hing which cannot be
bought by money or influence by boys straight out from home. He will
have been a fellow student, and worked shoulder to shoulder with men who
will in due time occupy positions of power and influence, and it is just
as well to weigh out these things before deciding where to educate your
boy. A boy born in Argentina, whatever the nationality of his parents
may be, is by Argentine law an Argentine subject, and should be brought
up to appreciate that he is liable to be called upon to go through a
military course: the Argentine boy, who has had just as gentle an
upbringing as the English boy, is compelled to serve his time in the
army if called upon, and generally the discipline engendered by this
training has not only been good for him, but is a distinctly valuable
asset to the country, and the English boy, as well as a boy of any other
parentage born in the country, will be obliged to go through this
military training if required.
I venture to think that were England to adopt compulsory military
service in some shape or form, we should hear a great deal less of the
unemployed and "don't-want-work" demonstrations.
To attempt to give a picture of Argentine life is impossible in the
short time at my disposal. Imagine to yourself, if you can, a country of
1,212,600 square miles whose borders extend from well within the Tropics
to away down south to the everlasting snows, embracing all kinds of
lands, from the very richest of soils to ice-capped and rocky peaks, and
you must admit that to attempt to describe the various conditions of
life therein is wellnigh impossible. Life is much what the surrounding
conditions make it--on the extreme edge of cultivation it is distinctly
rough, on the inner camps refinement steps in, and in the cities you
will find just what society you wish. Amongst the cosmopolitan
population of Buenos Aires there are many men and women of the highest
culture and education.
There are many Argentines, who stand out prominently from the throng of
busy pleasure-seekers, who are devoting their lives to improving the
surroundings of those less fortunate fellow-creatures who have fallen
upon the thorny path, and whose portion is often the cup of bitterness.
Indeed, I have ever found the Argentine desirous of helping those who
seek advice and assistance; but he spurns the foreigner who degrades
himself and his country by acts of folly which would not be permitted in
his native land.
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