650 



PERU. 



Werndl rifles, 74 Uchatins cannon of 7, 8, and 

 9 centimetres caliber, and from 500 to GOO old 

 smooth-bore cannon. 



The commercial products of Persia are grain, 

 rice, gums, silk, opium, tobacco, skins, wool, 

 carpets, cotton, and dates. The principal -im- 

 ports are cotton goods, glass, paper, iron, copper, 

 sugar, and tea. The importation of cotton cloth 

 and other manufactures from Russia is increas- 

 ing. The imports of merchandise at the ports 

 of the Persian Gulf for 1892 were valued at 

 -,\ 740,936, and the exports at 1,710,592. The 

 values of the principal exports by sea were : 

 Opium, 661,000; pearls and pearl shells, 332,- 

 000; cotton, 122,000; tobacco, 105,000; fruits, 

 103,000. 



The decline in the value of silver has depressed 

 the trade of Tabriz and of the province of Kho- 

 rassan, the commercial connections of which are 

 now with Russia. The hereditary chief of Maku, 

 in Azerbaijan, and the merchants of Meshed 

 manifested dissatisfaction in the spring of 1894. 

 The silver coins of Persia are of low standard, 

 and to prevent their further depreciation the 

 Government in March decided to close the 

 mint to the public, and to prohibit private im- 

 portation of silver. 



PERU, a republic in South America. The 

 Senate has 40 and the House of Representatives 

 80 members, elected for six years by the indirect 

 vote of the departments, one third of them being 

 renewed every two years. Remigio Morales Ber- 

 mudez was elected President for the term of four 

 years ending Aug. 10, 1894. 



Area and Population. Peru has an area of 

 463.747 square miles. The population is esti- 

 mated at 2,980,000, including 1.8,000 Europeans 

 and 50,000 Chinese. There are 350,000 wild In- 

 dians. Of the civilized natives 57 per cent, con- 

 sist of Indians, 23 per cent, of Cholos and Zam- 

 bos, and 20 per cent, of descendants of Spaniards. 

 Lima, the capital, had 103,956 inhabitants in 1891. 



Finances. The customs receipts, according 

 to the budget, were 5,009,450 silver soles in 1894 ; 

 tax receipts. 1,440,355 soles; postal and telegraph 

 receipts, 235,752 soles ; and various receipts, 317,- 

 833 soles; making the total ordinary revenue 

 7,003,390 soles. The extraordinary revenue was 

 515.757 soles, making the total revenue 7,519,147 

 soles. The total ordinary expenditure was calcu- 

 lated at 6,780,653 soles, of which the heads were : 

 Finance and commerce, 2,754,189 soles ; army and 

 navy, 1,951,602 soles; administration, 830,682 

 soles ; justice, 672,964 soles : legislation, 355,093 

 soles; foreign relations, 206,123 soles. The ex- 

 traordinary expenses were 566,194 soles, making 

 the total 7,846,846 soles. 



The external loans of 1869, 1870, and 1872 

 amount to 32,000.000 sterling, not counting 

 28,000,000 of defaulted interest accumulated 

 since 1876. A convention with the bondholders 

 transfers to them for sixty-six years the rail- 

 roads, guano deposits, mines, and lands belong- 

 ing to the State. These loans have been con- 

 verted into new bonds and placed in charge of 

 the Peruvian Company, limited, of London. 



Contest for the Presidency. President 

 Bermudez died suddenly the day lief ore the elec- 

 tions for the presidency were to be held. A 

 physical struggle with ex-President Andres Ave- 

 lino Caceres, the candidate of the military party, 



had been expected. The authorities had raised 

 troops in all parts of the country to prevent the 

 election of Dr. Valcarcel, Speaker of the lower 

 house, under the recently enacted restricted 

 franchise. Disturbances and bloodshed occurred 

 in Arequipa, Chiclayo, and other places. After 

 the death of Bermudez, Vice-President Pedro 

 Solar and Dr. Valcarcel, the official candidate 

 for the presidency, went into hiding, while Col. 

 Justiniano Borgoiio. the second Vice-President, 

 assumed power at Lima and appointed the fol- 

 lowing Cabinet : Premier and Minister of For- 

 eign Affairs, Baltasar Garcia Urrutia ; Minister 

 of War, Col. Francisco Antaya ; Minister of Jus- 

 tice, Dr. Dulanto; Minister of the Interior, Guil- 

 lierrno Ferreyros ; Minister of Commerce, Augus- 

 tino de la Puente. President Bermudez and the 

 two Vice-Presidents had been chosen by Caceres 

 when he retired from the presidency four years 

 before, being precluded by the Constitution from 

 succeeding himself. Senor del Solar, who had 

 been confirmed lately as a justice of the Supreme 

 Court by Congress, was not permitted by Caceres 

 to become the acting President, but was super- 

 seded by Col. Borgono, who was faithful to 

 him still. The bnnking and commercial houses 

 closed for fear of disturbances, of which, how- 

 ever, there were none until Vice-President del 

 Solar constituted a rival Government toward the 

 end of April, appointing the following minis- 

 ters : Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Pierola ; 

 Minister of War, Dr. Recabarren; Minister of 

 Finance. Dr. Billinghurst ; Minister of the In- 

 terior. Dr. Valcarcel; Minister of Justice, Dr. 

 Olaechea. Gen. Cesar Canevaro, minister at 

 Washington, returned to Peru to take command 

 of the troops raised to support Borgono in the 

 north, while Gen. Velarde and Gen. Caceres col- 

 lected two corps in the interior. Borgono issued 

 an edict to the effect that the elections should be 

 held on May 10, not according to the new electoral 

 law, but under the law of 18GO. Political arrests 

 were made by wholesale. In the north the Gov- 

 ernment of Borgono was not recognized, and con- 

 flicts occurred between the forces and the adher- 

 ents of ex-President Pierola, an exile in Chili, 

 in whose interest Solar and Valcarcel were act- 

 ing. Solar joined Pierola in Chili, and thence 

 they directed the guerrilla war against Caceres. 

 Gen. Caceres, who was the only candidate at 

 the elections held on May 10, was inaugurated 

 as President at Lima on Aug. 10. President 

 Caceres appointed the following Cabinet : Pre- 

 mier and Minister of the Interior, Cesar Chacal- 

 tama; Foreign Affairs, Dr. Manuel Yrigoyen ; 

 Minister of Finance and Commerce, Nicanor 

 Carmona; Minister of Justice and Worship, Dr. 

 J. Salvador Cavero ; Minister of War and Marine, 

 Col. Rufino Torrico. 



Meanwhile the insurgents captured Pacasmayo, 

 Trujillo, Junin, and other towns on the coast and 

 in the north. Troops that were sent 'against 

 Gen. Seminario, the northern Pierolist leader, 

 deserted to his standard. In a fight at Oroya 

 500 men were engaged ; 50 Government troops 

 were killed or wounded, and of the insurgents 70. 

 The insurgent forces, aside from Seminario's 

 body of 1.000 men, consisted of small, scattered 

 guerrilla bands, which evaded the Government 

 troops, retiring into the mountains at their ap- 

 proach. Teodoro Seminario's force evacuated 



