Nevin O. Winter

“Found schools and you will do away with revolutions,” was the favourite expression of President Sarmiento. It was during this administration that education received its greatest impetus. Sarmiento, who has been called the “school-teacher president,” inaugurated a most liberal policy towards popular education. He was deeply interested in this problem, had made a study of the educational systems in the United States and caused the establishment of very many schools and public libraries. The provincial and municipal authorities of the republic were everywhere encouraged and urged to establish an efficient system of public instruction, and his efforts produced beneficial results. The later administrations, however, have been absorbed in other lines, and many of the progressive ideas of Sarmiento were allowed to pass into “innocuous desuetude.” There have been occasional spurts of energy, but these have been far too spasmodic.

The subject of education arouses less interest than it should with the people in general. This lack of public interest is perhaps accountable in a great measure for the indifference of the provincial and national administrations. Here is a criticism of Mr. Akers, the historian, of the educational system in Argentina. “A smattering of many subjects is taught, a sound knowledge of any one is the exception. It is not that the pupils are deficient in intelligence, but rather that teachers are lacking in experience and ability. Nor can any other result be expected under existing circumstances. The payment of officials is inadequate, and frequently salaries are months in arrears, while lack of discipline in primary, secondary and higher education is conspicuous. Provisions for the orderly exercise of authority in colleges and schools are also most defective.” This criticism was written in 1903, but it is applicable to-day, except that the payment of the teachers is somewhat higher and a little more regular. The teaching profession is still greatly underpaid, as the money is turned into other channels which are more purely political. It is simply another example of that utilitarian policy of looking only to the present and letting the future generations take care of themselves.

Public instruction in Argentina is divided into three classes—primary, secondary and higher education. Primary education is compulsory by law, though seldom enforced, and is given free to all children in the republic between the ages of six and fourteen. Education in the capital and territories is under the control of the Federal Government, and there are in all five thousand, two hundred and fifty public schools for primary instruction maintained by it. Each of the provinces maintains large numbers of these schools for elementary instruction also, and in addition each city contains a number of private schools to which people of means send their children rather than to the public institutions. All of the schools having the support of the Federal Government are under the supervision of the National Council of Education, which is housed in a beautiful building in the city of Buenos Aires. Secondary education is not compulsory, but it is practically free, as only a very small fee is charged for registration. There are sixteen lyceums and thirty-five normal schools which come under this class, and they are located in all the larger cities of the nation. The national universities of Buenos Aires and Cordoba are both noted institutions, and these, together with the provincial universities at La Plata, Santa FÉ and ParanÁ, provide the higher education. In addition to this the various provincial governments send a number of students abroad each year to complete their studies at the noted universities of Europe and North America. At the present time there are about thirty of these students at the various universities and colleges of the United States, and others are pursuing their studies in England, France, Germany and Italy.

A SECONDARY SCHOOL

Many technical schools are also maintained by the national government. Among these one of the most practical is the Industrial School of the capital. This institution has elaborate workshops which are well equipped with machinery and appliances, in which the trades and crafts are taught. The National Conservatory of Music, the School for Drawing, the School of Art, and the School of Commerce, in which instruction is given accountants and translators, are situated in Buenos Aires, and there are commercial schools in Cordoba and Bahia Blanca. There is an agricultural school in Santa Catalina, province of Buenos Aires, and agricultural experiment stations have been established at Tucuman, Bella Vista, San Juan and Tenna.

Argentina is, at the present time, spending a great deal of money for education. In the city of Buenos Aires there are sixty-seven buildings devoted to educational purposes. Many of these are very attractive structures and the total cost has run up into the millions of pesos. The general plan of education is being modelled very much after that of the United States. System and practice, however, are often two different things, and so it oftentimes happens in Argentina. In actual practice there is often a misconception of what real education means. Superficiality is too often a characteristic of the education offered. There are many finely educated persons in the country, but not many of them teachers. The positions are too often the reward of politics, although there are many very efficient women who are teaching. Graduation is easy for the scholar with a pull, for the students will bring in recommendations at graduation time in order to be sure of passing, especially if they have not been very diligent. A glitter is too often allowed to take the place of real scholarliness and learning. This superficiality is too often allowed to pass muster where solidarity should be demanded.

