Argentina is nominally a Federal Republic and her Constitution closely resembles that of the United States. But, in fact, the federal element is much fainter in the southern Republic, for, as has been shown, the struggles between the two great parties eventually led to the attainment by the central Government at Buenos Aires of that preponderance which was inevitable in view of the vast superiority of the capital to the Provinces in population, civilisation, and geographical position. But the Spanish distaste for centralised administration shows itself in the reluctance to admit the facts, and of this the town of La Plata is an almost comic instance. When, in 1882, it was decided to make this place, which is distant about thirty-five miles from Buenos Aires, the capital of the Province, the authorities spared no effort in planning and building a magnificent city which should be an effectual counterpoise to the federal capital and a standing protest against Unitarian theory. But to build a town is one thing and to people it another; the vast political and commercial interests of Buenos Aires completely overshadowed the upstart city, and it remains a mere lifeless husk, unvitalised by the comparatively insignificant Provincial business. In the United States interference by the Federal Government in State rights is extremely rare and would be liable to cause real civil war; in the Argentina it is common and only brings about a "revolution"—a political phenomenon which has been very mild in type in Argentina during the last decade or two, and indeed public opinion generally seems to applaud the President when he brings an unruly Governor to book.

The Legislature is of the familiar type. The upper house is the Senate with thirty members, two for each of the fourteen Provinces and two for the city of Buenos Aires, and their term of office is for nine years, but one third of them is renewed every three years. The provincial senators are elected by the Legislatures of the Provinces, the two for Buenos Aires by a special body of electors. The House of Deputies, which is the lower branch of the National Congress, consists of 120 members, elected by the people, and there is supposed to be one deputy for every 33,000 inhabitants. Each member of Congress receives the somewhat extravagant allowance of 12,000 dollars, or about £1,060. The Vice-President is Chairman of the Senate—and here it will be noticed how very closely the Argentines follow the northern practice—and it has also sometimes happened that the apparent sinecure of the Vice-Presidency has been the step to the great office. The President now in power, Dr. JosÉ Figueroa Alcorta,[60] was Vice-President till March, 1906, when he succeeded on the death of President Quintana. Like our House of Commons, the House of Deputies is the money chamber, and it has the right of impeaching guilty officials before the Senate.

The various Provinces have their own Constitution and in theory have complete local self-government, even to the right of framing their own fiscal policy, but, as hinted above, they have not in practice very great power. There are also a number of Gobernaciones, thinly populated and governed in more or less absolute fashion. For convenience of reference, the list of Provinces and Gobernaciones, with their areas and estimated population, may be given.

The Supreme Federal Court with its five judges administers justice and is also the Court of Appeal. Trial by jury appears in the Constitution but it is never practised. The administration of justice has long been acknowledged to be in an unsatisfactory state and attempts to improve it have not borne much fruit. Cases are known in which Englishmen have been kept twelve months in prison awaiting trial, and if this is the case with foreigners it may be supposed that natives have much cause for complaint. In his last Message to Congress (May, 1909) the President, while paying a tribute to "the patriotic diligence of our magistrates," remarked that the ordinary Courts of Justice of the capital still leave something to be desired as regards rapidity of action, and he attributes the delay to the fact that the population has outgrown the system, which, he said, "is too cramped to cope with the demands on it, and I think there is urgent and imperious need for reform if we desire to avert a permanent cause for complaint and discredit." Undoubtedly the foreign man of business, whose capital and enterprise is essential to the development of Argentina, will be more deterred by defects in the administration of justice than any other circumstance, for if there is the probability of pecuniary loss in civil cases and discomfort and persecution for his subordinates in the criminal Courts, the advantages of the country as a field for capital must be seriously discounted. It is, however, in far-away, scantily populated districts where the hard cases occur, but it is generally acknowledged that there is considerable room for improvement in the administration of justice.

