24 SEPTEMBER 1898, Page 2

There appears to be real danger of a war between

Chili and the Argentine Republic. They have been quarrelling for years, the Chilians claiming under the last Treaty some large, high valleys in the Andes, and the Argentines asserting that they were not included in the concessions made. The dividing line was to be the divorlium aquarum, Chili getting everything drained into the Pacific and Argentina every- thing drained into the Atlantic, but the negotiators mistook the geography of the Andes. The real ground of quarrel is that the Chilians want more fertile land and think that the Argentines have too much. The Argentines have the greater resources, but the Chilians are better organised, and their Araucanian allies are great fighters. Englishmen, it may be observed, will have to pay the expenses of the war, for they hold the bonds of both Republics, and both must suspend or defer payment.