CORRESPONDENCE
A LETTER FROM BUENOS AIRES
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sia—Without a doubt the Capital of the Argentine Republic is daily attracting more world-wide interest. A decade or so ago Buenos Aires was known in Europe mainly as an important port in " Smith America," whence came large quantities of wheat and meat, and hides and tallow—a name evoking pro- bably the prosaic and the exotic in about equal proportions. More recently Argentina and her Capital have been " dis- covered " by an illustrious procession of prophets, priests, princes and captains. Rabindranath Tagore, Cardinal Gasquet, Humbert of Savoy, the Prince of Wales, Mangin, Caviglia, Pershing : these are but some of the famous who, only since the War, have been acclaimed an d welcomed in the City of Good Airs.
And we have had Franco, Hero of the Air and spiritual descendant of Columbus, whose admirable achievement, punctuated at every stage by spectacular appeal to the facile enthusiasm of the Latin temperament, has been cele- brated, during Carnival—an altogether appropriate coinci- dence and climax. The successful flight of the ' Plus Ultra ' from Palos de Maguer to Buenos Aires roused a wave of emotion in Argentina comparable only to that of Armistice Day, with the difference that the Armistice took the Press by surprise and the Franco flight didn't. Franco became the idol of the people ; mobbed and banquetted, embraced, photo- graphed, he was more likely to be killed by kindness than by misadventure in the air. Each stage of his flight accentuated
the expectant enthusiasm in Argentina ; the vigil of the Plus Ultra ' on the eve of departure ; the kissing of the soil on landing at Pernambuco—both a la Columbus—were gestures sublime. And only sublime ; the Suggestion (had anyone
dared to offer it) that a short space separated them from some- thing else, would probably have involved the rash and irreve- rent jester in serious trouble. But apart from all else, Franco's flight was aria will remain a remarkable achievement, honour- able in the extreme to the intrepid aviator and reflecting renown on Spain.
This spectacular revival of the Columbus tradition is having a vivid psychological effect upon the reciprocal sentiments of the peoples of Spain and Spanish America. And intangible as psychological manifestations must be, and evanescent as they may be, there is unquestionably an increasing tendency in these days to give a truer value to the influence of spiritual and moral factors upon material affairs.
Take, for instance, the visit to Argentina of the Prince of Wales. This event was one of high political significance. It was made to coincide with the Centenary of the Anglo-Argen- tine Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation. In trade, Great Britain is by far Argentina's best customer, but she buys more from Argentina than she sells to her. She would like to sell more to Argentina, and it is only logical that the deliberate compliment implied by the Royal Visit should accentuate the already high esteem in which Great Britain is held here, so that other considerations being equal a favourable bias is created.
There is another aspect. The publicity which Argentina
received in the British Press in connexion with the Prince's visit helped very greatly to make this country better known in the United Kingdom. Increased knowledge (in this case at least) means increased confidence, which leads, in turn, to expansion of enterprise in trade. There are some already to- day who trace specific orders from Argentina for British manufactures direct to the Prince's visit. That is a tangible and a satisfactory result, but it seems permissible to believe that the bulk of the benefit from the visit is yet to come, as the result of better mutual comprehension and the fortified spirit of good will which it engendered. And it is worth while remembering sometimes that " good will," with all its meta- physical implication, figures in the books of solid and stolid traders, and is competently assessed by unimaginative char, tered accountants.
This is the height of the Argentine summer, and as it is
Carnival time everybody is on holiday. The rush to the great seaside resort, Mar del Plata, has been unprecedented this year. At the present moment there are reckoned to be about 40,000 summer visitors there. Mar del Plata is distant some 400 kilometres from the city of Buenos Aires. During the " rush " season the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway has to cope with the very heavy passenger traffic. These Carnival days, the midday Pullman express has had to be run in three sections, and the ten o'clock night train likewise. All the Mar del Plata hotels, from the fashionable " Bristol " down to the modest wooden structures on the seashore, are overcrowded, and they have all been refusing would-be visitors for weeks past. Sea-bathing is the main attraction. There is also a pretty and sporting eighteen-hole golf course (on which, by the way, Officers of H.M.S. ' Repulse ' had some good games whilst waiting for the Prince last August-September). Then at night there is gambling : roulette, " trade et quarante," baccarat. The President of the Republic has been spending week-ends at Mar del Plata all through the summer. As everybody who is anybody in the official and social workl puts in weeks or week-ends there, Argentina's chief seaside resort has presented this year some likeness to Simla.
YOUR BUEN03 AIRES CORRESPONDENT.
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