688 



PERU. 



PIUS IX. 



of the United States. The limit of produc- 

 tion is fixed at 5,000,000 quintals, never to ex- 

 ceed 6,000,000. The Government will issue 

 bonds to the amount of 5,000,000 sterling, 

 4,000,000 of which will be applied to the 

 payment for property expropriated, and the 

 remaining million handed over to the execu- 

 tors of Mr. Meiggs, to fulfill contract obliga- 

 tions and carry on the work upon the Cuzco 

 and Chimbote Railways. These bonds are 

 guaranteed by the property itself, and the com- 

 pany will pay from the net proceeds of the 

 nitrate an interest of 8 per cent, yearly and an 

 annual sinking fund of 4 per cent, on the full 

 amount of 5,000,000. The company will also 

 pay off the remaining obligations of the Gov- 

 ernment to the associated banks. The arrange- 

 ment is regarded very favorably, as the re- 

 public receives a certain income on its property, 

 the bonds are properly guaranteed, and a de- 

 cided impulse will be given to the country by 

 the resumption of works on the two great 

 railways mentioned, and the opening of the 

 wonderfully rich mineral region around Yura- 

 marca. 



The average exportation of gnano during the 

 last ten years is estimated at 400,000 tons per 

 year, valued at $23,000,000. The other prod- 

 ucts exported from Peru are alpaca and llama 

 wools, cotton, and sugar, the value of which in 

 1877 was $6,562,729. 



In 1876 the entries at the various ports were 

 9,022, of which 4,864 were of steamers. The 

 clearances were 9,380, of which 4,826 were 

 of steamers. Most of the ships leaving Callao 

 in ballast go to the guano islands for cargoes. 

 The merchant marine of Peru in 1876 consisted 

 of 147 sailing ships, of 49,860 tons, and 8 steam- 

 ers, of 1,768 tons. 



In 1877 there were in the republic 1,134 

 miles of railway in operation, and when the 

 railway system is completed there will be over 

 1,700 miles. Peru has entered upon the most 

 extensive system of railroad-building of any 

 country in the world, in proportion to popu- 

 lation. These roads, important as they are, 

 have not yet yielded any dividends, but they 

 were needed to develop the country. The late 

 Mr. Henry Meiggs, the most daring railroad- 

 builder of modern times, was willing to build 

 the roads and to take the bonds of the Govern- 

 ment in payment, and nearly $200,000,000 were 

 expended for railroads and other public im- 

 provements. The country will probably be 

 financially embarrassed until the railway lines 

 are completed, and the agricultural lands and 

 the mines feel the influence of easy and cheap 

 transportation. 



There are in Peru over 15,000 mines, of 



which only about 600 are actually worked. 



ring the last ten years, $36,000,000 worth 



silver has passed through the Lima mint for 

 coinage or assay. Gold and silver pay an ex- 

 port duty of 3 per cent. There is but a small 

 production of gold, but silver is largely pro- 

 duced and exported either as metal or ores 



Coinage is free and unlimited, the mint receiv- 

 ing bullion and returning its value in coin. 

 Silver is found in all the western range of the 

 Ancles, from lat. 3 to 22 S. The district of 

 Cerro de Pasco produced, from 1630 to 1849, 

 $475,000,000. A tunnel, on the plan of the 

 Sutro Tunnel in Nevada, is projected at Cerro 

 de Pasco, and is calculated to open 100,000 

 square yards of surface and $500,000,000 worth 

 of ore. Other mines of equal value may be 

 opened when better railroad facilities exist in 

 the province of Puno. Before the introduc- 

 tion of the modern system of railways, the 

 difficulties encountered in smelting silver were 

 incredible, the ores being transported on mules' 

 backs over rugged mountain paths. The execu- 

 tors of Mr. Meiggs's contracts with the Govern- 

 ment of Peru have appropriated the sum of 

 $1,000,000 to be employed in the mines of 

 Cerro de Pasco. Machinery for an 80-starnp 

 mill has been purchased at San Francisco, and 

 has already reached Peru. The mills will soon 

 be in operation, and will turn out about 400 

 tons of ore daily. A certain portion of the 

 ores to be extracted will belong to the state, 

 and will probably amount to a very considera- 

 ble sum. The financial future of Peru may be 

 very advantageously influenced by the ener- 

 getic working of these famous argentiferous 

 deposits. 



PIUS IX., GIOVAKNT MARIA MASTAI-FEK- 

 EETTI, the 257th Roman Pontiff, died February 

 7th. Born at Sinigaglia, in the province of 

 Ancona, May 13, 1792, he was originally des- 

 tined by his parents for the profession of arms ; 

 but at the age of sixteen, having developed 

 symptoms of epilepsy, he was forced to relin- 

 quish the military career, and resolved to devote 

 himself to the Church. Upon the completion 

 of his ecclesiastical studies, which had been 

 more than once intermitted in consequence 

 of political disturbances and the infirm state 

 of his health, he was ordained priest in 1819. 

 Inasmuch as the canon law expressly prohibits 

 the ordination of epileptics, a special dispen- 

 sation from the Pope was requisite. His first 

 field of labor was in one of the parishes of the 

 city of Rome; here he distinguished himself 

 by his exemplary devotion to his pastoral du- 

 ties, and especially by the charitable interest 

 which he took in the poor and the unfortunate. 

 After four years of meritorious service in this 

 humble station, he was selected by Cardinal 

 Gonsalvi to accompany to Chili, in the capaci- 

 ty of auditor, or secretary, Monsignore Muzi, 

 dispatched to that country as extraordinary 

 delegate apostolic. The duties of this office 

 he discharged with great discretion. He was 

 much concerned at beholding the spiritual des- 

 titution of the Indians in the interior of the 

 country, and did missionary work among them. 

 At Santiago he made a very favorable impres- 

 sion, and his many charitable acts were long 

 remembered. On his return to Rome in 1825, 

 Pope Leo XII. appointed him one of his do- 

 mestic prelates, and President of the Hospico 



