PERU. 



735 



strength of the Peruvian land forces seldom 

 exceeded 6,000, including some 1,200 gen- 

 darmes, and about an equal number oi vigilantes, 

 constituting the organized police force. After 

 the declaration of war against Chili, the mili- 

 tary strength was raised to 40,000 (May, 1879), 

 and the number of men under arms in the 

 summer of 1880 was reported at 70,000, a 

 figure apparently very much exaggerated. Of 

 the navy, but a few years ago accounted one of 

 the finest in America, destruction in engage- 

 ments with, and capture by, the Chilian fleet, 

 had, by the end of 1880, left nothing to 

 Peru. 



The national revenue for 1873-'74 was 62,- 

 753,903 soles ; * that for 1875-'76 was 66,601,- 

 C64 ; and the expenditure for the same periods 

 amounted respectively to 65,500,836 and 65,- 

 063,122 soles. There was no direct taxation in 

 Peru, and the revenue was for the most part 

 derived from the sale of "nitrate and guano, and 

 from the customs, the yield of which latter for 

 the years 1873-77 having been 8,400,000 soles, 

 7,097,000 soles, 17,082,000 soles, 5,541,664 

 soles, and 4,005,689 soles, respectively. As for 

 the sale of guano,t before the war, the average 

 annual exportation of that commodity for the 

 decennial period 1868-'77 has been set down 

 at 400,000 tons, valued at $23,000,000. Of the 

 disposal of guano under Chilian administration 

 mention will be made hereafter ; and, fur infor- 

 mation on the same subject, reference may be 

 made to the " Annual Cyclopaedia " for 1880 

 (page 624). 



As stated in our volume for 1880, the na- 

 tional debt of the republic in July, 1879, 

 amounted to upward of 246,000,000 soles, ex- 

 clusive of a floating debt variously estimated 

 at from 20,000,000 to 25,000,000. Of the en- 

 tire indebtment, 20,000,000 soles represents 

 the home debt, and 226,340,516 the foreign 

 debt, made up of loans contracted in Eng- 

 land in 1869, 1870, and 1872. No payment of 

 interest on these loans has been made since 

 the commencement of the war, and the British 

 bondholders were for some time in a state 

 verging on despair. The bonds at the end of 

 1881 were quoted very low, scarcely higher 

 than in the darkest days of the war. In 

 March, 1881, the 6 per cents railway loan of 

 1870 were worth 26, and the 5 per cents of 

 1872 sold at 21 ; in December of the same 

 year the quotations of the latter were given at 

 19I-20J. That they have any value at all is 

 owing to Chilian generosity, the Chilian Gov- 

 ernment having consented to the shipment, for 

 the benefit of the bondholders, of guano from 

 the deposits secured by conquest, on condi- 

 tion of the payment of a royalty of 1 10*. 

 per ton to the Chilian Treasury. The sales are 

 in the hands of Messrs. Gibbs & Co., of Lon- 

 don, who, from April to December, 1881, had 

 sold 16,442 tons for the gross sum of 120,000, 



* The BO! is equivalent to about ninety cenU of United 

 States money, 

 t For nitrate exports, see page 787. 



of which 17,829 had been distributed among 

 the bondholders.* 



The Chilian authorities having, shortly after 

 the capture of Lima, established a tariff of 

 customs duties on imports and exports, Mr. 

 Christiancy, late United States Minister to 

 Peru, presuming that said tariff would prob- 

 ably be adhered to during the continuance of 

 the Chilian military occupation, and " think- 

 ing it might be well that our merchants and 

 ship-owners should have information upon the 

 subject, inasmuch as it might affect their ac- 

 tion in questions bearing upon commercial 

 ventures with Peru," forwarded to the Depart- 

 ment of State at Washington a copy of the 

 decrees concerning the new tariff, and an er- 

 tract of which is here transcribed : 



Patricia Lynch, Rear- Admiral and Gtneral-in-Chitf 



of the Army of Chili. 



Whereas, I have on this date decreed the following : 

 Considering that it is just that the Government of 

 Chili should obtain from the territory occupied by 

 their military forces all the benefit compatible with 

 the interest of its commerce and industry I decree : 



DUTIES UPON IMPORTS. 



ARTICLE I. All merchandise imported into the port 

 of Callao shall pay an ad valorem duty of 25 per cent, 

 with the exception of the following, which shall pay : 



ART. II. A duty of 15 per cent : Tar and pitch for 

 use of ships ; animals alive or slaughtered ; quickbil- 

 ver in jars ; charcoal and mineral coal ; oakum for 

 calking ; woolen felt (barred) for use of shipping ; 

 pig-iron in bare, unwrought, square, round, or in 

 plates ; iron axles or champs (or hoops) ; fresh prints ; 

 printing-presses and utensils; machinery for agri- 

 culture and mining ; flower-seeds and garden-seed* ; 

 printer's ink. 



ART. III. A duty of 10 per cent: 



Sub. 1. Chilian products, and merchandise free, or 

 on which duty hM DM0 paid in Chili. 



Sub. '2. Peruvian products coming from porU occu- 

 pied by Chilian arms. 



ABT. IV. A specific duty : 



Sub. 1. Brandies, bottles of the common size, ?4 

 per dozen; brandies, 4'J cent- per litiv ; cvrtce. 15 

 cents per kilogramme ; beer, $1.25 per dozen 1 

 beer, 12 cents per litre ; cigars, $3 per kilogramme ; 

 alcohol (pure), 60 cents per litre ; gin, *3 per down 

 bottles; gin, 82 cents pt-r litre; *\veet li.|Urs, $4.50 

 per dozen bottles; sweet liquors, 4s rent.- j-cr litre; 

 lard, 5 cents per kilogramme ; smitl", $3 ix-r kili>- 

 gramme; burning rum (or burning alcohol), 4 per 

 aozen bottles; burning rum (or burning alo-1. 

 cents per litre ; Havana toliaeco, $2 jxsr kilogramme ; 

 other tobacco, $1 per kilogramme ; ten, 7.*> cci 

 kilogramme; white wine, 2 cent* per litre; wlii'c 

 wine, $8 j>or dozen bottles ; red wine, $2.2.'> \.-r d-'/en 

 bottles ; rc<l wine, -!" cent* per litre ; Paraguay tea, 6 

 cent** per kilogramme. 



Sub. 2. Products of Chili and articles on which, 

 being subject t> .-|-e.-ino duties, duty ha* been already 

 paid in ( 'iiili, dual pay 25 per cent of those established 

 in last above. 



Sub. 1. Peruvian products coming from port* occu- 

 pied by the Chilian arum Khali pay the same duties as 

 Chilian product- subject to specific duties. 



ART. V. The aj-pniuwmcnt shall be according to the 

 Peruvian taritf of 1880. 



ART. VI. The collector of customs will prescribe 

 the special rules and modes of proceeding in the ca.-e 

 of documents presented fur dispatch. 



ART. VII. All other import duties in force at the 



(tee the artlrl.'K Cnti.i and PEBIT In the ' Annual Cyclo- 

 pedia" for loeO, and tutu in the present volume. 



