This they have proved on more than one occasion,
notably when the question of frontier delimitations brought about a
dispute with Argentina, a dispute which both nations consented to refer
to arbitration, and, an award having been given, both nations maintained
it with equal loyalty.
CHAPTER XXVII
THE REPUBLICS OF THE RIVER PLATE
The history of no other Republic immediately following on the period of
the Wars of Liberation is quite so complicated as that of Argentina. The
circumstances in the River Plate Provinces differed somewhat from those
of any other part of Spanish South America. From the outset Argentina
loomed more largely in the eye of Europe than did any other of the
sister States. No sooner were the ports thrown open by the newly
constituted Republics than the foreigners flocked to Argentine soil in
numbers which were quite unknown elsewhere. The chief reasons, of
course, for this influx were the temperate climate, the now acknowledged
riches of the land, and the comparative ease with which access to the
country was obtained.
Owing to this latter circumstance, Argentina possessed a great advantage
over Chile, notwithstanding the peculiarly fine climate of the latter
Republic; for the journey over the Andes was strenuous and costly in the
extreme, while the voyage from Europe to the western Republic through
the Straits of Magellan occupied exactly double the time required to
reach Buenos Aires.
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