The position in the world of a great State depends upon the courage and endurance of its people, and these qualities are typified by the efficiency which they demand in the army and navy. Argentina is advancing on the road to greatness, and therefore her military position is a matter of increasing importance. It may be hoped that conditions are now no longer favourable to the unprofitable wars which in the past have been perpetually waged between South American States, for foreign capital has a steadying influence and the sense of kinship between Latin Americans is becoming stronger. However, it must be remembered that the fraternal spirit of the Greeks did not preserve them from internecine wars, and Argentina, flanked by each of the other two powerful South American Republics, cannot afford to neglect her armaments. It may be that the wars nullos habitura triumphos are at an end; it is almost certain that they will be less frequent; but there is now the question of foreign interference, and every Republic, however small and weak, jealously guards its own independence and wishes to be safe from the possibility of dictation from either the United States or Japan. None of the Republics as yet are World States, but South America is a World Power, though not a political entity, and as time goes on it is safe to predict that Pan-Americanism will become a powerful force. Accordingly, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil, at least, are busily strengthening their defences.

Military service is compulsory upon all citizens, and, it may be added, every person born in Argentina, whatever his parentage, is liable. At the age of twenty the young recruit has to serve for two years[61] and in some cases he prolongs his term for three years more. Thus the Republic is certain of having a tolerably large amount of disciplined material upon which to draw for an army. The peace strength of the army consists of sixteen thousand or seventeen thousand officers[62] and men, and is made up as follows: There are eighteen batteries of artillery and two mountain batteries, two battalions of chasseurs of the Andes, nine regiments of cavalry, two regiments of gendarmes, five batteries of field artillery, three mountain batteries, and five companies of engineers. For ten years after the first enlistment the Argentine soldier belongs to the active army, and is liable to frequent drill and must attend the annual rifle meeting of his district. Then, for ten years, he passes into the National Guard, and subsequently serves for another five years in the Territorial Guard. In these two forces the drilling is, of course, much less frequent. In war ten divisions of twelve thousand men would be available, but there might be a difficulty in obtaining them in full strength and satisfactory condition. Sir Thomas Holdich speaks of sixty thousand infantry, twenty-five thousand cavalry, and twenty thousand artillery. There is, however, little doubt that Argentina possesses a good army, sufficient for the defence of even her very vulnerable frontier. Upon the Argentine army, at least as regards the cavalry[63] and artillery, favourable judgments have been passed. The cavalry is, to a large extent, ready-made. In England two years of incessant training is required to make an efficient cavalry trooper, but the Gaucho is a horseman from his childhood; he and all his ancestors have passed all their life with horses, and horsemanship is part of his nature. Consequently, although Argentine soldiers, as a rule, have very little service to their credit, they learn their trade in an astonishingly short time. The troops are also well mounted—not on the common Criollo horse, which is grass-fed, and, except under Pampa conditions, not over-hardy. The artillery are armed with 75-millimetre Krupp guns; the infantry have Mauser rifles; the arms and stores are in a high state of efficiency. The infantry some years ago was condemned as untidy and undisciplined, and its officers as ignorant of their duties, but Sir Thomas Holdich considers that there is no ground for sweeping condemnation. It is, however, undoubtedly much inferior to the cavalry, and pains are being taken to improve it. Possibly the training of officers is too short, and there is reason to believe that military service is not popular among Argentines of the highest class. An excellent institution has been started in a technical school for warrant officers (we should call them non-commissioned), which has five hundred pupils, and has already provided 278 corporals to various regiments. At the same time the pay and condition of the sergeants have been improved. As the backbone of the army is the non-commissioned man, these steps will doubtless be most effective. Sir T. Holdich[64] remarks: "The fighting army of South America, generally will, however, never be infantry in the future, unless it be mounted infantry. In Argentina especially, where a horse can readily be found for every man, and where every man knows how to ride, and where there is a large population (diminishing, unfortunately, day by day) which habitually exists on the very scantiest of a meat supply which needs no special transport, caring nothing for those extras which make so large a demand on English commissariat, efficient mounted infantry is almost ready-made. The mobilisation of such a force would be as effective as that of the Boers, and its discipline far superior."

