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The Role of the Telegraph in the Consolidation and Expansion of the Argentine Republic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

John E. Hodge
John E. Hodge*
Affiliation:
Greensboro College, Greensboro, North Carolina
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Extract

From 1810, when the cabildo of Buenos Aires declared itself free from Spain, through the civil and parochial wars of the post independence period Argentina struggled for constitutional order and political unity. The tyranny of Rosas, the promulgation of the Federal Constitution in 1853, and its ultimate acceptance by the Province of Buenos Aires in 1862 highlighted the drama. Hampered by vast distances, primitive transportation facilities, and the presence of nomadic hostile Indians, the drive for national unity seemed to have reached a significant milestone in 1880. That year saw the creation of the Federal District on the heels of the suppression of a serious revolt against the national government by the Province of Buenos Aires. When the port city of Buenos Aires became the capital of the Republic, and the government of the province moved to the new city of La Plata, it must have appeared to casual observers that Argentina had arrived as a modern nation-state.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , July 1984 , pp. 59 - 80
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1984

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References

1 “Las líneas telegráficas militares,” Revista de correos y telecomunicaciones, IX (January 1947), 299–301. This serial is an official publication of the Argentine government (first printed as Revista de correos y telégrafos). All issues used in this study were found in the Yale University Library. Hereinafter cited as Revista.

2 Moreno, C. Galván, “Gervasio Antonio de Posadas,” Revista, 4 (May 1940), 38–54.Google Scholar

3 For legislation and appropriations for the Buenos Aires telegraph (1857–1883) see the laws of the Province of Buenos Aires Nos. 232,262,421,505,530,825,867,920,921,943,944,991,1015,1035, 1044, 1069, 1158, 1203, 1334, 1363, 1373, 1391, 1454, 1620. These are codified in Ketzman, Federico and De Souza, Rodolfo F., eds., Compilación completa de leyes del estado y provincia de Buenos Aires desde 1854 a 1929 (24 vols., Buenos Aires 1930–1932).Google Scholar From 1857 to 1881 the budget of the provincial telegraph was separate; from 1881 to 1882 it was included within that of the Western Railroad. After 1883 it was incorporated into the general budget of the province.

4 National Law No. 427 (September 28, 1870), requiring iron posts and two conductors at a cost of 60,000 pesos gold (gold peso equaled .965 U.S. dollars). For efficiency's sake the National Government traded the Arroyo del Medio-Rosario link to the government of the province for an equal amount of telegraph line to be constructed elsewhere at provincial expense. Thus, the Buenos Aires Telegraph remained an exception to subsequent national legislation forbidding any province to maintain lines crossing provincial borders.

5 Law No. 359 (October 12, 1869), cost of 38,000 pesos gold; Law No. 384 (July 26, 1870), an additional 60,000 pesos for iron posts. The Buenos Aires-Rosario line was inaugurated March 10, 1871; Rosario-Córdoba May 4, 1871. This was just in time to keep the capital in touch with the interior at a time when Yellow Fever was raging in the quarantined city of Buenos Aires. La Prensa, May 12, 1871. Civil War in Entre Ríos Province was another reason the telegraph was a boon to the government in maintaining communications with the hinterland.

6 Presidential decree commissioning Vélez Sarsfield to represent the government at the inaugural ceremonies at Villa Maria (Doc. 8248, Postal Archives), printed in Revista, X (December 1946), 235. Highlights of his address reported in La Prensa, November 26, 1870.

7 Decrees of October 8 and 12, 1869, printed in Revista, X (September 1946), 25–26. Also “Carlos Burton, fundador del telégrafo de la Nación,” Revista, IX (August 1946), 1593–1594.

8 Decree of January 17,1871 (Doc. 8333, Postal Archives), printed in Revista, X (December 1946), 235–236.

9 Law No. 573, October 14, 1872.

10 “Carlos Burton, fundador …,” loe, cit. ; all important memoranda and decrees concerning these lines, including contracts with builders, are printed in Revista, X (September 1946), 25–30 and (December 1946), 235–238.

11 The Transandine Railroad was a national property. The Federal Government let the contract for the construction of its telegraph line to Clark and Company of Valparaiso on September 19,1869. Law No. 353, October 9, 1869. This line was by far the best built in the entire national system; when it was closely inspected over twenty years later by Manuel Bahia (see below) it proved to be in excellent condition.

12 Many years later Olivera collected all documents pertinent to his administration and published them as La Reorganización del correo argentino (Buenos Aires, 1909).

13 República Argentina. Diario de sessiones de la cámara de diputados, 1873, 1242–1245 (September 26). Ibid., 1874, 639 and following (July 25). Hereinafter cited as Diputados. Law No. 750½, September 30, 1875.

14 The other three being the report by Manuel Bahia on the state of the National Telegraph (1891), the charter of the Argentine Telegraph Convention (1891), and the new Telegraph Code (1892).

15 Laws Nos. 67 (October 16,1863); 100(September22,1864); 191 (October3,1866); 196(October 3,1866); 353(October9,1869);359(October 12,1869);384(July26,1870);427(September28,1870); 735 (September 28, 1875).

l6 Although the definition of an “official despatch” was carefully spelled out in article 10 of the statute and was even more carefully drawn in the Telegraph Code of 1892, abuses of the privilege continued to be the subject of investigations and decrees well into the twentieth century.

