BRITISH INFLUENCE IN SOUTH AMERICA

1918.

1. South America. By W. H. KOEBEL. T. Fisher Unwin. 2. Chile To-Day and To-Morrow. By Miss L. E. ELLIOTT. New York: The Macmillan Company.

1922.

3. Peru. By C. R. ENOCK. T. Fisher Unwin.

1908.

4. The Literary History of Spanish-America. By ALFRED COESTER. New York: The Macmillan Company.

THE

"HE connection of Great Britain with South America is long standing. The abortive expedition to the River Plate under Whitelocke in 1807, although hostile, was mainly undertaken to promote British trade by wresting it from France and Spain; and it had in fact that result. When the South Americans rose against Spain, numerous British adventurers came to aid them in their war of independence. Cochrane (Lord Dundonald) by his brilliant naval exploits did much for the emancipation of Chile and Peru.

In 1818, when Bolivar was hard pressed to maintain himself in Venezuela and Colombia against the forces of Spain, the British Legion, composed largely of Peninsular veterans, landed in Venezuela. The next year they joined Bolivar in his march across the continent towards Bogota. In a fight near Tunga the British Legion contributed to the victory by a bayonet charge, and a fortnight later was also engaged in the decisive battle of Boyaca, which secured the independence of Colombia. In 1821 Bolivar performed a similar service for Venezuela. At Carabobo, near Valencia, at a critical moment the British Legion formed a hollow square and, standing firm under the Spanish fire, allowed the revolutionary cavalry to reform, and the Spaniards were defeated. They evacuated Valencia and Caracas, and Venezuela became independent.

Lord Byron mentions Bolivar in his verse, and so greatly admired the liberator that he thought of buying land and settling in Venezuela. He called his yacht the Bolivar.

Not only was the work of liberation assisted by private individuals, but the British Government gave official encouragement also. The diplomacy of Castlereagh, steering mid-way between the republican United States and the monarchical Spain,

was masterly. He gave the belligerent republics full commercial recognition; the United States were beginning to give them political recognition. Castlereagh proceeded cautiously, as became the servant of a monarchical government with colonies and dependencies. But in 1822 he issued the following note:

His Britannic Majesty would not act with the candour and explicit frankness which he owes to his ally, the King of Spain, were he not, under present circumstances, to warn him of the danger of delay. His Catholic Majesty must be aware that so large a portion of the world cannot, without fundamentally disturbing the peace of civilized society, long continue without some recognized and established relations; that the State which can neither by its councils nor its arms effectually assert its own rights over its dependencies so as to enforce obedience, and thus make itself responsible for maintaining their relations with other Powers, must sooner or later be prepared to see those relations established from the over-ruling necessity of the case, in some other form.

This attitude was decisive; within a year or two all the Spanish colonies were both independent and recognized by Great Britain.

Canning is wrongly given the credit for this by our historians; the policy had been elaborated for many years by Castlereagh and, on his most unfortunate death, Canning stepped in and took all the credit and, what was worse, so mismanaged the negotiations with the United States that the Monroe Doctrine came into beinga perpetual source of embarrassment ever since.

Thus there has always been a prevalence of goodwill between Great Britain and the South American Republics. Their independence was assisted by our diplomacy and private aid, and we can look back upon a century of uninterrupted friendship. At the beginning of this century there was a troublesome boundary dispute between Argentina and Chile, and the countries were on the brink of war. The dispute was satisfactorily settled by the arbitration of King Edward VII, and the two countries set up a statue of Christ on the frontier in the Andes to commemorate the pacification.

About the year 1870 began the great development of the Argentine's export trade. In the early days cattle were killed for their hides and their carcases were left to rot upon the ground. But as transport facilities grew, it became possible to build up a meat trade. The first railway was begun in 1859, and gradually a splendid system of railways was created, for the most part built

by British capital and managed by Englishmen. The sea-borne trade amounted to 15 millions sterling in 1870, 20 in 1880, 34 in 1891, and 53 millions in 1900. In this, England had the leading share. The confidence of the Argentine in British stability and integrity was greatly enhanced in the financial cataclysm of 1891, when the Bank of London and River Plate (now the British Bank of South America) was the only one which did not put up its shutters.

The earthquake at Valparaiso in 1906 was another case in point. Some of the Chilian fire insurance offices avoided payment on various pretexts, and others collapsed altogether. It is needless to say that every English firm paid all its liabilities. Again, after Peru had been ruined by the war with Chile (18791883) it was British capital and creditors who formed the Peruvian Corporation to administer a considerable part of the assets of the country, and that company still continues to manage some of the railways and public debt.

of

While the wheat and meat trade of Argentina was founded on the demands of the British market, the great nitrate industry of Chile was largely the creation of British capital and enterprise. All over Northern Chile we find, at the principal oficinas, groups young Englishmen, who form messes and play polo and take part in all the games and sports that are available, and with them there are usually a few young Chilians, members of the same firm. The Chilian has been called the Englishman of South America, and our countrymen often marry and settle in that land, which has a fine and invigorating climate.

