But it would convey a very false impression to suggest that the condition of the people was miserable, or even that it was unsatisfactory, as far as an observer can judge. The worker is no doubt harassed by petty officials and exactions, but in the Latin countries, whence he came, he probably suffered as much or more; he was therefore acclimatised before he arrived; and he has now, what he seldom had before--a bellyful of food and some pocket-money, and, if he is enterprising, the chance of rising to competence or wealth. If we make allowance for different standards of comfort, it would be correct to say that any man who is willing to work hard with his hands can live in Argentina in as great comfort as the worker in any country in the world, and infinitely better than in most lands. It is a testimony to the prosperity of Argentine labour, that swarms of reapers come from Spain for every harvest, and return with £30 apiece in their pockets. The evils, from a material point of view, are upon the surface, while it is a fact that the working man in Argentina has, besides a fair livelihood, that hope which is at the same time the main factor in individual happiness and the best security for the economic efficiency of the country. [Illustration: PLATELAYERS, BUENOS AIRES CENTRAL RAILWAY.] This subject leads us to one which is the crux of the situation in Argentina--that of immigration. The natural growth of the population[67] is not very considerable; it may be that, apart from immigration, it would remain stationary. Thus the matter is one of great import, and all rulers since Rosas have done everything in their power to encourage the influx from foreign countries. Several different views have been taken about the subject. We have the pessimistic view of Mr. Theodore Child,[68] who, while praising the "urban development" of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, says that: "In the rural districts, however--even in the provincial capitals of the old colonial days, but more especially in the new colonies, where the scum of Spain and Italy has been deposited in ever-increasing numbers during the past twenty years--one sees aspects of humanity that fill one with sadness rather than with satisfaction, or even hope." This extremely superficial work has formed the material for a few contemptuous sentences by M. Gustave Le Bon,[69] in which he dismisses South America as an instance of "the terrible decadence of the Latin race." On such slight foundations do philosophers erect their edifices. Again, there is a natural but perhaps somewhat Chauvinistic view which regards Argentina as a "puissance nouvelle qui suffirait à elle seule à réhabiliter la race latine à laquelle elle appartient et à la relever de cette espèce de dechéance et d'inertie dont elle semble frappée, dans ce dernier quart de siècle, devant la brutale expansion du monde saxon et germanique."[70]