THE AMAZING ARGENTINE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 115, 20 June 1914, Page 8

THE AMAZING ARGENTINE.

NEW BOOK BY J. FOSTER FRASER

[Reviewed for THE SUN toy "Liber."]

Whatever objection may be taken to the carelessness, the inaccuracy, the evidences of merely surfaee observation, and slipshod comment, which have undoubtedly characterised Mr Foster Eraser's sketches of life in the various countries he has yisited, the enterpris-, ing British journalist must be credited with a decided knack for writing travel impressions for a popular and not-too-critical audience. The latest addition to the now quite lengthy series of books which began with "The Real Siberia" is entitled "The Amazing Argentine" (Cassell and Company). It is written on flic same lines as those of the author's earlier works, and makes easy and interesting reading. BUENOS AYRES.

It is quite a common remark of Melbourne and Sydney people to allude to their respective cities as the '' largest ; and finest cities in the Southern .Hemisphere. " They are quite wrong. Buenos., Ayres is now thirteenth in size amongst the cities of the world. It has a'population of a million and a-half. Its public buildings .and ..theatres rival in size and splendour those of Paris, London} and, Berlin. It is one of the most luxurioils,, most extravagant, and, if rumour is to-be believed, most immoral e"ities of the world. Also, it is one >of the busiest.- The older Argentines conserved most "of the Spanish habits. Manana (M-to-morrdw") was" their proverb. Life was taken as easily as.possible. - But,ia Buenos Ayres of to-day the people are beginning to bustle after the approved Chicago style. The habit of the Spanish siesta, for instance, has been abandoned. -. ; - - '• , Z : '

-.. '' There is now no pulling down of shutters between noon and \ 3 o'clock. The climate' is ; enervating, but be the day never so steamy, with hot busts panting from the north, the city'.,, is early alive with ddrnmerce,' the suburban trains are paeked/ the Stock Exchange is a babble of .excitement,,, and, there never -seems to 'be any t drawing rein till five or six in the afternoon. There is hustle." SOME CHARACTERISTICS Mr Fraser speaks well of the hospitality of' the' capital" ' The imeir are Cciirteous and"•■■the'" women graceful—until lack of exercise and over-eating makes them stout;- The girls, he says, are modest, but '.'spoil their, appearance by an over-liberal use of powder." As to the Argentine youth, Mr Fraser was clearly .noj greatly impressed with that young gentleman. '' He . begins ;when twelve years of age to siuoke and to tell lewd stories. He is impudent to the servants, and to his parents, and I have known fathers smile when told their sons of fifteen have taken to visit-

*'! The Amazing Argentine," by J. Foster Fraser. London: Cassell and Co. 3/6.

ing houses of ill-fame' I—a 1 —a remark which seems to smack of that hasty generalisation which characterised #fr Fraser's book on Australia, and would be probably dismissed by thousands of Argentine fathers as a silly and baseless s|ander. In the isame chapter Mr Eraser says that his "is no scientific way to study a city, but it just happens to be my way." " Tlie conclusions 1 draw," he calmly admits, "may be wrong, for I may have met the wrong people and seen the wrong things." I am rather inclined to believe Mr Fraser is not infrequently wrong. He certainly is very careless. Thus, in speaking of a trip to La Plata City,' the legislative capital of the BuenoS Ayres province, be says: '?The ear ! w"as crowded with a sallow-skinned, blaelfmoustached* black-garbed lot of gentler men, and 1 gathered they -were all Government oflicials. Nobody in Governmentemploy thinks of doing ahy'work in the morning. The men go to the office late, and leave early. It was almost like home." The English Civil t , Servant of Amthony Trbllbpe's novels may have been in the habit of shirking his work, but to-day he in his office attendance.as the-lowest-grade city clerk. Yes, I can fully, believe that Mr Fraser often did meet " the wrong people," and drew '' wrong conclusions/" in Argentina, just as he did so notoriously in Australia. Buenos Ayres has a superb opera, house, and prides itself, upon .having "discovered Te'traz.zini and Knb'elik long befbre- Doridon.'' The opera-goers of tlie Argentine have their pwju opinions upon, musical matters, and,it often happens that boomed European star falls very 'flat "•when he or she appears before the highly-critical Argentine ! tttidieH<je.' r The poor "are well.,cared for. is gieat, and .funds .are numerous; the Go: veriiment" .'provides handsomely, . and there is no distress such as is known in England.'-'. As a. matte* of^fswt,-ac-cording'.-to, Mr Fraser, poverty,./..as-, understood in Europe, does not ; exist in the Argentine! '".'l THE EAILWAt-S OF ARGENTINA.