The Argentines are proud of their army, and with reason, for its history is more illustrious than that of any other Latin American people. They twice conquered the English under some of our best (and one of our worst) generals. The exploits of San Martin in Chile are among the most glorious in the history of the continent. The Argentine army also had a large share in the reduction of Paraguay, then the strongest military power in South America, and there seems to be every probability that it will maintain its reputation. It may, however, be reasonably doubted whether it is equal in military efficiency to the army of Chile, and it rests with wealthy and influential Argentines to make the choice of Hercules, and, preferring the national good to luxury and pleasure, encourage by their active example the military traditions of the race.

The naval efficiency of Argentina is a matter of equal moment. Her Atlantic sea-board extends for 1,000 miles and her southern ports are increasing in size and number. In South America sea-power is of vital importance; on the Pacific coast the ocean is the only highway, and on the eastern coast also journeys from north to south must be almost invariably made by sea. If Peru had possessed one or two more efficient warships, she might have defeated Chile, and the Paraguayan war was decided by the fact that the allies commanded the rivers. Indeed, the whole history of South America affords the clearest proof of the capital importance of sea-power. It is, therefore, necessary that Argentina should have a navy; but in forming it there are serious obstacles to be encountered. Her sons are not sea-faring men; they have ever found the vast plains of the interior too tempting, and have avoided the coasts. There are no fishing villages and no natural nurseries of sailors. It seems strange that the Government, which is only too ready to attempt to create industries, suitable or unsuitable, has not attempted to bring into being a maritime population which would serve for defence as well as opulence. There is, in fact, little interest in any such matters on the part of the population, and the President is now lamenting the disinclination to a sea-faring life, and of recent years steps have been taken to obtain more satisfactory results; but the total mercantile marine, as yet, amounts to barely 100,000 tons. There is, however, a College for training officers, and also engineers and stokers for the mercantile marine, and there is a Pilot School, and various measures show that the authorities are alive to the importance of the question. In his last Message to Congress the President said: "One of the principal reasons for granting privileges to ships flying the Argentine flag is the employment of native crews, so that the nation's sons may find a new path of life, and the navy a fresh source from which to draw sailors in case of an emergency." The Argentine sailor is a land-conscript, laboriously taught an unfamiliar art, which he learns wonderfully well. It is quite possible to create an efficient navy out of landsmen, but the lack of natural seamen will always be a great handicap, which, doubtless, the Government will do its best to remove. It will thus be gathered that Argentina, in spite of her geographical position, is not by nature a sea Power, and indeed she appears to devote attention to the navy only under external pressure. It was apprehension of war with Chile during the boundary dispute that induced the Government to buy the Buenos Aires in 1896, the Garribaldi in 1897, and in 1898 the San Martin, the Puerryedon, and the Belgrano. Again, the present naval programme is due to the activity of the Brazilian naval preparations. The following table gives the strength of the fleet:—

In 1908 the naval officers numbered 493 and the petty officers and seamen nearly 6,000. There has been constructed at Belgrano, about 27 miles from Bahia Blanca, a naval port which will admit of the docking of vessels of 12,000 tons. In 1908 the cost of the army and fleet was £1,849,300. But in the future Argentina, like most other countries, will have to bear a heavier burden, for a scheme is being carried out which, it is hoped, will be completed in five years and will cost about seven million sterling. The new vessels will consist of three battleships of 15,000 tons each, nine destroyers, and twenty-one torpedo boats, as well as several vessels for harbour defence. In the course of a few years, therefore, Argentina will have a fairly powerful fleet. That there is any risk of a conflict between Brazil and Argentina no one believes. In both countries the same opinion is invariably expressed that as one country is building warships, it is necessary for the other to follow suit, and that though there is some jealousy there is little animosity and no material whatever for quarrel or any probability of war. It may be added that Argentina, at any rate, is well able to bear the extra burden, that it is for many reasons desirable that the principal South American States should possess some naval strength, and that an adequate fleet will add to the weight and dignity of Argentina in the councils of South America. For example, the decision of Argentina in the recent Peruvian-Bolivian arbitration case might have been repudiated by Bolivia and the insult to the Argentine Legation at La Paz might have been condoned, had Argentina been weak; and thus it was proved once more that it is strength and not weakness that preserves peace. In this case, of course, the fleet does not enter into the question, as Bolivia, like Bohemia, has no sea-coast, but the people of Argentina deserve every credit for the efforts and sacrifices which they are making to secure an efficient army and navy, and, in all probability, the money will be handsomely repaid merely in the matter of preservation from costly wars.

