RE=DiSCOVERY OF SOUTH AMERICA.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 201, 19 May 1908, Page 2

RE=DiSCOVERY OF SOUTH AMERICA.

TREND OF THOUCHT IN THE UNITED STATES. | A FEW FACTS ABOUT SOUTHERN POSSIBILITIES. Although during the last century development had proceeded faster in North America' than in'.the South, lie believed that during the present century no part of the world would see such extraordinary development in wealth, population,' and pro-' gross, as Mexico ■ and Central and South America.—President Roosevelt, at tho laying of the foundation- > 1 stone of the Bureau of American ■ Republics, Washington.. (From Our American Correspondent.) Commerce, they say, . follows the flag. But commerce is not 'always 'in material things, but becomes frequently a spiritual transaction. tho least good of this rather extraordinary voyage of our fleet is tho fact that the rest of us are being! sent to school in figuring out tho meanings of the strange names we see in the reports that come from our sailors. South America seems to most of us a dim and remote region about which wo need to concern ourselves but little. South America, we say, is "out of 'the world," though how that can be would tax us to explain. . " ' Their civilisation is as. old as ours, and the countries—all of them up-to-date republics— have railroads, trolley-cars, electric lights, libraries, universities,. politics, etc.," of the latest approved pattern. All of them are rich m material resources almost beyond the dreams of avarice. Yet it is true to say that for some reason these countries have not played a, conspicuous part in the world s history—history, at least, in its main line of. development. -Republicanism was. more a gift to the South American countries than an achievement. Like Japan, they are inheritors of a progress they have not earned.Farthest South. The fleet stopped at Punta Arenas in passing through the Straits of Magellan. This city and port, at what might be called the cross roads for Atlantic and Pacific travel, forms the southernmost city and stopping place in the world. The citv 'is' exactly south of Portland, Maine, and ; is as far south of the Equator as Dublin is north. It is tho . only place in South America , where skating and sleighing aro regularly, enjoyed, ilie name is Spanish for Sandy Point, the name first jjivoii it by the English navigators to whoin thc discovery, of the Straits is due: .Beyond Sandy Point-is Fort Famine, where an Jinghsh colony sottled early in tho forties. comes Capo Froward, tho lowest point of the mainland of .the', South -American continent. Across from the mainland lies Tierra del iuego—-the • Land of Fire—containing sove™ ™ow-clcd peaks of. seven thousand ieet in altitude. Othor islands extend southward, quite uninhabited, • the lowest and one of the smallest being' Cape Horn, celebrated asono.of the.earth's mile-stones. ■ : Theso belong to Chile.' ."Formerly tho Patngoman boundary line included them, but since 1881 the Chilian line has been drawn southward^ along the tops of tho Andes and' eastward till it-touches the Atlantic, thus giving to Clnlo tho straits and the tip of the continent; ■ Chile is bound to keep the straits open for international navigation, and has agreed not to fortify tho passage. In tho Frozen Meat Trade. . ' Punta'Arenas is said to epitomise the history of this portion of the world;,:,lhesettlement was begun in 1849, and - was", practically for many years a penal, colony... Gradually, the[.xoimtrjr. was'Wwmiive Latm-Amencajis; - th 6 English,-" Scotch', njans, and Indiahs. .Now, it is' an, important ■ C "E with.- exports, .amounting.' to . nearly ten million dollars * annually.', In 1905 seventyfive thousand: carcasses' of frozen, mea't .were shipped' to England from this port. .Tho 'city has paved streets, electric lights, an opera house, clubs, a fire'department, and a highly organised cultural society.. It is the capital of the. Chilian State'.of Magellanes. ' The port ranks with Southampton, England, as! a junction point for ocean travel. . You can ohange steamers here for: New York-, or London, or Hamburg, or - San Franoisco; or' Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, or Canada. There many steamers are sup-, plied .with' coal from the native bed 6 close by. Chile is the South American California, with . loftier mountains, a--more diversified coast line, and- greater extremes of climate. It is a republic composed of twenty-three provinces and one territory. -..The population is threo and'a half million, which so far as space is concerned may be multiplied by ten or more. Its coast l\ne on the Pacific is nearly ;three thousand miles, or as far. as New. York is from' San Francisco. ' Indeed, it is' mainly coast line, as it. is thirty times as long as it is wide. . Along this eclge of sea rise mountains that reach twenty thousand feet into the air. '. ' . • ; Chile's Capital. ! The capital of Chile is Santiago,' which has the climate of Los - Angeles, 'California, but the commercial centre,'is. Valparaiso; Spanish is the national language,, though there are many settlements!of Germans, Eng-. lish,. and : particularly . : Scotch. Americans are few, but it is noteworthy that in the principal thoroughfare of Valparaiso is a statue of William. Wheelwright, an American, who is chiefly - responsible for the establishment of the first lino of steamship's connecting' the Pacific Republics with -the Old' World/