Thus we see that up to very recent times our position was paramount in most of the South American republics. In trade, finance, shipping, social life, and political influences, we held the foremost place.

South America is a vast continent, divided into ten republics, which vary in size, from Brazil, larger than the United States, to Uruguay, somewhat smaller than England and Scotland combined. The climate and geographical features, as might be supposed, vary enormously. The climate depends more on the altitude than the latitude. São Paulo, being 2,000 feet above the sea-level, has a charming temperate climate, while its neighbour, Santos, is hot and moist, like Bombay. Lima and Bogota have mild and equable climates, while the coast towns of the same

republics are hot and often malarious. Much of Argentina has a very good climate, ranging from moderate heat to moderate cold, while that of Central Chile is better still. The interior of parts of Brazil and Bolivia and other republics are intolerable with heat and moisture, while southern Chile and Argentina have inhospit able rain, fog, snow, and constant storms. The Andes-the highest mountains in the world, apart from those of mid-Asiaare the main regulators of the climate.

The face of the continent affords the greatest contrasts. There are stately towns-Buenos Aires with nearly two million inhabitants, and Rio de Janeiro with over a million-where civilization and luxury are conspicuous. There are the wheatfields and grazing-lands of Argentina, the vineyards of that country and Chile and several others, the vast forests of Brazil and Bolivia, and the sugar and cotton fields of Peru. There are the rainless nitrate deserts of Chile, there are mighty rivers, the Amazon, Orinoco, Parana, and many others. There are great || mountains-the chain of the Andes extends for thousands of miles -and at elevations of ten thousand feet and upwards we find large towns, served by broad-gauge railways. In many parts are hives of industry, busy ports, and scientific agriculture. In others range savages using poisoned arrows, and some practising cannibalism.

On the whole the continent is under-populated; Brazil, nearly seven times as large as England, has less population, and Argentina has only seven persons to the square mile. Much natural wealth lies waste, owing to scarcity of labour and transport. We have already mentioned the main products of Argentina and Chile. Brazil supplies about four-fifths of the world's coffee, and much natural rubber. Sugar and cotton are important products of Peru; Ecuador has large cocoa crops, and Colombia produces bananas. Many of the countries yield timber and various tropical products. In comparison with their historic fame, the mines do not now yield extraordinary mineral wealth. Bolivia produces a large quantity of tin; Chile is an important source of copper supply and has considerable coal mines; gold and silver are mined in Peru, Ecuador and Brazil, which last country is also famous for diamonds. Colombia has practically the only emerald mines in the world. Oil is now of some importance, but the scarcity of coal and oil hampers manufacturers. On the whole there is immense natural wealth, but much of it awaits development.

As we have seen, Great Britain had great initial advantages. The stability and development of Argentina began in England's prosperous 'seventies, looked back to regretfully by Mr. Chamberlain in his Tariff Reform campaign. The United States was recovering from the Civil War and needed all available capital for her own development. Germany was only on the threshold of her great commercial career. Thus we had the field practically to ourselves, and at a time of "unexampled prosperity," when a vast amount of capital was looking for an outlet, we rapidly assumed a paramount position. In Argentine railways alone British invested capital now amounts to about £150,000,000, and there is a considerable amount in other undertakings. In Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay we have large interests; in fact, British business men have long been busy in every one of the republics.

lost.

Of course, a considerable amount of money has also been Mr. Pipchin was not the only one who broke his heart in pumping water out of Peruvian mines. Most of the worst cases of default and fraud, however, occurred in Central America, not in South America at all; but, the Central American Republics being Spanish-American, all were frequently lumped in one condemnation. It should here be said that one of the causes which retards the progress of our traders in South America is ignorance. Even of the British commercial traveller it was long ago said that his shrewdness did not always compensate for his ignorance, and our merchants are naturally in worse case. It is a fact that price-lists written in Spanish are sometimes sent to Brazil, and it is a constant complaint that we lose custom by not studying the requirements of the market.

However, the gain enormously exceeded the loss; circumstances could not have been more favourable, for Great Britain had much capital awaiting investment, and in the chief republics many large industries were springing up which required financing, and everywhere there was much undeveloped wealth, attractive to the speculator. As early as 1868 a traveller remarked on "the intimate commercial relations existing between Great Britain and the Rio de la Plata," and went on, "The extent to which the rich pasture and fertile lands have passed, and are daily—I might almost say hourly-passing into the hands of British settlers, marks beyond question the congeniality of climate and occupation, while it testifies to the advantages that have resulted, and are resulting, from their investments in land and stock-breeding.”