Part 2
The Argentine Republic has achieved many triumphs in diplomacy and many legitimately claim to have made new international law for all the countries of the American continent. One of the most important steps yet taken in this direction was the formulation, in 1902, of the now universally accepted doctrine establishing the principle that contractual debts by Sovereign States to foreign private subjects, or citizens, should not be collected by the employment of armed forces. This doctrine was propounded by the then Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs in a Note addressed to the United States Government as the result of the occupation, at that time, of the territorial waters of an independent state by the warships of some of the European Powers, for the avowed purpose of compelling payment to their subject of claims for damages and for the fulfilment of the service of a national debt due to foreign creditors and then in default. This Note aroused world-wide attention and the subject was dealt with diplomatically by many of the countries of Europe which had commercial relations with the Latin-American Republics. It formed the subject of frequent discussion at various Pan-American Congresses, and was particularly favored in the United States, where, subject to certain slight modifications, it was regarded as a logical pendant to the Monroe Doctrine. At the Second International Peace Conference at the Hague, in 1907, the Doctrine was submitted for the approval of the Conference by the American Delegation with slight modifications and was accepted, without dissent, by the Delegates of all the countries represented. It is not necessary here to enter into a discussion of the merits or importance of this Argentine doctrine. Suffice it to add, however, that the negation of its main purpose would be to endanger the existence of the Monroe Doctrine by shattering the principal object with which that policy was conceived and established.
Another great international movement in which the Argentine Republic assumed a leading part and which is likely to have far-reaching effects in advancing the friendly relations of the United States with the sister American Republics, was the recent mediation of the "A. B. C." Powers (Argentine, Brazil and Chile). The events of that particular time are too fresh in the memory of the American public to need description of detail. It is sufficient to say that the mediation referred to averted a war which would probably have involved the sacrifice of countless lives and of countless millions. But the initiation of the policy of mediation entered into on that occasion has even more importance than that which attaches to it as having prevented a great and unnecessary war. It has served, firstly, to show that the great advance made by the leading South American Republics is not merely an advance made for selfish purposes, but for the benefit of the whole of the Latin nations of the American continent. The great statesmen of those countries, whilst recognizing the occasionally intemperate political acts which take place in some of the lesser Republics, have placed a cloak of protection around the weaker sisters of their countries to prevent attacks upon their national independence and sovereignty. By their offer of mediation in the critical situation which had then arisen on this continent, they also gave birth to a policy which, independently of its humane aspect, is calculated to secure the real objects of legitimate Pan-Americanism. The United States has invariably exhibited a spirit of justice and of generosity in all its relations with the other American Republics, and the "A. B. C." mediation has not only strengthened this wise policy on the part of the United States, but has demonstrated the capacity and the influence, without actual intervention, of the most important Latin Republics to save the less advanced countries from a sacrifice of their national independence.
Still another step of diplomatic importance has recently been taken by the Argentine Ambassador at Washington by a submission of a lengthy resolution to the governing body of the Pan-American Union (consisting of the Secretary of State of the United States and the Ambassadors and Ministers of the other twenty American Republics) with a view to providing means for the restriction of hostilities by belligerents in neutral waters. This course was adopted in consequence of the hardships and difficulties imposed on the South American Republics and on other neutral countries through the present war in Europe and through the prevailing indefinite character of the international rules and of international law in the definition of the respective rights of neutrals and belligerents. Whilst it would be difficult to assume that any reforms will be effected during the continuance of the present war in Europe or immediately thereafter, it is reasonable to suppose that the substantive portions of the Argentine Ambassador's resolution will influence succeeding international Conferences to so regulate these vital matters as to confine naval operations within limits which, in future wars, will not place so heavy a burden upon the coastal and oversea trade of neutral countries.
In its relations with the different countries of the world the Republic enjoys the most friendly intercourse and shares the privileges accorded to the great Powers in international commercial treaties. It has never failed to fulfil its national obligations either at home or abroad; it has no ambitions for territorial expansion and desires only to maintain internal and external peace in order to extend the country's material prosperity and the welfare of its inhabitants.
PRIMARY EDUCATION
Primary Education owes its present state of development to that master Patriot, Pedagogue and President of the Republic, DOMINGO F. SARMIENTO, who as a personal friend and student of the noted American Educator had every opportunity to introduce the best that he considered practicable into the educational system of Argentina.
