THE BANDA ORIENTAL. T HE next generation will see plenty of
problems of marvellous interest solved before its eyes all over the world. None, however, will surpass those connected with the future of the South American Continent. The present age has beheld the European races gain firm hold of North America, and has watched them not only subdue the forces of Nature, but establish society on the same lines as those on which it is founded in the Old World. Now, however, that the struggle is over, and that the Pacific slope is as unquestionably secured for civilisation as.the shores of the German Ocean, the interest of the great drama has been transferred to the other side of the Equator. The world is content to leave the tropical portions of South America without much atten- tion, but it is beginning to watch the temperate regions with the intensest interest. There, during the next fifty years, the attempt to set up communities on the European model, already begun, will be continued, and an endeavour will be made to throw off the evil inheritance of sloth and anarchy which the Spaniards imposed upon the whole of their colonial possessions. If civilisation wins, we shall first see the Plate, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chili, and the high- lands of Brazil organise settled government, and then develop their internal resources by the construction of railways and roads on a scale of unexampled proportions. From this basis the work of improvement will be pushed northward until the iron road, which even now is almost finished between Buenos Ayres and the Bolivian frontier, will traverse the upper valley of the Amazon and debouch on the Mexican Gulf. Who knows, indeed, that it will not cross the Andes by way of Bogota, and meet an extension from Mexico, and Central America which will make it possible to travel from Athabasca or Saskatchewan to Rosario by continuous railway ?
As we have said before, the possibility of such dreams ever being realised depends upon the European immi- grants proving capable of " bossing " the Plate, Uruguay, and Brazil. If they can succeed in doing so, South America is saved for civilisation. From such a coign of vantage, the possession of the rest of the continent is merely a matter of time. If, however, they fail, as it is possible they may—the semi-civilised Indians, the degenerate Spaniards, and the half-breeds are capable of a desperate reaction towards barbarism—the world will have to submit to seeing some of its wealthiest and most healthful regions handed over to communities as utterly incapable of developing them as are the inhabitants of Persia of making their country what it should be,—the garden of Asia. In no part of South America will it be more in- teresting to watch the evolution of a progressive society than in Uruguay. As is shown by an account of its resources just issued by the Republic—a work which is, in fact, an emigration advertisement—the natural conditions are extraordinarily favourable to success. Prinal facie, nothing should be easier than to establish government on a sound basis in such a country. To begin with, it is of a manageable size, and so is not liable to be torn by the con- flicting interests of this or that province. Uruguay is, roughly speaking, about the size of Great Britain. Next, it has one of the most equable climates on the face of the globe, extreme beat and extreme cold being alike unknown. The mean temperature of summer is but 71° Fahrenheit, of autumn 62°, of winter 52°, and of spring 60°. Nor has this mildness to be paid for by humidity, as in England. The Observatory of Monte Video calculates the weather- chart of the year as follows :-244 is the average of bright sunny days, 85 of cloudy, and 36 of rainy. It might, perhaps, be supposed from these figures that there must often be periods of great drought. It seems, however, that this is by no means the case. There is an annual rainfall so abundant, that at the capital it is said that the total number of inches of fall in the year is double that of Paris. To correspond with these favourable climatic conditions, the soil is almost everywhere deep black alluvium, which, unencumbered as it is with trees, yields not only magnificent pasturage, but is capable, under tillage, of growing almost any crop. There are few things, in fact, which the climate is either too hot or too cold to produce in abundance. Add to this that the water system of the country is so complete that there is no fear of a failure of water as in Australia. Sixteen large rivers flow through Uruguay, and these, their thousand tributaries, and the numerous lakes scattered over many portions of the country, make a water-famine an im- possibility. Imagine a triangle, roughly equilateral, with the sea as its base, and the Brazilian frontier and the course of the Uruguay River as its two sup- porting sides. Into the sea flow a number of small streams ; into the Uruguay a series of wide and deep rivers ; and into Lake Mirim, situated at the south of the Brazilian frontier, drains yet a third network of water-courses. In a word, the Republic of the Banda Oriental consists of rich undulating pasture-lands, abun- dantly supplied with water, and is possessed besides of a climate which neither encourages the poisonous growths of the tropics, nor yet stunts vegetation or animal life.
