The Argentine in the Twentieth CenturyMartínez, Alberto B.
History
The Argentine in the Twentieth Century
Martínez, Alberto B.
Argentina -- Commerce; Argentina -- Economic conditions; Finance -- Argentina
The Argentine also has seen pass over its soil the same rude generation,
having no other dream than independence. The “guacho” of old, a mixed
type of the Indian and Spanish races, the true son of the pampa, was
truly attached to the immense plain upon which he lived at the call of
caprice, a wild rider in every sense. To-day the type tends to disappear,
as civilisation, and more especially administration, everywhere make
their influence felt; as the ancient virgin pampa is transformed into
cultivable soil, bristling on all hands with barbed wire. As he was not
easy to domesticate, nor break in to any continuous labour, the “guacho”
has been supplanted little by little by the foreign farmer, the colonist;
and to-day he is almost submerged by the wave of immigration which has
invaded the country, and which forms now the major part of the population.
From the men of this new generation one must ask no other love for the
soil than that which is born of the profits they draw from it. They can
move indifferently from north to south, from east to west; the soil for
them is everywhere the same, provided the harvest be good. But, apart
from that, they nevertheless love this land of promise, and interest
makes them its children.
From this generation, whose principal traits we have noted, it seems that
we may in the future expect great things.
To be sure, if the world were to return to its old ideal, that of glory
or imperialism, we hardly know what place the Argentine would find in the
scheme of things. It is unsuited to a military policy; it has no ambition
to measure itself with neighbouring nations, which are far more eager for
adventure.
But if we stand on the economic plane, the only one which interests us,
we must allow that this generation is well armed for self-defence in
every field of the commercial struggle. From the fusion of the Latin
genius with the Anglo-Saxon energy has issued a new product, extremely
capable in business, full of practical sense, and very open to progress,
which will be fully able to hold its own in a century in which money
is the great instrument of domination. This race, formed haphazard of
immigration, is yet the very race for Argentine soil; between the two
there is a correspondence, an adaptation, as perfect as if it were the
result of long-continued design.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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