PEEU. 



641 



The following state railways will be built by 

 private individuals: 



Projected railways : 



Railways belonging to English companies: 



Hence, when the foregoing lines are com- 

 pleted, Pern will have an aggregate of 3, 1114 J 

 miles of railway, at a cost of some $390,- 

 000,000; to which, however, should be added 

 at least $85,800,000 for water-works, besides 

 the immense sums required for the ramifica- 

 tions of some of the lines, and which cannot 

 be estimated at less than $125,000,000. 



A favorable report was made of the excel- 

 lent manner in which the line connecting the 

 wine-growing district of Moqnegua with the 

 port of Ilo had been constructed. The rail- 

 way, although little more than one year in 

 operation, has already been productive of much 

 good, as is apparent from the increase in the 

 value of landed property in the sections of 

 country through which it passes. 



Tlie works on the railways from Arequipa 

 to Puno, and from the latter place to Cnzco, 

 were carried on with great energy, in spite of 

 the many natural obstructions to be overcome 

 in traveling; on coming to the plain, extending 

 from Puno to within CO miles of Arequipa, the 

 labor would, of course, advance more rapidly, 

 and it was expected that that point would be 

 reached by the middle of the year. 



The railway from Chimbote to Huaraz, con- 

 sidered by persons familiar with the resources 

 of the country as one of the most important of 

 VOL. xm.-r41 A. 



all the Peruvian lines, had in January some 

 36 miles prepared for the laying of the rails. 



It may not be out of place to give here the 

 traffic on the Callao and Chorrillos line for the 

 three months ending September 30, 1872: 



Number of passengers on Callao line 1,004,961 



Number of passengers on Chorillos line 461,310 



Total 1,466,271 



Receipts from passengers and baggage $504,683 50 



Receipts from Ireigbt (99,989 tons) 891,849 75 



Receipts from other sources 17,847 50 



Total $814,380 75 



No statement of the running expenses of 

 these lines has been published. 



There are now about 1,000 miles of telegraph 

 in the republic, but the service is far from 

 being either efficient or productive. Many of 

 the lines lie over barren deserts, traversed 

 only by the muleteers and Indians of the coast 

 districts; the distances between the stations 

 are very long ; the people, on the other hand, 

 are not yet able to appreciate the benefits 

 arising from telegraphic communication, and 

 the system in consequence is not so generally 

 resorted to as might have been expected : then 

 the enhanced cost of material ; the high sala- 

 ries paid to employes, and the heavy expen- 

 ditures for repairs rendered necessary by con- 

 tinned floods and other disasters all these cir- 

 cumstances combined have hitherto embar- 

 rassed the enterprise and retarded its develop- 

 ment. At first the lines were constructed in 

 the cheapest manner ; before long, substitution 

 of iron for the wooden posts was found to be 

 indispensable, and the cost incurred by the 

 change was very great; and finally the com- 

 pany discovered that it was necessary to place 

 guards along the lines to prevent the destruc- 

 tion of the wires by the peasantry, who re- 

 gard the telegraph as their enemy, destined to 

 do away with their tune-honored and profitable 

 calling as couriers. In many instances these 

 people have torn down the wires, and so in- 

 timidated the operators as to cause the sus- 

 pension of communication for weeks and even 

 months between some of the most important 

 places. The company is composed of men of 

 acknowledged energy ; but their vigilance and 

 enterprise have so far been unavailing. With 

 a view to effectually remove these difficulties, 

 the Minister of Public Works laid before Con- 

 gress the following proposal: 



The nation shall become the proprietor of all the 

 telegraph-linos in the republic, after having paid to 

 the company now holding the same a fair and just 

 valuation for the stock on hand and the undertaking 

 as it stands, covering this value with bonds pledged 

 for the extinction of the internal debt bearing in- 

 terest at 6 per cent, per annum. Permission will 

 be granted to the Government to extend the line 

 from Pisco to Iqnique, thereby completing the electric 

 communication from the last-named port to Paita, a 

 distance overland of more than one thousand miles. 

 And furthermore Congress will grant a guarantee of 

 5 per cent, interest on the sum of 1.500,000 soles, 

 the estimated cost of the successful submersion of a 

 cable from Paita to Panama. 



Congress, in view of the obvious advantages 