From the grazier's point of view, the country is summed up in the statement of a settler :—" One can raise the finest shorthorns, and have them fat all the year round, without artificial food or shelter." It is the same story as to the sheep and horses, the natural conditions being highly favourable to the production of the best quality of stock of all kinds. Though the forests have been destroyed with a wanton recklessness which may some day be severely felt, the belts of wood that fringe the numberless streams afford every sort of game. Wild duck, woodcock, snipe, swans, wild turkeys, and pigeons as big and heavy as a fat hen, abound everywhere, while partridges are to be found in immense numbers throughout the Republic. In every province, peaches, pears, cherries and plums, lemons, limes, and grapes will ripen in the open air ; while along the Brazilian frontier on the north, pineapples, oranges, dates, and bananas thrive well, and wild quince-trees often form large forest tracts. Clearly, then, it will not be the fault of Nature if Uruguay does not become a rich and prosperous State. That she has sown her wild oats, and that she has begun a period of great prosperity, is the assurance offered to the world by her present governors. The pamphlet from which we have been quoting is, indeed, intended to prove that such declara- tions do not rest on nothing. No doubt the improvement that has taken place in the last few years has been very great, and no doubt the increase in the number of miles of railway now open or in process of construction is a good. omen for the future. During the Presidency of General Tajes, order has also been maintained, and a great deal has been done to place the country in a strong position. The City of Monte Video has now a population of something like two hundred thousand people, and a volume of trade which makes it rank high among the capitals of the New World. Still, it would be premature to predict success after so short a period of political quiescence. General Tajes goes out of office next March, and it remains to be seen whether his successor will be able to carry on the present progressive policy. So short a time ago as 1886, an attempt at armed insurrection, it must be remembered, was made, and though it was defeated, the fact must be taken into account when it is claimed. that the era of Uruguayan revolutions has passed. away. Again, the financial condition of the Republic is by no means sound. In 1887, Mr. Palgrave, the British Minister at Monte Video, thought it necessary in one of his despatches to . call attention to its position in this respect. " The interest of the National Debt and other State obligations claim for themselves," he pointed out, " more than one-third of the annual expenditure. Custom-House dues and direct taxation have already reached the extremest limits of endurance, -while the expenditure requisite for military and naval purposes has been, on. the other hand, cut down to the lowest possible prudential margin, if not below it." In spite, however, of these forebodings, Mr. Palgrave went on to declare that " a sound internal administration, the revival and encouragement of depart- mental industry and enterprise, honesty, good fortune, and above all a vigorous abstention from the con- tracting of any further loans, or national pecuniary obligations whatever, may yet avert a crisis and induce prosperity." Since these words were written, though it would be too much to say that Uruguay has got through the crisis in safety, she has, at any rate, not made her position worse. Indeed, she has made it better, for every year that a South American Republic contrives to keep order, to encourage industry, and to pay her way, she has done something towards placing her national prosperity on a sound footing.
Perhaps the most interesting of all the many curious circumstances connected. with the endeavour to create great civil polities in temperate South America, is the fact that if the attempt is successful, not only will new States be established, but new nations. At this moment the Plate is a crucible in which a mass of naturally hetero- geneous races are being fused together into a fresh stock. Never has this operation been witnessed before in historical times. Ours is the first generation which has been able to be conscious of, and to watch the actual workings of, the process by which a people is made. When the Celts poured into Britain, they found there an indigenous race, swarthy in look, squat in stature, and speaking a language utterly different from that of their conquerors. To the original Celt succeeded the Latin, to the Latin the Teuton, and to the Teuton the Dane, Viking, and Norman ; and out of this strange mixture was produced a nation which, though it has taken the language of but one conqueror, is in blood compounded of them all. But though we realise this broad fact, the details of the struggle are utterly unknown, and we can only faintly guess at how the fusion took place. At first it seemed as if the New World would give us no such example of the making of a nation. The English in North America have swept all before them, and, but for the Province of Quebec, have established a series of purely English polities. In the same way, the Spaniard in South America originally founded. States purely Spanish in language, in religion, and in their whole social and political configuration. In the United States, the assimi- lative powers of the Anglo-Saxons have made it possible for them to rigidly maintain their own national standard, and to absorb all foreign immigrants as easily as we absorbed the Huguenots. In the Argentine and in Uruguay. however, the Spaniard has proved to be incapable of holding his own, and of turning the foreigners into Spaniards. Instead of the Guacho influencing the Euro- pean immigrant, the immigrant influences the Guacho. As a consequence, it is pretty evident that we are going to see the foundations laid of a new race. Just as there were aborigines in England and in the rest of Europe, so there are aborigines in South America, in the shape of Indians. Superimposed on them are the Spaniards, and next to these the Italian, Swedish, English, and German settlers, who, if the accounts are true, freely intermarry. What will be the result of the mixture, and what will be the ethnological modifications that will take place, is a profoundly interesting problem. The solution will, however, not be apparent till the days of our grandchildren. Meantime, we may feel sure that the Latin characteristics will predominate, owing to the large influx of Italians. The Spaniards and the Italians are, however, so dissimilar, that the combination of these two in nearly equal parts is certain to produce a new type ; while the influence of the English, Germans, and Indians will introduce still further alterations and modifications. Whether the result will be satisfactory, remains to be seen. Possibly it may not be. We must not forget, however, that the hardiest and the cleverest dogs are always mongrels.
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