PERU. 



673 



Besides the railways, other internal im- 

 provements are constantly going forward with 

 unabating energy ; and the difficult roads and 

 bridges are diligently kept in order. In 1871, 

 a sum of $15,000,000 was raised to defray the 

 expenses of irrigating the coast-lands, where 

 it seldom, if ever, rains. 



Public education is gradually becoming an 

 object of the most careful consideration on the 

 part of the Government, and neither money 

 nor zealous exertions are spared to advance it. 



The Archbishop of Lima, Dr. Goyeneche, 

 died February 19, 1872; the funeral services 

 were conducted upon a scale of grandeur 

 which the Limenians are little accustomed to 

 behold ; the numerous religious communities, 

 the President and his Cabinet, the diplomatic 

 corps, the Supreme Court, and a division of 

 the army, took part in the ceremonies. The 

 total cost of the pageant was upward of $25,- 

 000. As yet the will of the deceased prelate 

 has not been opened, but it is supposed that 

 his large fortune, variously estimated from 

 ten to thirty million soles (dollars), is left to 

 his immediate family. Dr. Goyeneche was 

 appointed Bishop of Arequipa duriugthe reign 

 of Ferdinand VII., and, after holding that see 

 for forty years, was, about eleven years ago, 

 made Archbishop of Lima. He was born at 

 Arequipa, January 20, 1784, and he died at the 

 age of eighty-eight years, and was the oldest 

 bishop and ablest archbishop in the Catholic 

 Church; the first by reason of seniority, the 

 second by reason of age. His life was spot- 

 less, and his virtues many; his only fault, if 

 fault it be, was a remarkable desire to increase 

 his wealth ; but in countries like Peru, where 

 the Church is dependent upon the state, and 

 where the poor are so liberally cared for, the 

 extensive employment of private means in 

 charitable works is hardly necessary. 



A commission of naval officers, presided over 

 by Captain Manuel Ferreiros, port-admiral 

 of Callao, was to proceed to England in Feb- 

 ruary, for the purpose of superintending the 

 construction of four ships-of-war, ordered by 

 the Government. Two of these were to be 

 formidable iron-clads, of the most improved 

 class, and two wooden corvettes, all heavily 

 armed. There were many conjectures as to 

 the reason for the augmentation of the already 

 powerful navy of Peru, the most probable so- 

 lution of the question being the anxiety enter- 

 tained regarding a similar action shortly be- 

 fore taken by the Government of Chili. 



Messrs. Dreyfus established a new national 

 bank in Callao, with a nominal capital of $12,- 

 000,000. Sixteen miles of the Pacasmayo, 

 Guadalupe & Magdalena Railroad had been 

 laid, and the telegraph completed to Pacas- 

 mayo. 



Among the proceedings on the 12th of Feb- 

 ruary, in the Permanent Commission of the 

 Government, sitting in Lima, was the passage 

 of a resolution providing that thereafter all 

 votes given by that body upon official ques- 

 VOL. xn. 43 A 



tions should be secret. The action of the 

 commission produced considerable discussion 

 among the Lima journals, as the question of 

 secret or open ballot was a political one. The 

 secret ballot was decided upon by but one 

 majority, and was regarded as a Government 

 triumph. 



The first steamer of a new French opposi- 

 tion line, from Bordeaux to Panama, arrived 

 at Callao March 23d, with about fifty French 

 women on board, brought out by a company 

 formed for th'e purpose of supplying domestic 

 labor to the inhabitants of that city. The 

 contracts have been drawn up in France, duly 

 signed and certified, the passage out and re- 

 turn to be paid by the employer, wages rang- 

 ing from twelve to twenty dollars monthly, 

 the term for five years, and a bonus of two 

 hundred dollars given to the importer by the 

 family receiving the servant. These terms 

 were very satisfactory to .the interested par- 

 ties, and there can be no doubt as to the ad- 

 vantages gained by the domestics. But a 

 number of Frenchmen congregated at the 

 landing-place of Callao, and on the arrival of 

 the women endeavored by all possible means 

 to convince them of the indignity offered to 

 their country, by the fact of the contract, even 

 using, in some instances, violent measures to 

 accomplish their purpose. So serious became 

 the question, and so imminent the danger of 

 disorder, that the French consul in the port 

 was obliged to call upon the authorities for 

 assistance. 



The Government supporters in the standing 

 committee of Congress evinced a desire to 

 withdraw from the ineetings of that body, 

 and thus, by destroying the necessary quo- 

 rum, render the qualification of the Senators 

 and Representatives for the ensuing Congress 

 a matter of impossibility. After a day or two, 

 however, it was discovered that the danger 

 had passed, and the Arenas and Pardo factions 

 were as busily at work as before. The Gov- 

 ernment appeared to be very strong, and, al- 

 though Mr. Pardo's forces were very power- 

 ful, the elements at the disposal of the admin- 

 istration were almost invincible. The reports 

 from all sections were most satisfactory, and 

 the republic was enjoying profound peace. 



General Jos6 Antonio Paez, to whom South 

 America in general is so deeply indebted, one 

 of the heroes of the War of Independence, ar- 

 rived at Lima March 18th. The authorities of 

 Callao received him on board of the steamer ; 

 the carriage of the President, awaiting the 

 general at the Lima railway-station, conveyed 

 him to a sumptuous apartment, especially pre- 

 pared in his honor ; the cabinet ministers, the 

 municipality and the different corporations of 

 the capital paid him congratulatory visits, and 

 a decree was signed by President Balta, order- 

 ing the payment of an annual pension to the 

 general of eight thousand dollars, the decree 

 being accompanied by a check for the amount 

 of the first half-year. The general was pro- 



