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THE MENTOR 1917.11.01, No. 142, Bolivia

LEARN ONE THING EVERY DAY

NOVEMBER 1 1917 SERIAL NO. 142

THE MENTOR

BOLIVIA

DEPARTMENT OF VOLUME 5 TRAVEL NUMBER 18

TWENTY CENTS A COPY

The Native Bolivian

His morality is what it was, in theory and practice, four centuries ago. He neither loves nor hates, but fears, the white man, and the white man neither loves nor hates, but despises him; there being some fear mingled with the contempt. Intermarriage between pure Indians and pure Europeans is very uncommon. They are held together neither by social relations nor by political, but by the need which the white landowner has for the Indian's labor and by the power of long habit, which has made the Indian acquiesce in his subjection as a rent payer.

Neither of them ever refers to the Spanish Conquest. The white man does not honor the memory of Pizarro; to the Indian the story is too dim and distant to affect his mind. Nor is it the least remarkable feature of the situation that the mestizo, or half-breed, forms no link between the races. He prefers to speak Spanish which the Indian rarely understands. He is held to belong to the upper race, which is, for social and political purpose, though not by right of numbers, the Peruvian or Bolivian nation.

JAMES BRYCE.

From "South America, Observations and Impressions."

ONE

With the exception of Paraguay, Bolivia is the only entirely inland State in South America. It is really a manufactured nation. When the War of Independence of that part of South America ended, the revolutionary leaders set up this country as an independent State, and gave it the name of Bolivia, in honor of Simon Bolivar, the Liberator, himself a native of Venezuela. Bolivia is bounded on the north and east by Brazil, on the south by Paraguay and Argentina, and on the west by Chile and Peru.

In its early days Bolivia was simply a part of the empire of the Incas of Peru. The story of the Incas has been given in Mentor No. 132, "Peru." After the conquest of Peru by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century, the natives were subjected to a great deal of tyranny and oppression. They were compelled to work in the mines, and endured so many hardships and cruelties that their numbers rapidly diminished.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there were many struggles between the native-born inhabitants and their Spanish rulers. The Indian revolt in Cuzco , Peru, which was led by the Inca Tupac Amaru , stirred up the Bolivian Indians to further efforts. For three months Ayoayo with 80,000 men, besieged the city of La Paz . Finally his army was dispersed and the insurrection was crushed.

Injustice had been worked not only upon the Indians, but upon the native born Spanish-Americans. These grew restless at last, and on July 16, 1809, conspirators at La Paz deposed and put into prison the governor, and then proclaimed the independence of the country. One of the leaders, Pedro Domingo Murillo , was elected president. This was the first effort in South America toward democratic government. The Spanish Viceroy, however, sent a trained army which soon overcame that of the patriots. On January 29, 1810, Murillo perished on the scaffold. In the face of death, however, he exclaimed: "The torch which I have lighted shall never be extinguished."

From then on until 1825 there was almost uninterrupted warfare. Success was equally divided at first between the Spanish and the revolutionary forces. On December 9, 1824, the Battle of Ayacucho , in lower Peru, finally ended Spanish dominion in South America. General Sucre was the victorious general. On January 29, 1825, the last Spanish authorities vacated La Paz. General Sucre and his army made a triumphal entry there on February 7, 1825. This general now assumed supreme command in upper Peru. The first national assembly met in June at the city of Chuquisaca , now called Sucre. They decided that the part of the country hitherto known as upper Peru should be made a separate and independent nation, with the name of Bolivia. The Act of Independence bears the date of August 6, 1825.

Simon Bolivar was elected the first president; and Chuquisaca was made the capital under the name of Sucre. When General Bolivar arrived in the city of La Paz on August 18th, he was greeted with wild enthusiasm. He was inaugurated at Sucre in November; but resigned in January, 1826, to return to Lima in Peru.

There was no peace for the people of Bolivia yet, however. Troublous times followed, and finally came the war with Chile. This war arose over the collection of an export tax on nitrate. Chile sent troops to occupy Bolivian territory; and then Peru, linked to Bolivia by secret treaty, together with that country, declared war on Chile on April 5, 1879. Both Peru and Bolivia were entirely unprepared, and Chile was completely victorious in this war. As a result Bolivia lost what little coastline the country had previously possessed.

During the last thirty years internal dissensions in Bolivia have for the most part ceased. There was a brief time of trouble in 1898 over the question of the capital city. It had been the custom for the cities of Sucre, La Paz, Cochabamba , and Oruro to take turns in being the seat of government. In December, 1898, however, the Bolivian Congress attempted to pass a law making Sucre the permanent residence of the president and cabinet. La Paz protested, and the people of the city rose in open revolt. On January 17, 1899, a battle was fought between the insurgents and the government forces. The insurgents were completely victorious. As a result, La Paz was made the real seat of government, although Sucre retains the name of capital. General Pando, , commander of the revolutionary forces, was elected president. In 1903 a boundary dispute with Brazil over some rich rubber country was settled by the cession by Bolivia of a part of the province of Acre, , in return for a cash payment of ,000,000.

