58  SELLING  LATIN  AMERICA

movement.  After  trying  various  forms  of
government  it  became  a  republic  in  1844,
which  form  of  government  still  exists,  the  executive ­
  power  being  vested  in  a  President  and
Yice-President,  with  a  legislative  body  composed ­
  of  a  Senate  and  Chamber  of  Deputies.
It  is  impossible  in  even  briefly  writing  of
this  really  wonderful  country  to  refrain  from
some  reference  to  the  one  man,  Lopez,  whose
desire  for  power  resulted  in  the  almost  total
annihilation  of  a  people.  His  arbitrary  rule
embroiled  his  nation  in  disputes  with  much
of  Europe  and  the  United  States,  and  resulted
in  a  war  with  Uruguay,  Brazil  and  Argentine.
In  addition  to  this  internal  strife  developed  in
which  assassins,  murderers  and  executioners
played  their  parts.  When  Lopez  was  finally
killed  and  his  power  gone,  Paraguay’s  population, ­
  according  to  Dawson,  the  well-known
historian,  had  decreased  from  “1,300,000  to
a  little  over  200,000,  only  about  29,000  being
men  and  90,000  children  under  fifteen  years
of  age.”  There  were  five  women  to  one  man.
As  a  result  of  this  devastation  the  country