The Amazing Argentine: A New Land of EnterpriseFraser, John Foster
History
The Amazing Argentine: A New Land of Enterprise
Fraser, John Foster
Argentina -- Description and travel
It was my fortune to meet many cultured and travelled Argentines, but,
summing the people in a lump, and excluding the viciousness which trails
behind the wealth of Buenos Aires, and also making allowance for the
lack of that virility and perseverance of those strong men who are
fighting the big battle in Canada, the thing which constantly confronted
me was the fact that here in South America was a nation, born yesterday,
thoroughly alive to the worth of its possessions, brusquely modern,
content with nothing but the latest appliances and machinery and
thoroughly determined that, in the contest amongst the widespread
agricultural lands to supply food to the millions in crowded Europe,
Argentina will not be satisfied with an inferior position.
In a subsequent chapter I will deal with what has already been
accomplished in this field. Here, however, I limit myself to pointing
out that Argentina is increasing her capabilities with a purely
practical education. Men who can neither read nor write, but have come
under the influence of these itinerant schools, can talk with scientific
knowledge about their trade of food producing, be it meat or cereals.
Now another step is being made, and I trust with happy results in view
of the unfortunate position of the "colonists." So successful has been
the agricultural instruction during the past half dozen years, that the
next thing is to develop the commercial spirit so that the farmer may
have some chance of getting a fair return for his labour. Free lectures
are given on the business side of agriculture. Then, attached to the
schools are special buildings for experiments; and boarded pupils, the
sons of men who understand the money value of knowledge, are given a
thorough training. So that all may benefit there are free scholarships,
and I found that preference is given to competitors who come from
districts, suitable for a special industry, where schools have not yet
been established.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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