TWO

Bolivia is a centralized republic. Its government is representative in form, but to a great extent it is autocratic in effect. The Bolivian constitution was adopted on October 28, 1880, and is a model of its kind. The executive branch of the government consists of a president and two vice-presidents. They are elected by direct popular vote for a period of four years, and are ineligible for election for the next succeeding term. The president has a cabinet of six ministers: Foreign Relations and Worship, Treasury, Government and Promotion , Justice and Industry, Public Instruction and Agriculture, War and Colonization.

The legislative branch consists of a national Congress of two houses--a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. The Senate is composed of sixteen members, two from each department, who are elected by direct popular vote for a period of six years. The Chamber of Deputies is composed of seventy members, who are elected for a period of four years. Congress meets annually and its sessions are for sixty days, which may be extended to ninety days. All male citizens twenty-one years of age or over, who can read and write and have a fixed independent income, may vote. The number of citizens who vote, therefore, is very small, and the country is for that reason under the control of a political oligarchy.

The judiciary consists of a national supreme court, eight superior district courts, and many lower district courts. The supreme court is composed of seven justices, elected by the Chamber of Deputies.

In each department or State a prefect appointed by the president has supreme power. The government of these departments rests with the national congress.

The military forces of Bolivia include about 3,000 regulars and an enrolled force of 80,000 men. This enrolled force, however, is both unorganized and unarmed. In 1894 a conscription law was passed providing for compulsory military service for all males between the ages of twenty-one and fifty years, with two years' actual service in the regulars for those between twenty-one and twenty-five. This law is practically a dead letter. There is a military school with sixty cadets and an arsenal at the city of La Paz. Naturally Bolivia, having no coast line, is not provided with a navy.

Bolivia has a free and compulsory school system, but education has made little progress there. Very few of the people can read and write. Spanish is the official language, but Quichua . Aymar? , and Guarani are the languages of the natives, who form a majority of the population. A great part of the Indians do not understand Spanish at all and will not learn it. The school enrollment is about one in forty-four. There are universities at Sucre, La Paz, Cochabamba, Tarija , Potos? , Santa Cruz , and Oruro. The university at Sucre, which dates from colonial times, and that of La Paz, are the only ones well enough equipped to merit the title.

The Constitution of Bolivia says: "The State recognizes and supports the Roman Apostolic Catholic religion, the public exercise of any other worship being prohibited, except in the colonies, where it is tolerated." However, this toleration is extended to resident foreigners belonging to other religious sects. The Indians profess the Roman Catholic faith, but this is tinged with the superstitions of their ancestors.

Of the various tribes of Indians, the Aymaras are the most civilized. The Mojos and Chiquitos tribes are peaceable and industrious. They have little ambition, and are held almost in a state of peonage. Inhabiting the southern part of the Bolivian plains are the Chiraguanos , a detached tribe of the Guarani race which drifted westward, to the vicinity of the Andes, long ago. They are of a superior physical and mental type, and have made a great deal of progress toward civilization. Of the wild Indians very little is known in regard to either their numbers or customs.

THREE

"Imagine," says James Bryce, "a country as big as the German and Austrian dominions put together, with a population less than that of Denmark, four-fifths of it consisting of semi-civilized or uncivilized Indians, and a few educated men of European and mixed stock, scattered here and there in half a dozen towns, none of which has more than a small number of capable citizens of that stock." That country is Bolivia.

The popular idea of Bolivia is that it is an extremely rugged, mountainous country. In fact, only two-fifths of the total area of Bolivia is comprised within the Andine Cordilleras, which cross its southwest corner. Three-fifths of the country is composed of low, alluvial plains, great swamps and flooded bottom lands, and gently undulating forest regions. There are also considerable areas that afford rich grazing lands.

Bolivia lies wholly within the torrid zone. The only variations in temperature, therefore, are due to elevation. For this reason the country possesses every degree of temperature, from that of the tropical lowlands to the Arctic cold of the snow-capped peaks directly above.

Of birds the species in Bolivia are very numerous. The high mountains are frequented by condors and eagles of the largest size; while the American ostrich and a species of large stork inhabit the tropical plains and valleys. The common vulture is scattered throughout the whole country.

All sorts of plants, flowers and vegetation are to be found in Bolivia. Coca is one of the most important plants of the country. The most important of the forest products, however, is rubber. Sugar cane, rice, and tobacco are cultivated in the warm districts.