In foreign affairs the present policy of the Republic is creditable as, on the whole, the past has been.

The Government has shown itself honourably desirous of resorting to arbitration for the settlement of its disputes and of encouraging the other Republics to do the same. In all external relations a dignified and conciliatory attitude is maintained and every effort is made to encourage foreigners to visit the country and settle, and the statesmen of the Republic are zealous to maintain the Republic in a reputation worthy of her great prospects in the eyes of other nations. It is in domestic politics that the outlook is unsatisfactory, and here it must be acknowledged that although Argentina, owing to her wealth and the energetic character of her inhabitants, does not appear to the world in the same deplorable light as several South American Republics almost habitually exhibit themselves, she is nevertheless an extremely ill-governed country. The subject of South American politics is a commonplace with all writers; the hot-blooded Creole, who for centuries had been subject to a paternal government, was altogether unfitted for Parliamentary institutions.

It has been seen that Argentina, on the whole, shows a considerably better state of affairs in the nineteenth century than most of its neighbours, and had she not fallen under the malign influence of Rosas, the Plate District might have been the one bright spot in Latin America. But all the faults of inexperience, ignorance, and passion marred the political history, and the complaint ever is that the government is carried on in the interests of the official few at the expense of the hard-working many.

The politics are almost entirely personal, and the parties have little discipline; the leaders are full of vague ideas of progress and the megalomania common in the politicians of a new country, and this lack of experience and capability appears very clearly in the finance. Congress is not really competent to consider the budget, and it is usually hurried through in a most unceremonious manner, and the vast increase of expenditure alarms the thoughtful men of the Republic. A recent work[65] on the general financial conditions says: "The increase of national expenditure is a constant, we might almost say fatal, fact, which reproduces itself year by year in the Argentine administration."

It is true that a young country ought not to be criticised on the same principles as ancient, long-established States. It is necessary for the former rapidly to develop its resources and lay foundations upon which future generations may build, and such a process entails great public expense. But there is a conviction that economy and good administration are urgently needed, and that the future is being unduly mortgaged. Resentment at the growth of public burdens is very keen, and political strikes are becoming common. The temptation to squander public funds is almost irresistible, and as elsewhere, economy is unpopular and has utterly inadequate safeguards.

There is reason to fear that little actual improvement is likely in the near future, for the whole system is on an unsound basis—the view that political power is not an honourable privilege but a perquisite. The general national attitude towards this subject is worse in many countries than in Argentina, but an eminent French economist[66] points out the capital vice of South American politics: "Leurs hommes les plus Énergiques, au lieu de chercher la richesse dans l'exploitation des agents naturels, l'ont cherchÉ dans l'exploitation du pouvoir. Ils n'ont pas pour force motrice la concurrence Économique, mais la concurrence politique. Ils considÉrent que le moyen le plus prompt et le plus facile de s'enricher est d'Être les maÎtres du gouvernment."

There is some analogy between the position of Argentina and the United States. In both countries business careers have offered such attractions that the best and strongest men have devoted themselves to the amassing of wealth, and politics have fallen into inferior hands. This is better than the case in many States where those who desire wealth look first of all to a political career, but the United States has of late realised that politics is a pursuit which demands high intelligence and character, and thus the national welfare has been appreciably advanced. In Argentina the race for wealth has been too absorbing to allow devotion of the best energies to politics, but as time goes on professions will become more sharply distinguished and a leisured and, it may be hoped, public-spirited class will grow up, and Argentina may gain a reputation not only for stability but also for good administration.