.522 



PERU. 



unexplored regions. In 1876 the census showed 

 2,621,844 persons. Instead of having increased, it 

 is the opinion of independent observers that as 

 the result of the foreign and civil wars and the 

 neglect of sanitary precautions the population had 

 decreased and does not now number more than 

 1,500,000. 



Finances. The revenue in 1899 amounted to 

 13,701,370 soles, and expenditure was 12,817,910 

 soles, not reckoning, however, liabilities incurred 

 which remained unsatisfied because there were no 

 appropriations. In 1900 the Congress failed to 

 sanction the budget, in which revenue was esti- 

 mated at 13,850,000 soles, and expenditure at 14,- 

 220,000 soles. Customs duties were expected to 

 produce 6,890,000 soles: taxes, 5,267,000 soles; the 

 salt monopoly, 600,000 soles; posts and telegraphs, 

 373,000 soles: and various sources, 720,000 soles. 

 Of the expenditure 420,000 soles were for the Con- 

 gress, 3.000.000 soles for the Ministry of the In- 

 terior, 800.000 soles for the Ministry of Foreign 

 Affairs, 1,300.000 soles for the Ministry of Justice, 

 5.000,000 soles for the Ministry of Finance, 3,200,- 

 000 soles for the Ministry of War and Marine, and 

 500,000 soles for the Ministry of Public Works. 



The foreign debt of Peru, amounting, with ar- 

 rears of interest, to 22,998,651, was assumed in 

 1890 by the Peruvian Corporation. The internal 

 debt is'46,003,000 soles. 



The Army and Navy. The standing army 

 consists of 1,940 infantry, 625 cavalry, and 510 

 artillery; total, 3,075 officers and men. The navy 

 consists of the cruiser Lima, of 1,700 tons, an 

 armed transport, and 2 smaller steamers. 



Commerce and Production. The staple agri- 

 cultural products are cotton, of which 6,172 tons 

 were exported in 1898 and 5,876 tons in 1899; 

 coffee, of which the export was 1,245 tons in 1898 

 and 1,215 tons in 1899; and sugar, covering 187,- 

 000 acres, the export having been 103,712 tons in 

 1898 and 102,789 tons in 1899. The Peruvian Cor- 

 poration, which received 2,750,000 acres of Gov- 

 ernment lands, has introduced coffee-growing in 

 central Peru. The guano islands seized by the 

 Chilean Government in the war with Peru and ' 

 Bolivia were restored and turned over with other 

 public property to the Peruvian Corporation. 

 Money obtained by Chile from sales of guano is 

 held in escrow by the Bank of England. Cacao, 

 rice, tobacco, wine and brandy, and corn are 

 produced in various parts of the country. The 

 coca plantations of La Libertad, containing 2,700,- 

 000 trees, produced 3,600 kilograms of unrefined 

 cocain for export to Hamburg in 1899, besides 

 small shipments to New York and London. Cin- 

 chona and other medicinal plants of various kinds 

 and dyes are minor articles of export. The ex- 

 port of sheep's wool in 1898 was 1,280,000 kilo- 

 grams; of llama wool, 176,800 kilograms; of al- 

 paca, 2,030,700 kilograms. The quantity of rub- 

 ber shipped down the Amazon from Iquitos is 

 more than 1,500 tons a year. There were 4,714 

 mineral claims in 1899, a large proportion of 

 which were not worked. They include gold, sil- 

 ver, copper, lead, zinc, borax, quicksilver, coal, 

 phosphate, salt, and sulfur mines and petroleum- 

 wells. The number of mines in operation in 1901 

 was 2,500, giving employment to 70,000 workmen. 

 The political stability created by the administra- 

 tion of Nicolas de Pierola and preserved under 

 that of President Romana has given rise to a 

 great deal of mining, agricultural, manufacturing, 

 and commercial enterprise, and this expansion has 

 resulted in a marked improvement in the public 

 finances. A company has boon formed with Peru- 

 vian capital to drain the flooded silver-mines of 

 the Cerro de Pasco. The high-grade copper ores 



of this district are a more valuable national asset 

 than the silver. American capitalists have studied 

 the means of developing the copper-mines. The 

 ore can be smelted with coal found in the neigh- 

 borhood. The production of ore in 1901 was 

 about 10,000 tons, containing 2,000 tons of copper. 

 Other districts of Peru are also rich in copper. 

 The production of sugar has almost doubled in 

 ten years, amounting to about 140,000 tons in 

 1901. The cultivated area has been increased, and 

 in a few years the crop is likely to reach 200,000 

 tons. The cane can be ground at any season of 

 the year in Peru, and as the fields are irrigated it 

 can be planted or cut at any time, but central 

 machinery can not be employed as in Cuba, as the 

 sugar lands lie in small valleys. Peruvian sugar 

 is exported to the United States and Chile in in- 

 creasing quantities, while exports to Great Brit- 

 ain, until lately the principal market, are dimin- 

 ishing. 



The total value of imports in 1899 was 21,230,- 

 183 soles, and of exports 33,615,311 soles. Im- 

 ports of cotton cloth were valued at 3,770,317 

 soles; provisions, 2,380,950 soles; woolen stuffs, 

 1,451,361- soles; furniture, 1,324,489 soles; wines 

 and liquors, 365,856 soles. The mineral exports 

 were valued at 10,667,013 soles; exports of sugar, 

 10,103,518 soles; of wool, 3,118,066 soles; of cot- 

 ton, 1,787,478 soles; of hides, 78,3,440 soles; of 

 cocain, 675,075 soles; of borax, 611,124 soles; of 

 coffee, 484,050 soles; of rice, 426,591 soles. 



The values of imports from and exports to the 

 several foreign countries in 1899 is given in soles 

 in the following table : 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 at the port of Callao in 1899 was 488, of 611,163 

 tons, not counting 866 below 50 tons, having an 

 aggregate tonnage of 12,024; cleared 486, of 613,- 

 975 tons, excluding all below 50 tons. 



The merchant navy in 1898 consisted of 63 sail- 

 ing vessels, of 26,752 tons, and 4 steamers, of 

 3,413 tons. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 length of railroads at the end of 1898 was 1,035 

 miles. The Government delivered to the Peruvian 

 Corporation 844 miles, which with the railroads in 

 the territory occupied by Chile had cost 36,000,- 

 000 sterling. The railroad terminating at Oroya 

 will be carried on 80 miles farther to Cerro de 

 Pasco, a concession for twenty-five years having 

 been given to the contractor who has undertaken 

 to build the extension through the mountains. 

 The gross receipts of the railroads worked by the 

 Peruvian Corporation were 427,365 in 1900, in- 

 cluding those of the steamboat lines on Lake 

 Titicaca and the Desaguadera river; operating 

 expenses, 251,621; net receipts, 175,744. 



The Government operated 1,400 miles of tele- 

 graph in 1897 and the Peruvian Corporation 533 

 miles. The number of messages was 121,492. 

 There are 2,300 miles of telephones. The post- 

 office in 1898 transmitted 12,190,000 pieces of mail- 

 matter; receipts were 605,000 soles, and expenses 

 676,890 soles. 



Political Affairs. In the spring of 1901 the 

 Peruvian representative in Santiago was recalled, 



\ 