The most important industry in Bolivia is mining. The lofty and desert part of the country finds its only natural source of wealth in minerals. The Western Cordillera is especially rich in copper and silver, the Eastern in gold and tin. It has been said that one-third of all the world's production of tin now comes from Bolivia. It was from the east Andine regions that the Incas obtained those vast stores of gold which so excited the Spaniards. Legend has it that the gold that the Spanish took out of the country was much less than that which the Indians buried or threw into the lakes to keep it from the conquerors.

Next to mining, stock raising is one of the chief industries of the country. Horses and, to a greater extent, cattle, are raised there. Goats and sheep are also a source of profit.

Although the agricultural resources of Bolivia are of great value, their development has been slow. Sugar cane is grown, but chiefly for the manufacture of rum. Rice is also raised, but the quantity is not great. Tobacco and coffee of fair quality grow readily. The product that receives most attention, however, is coca. This plant is highly esteemed by the natives, who chew the leaf. It is also used for medicinal purposes.

It is from her forests, however, that Bolivia derives the greatest immediate profit. The most prominent and profitable industry is that of rubber collecting. This was begun in Bolivia between 1880 and 1890. In 1903 Bolivia's best rubber forests were transferred to Brazil, but there still remain extensive areas where good rubber is collected.

The industrial activities of the Bolivian people are still of a very primitive character. Spinning and weaving are done in the home. The Indian women are expert weavers. Other industries of some importance are the manufacture of cigars and cigarettes, soap, candles, hats, gloves, starch, cheese and pottery. The foreign trade of Bolivia is comparatively unimportant, with the exception of the products of its mines.

One difficulty that Bolivia has to contend with is the lack of transportation facilities. Railways have never been developed to any extent, but great plans are on foot to remedy this. With communications improved and extended, the future of Bolivia appears bright.

FOUR

La Paz is a most unusual city. It is the highest capital city in the world--for although Sucre is the official capital, La Paz is really the capital city of Bolivia. It lies in a great mountain hollow nearly 13,000 feet above the sea. This altitude closely approaches that of Pike's Peak; but whereas such an altitude in our country would mean perpetual snow, here it brings only a temperate climate, where flowers blossom throughout the year and the little snow that falls quickly vanishes in the morning sunlight.

The city's official name is La Paz de Ayacucho . It is built in a deeply worn valley of the Cordillera Real, which is believed to have formed an outlet of Lake Titicaca . La Paz is built on both banks of the Rio de La Paz, or Rio Chuquiapu, thirty miles southeast of Lake Titicaca. The valley in which the city lies is about ten miles long and three miles wide. It is very barren and forbidding, and its precipitous sides, gullied by rains and colored by mineral ores, rise 1,500 feet above the city. Above Illimani and other giant mountains of the Bolivian Cordilleras rear their snow-capped peaks. The upper edge of the valley is called the Alto de La Paz, or Heights of La Paz.

The city is surprisingly large, its population being about 80,000. Two-thirds of the population consists of Indians. They give a picturesqueness to the place, the women of the Cholos , or half-breeds, being especially gaily attired.

The greater part of La Paz lies on the left bank of the river. Both banks rise steeply from the stream, and the streets at right angles to the river are very precipitous. All the streets are narrow, and paved with small cobblestones. The sidewalks also are so narrow that only two may go abreast. Many of the inhabitants prefer to walk in the middle of the street. The only things likely to be met are either pedestrians or llamas, the latter used in great numbers in this part of the country as pack animals.

La Paz was founded in 1548 by the Spaniard, Alonzo de Mendoza , on the site of an Indian village called Chuquiapu . It soon became an important colony. At the end of the war of independence, in 1825, it was re-named La Paz de Ayacucho, in honor of the last decisive battle of the revolution. La Paz was then made one of the four capitals of the Bolivian republic. When the Bolivian Congress, however, attempted to designate Sucre as the permanent capital, the citizens of La Paz revolted; and by this revolution of 1898 the seat of government was permanently established there.

One of the most interesting parts of the city to visitors is the Alameda . This is a handsome thoroughfare, with rows of trees, shrubs and flowers. It also has a wide central walk with pools, in which are swans and goldfish. Along the Alameda are many new and rather pretty residences. Most of the houses are painted in tints of pale blue, green, yellow and strawberry, giving the street a gay and pleasing appearance.

The Plaza Murillo is so named from the patriot Pedro Domingo Murillo, who was executed there in 1810. This spot is also the place where independence was first declared in 1809. It has been the scene of many turbulent episodes. On one side of the plaza is the Government Palace, erected in 1885. This contains the offices of many state officials, and, in the upper story, the office and residence of the president and his family.

The Cathedral of La Paz, on the same side of the plaza as the Government Palace, is still in process of construction. The foundations were laid in 1843. When finished it will be one of the largest and most expensive cathedrals in South America. It is to be built in the Graeco-Roman style, will have towers nearly 200 feet high, a dome the top of which will be 150 feet above the floor, and will be capable of seating 12,000 persons.

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