The education of youth of Argentina is the concern of state authorities who work in harmony with the educational bodies of its cities, towns and villages. The exception to it consists in the control of the Primary schools of the Federal city of Buenos Aires by the National Board of Education, together with some other exceptions to be mentioned later on.
One of the more recent and far-reaching developments of this Federal control is the fact, that in some of the provinces (States) Primary schools are established and subsidized by the Federal Government, where local conditions are equal to the needs of popular education.
Argentina maintains therefore in some of the provinces the regular State controlled as well as Federal Government controlled Primary schools; likewise are many of the Special type schools controlled by the National Government.
In 1894 there were 3000 Primary schools, Public and Private, which increased during the next twenty years to 7877 schools; likewise did the teaching force of these schools grow from 7800 to over 26,000 teachers. The pupils attending these Primary schools in 1894 numbered 280,000, whereas in 1914 the attendance increased to 890,000 pupils. The expenditures incurred for the maintenance of these schools show an even more remarkable increase of service and efficiency. The total expenses for Primary Education in 1894 were 9,370,000 pesos; in 1914 the expenditures rose to a figure, six times that of 1894, 56,635,000 pesos.
In 1894 the Normal schools, 35 in number, had an enrollment of 1376 pupils, preparing themselves for the teaching career in Primary schools; in the year of 1914 the number of Normal schools increased to over 70 in number and the enrollment to 8970 students, more than six times of its enrollment twenty years ago. During this same period the expenditures in this particular department of public education rose from 2,000,000 pesos to that of 10,000,000 pesos.
SECONDARY EDUCATION
The Secondary schools are responding also to the modern demands of a democratic conception of education. From mere preparatory institutions for the Universities they are fast becoming schools of advanced education to an increasing number of men and women.
In 1894 the students of Secondary schools numbered 3000, which number rose to 10,000 in 1914, the expenditures having increased from 1,000,000 pesos to nearly 6,000,000 pesos in the year of 1914.
TECHNICAL EDUCATION
Technical education is also a matter of recent development, there having been organized and are maintained in flourishing condition two distinct types of technical schools. One kind provides technical training in the various trades for young men from 12 to 15 years, while the second type serve to train the young men for positions as foremen and superintendents. For this purpose these schools give a more extensive and intensive instruction along theoretical and practical science as far as it applies to these various trades. There are 4 large schools of each one of these two types, supported and controlled by the National Government at a yearly expense of 1-1/2 millions of pesos. In addition to these, there are 15 Trade schools for girls, also under the control of the National Government, giving instructions in the trades wherein girls predominate, such as millinery, dressmaking, flower-making, telegraph operators, stenographers and typewriters, glove-making, and so forth.
COMMERCIAL EDUCATION
Of recent development and also under control of the National Government are the Commercial schools for men and women, which provide adequate modern instruction in salesmanship and bookkeeping and all other affiliated activities of commerce. These schools graduate pupils with the rank of Bachelors of Commercial Science and also train the certified Public Accountants. A more recent addition to the scope of these schools is the Degree of Doctor, given for advanced work in Economic Sciences. The National Government spends about 1-1/2 millions of pesos for this branch of education.
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION
Agricultural education in Argentina is of a twofold type, general and special. The Special or so-called REGIONAL schools, look towards the education of future workers in special fields, such as, for example, the sugar industries of Tucuman. These schools specialize on the intelligent development of special industries all over Argentina. The curriculum of all these schools is intensely practical, but cover and maintain a sufficient scientific background as these practical studies require in the various industrial fields. These schools are also under the control of the National Government, through the Department of Agriculture.
The schools which provide for the thorough scientific instruction underlying all agricultural occupations are under the control of the NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES of Buenos Aires and La Plata. The annual cost of all agricultural schools is about 3-1/2 millions of pesos, including the expenses incurred in the maintenance of experimental stations, class excursions and University extension teaching.
MILITARY EDUCATION
Military education comprises 7 Army and 9 Navy schools for machinists, mechanics, electricians, the officers of the Army and the Navy, Pilots, Seamen and so forth, to which 2 million pesos were devoted in 1914. Practical instruction is offered in warships and particularly in the Training-ship _Presidente Sarmiento_, which visited the Panama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco during the month of May of 1915, during her 15th cruise of instruction.
