

which the Shah was willing t> grant us a moons 



(.f playing H tin- F.nglKli against I In- Ku--inii. 

 win > lui'l secured u monopoly of the trade of 

 northern Persia l>v prohibiting tin- transit of 



Kllglish U I'V tin- Klai'k >c:i t'l I III' ( 'a-ipiail. 



The opening nf tlif Karuii route, from which 

 much was expected, has proved valueless be- 

 c.ni-e tlie mean- of Iran-port from the liead of 

 .ilioll through the desert regions to the 

 cciiicrs of population and of consumption in the 

 northern provinces are primitive and very cx- 

 peiiMvc. The Shah granted in 1S81) the right of 



establishing a national hank, with the power of 

 issuing lunik notes not exceeding the sum of 

 IHtu.iMMI, without the further consent of the 

 1'iTMan Government t<> Huron Julius de Iu-uter, 

 wlio formed an Knglish company and began 

 bu-iness in Persia in October, 1889. This com- 

 pany acquired in April. 18!(), the business of the 

 New Oriental Bank of London, which had estab- 

 lished branches in Persia in the summer of 

 1888, It has the exclusive privilege of working 

 all iron, copper, lead, mercury, coal, petroleum. 

 manganese, asbestos, and borax mines not already 

 conceded. For the lirst ten years its notes must 

 lie protected by a reserve of 50 per cent, in sil- 

 ver, and after that by 33^ per cent. A monopo- 

 ly of tobacco, which was farmed out to the Im- 

 perial Tobacco Corporation, went into operation 

 m February. 1891. The concessions granted to 

 Europeans aroused an antipathy against foreign- 

 ers, which was encouraged by the speeches of 

 fanatical mollahs and led to a riot at Shiraz 

 during the feast of Ramazan. The tobacco mo- 

 nopoly was so unpopular that it could not be 

 carried into effect, and therefore the Shah can- 

 celed the arrangement and abolished the mo- 

 nopoly by a proclamation issued on Dec. 27. 

 Serious disturbances occurred before this was 

 done. The iimjtnltiil. or Shiite high priest, head- 

 ed a revolt in Mazanderan in November, which 

 it required a large body of troops to put down. 

 Negotiations for an extradition treaty between 

 Iiiis>ia and Persia, which should apply to politi- 

 cal refugees, were carried on in the autumn, and 

 it was rumored that Russia had proposed a com- 

 mercial union or treaty of reciprocity, which 

 should have the effect of excluding other na- 

 tions from participation in the foreign trade of 

 Persia, and even an arrangement, implying a 

 virtual protectorate, by which Russian diplo- 

 matic representatives should attend to the po- 

 litical interests of the Persian Government in 

 foreign capitals. 



PERU, a republic in South America. The 

 Senators, in the proportion of 1 to every 80.000 

 inhabitants, and the Representatives, 2 from 

 the departments having 2 provinces, and 1 more 

 for every additional 2 provinces in the other 

 departments, are chosen indirectly by provincial 

 electoral colleges composed of delegates of the 

 parochial electoral colleges. The President, 

 who is elected for four years, appoints his 

 Cabinet of ~t ministers. Col. Remigio Morales 

 Hermude/. was inaugurated as President on Aug. 

 lit. lsM). Tne 2 Yice-Prcsidcnts, who take the 

 place of the President in case of his death or 

 incapacity, are Pedro Solar and Col. Bergotm. 

 The Cabinet first appointed resigned on Aui:. 

 x.' 1. is'.M. having refused to answer interpellations 

 in the Senate regarding the attempted revolution 



inl.er, ls<x. The new minUlry wu- 

 -irucii-d a follow ktintarr and Mim-i.-r 



of \\ ar, .liiMmiano IVrgono ; Miiii-r< J 1 

 Affairs. Juan Klmon-: .Minister of the li.' 



Lena ; Minister of ,lu-li. . 

 .NiinMcr of Finance. Scfior Curlmjal. 



Area ami Copulation. The area ..f thi- 

 n-public, which jsdnided into 1'J di-partn 

 is -Hi:!, 7-17 square mile.-. The population, a- 

 tcrmim d by the CCIIMI- of lM7(i. wn- ''.(; _].' H. i,,,t 

 including :!">n,0<Hi micivili/.d Indian*. Lima, 

 the capital, has 101. -is* inhabitant-. The ( atho- 

 lic is the state religion, and tin- public e\. 

 of other forms of worship is prohibited, though 

 in practice Protestant and .Jewish w..r-hip j- 

 tolerated. Education is free and conipu. 

 About 20 percent, of the people an- of Spanish 

 descent, 28 per cent, are of mixed blew d, and 

 57 per cent, are Indians. 



Finance. The revenue for 1800 amounted to 



!! silver >oles or dollars, of which i 

 944 soles were derived from CUM- ms. ! 14.150 

 soles from internal taxes, and the rest from rail- 

 roue Is, posts, telegraphs, and other sources. The 

 expenditure amounted to 6,073. !<;? soles, of 

 which 2,257.977 soles were spent on the army 

 and navy, 1,076,032 soles on financial admini-"- 

 tiation, 1,012,994 soles on the interior, 412,580 

 soles on justice. 220,fc07 soles for foreign affairs, 

 753,916 soles on ftiilroads and for extraordinary 

 purposes, and :!:J0.061 soles for other purj 



The foreign debts that were contracted in 

 England in 1870 and 1872 for the construction 

 of railroads amounted to 31.579.080, without 

 counting defaulted interest. It was sec-und on 

 the guano deposits that were seized by Chili. 

 No interest has been paid since ls7f>. and the 

 arrears in 1889 amounted to 22.998.651. An 

 arrangement was made with Chili by which a 

 certain percentage of the guano should go to the 

 bondholders. Jiy the Grace-DonougJinioie con- 

 tract, finally concluded in January. 181*0, the 

 Peruvian Government obtained a release from 

 all responsibility for the two debts by ceding 

 all the state railroads to the English council of 

 foreign bondholders for sixty-six \ears. and 

 transferring the mines, lands, and guano de- 

 posits belonging to it, while the iMindholcU-rs 

 agreed to complete and extend the system of 

 railroads. For the conversion of anterior obliga- 

 tions, a limited-liability company has been con- 

 stituted in London. The internal debt \\as 

 oflicially estimated in 1888, at lOJi.'JsT.iMiii - 

 not including 83.747.000 soles of jmper money. 

 The interest on the internal bonds has l>een re- 

 duced to 1 per cent., and their market price in 

 1S91 was 11 per cent, of their nominal value. 

 The paper notes and incas are no longer accepted 

 as money, and by a recent law they may be ex- 

 changed for internal bonds at the rate of 1 sol 

 in bonds for every 1"> soles of notes, the inca 

 be-in;,' reckoned at S soles in noli-. 



The Army and Navy. The law of Nov. 20. 

 1S7~, introduced obligatory military services for 

 three- years in the active army and'two years in 

 the reserves. Substitution is ncvert!n . -s per- 

 mitted, and the annual draft is only l.:x< men. 

 The peace effective consists of a Ixwly of gen- 

 darmerie, numbering 150 officers and ''.'''> (> men : 

 7 battalions of infantry, with alnuit 'JiMi flicors 

 and --i.NW men. who are armed with Pealxxly 



