure Spanish, or rather just as pure Spanish as Yankee is pure English. THE BOOM TOWN. Mr Elder became further acquainted with ; Spanish, at Las Florfs, an inland town, and thence struck soutb lo Tres Arroyas (Three Streams), a town of front 12,000 to 14,000 inhabitants, which had not even been thought of 15 yean ago. It was now the hub of the wheat district, and was known as the Boom Town of the Argentine. While there, Mr Elder had managed to get a church built, which was now free of debt, also a manse. Mr Eldred Hercus,, of Duned^in, had succeeded him there. At Tres Arroyas the Protestant element was formed of Danes. Germans, and Dutch; while Italians, Spaniards, and Russians formed a mixed eligicn, mostly Roman Catholic. They were, however, most liberal in their views. The fact that''before, the erection of this church there was no place of worship at all emphasised, he thought,- the importance of this work in the Argentine, and that applied to all the towns in more or less the same degree. Mr Elder said that he always met with the most genial reception wherever he went. Of course, there was bigotry and an occasional aggressive outburst, but these were usually the works of Atheists. As for the country, it was perfectly flat for 100 miles in all directions, except towards the sea, "and," added Mr Elder, "there are not many hills there either." , The wheat glands were vast .pfrairies., broken, up „info large paddocks, owned, by the. fistarideros (squatters or raneh;holders). Apropos of the word "ranch," here' and elsewhere, used to signify a large tract of land, Elder pointed out that " rancho" meant a mud hut. He believed that the early settlers in Mexico and California dwelt |n mud huts, the name of whicji attached- iteel| in course of time to the whole of their possession*. As to the implements used in these great wheat fields, reapers ami binders bad been much in vogue till the advent of the M'Kay Sunshine narvester, which was now replacing them. The climate being dry in wmm'er. the harvester meant a great saving in labour and expense. Last , year ZOO harvesters had been cold in that j district alon©;