UNIVERSITY EDUCATION
The Universities of Argentina maintain the traditional faculties of Jurisprudence, Belles Lettres and Philosophy, Pure and Applied Science, to which recently have been added such departments as Pedagogics, Agriculture, and other newer departments. The enlargement of the activities of these Universities, especially the creation of the University of La Plata, is proof of Argentina's advancement in this field. The La Plata University has been instrumental in the exchange of Professors and has encouraged in many ways the visits of public men of note of Europe and North America, thus recognizing the desirability of maintaining and fostering the most pleasant relations between Europe and the United States of America.
Recent statistics show that the University at Buenos Aires had on its register 1,051 students in the Law Faculty; 210 in that of Philosophy and Letters; 2,501 of Medicine; and 602 of Exact Sciences. The La Plata University, according to the same figures, had 2,184 students, and the University of Córdova 584.
In point of fact, in all the liberal arts and professions, the Argentine Republic takes one of the first places. Literature, Music and Art are also at a very high standard and it is perhaps appropriate to mention here in regard to music that not only is its study general throughout the country but, that in Buenos Aires alone, there are upwards of sixty Conservatories of Music where instruction is received in the higher branches.
In regard to the national defences, Article 21 of the Constitution provides for compulsory service by all Argentine citizens in defence of the country. The regular army, though comparatively small, has attained a high state of efficiency, which may also be said of the reserve forces. During latter years considerable and important additions have been made to the Argentine Navy, notably by the recent construction in the United States of the _Rivadavia_ and the _Moreno_, which, to-day, without doubt, are among the finest battleships afloat. In other naval matters, such as gunnery, dry docks, naval bases, armaments, repairing shops and technical instruction, there has been a remarkable advance in the last twenty years.
While the figures given here in connection with Argentine exports indicate increased production for home consumption, it is also desirable to demonstrate the progress made by the Republic in latter years in the establishment and development of national industries, as well as in exported articles. The new era of industrial expansion which set in about the year 1903, shows equally remarkable advance in regard to industries already then established and the creation of others which in time will assume considerable importance. Metallurgical industries have made rapid strides not only in numbers but also in the value and extent of their production; and, there is little doubt, that as the exploitation of the many iron and copper mines to be found in the Republic is proceeded with, this branch of national industry will attain still greater proportions. Other new industries for which the Republic offers a most suitable field are those of Cotton, Tobacco, Textile Fabrics, Oils, Rice, Silk and Forestal productions. Some of these have been largely extended during the last ten or twelve years, notably those pertaining to the production of hard-woods and their extracts, furniture and other wood manufactures. The latter industries especially are likely to receive a great impetus through the action of the Government in devising efficient means for new methods of exploitation and conservation of the forests, as foreshadowed in the Message of the President to Congress in 1913.
To demonstrate the extraordinary development of the stock breeding industry, it is only necessary to state that according to the last Agricultural and Livestock Census taken in 1908, the Republic was shown to possess 29,116,625 head of cattle, 67,211,754 sheep, 3,945,036 goats, and 7,531,376 horses, being an increase over the census of 1895 of approximately 30 per cent in the number of head of cattle and of nearly 50 per cent in the number of horses. This numerical increase, however, does not fully express the high degree of development reached in this national industry and particularly in regard to cattle and horses. In the years intervening between those two censuses, hundreds of millions of dollars were expended on the purchase and importation of pedigree stock, which have placed Argentine bred animals on a standard of equality with many of those raised in the old countries. This may be seen by the values stated in the respective years named. In 1895 the stock of cattle was valued at $221,000,000 and in 1908 at $410,000,000, whilst the horses were valued in the first census at $26,000,000, the value given in 1908 was over $90,000,000.