The University of Buenos Aires is one of the great educational institutions of the New World. It is not quite so old as the one in Cordoba, which was founded in 1613, but it has a much larger attendance of students, probably because of its location in the capital. The buildings are scattered over the city in different sections, as the various departments have been added from time to time. A few of the oldest buildings are very venerable looking indeed, and are among the oldest structures in the city. It is planned to rebuild much of the University in the suburban sections in the near future, so that more space can be utilized in quadrangle and park. Almost five thousand students receive instruction in the various departments, of which the largest number, about one-half of the whole, are matriculated in the College of Medicine, which is a large and well-equipped institution. Many departments are included in the institution, however, which do not strictly come within the designation of a medical institution proper, and that accounts for the numerical enrolment. The next largest department is that known as the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences. A recent addition to this ancient university is the National Agronomic and Veterinary Institute, which is devoted to developing what are, and perhaps always will be, the greatest sources of the national wealth of Argentina. The courses of study of the University are very complete, and contain what is best in Argentine education. It is by far the best and most thorough educational institution in the republic.

It is not to be expected that one would find in Argentina a very great number of writers. The greatest incentive to a writer, as well as to a publisher, is that a book will be read by many people. In the republics of Spanish America, with education only imperfectly spread among the masses, the number of readers has been necessarily small. Another obstacle to the development of literary activity has been in the frequent wars and revolutions which have kept most of those nations in a state of political turmoil. Furthermore the comparative isolation of those republics prevented a coÖperation among them even though there was a sameness of language. Therefore the editions were necessarily small, and the remuneration consequently inadequate to encourage a literary career. In the face of these disabilities it is to the credit of Spanish-American writers that their activities have been so considerable.

Politics and journalism have always been intimately connected in Argentina, for the editorial has oftentimes been of greater interest than the news columns. Many of her writers have been intimately associated with this form of activity. Avellaneda, Pellegrini, and BartolomÉ Mitre, all of whom occupied the presidential chair, first made their mark in the journalistic field. The last named wrote an able work on the history of the emancipation of South America and a biography of the Argentine patriot, San Martin. Vicente Fidel Lopez, another historical writer, gave to the world a “History of the Argentine Republic,” which has taken its place among standard historical works.

Poetry and the drama have always been favourite forms of writing among Spanish writers. Perhaps no language can boast of so many dramas as the Castilian. Argentina has nourished a number of these, among whom might be named Tomas Gutierrez, Rosa Guerra and Juana Manso de Noronha, the latter writing a drama called “The Revolution of May,” which is very popular in that country. There are few Spanish writers who do not at some time stray into poetic writing to which that tongue is so well adapted. Although none of the poets have secured a world-wide hearing, some very sweet poems have been penned by Echeverria, Lafinur and Figueroa. In fiction translations of French writers have generally been demanded. Only one novel by an Argentine writer has received a favourable hearing in Europe, and that was “Amalia,” by JosÉ Marmol. It is an historical novel treating of the dictatorship of Rosas, and has been very highly commented upon by competent critics. It probably gives the best picture of the stirring events of that interesting period in the history of Argentina. In more recent years, since the population has increased, and better political conditions prevail, and the reading public has been so greatly augmented, writers in all fields, including philosophy and political economy have become more numerous, and the next decade will probably be marked by much greater literary activity.

The press is well represented in Argentina, for there is scarcely a town of any size that does not support a newspaper. They are well patronized too, and the towns take a pride in their publications. The press of Buenos Aires is one of the most polyglot in the world. There are in that city almost five hundred different publications, of which four hundred and twelve are printed in the Spanish language, twenty-two in Italian, eight in French, eight in English, eight in German and one in Arabic. Then the Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Roman and Dutch tongues each have at least one representative. There are sixty-six dailies, sixty-four monthlies and almost two hundred weeklies.

La Prensa, which means The Press, is a newspaper of which any country or city might be proud. Although not a government organ, for it remains independent, this newspaper undoubtedly exerts the widest influence of any newspaper in Argentina, and perhaps in South America. It is most frequently quoted by the people and its statements are taken as facts. It has a circulation of over one hundred thousand. In appearance it is a large metropolitan sheet seldom containing less than sixteen or twenty pages. Its news columns are well written and newsy, and its editorials are weighty and well-digested. La Prensa publishes more foreign news than any newspaper in the world. This is its claim—certainly more than any daily in the United States. There are seldom less than two pages of foreign cablegrams from all parts of the world, principally Europe, of course. The establishment of this newspaper is on the Avenida de Mayo, in an imposing building which cost three million dollars and is one of the finest newspaper homes in the world. Here will be found not only a complete and modern newspaper plant, but a number of unique features for the good of the public and the glory of the city. At its own expense a free consulting room is provided where an able physician, aided by several assistants, administer to the sick without charge; there is a law office where, during certain hours, indigent persons can secure free legal advice; a large, well-stocked library is open to all without payment; there is a large hall for public meetings and where fine musical entertainments, as well as private operas, are sometimes given for the force. Another unique feature is a suite of finely furnished apartments where distinguished foreigners are gratuitously entertained. There are private grill rooms for the reporters and other employees, and the proprietor has a fine office which he does not occupy more than once in six months. The owner of the La Prensa is a very wealthy man, but he takes absolutely no part in the conduct of the paper. He engages an editor-manager, and the entire management and policy of the paper is turned over to this one man. If this man makes good he retains his position; if not, he is at once supplanted. In a long period of years there have been but four editors, which speaks well for the care with which these men have been chosen. They have all been men of prominence, and their ability is shown by the high standard of the paper which has been maintained during all of these years.

