PERU. 



PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



559 



Commerce and Production. Coffee is grown 

 in the central parts of the country, where the 

 Peruvian Company has introduced, colonists on its 

 lands, comprising 2,750,000 acres. There were 

 1,239 tons of coffee exported in 1897. The cultiva- 

 tion of cotton is increasing. Sugar plantations 

 in the coast districts produce over a ton of raw 

 sugar to the acre. Cacao, rice, tobacco, wine, and 

 spirits are minor products. Rubber, cinchona, 

 and various medicinal plants and dyes are ob- 

 tained from the forests. The mines produce gold, 

 silver, copper, lead, zinc, quicksilver, salt, sulphur, 

 coal, and petroleum. Gold is washed by the na- 

 tives, but most of the mines have been abandoned. 

 The total silver exports in 1897 were 9,730,000 

 soles. The exports of gold, copper, and lead were 

 700,000 soles in value. The value of all imports 

 in 1898 was 19,297,272 soles, against 16,128,649 

 soles in 1897; total value of exports, 30,274,775 

 soles, against 28,168,452 soles. The imports of 

 cotton goods in 1898 were 4,067,668 soles; provi- 

 sions, 2,261,543 soles; woolens, 1,376,643 soles; fur- 

 niture, 1,273,244 soles. The mineral exports in 

 1898 were valued at 9,481,213 soles; sugar, 9,220,- 

 681 soles; vicuila and alpaca wool, 3,082,635 soles; 

 cotton, 2,469,955 soles; coffee, 541,715 soles; borax, 

 574,226 soles; hides, 831,186 soles; rice, 633,465 

 soles; cocaine, 651,975 soles. The value in soles of 

 the trade with each of the principal foreign coun- 

 tries in 1898 is given in the following table: 



Navigation. There were 486 vessels, of 581,044 

 tons, entered and 485, of 602,945 tons, cleared at 

 the port of Callao during 1898, counting none un- 

 der 50 tons; at Mollendo, 348, of 462,508 tons, 

 were entered, and at Salaverry, 287, of 408,493 

 tons, were entered and cleared. The merchant 

 marine in 1898 consisted of 4 steamers, of 3,413 

 tons, and 63 sailing vessels, of 26,752 tons. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 length of railroads in Peru in 1897 was 911 miles, 

 of which 844 miles were operated by the Peruvian 

 Corporation; the total cost was 36,000,000. A 

 concession has been given for a railroad, 80 miles 

 long, from Oroya to Cerro de Pasco. 



The state telegraph lines in 1897 had a length 

 of 1,400 miles, and 533 miles belonged to the 

 Peruvian Corporation. There are 2,300 miles of 

 telephone wires. 



The post office in 1897 forwarded 12,760,771 let- 

 ters and other pieces of mail matter; receipts were 

 259,478 soles, and expenses 261,360 soles. 



Politics. The growth of enterprise and intro- 

 duction of capital into Peru since the cessation 

 of civil disturbances have produced a notable in- 

 crease in production and wealth. The Government 

 in accordance with legal decisions granted amnesty 

 to political offenders in 1900. The territorial dis- 

 pute with Chili relative to the retrocession of 

 Tacna and Arica, if a plebiscite in those provinces 

 so decides, as was stipulated in the treaty of 

 Ancon, caused a tension of public feeling in Peru 

 in 1900. Owing to differences of opinion on various 

 questions changes in the Cabinet took place in the 

 latter half of the year. On Aug. 7 the whole 

 Cabinet resigned and a new one was constituted 

 on Aug. 9. as follows: Minister of Foreign Affairs, 

 Riva Aguero; Minister of Justice, Pedro Carlos 



Olaecha; Minister of the Interior, Enrique Ze- 

 garra; Minister of War and Marine, Capt. Melton 

 Carvajal; Minister of Finance, Rafael Quiroz; 

 Minister of Public Works, Jose Granda. On Aug. 

 31 this ministry resigned because the Congress 

 in secret session censured the Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs, and a new one was appointed of the fol- 

 lowing composition: Minister of the Interior, En- 

 rique Zegarra; Minister of Justice, Pedro Carlos 

 Olaecha; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Felipe de 

 Osma; Minister of War and Marine, Col. Diez 

 Canseco; Minister of Finance, Jose Vicente Larra- 

 bure; Minister of Public Works, Miguel Rojas. 

 On Oct. 3 a new ministry was formed by a coalition 

 of the Democrats and the Civilistas, the two prin- 

 cipal political parties, led by Pierola and Can- 

 damo respectively. This last Cabinet was com- 

 posed as follows: President and Minister of Fi- 

 nance, Domingo Almenara; Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs, Felipe de Osma; Minister of the Interior 

 and Commerce, Col. Ernest Zapata; Minister of 

 Justice, Rafael Villanueva; Minister of War and 

 Marine, Col. Pedro Portillo; Minister of Public 

 Works, Agustin Tovar. 



PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, an archipelago in 

 the Pacific Ocean, formerly a dependency of 

 Spain, ceded to the United States by the treaty of 

 peace signed at Paris on Dec. 10. 1898. The first 

 military governor, Major-Gen. Merritt, was suc- 

 ceeded, Aug. 30, 1898, by Major-Gen. Elwell S. Otis, 

 who under instructions from the Secretary of War 

 exercised supreme military and civil authority un- 

 til he returned to the United States and was suc- 

 ceeded on May 5, 1900, by Major-Gen. Arthur 

 MacArthur. Major-Gen. Loyd W'heaton com- 

 manded in 1900 in the military district of northern 

 Luzon, Major-Gen. John C. Bates in southern Lu- 

 zon, Brig.-Gen. Robert P. Hughes in the Visayas, 

 and Brig.-Gen. William A. Kobbe in Mindanao 

 and Jolo, with the Sulu Islands. 



Area and Population. The Philippine archi- 

 pelago extends over sixteen degrees of latitude, 

 from Borneo to Formosa, and contains as many 

 as 2,000 islands, a few of them large and produc- 

 tive enough to have figured in the world's com- 

 merce for centuries. The total area, including the 

 Sulu Islands, is estimated at 115.300 square miles. 

 The population is between 8.000,000 and 10,000,- 

 000, mostly of the Malay race, crossed with Xe- 

 gritos, of whom some tribes remain, and in some 

 parts with Chinese, Spanish, and perhaps Japa- 

 nese. The European population, exclusive of the 

 American army, is about 30,000, and there are 

 100,000 or more Chinese, who carry on much of 

 the trade and industry. In many of the islands 

 the natives were practically independent under 

 the Spanish control. Manila, the capital, had 

 154,062 inhabitants in 1887; Lipa, 43.408; Banang, 

 35,598; Batangas, 35,587; Laoang, 30,642. The 

 sanitary and other improvements wrought in 

 Manila under American administration and the 

 growth of commerce and enterprise already begun 

 promise to make it one of the greatest emporiums 

 of the East. 



Finances. The cedula tax. which was the 

 chief source of the Spanish revenue, was practi- 

 cally abolished by the Americans. Nevertheless, 

 the revenue in 1900 was a third greater than it 

 ever was under Spain. The customs collections 

 were 50 per cent, greater. The military govern- 

 ment saved a surplus of $6,000,000 to be devoted 

 to public works, the most needed of \vhich was 

 the improvement of Manila harbor according to 

 plans made by Spanish engineers about 1880. with 

 minor modifications made by Capt. John Biddle 

 and his assistants. Two long breakwaters were 

 partly constructed by the Spaniards. To finish 