17 The section on priorities was poorly drawn, a shortcoming remedied in the new code of 1892. Código telégrafo, approved by the Minister of Interior, August 29, 1892. The author used the copy printed in República Argentina. Cédigos postales y telégrafos dictados durante la administración del Dr. C. Carles (3 vols., Buenos Aires, 1895), 1,173–333. Yale University Library. The new code made it clear that any despatch concerning railroad traffic which might avert a wreck was to take precedence over all transmissions of whatever category without exception. Book I, articles 29 and 30.

18 This was later amended to permit telegrams in Portuguese, Italian, Latin, French, English, and German. Código telégrafo, Book I, article 26.

l9 This was changed by ibid, article 28. Keys to codes were to be deposited with the Inspector General of Telegraphs who had the authority to suspend their use at any moment. Coded messages might originate or terminate in any office of a provincial or private line, but they were required to go through at least one station of the National Telegraph somewhere along the line. Expanded by decrees of the Minister of Interior by decrees of July 29 and October 28, 1932.

20 Law No. 753, October 5, 1873.

21 The most thorough treatment of these campaigns from colonial times through 1884, including many official documents and seven detailed maps is Walther, Juan Carlos, La conquista del desierto (2nd. ed., Buenos Aires, 1964).Google Scholar

22 The routes the various divisions were to take can be followed with the detailed map No. 6 in the pocket of binding of ibid.

23 Sent by courier to the end of the telegraph line at Fuerte Argentino, not far from Bahia Blanca. Arce, Jose, Roca, 1843–1914: su vida – su obra (2 vols., Buenos Aires, 1960), 1, 92.Google Scholar

24 Avellaneda’s telegram, dated May 31, 1879, printed in Avellaneda, Nicolás, Escritos y discursos (12 vols., Buenos Aires, 1910), 6, 269.Google Scholar Other telegrams to and from the frontier, 271–272, 275.

25 Walter, chapter XII: map No. 7 in pocket.

26 For details of this office during the period covered by this article see Davis, Gualtiero G., Servicio meteorológico argentino (Buenos Aires, 1914).Google Scholar

27 Davis’ folio-sized volume contains many large fold-out maps showing the development of the meteorological station network over a period of years, thus illustrating the growth of the telegraph system as well.

28 Two particularly good maps of the system are Mapa de las líneas telegráficas de la República Argentina (Buenos Aires: P.F. Van Damme, 1897), New York Public Library; and Mapa general de los ferrocarriles, mensagerias, navegación, correos y telégrafos de la Rúpublica A rgentina (Buenos Aires: Pablo Ludwig, 1908), Yale University Library.

29 These details and many others concerning the state of the National Telegraph are the result of a careful inspection and lengthy report by Manuel B. Bahia to the Minister of Interior, Estanislao Zeballos, April 24, 1891. Subsequently published as Los telégrafos de la República Argentina (Buenos Aires, 1891). New York Public Library.

30 Law No. 2593, October 3, 1889.

31 Bahia, Los telégrafos, pp. 15–16. The symbol m/n refers to moneda nacional, or inconvertible paper. Argentina had gone off the gold standard in 1885 and remained so until 1899 during which the gold premium fluctuated wildly.

32 Diputados, 1885, I, 8 (May 13).

33 Ibid., 1887, I, 1030–1033 (September 22). Law No. 2057, September 26, 1887.

34 Details of the school’s curriculum, requirements, and faculty are printed as “fundación de la escuela nacional de ingenieros de correos y telégrafos,” in Códigos (see note 17), 1,327–333. Approved by the cabinet August 29, 1892.

35 “Convención telegráfica argentina,” Revista, V (November 1946), 168–170.

36 “Bases de la Convención,” printed in Códigos (see note 23), III, pp. 1435–1444. Ratified December 16, 1891; promulgated January 1, 1892.

37 After signing a final peace treaty with Paraguay in 1876 (as a result of the Paraguyan War, 1865–1870) a new commercial treaty was negotiated; and when Enrique E. Moreno was sent to Paraguay as Minister in 1880, he initiated proceedings to tie the Paraguayan National Telegraph system to that of Argentina, culminating in a satisfactory arrangement in 1884. In 1891, as a result of a series of exchanges involving the foreign ministers, ministers of Interior, and directors of Mails of both countries, the Director General of Mails and Telegraphs of Paraguay, Angel D. Peña, was invited to participate in the 1891 meeting of the Convention. Pertinent documents from the Argentine Postal Archives are printed in Revista, XL (February 1947), 335–339; and (March 1947), 419–420.

38 Book I, articles 9, 17, and 18.

39 Details and all pertinent documents on this interesting topic are printed in Revista, X (September 1946), 39–43.

40 This topic merits a separate historical essay. A brief resume may be found in Semeria, Esteban D., “Conecciones internacionales del Telégrafo de la Nación,” Revista 4 (April 1940), pp. 67–68.Google Scholar During the nineteenth century Argentina got its European news via cable from Galveston to South America. For a compilation of decrees, memoranda, statutes, congressional debates and reports pertaining to Argentina’s direct cable to Europe see República Argentina. Cable argentino a Europa vía Ascención (Buenos Aires, 1910). Library of Congress.