After La Prensa, La Nacion, which was founded in 1870 by the famous Argentine statesman, BartolomÉ Mitre, is second in importance, and has a large as well as distinguished clientele. It is large and metropolitan in appearance, and might be called the government organ. The principal evening paper is El Diario. La Argentina, El Pais, La Razon, El Tiempo, El Pueblo, Tribuna, etc., are the names of some of the other leading dailies. There are two English daily newspapers, the Standard and the Buenos Aires Herald, each of which has a good circulation. They are both typical English papers in appearance and general style, although the Herald was founded by an American. The Review of the River Plate and The Times of Argentina are weekly publications devoted to shipping and the general financial news and interests of the country. The former has a well-established reputation as a financial authority in British commercial circles. Caras y Caretas is a unique illustrated weekly which has a large circulation and is exceedingly popular. La Illustracion Sud-Americana is a handsomely illustrated monthly, one of the best published anywhere. La Revista de Derecho, Historia y Letras is a literary periodical of high character.

The Spanish cavaliers left Europe just prior to the Renaissance, when the dark ages were nearing their end. Europe was then striving with the life which was soon to burst forth. The wealth of knowledge and art, which had heretofore been confined within the dark and forbidding walls of monasteries and convents, was about to be given forth to the world to which it belonged. St. Peter’s was then in the hands of architects full of new ideas, the great cathedral of Seville was nearing completion and work was in progress on many of the other famous cathedrals of that continent. This genius for building crossed the seas with the new colonists, and they soon turned their attention to the upbuilding of great temples dedicated to the Almighty. It was an age of wonderful activities in art and architecture, and the New World profited by it. It was not long until hammer, chisel and trowel were busy in all the new settlements, and their accomplishments now gladden the eye of the people of this age. The oldest Spanish cathedral in the Americas is probably at Santo Domingo, as that was first settled. It was here that the body of Columbus rested for a time. Cortez marked his subjugation of Mexico by the inauguration of great public works on which the newly-enslaved inhabitants of the country were employed, as did Pizarro in Peru. The great cathedral of the City of Mexico, the most stupendous of the New World, was begun in 1573, on the site of the ancient altar of sacrifice of the Aztecs. This is said to be outranked by only three cathedrals in the world, St. Peter’s, St. Paul’s of London, and that of Seville. The cathedral of Lima, Peru, is the earliest and largest in South America, and was founded on the same day as the city itself, by Pizarro. The corner-stone of this magnificent structure was laid on the 16th day of January, 1535, and the bones of the founder now rest beneath its roof and are shown to the curious visitor.

There are some old churches in Argentina which one will find in Cordoba and other old towns. The cathedral, however, is more modern, as it was not begun until comparatively recent times, although erected on the site of a chapel that was founded in 1580. Were it not for the dome surmounted by a cross its appearance would not necessarily suggest a religious edifice. The twelve massive Corinthian columns suggest the Church of the Madeleine in Paris. It shows a tendency to depart from the old models and adopt newer schemes of embellishment, just as has been the tendency in North America. Its faÇade, however, is imposing on the Plaza de Mayo, around which centre the commercial and political activities of this great city. It is perhaps emblematical of the new forces which are at work in Latin-America. The interior of this cathedral is commodious and will accommodate several thousand people. The Church of San Francisco is a fine example of church architecture, and has just been almost wholly remodelled. San Domingo is an historic old church, in the tower of which a number of cannon balls are imbedded, which were fired into the city by the British fleet.

The principle of subsidy to art still retains its vitality in South America. In Argentina there are several municipal theatres, or opera houses, and the finest of which is the Teatro Colon, or Columbus Theatre, of Buenos Aires. This handsome structure was erected by the municipality at a cost of two million dollars. It is three stories high. The first story represents the Ionic, the second the Corinthian and the third the Doric style of architecture. It is of recent construction and will seat nearly four thousand persons. The very best artists of the world are brought here, as the annual allotment from the municipal budget enables the management to do what the box receipts alone would not warrant, because of the long voyage necessary to bring these high-salaried artists to Buenos Aires.