Chile is famous for her nitrate beds, lifer copper _ and silver mines, and for : her coal. There is a large area susceptible of agricultural'/development, though only about 25,000,000 acres are so employed to-day. It inay 'or may not be a compliment, but Chilians like to be called the Yankees of the South. The people have energy, ambition, and a determination to do things. Lofty mountains' protect fertile valleys, destined to become homes of a sturdy race—a race accustomed to the sight and smell of salt water. In the many streams that run hastily from' the mountains to the sea' is/unlimited power of a material kind. • ■

Poru and tha Incas. • After leaving Punta Arenas, in the Straits of Magellan, the main fleet did not ' stop again m Chilian waters. But,.the flotilla stopped at Talcahuano, two hundred miles south of and one of the best ports on the coast. ■ ' The fleet went on'to Peru,, taking a pleasant ocean promenade on the smoothest of smooth wators. Probably all travellers think of Pizarro and the Incas; and conjure up romantic pictures as they approach Callao, the main port for' the foroign commerce of Peru. But Poru, in fact, is modern as any other country, and its population of five million is as eager to do things in tho world as any other people! The area of tho country is 695,000 square milos, with 1411 miles of coast line. The chief industries aro mining, rubber, alpaca, sugar, cotton, timber, petroloum, and guano. Tho language is Spanish, though as this is the land of tho Incas one hoars much native speccli—a true American. As you approach Callao and note its modern appearance, ; its splendid docks, its tramways. and railroads, you would not believe it to,bo an old town.: It was founded as early aB 1537 and has always been one of tho main headquarters of South American activity. Tho riches of the Incas were carried away from here to Spain and liorc. enmo tho wandering grandees of tho old world to try their fortunes. Nino miles inland at the foot of tho Andes is Lima, tho capital of the country, and one of the most picturesquo cities of tho western world. It is a city of. churches—you will hoar tho bells ring all day long—of wide plazas and splendid palaces,. Tho bull fight and cock fight, the lottery, and many old customs and superstitions attest the dominance of tho Latin raco, and the many splendid monasteries show by what church the religious life of the people is directed. Tho city has trolley cars, electric fights, and water works. Broad streets, municipal gardens, a national library, theatres, clubs and- tho liko testify to the culture of the city. There ore few avenues in any city more beautiful

than Columbus. Avenuo arid what makes it particularly, interesting is the statue of • Columbus which was used as the model for • «. the hugo statue at Colon point that guards " ' the entrance to the Panama Canal.

The Mighty Amazon. \ ■ Peru has one advantage enjoyed by no othor South American country except Colombia. She has a transcontinental area. Bo side her Pacific coast she has access to the Atlantic by way of tho Amazon River. One of tho great commercial centres of Peru is Iquitos, an inland city on the Atlantic, watershed. From Iquitos ocean steamers pass two thousand miles down the Amazon through the Brazilian port of Manaos and proceed to Now York ot- to Europe just as if they came from'a harbour of , salt water.: '; v ~ The government of Peru' jb modern, "encouraging the building of railroads and • all other industries. The most famous' engineering structuro in the world, the Oroya "railroad, built by Henry Meiggs, an American, nins from the Pacific across the AhclcV - The Harvard Astronomical Observatory is .on Mount Misti, near Arequipa. • Though, ; as for universities, .Lima has a school founded long before Harvard or any other university of the north continent; ' ■ :

In tlio same way as suggested above,' we homo folks are giving • study 'to the other Republics that border the . Pacific to' Bolivia, with no sea-port but: an immense: inland area about one-fifth that of the United - .States, and to Ecuador and , Colombia', .with '' which we touch the Panama, tegionry It 1 is. beyond a doubt that, with the opening of the Panama Canal, and tho rise in import- ; mice of all tho countries bordering upon the Pacific, those South American Republics will take a new position in what we call' the world's history. A Rival Nearer tho Throne. .j Industrially, they are making themselves '" felt. New Zealand must count upon the competition in English markets of thecattle, and sheep.of the immense grazing areas of : these countries. Politically, , they' havo made few contributions—except, perhaps, to show howl well the Latin race can.( govern itself in spots and under favourable ciroumstances. As for us in America-r-thpughi why we should assume the name'as'<ws in its entirety, and: claim to "be ■.'the; i ''6nly ■ > Americans; is not quite clear—we hard neVer ' done a more noteworthy thing- than -'to- • enunciate and'maintain the "Minroe Doctrine"—thait. doctrine by which these South American Republics/aro protected- ' by- -the - ■ American fleet, while they work out > their own destinies, freed from tho dangers "of ■ foreign conquest. • . ■■■-■■'■'