; Mr..-Fras«r devotes ,a good.:deal"vp' allontion • to* the• Argentine" railways, built and: owned • mainly by foreigners; Over three hundred millions of British-; "capital is invested in Argentine railways and electric railways. There are 20,000 mifes'Of railroad in the Republic. Outside the private 'linear there are' State liiies, built by the Government; .through country ''that was suitable for colonisation, but which' does' not appeal to ; the >outside investor.'' According to the: author", '/these: State are financially, a failure." The ; general managers of-the'big British railways in Argentina get large a year. This, says Mr -Fraser, *'* is partly ■it "remove •/them! .f rom Athe- 'range' of j temptation of being bribed by owners,/ syndicates, or land companies to authorise' the mailingoorf r railways where they would not b*fc economically "advisable. '' . Extensions near the big towns cost the railways as much as they would in England. One man. wb'cT ..bought, thirty years-ago, a-piece of land for £I6OO, sold it to a railway company for over £200,000. Although the Argentine iailways are, for the major part j privately owned, they are all, as to certain details of their management, subject to State control,: asf exercised by- a board called the Direecion-General de Ferrocarriles. This National, Railway Board safeguards the interests of the public. No time-tables can" be altered without the sanction of the aboard, which also decides the number-of. coaches to be run on each train.. Sleeping ears are obligatory on all'night trains, and dining cars over eertaiu distances. Every train carries a letter" box, and. the mails are carried free. On every train is a

[medicine chest a stretcher, and-. a - bicycle, so that ; qmekj commiinieatioii - cart be made with the iM3arest ! 'station in ease of accident. Every carriage is thoroughly disinfected every month, and bedding and mattresses are subject to a scientific disinfection, such as the author has nowhere 1 seen in Europe. LAND AND AGBICrULTU^E.

Tlie agricultural wealth of Argentina is simply colossal,, and is making gigantic strides every year that goes by. The history of the iive stoek trade of the country is almost a romance. Five centuries ago a bull and ten cows were abandoned. . What . became of them troubled no one, To-day cattle, of Argentina number many millions.:/, In 1794 some merino sheep were iiriV '" ported from Spain. In 1824 came some' Southdowns from England". "They made an excellent cross, and that was. . the start Argentina got in the growing / of wool." Every year the pastoral t and agricultural industries are becoming more specialised, scientific instruction to farmers.being liberally endowed. - by the.State. To-day (1914) there are eight million horses, thirty million head of cattle, and over eighty million sheep in the Republic. And yet only a portion of the country suit- - able for. stock has been utilised.. Everything indicates, says Mr leaser, that V within the next tea years 200 million animals of all classes will be grazing •- on the pastures of Argentina. Much of - the farming is slovenly. This is partly due to race, but chiefly because the" farmers are not owners, but only occupiers in return for giving a proportion •- of the crops to the owner. The Govern- - ment is now considering a. seheme of purchasing.the great estates and eutting them up for closer settlement on easy ' -terms. :—... ■• ■■■.( ' •';•-■ •' --.-"■ -■'■■.- ■• -'■■ --., '•■'.>: GROWTH OF VALUES. -

». The "country Am roughly termedA by English-speaking-, colonists. ',' The % 5v ICamp.A. Mr Fraser gives, a long aid"'.*. [ interesting account of the' curious mix- ' ; ture>of rsLcek whieh-eotnpnsea"the pbpu- * latipjt. The.ltalians-' predominate aineng >!• the immigrants,,, tmt a Of. th'em return to their native. country. A after they have saved a little "moneys " l^B«r^values-have" in^e'ased^enprihduislyl l ■' Sections, in Rosairio> (My, -tot instance, A worth-in ISBS half a crown a square v yard.uoW fetehJ^Oa-a yarjj.- Suburban <■;■ sections; say, 20yds by formerly : , obtainable for:: £5; ~ to-day bring A river-frontage stretchy bought 20 A years for £BOO, .was sold last 1 year '•'. for Twenty miles from Bo'sarip, ,*. " ca'mp-land> ' J whieh : a »szen "years ago" v could, have beeu obtained for. £lO;OO.0''f the square league, is worth £IOO,OOO the square league. - A

Mr Fraser describes in detail the powerful cities of the BeptiMci and- ! deals at spme length *yii2i the systenv ,of government, -_ and the V pontic a) :-and -., I"spciaf "'Camp" life is described.in a specially interesting chapter, ami the author gives ■an entertaining description, of a trip . into .the Andes country. By the completion, of ' the Trans-Andean railway Valparaiso can now be reached' without change of ear in 38 hours frbni Buenos-. Ayres. . The railway .distance, is S&8 ; miles. A.useful feativre'.of ,the book is. the advice given by.thV author to Eng : ' , lishmen who may \ think of settling in Argentina. - Above all, the- immigrant should thoroughly master .'.the. Spanish language. The -book contains., a. number of excellent 'illustrations -, reproduced, froni photographs; ,: "A '~