1000062609_037

156

INTERNATJONAL

A~fERICAN

CONFERENCE.

increas

over tlto e of

li, in which ycar

120,r;()5

prrsons were carried, and tbe

tratlic reacbed the snm of

S:::!5,UOG.l7.

snrve:•• was malle for a railway, whicb w:ts to start from a town called

Cnritaba, in the Brazilian province of Parana., near :Paranagua, and run

thenc~

J.\Iatto Grosso and Bolivia, thus placing Paraguay within

ve days of Río de Jaoeiro.

Tbe air of tbe River Plato is fnll of great railwa.y enterprises jnst now, aoó. new

1iues and gigantic combioations are projected in every directioo. A late munuer of

tbe Buenos Ayre Standard cootaius tho following:

"Me r . Clark

Co. have long planned a vast not-work of railway in the South

American Cont.incnt, and the scheme for a líne from Recife to tbe Pacific coast forms

part of tLis bold plan. Snch almo wonld eclipse tbe Panama Canal anll ronse the

,\·onder of tbe v>orld. Rapiü communication wonld be esta.blished between Aus–

tralia aml Enrope, and irnmigration to the Pacific coaRt wonld be con iderably facíli –

tated. The line · which

t~1e

Mes. rR. Clark are at pre ent buildmg from Monte Caseros

to Corrientes, Posadas, antl Mif'siones al ·o form part of the vast pl::tn alluded to aml

are intended to connect us witb the transcontinental Brazilian líne. The pl:ws wcre

rong-hly umwn np in

6 by these fore-seeing and powerful railway kings. Tbe first

.·ection, according to the plan, stretches from the Mi ·siones territory as far as an

Pablo, in a sonthwesterly direction from tile lines at present in course of constrnc–

tion. At Cnritiba a brauch line would be bnilt to Parauagua, on the Atlantic, and

at an Pablo there wonld be a j:mction ·with the

railw~t)

running to Río Janeiro, or

witil that terminating in

Santo~>.

The secoud section, which runs in a more westerly

direction, would be the prolongation northward of the Missiones line.

wonld

incline geutly ea tward after crossing the

pro,~ iuce

of Parana aml San Pablo," then

continne to the west of Minas Gerros and Babia, and termínate in Pernambuco.

"The tbird, an interoceanic section, would form a jnnction with the Transandina

line.

would stretch from Villa Mercede , in San Luis, th rough Villa Maria (as at

prc ent), Santa F é, Esperanza, aiong the right bank of the Parana as fa r as Cor–

l'iente!'.

I t wonld tben cross the ri>er a little bigber np and stretcb to Asnncion,

thence to Paraguari, Villa Rica, and otber towns, and finally into Brazilian territory

to Para, communicatíng, by means of a branch to Braganz<t, with the Atbntic. Such

is tho gigantlC scheme which tbe l\Iessrs. Clark have been planníng since

6. The

Emperor Pedro is highly in favor of it and assnred Mr. Matthew Clark in London

that he wonld do everything in Lis power to assist bim and bis brother to carry out

tbe greate t scheme of tbe age."

T be often discnssed projcct of a great intemational railway to run from Bnenos

Ay1·es, through Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador to Bogota in Colombia, theoce

to coast, to Cartbagena or Panama, on the Isthmus, has been ably and exbaustibly

dealt with by Minister Bacon in a rccent is ne of tbe Consular Reporta.

The Go,·ernment in September,

7, concluded the following agreement for the

sale of the pre ent line of railwa

~ith

a view to its exteusion to Villa Encarnacion,

on the Parana.River:

"ARTICLl'~

Tbe execntive is anthorized to make arrangements with Dr. William

Stewart

f()r

the sale of the railway from A, nncion to Villa Rica and aU appurtenances

for

2,100,000

bard dollars gold. Tbe purchaser being to prolong tbe line to Villa En–

carnacion.

"ARTICLE V. The execntive concedes to Dr. William Stewart the rigbt to build

and work a railway from Villa Rica to Villa Foncarnacion

accordance with tbe con–

dition

pooified in thi law.

"ÁRTICLE

VII.

Tbe company is at liberty to builll such branches as may

be fonnd nece ary, witbout, however, havin()' tbe privilege · of a gnaranty.

"ARTICLE VIII. The Government guarautie an annual interest of

per cent. on

the capital nnk in tbis undertaking for twenty-year . The maximnm

co~t

per kilo–

meter not to exceed

30,000

hard üoUar gold.

Government to determine

t ariff so oon a net earnings exceed 12 per cent. per annum."

Dr. Stewart is now in Lontlon to effect the sale as projected, but has not succeerled

doing o np to this time. Tbe railway has been reported as sold several time dnr–

mg the year. The matter is one of great moment to those interested in t he conutry,

and the fate of tbe "Stewart conce

ion" ba been closely watched.

It i

now re–

ported that Dr. Stewart ha a.sked the Government for an extension of three months'

time ; also that the Government does n ot teel inclined to uccede to tbe req ue t.

nuders~and,

fnrther, that in ca e Dr. Stewart fails to place tbe conces ion in LoJ?don

a Belgtan company stand r eady to succeedin hi rigbt in the matter. There

d~ubt

th_at the road will be extended soon by sorne company.

(Report by Frank D.

Hill,

Umted States Con nl, A uncion, Paraguay, January 23,

1889.)

Probably San Paulo.