The founding in 1858 of the Argentine Rural Society by a group of social spirited breeders and land owners, was the starting point of the expansion of this industry and owing to the ideas and methods introduced by that Association, it was found necessary in more recent years to create the Ministry of Agriculture, which includes within its sphere of operations not only the governmental control of the agricultural and pastoral industries, but also the entire range of the Republic's foreign commerce. The annual shows of the Rural Society in Buenos Aires attract visitors from all parts of Europe and it has been conceded that for the variety and all-round quality of the animals exhibited, they excel the regularly established shows of Europe. At the 1913 exhibition of the Argentine Rural Society, the locally-bred champion Short-horn Bull, "Americus," created a world's record by realizing the unprecedented price of about $35,000 ($80,000 currency), whilst even larger sums have been obtained for yearlings produced in the country. Nor is this surprising when it is stated that Argentine breeders have paid the highest known prices for pure pedigree stock, in which general statement may be included the payment of more than $150,000 each for three famous Derby winners. The breeds of cattle most encouraged in Argentina are Shorthorns and Herefords, Lincolns predominating in Sheep and Clydesdales and Percherons in Horses. Still, there are hundreds of millions of acres of rich pasture lands not yet stocked, so that when the time comes to place these vast areas under cultivation, the number of animals that could be maintained is almost illimitable. It should be further added that the climatic conditions of the country permit of all its animals being reared in the open; and as showing the possibilities awaiting those who enter this field of national industry, it may be pointed out that in hundreds of cases where land has been rented and cultivated for the purpose of fattening cattle, the lessees have been enabled within a very few years to become absolute owners of the land as a result of their profitable operations.
The Dairy and Flour industries have likewise shown great improvement, whilst considerable promise is held out by the establishment and development of other industries, such as the cultivation and export of fruits, the breeding and fattening of hogs, poultry farming, bee-culture and the manufacture of vegetable and animal oil products.
The vigilant economic policy undertaken by the present government of the Republic is likely to exercise a very beneficial effect upon the future of these and other industries when normal conditions are restored. The questions of roads, canals, ports, transport charges and other matters which affect the development of commerce were all being considered with a view to improvement prior to the outbreak of war; and even at the present time work is proceeding for the deepening of existing channels and the extension of ports and docks. Immigration has necessarily been checked through the war, but when this disturbing element no longer exists, renewed vigor will be applied to a general extension of industrial establishments in every direction where the natural resources of the Republic can be made available.
THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC IN THE SAN FRANCISCO EXPOSITION
Of all the great Expositions held in the United States to celebrate some distinct occurrence or achievement in the history of the country, none has assumed the importance or splendour of the World's Fair at San Francisco, created to commemorate America's immeasurable service to the cause of humanity by the construction of the Panama Canal to link up the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Conceived and decided upon in times of general peace, most of the nations of the earth were invited to participate; and though laboring at the time under certain difficulties induced by universally disturbed economic conditions, many of the countries subordinated these considerations to the higher purpose of cementing the bonds of international friendship by accepting the invitation of the United States to take part in the great Exposition of San Francisco, formed to crown the colossal work initiated by Ferdinand de Lesseps and carried into execution by American skill, labor and courage. Not least amongst the countries willing to make sacrifices to share in this noble work was the Argentine Republic which, in the face of many obstacles to adequate representation, at once entered into the spirit of the undertaking and after assembling its leading authorities in all the branches of national arts and industries, decided to assume its appropriate part in the glorification of the American Continent by the effort to show that the nations of the south were advancing step by step with the great Republic of the north. Preliminary action was at once taken to organize influential committees representing all the States and Territories of the Republic, an immense sum of money was voted by Congress and full preparations were set on foot to secure a practical and eloquent manifestation of the phenomenal progress and of the social and political economy of the Argentine Republic. No sooner had these measures been adopted than a series of perturbations, culminating in the outbreak of the war in Europe, occurred to create an unfavorable ambient and to sow doubts and mistrust forshadowing failure for the great enterprise. In spite, however, of the fears and even of the opposition thus created, the Argentine Government through its organized Committees proceeded uninterruptedly with the completion of its plans and has been able to organize the most important representation it has yet had in any foreign Exposition.
The Argentine section of the International Exposition of San Francisco admittedly holds high rank in every aspect of its participation, not excluding the magnificence of its Pavilion and the area of space allotted to Argentine exhibits, which reflect the indisputable importance and advance of the Republic. The spaces occupied in the various Palaces of the Exposition embrace an area of 3,000 square meters which, added to the 4,000 meters occupied by the Pavilion and Garden, gives a total area of 7,000 square meters and constitutes a space record over all previous exhibitions in which the Argentine Republic has so far assisted. The areas excluding the Pavilion and Garden are divided as follows:
(1) Agriculture 1,140 square meters (2) Various Products 550 " " (3) Food Products 385 " " (4) Education and Social Economy 320 " " (5) Liberal Arts 230 " " (6) Mining and Metallurgy 215 " " (7) Fine Arts 160 " " ----- Total 3,000 " "