THE POLITICAL ORGANIZATION OF THE REPUBLIC
[Illustration: A REVIEW OF THE TROOPS, LIMA.]
The national constitution, on which is based the present political
organization of Peru, stands a lasting monument to the patriotism and
genius of the statesmen in whose hands was placed the responsibility of
framing it, and does credit to the democratic principles of the nation
whose sovereign will is manifested in its laws and provisions. For
nearly half a century, the government of Peru has been building its
strength on this solid foundation of broad purpose and practical ideals,
and to-day the aspirations of its rulers are being realized with
ever-increasing success. The aim of the present administration,
admirably expressed by one of the leading statesmen of Peru, is that of
a modern people striving to attain their highest welfare and
aggrandizement: “To develop the immense resources and wealth with which
nature has so wonderfully endowed the land; to render the territory
accessible to labor and civilization by opening up means of
communication, granting all kinds of facilities and giving security for
the life, health, and welfare of the inhabitants, in order to obtain the
population that large territories require; to educate and instruct the
people, making them understand their personality, their liberty, their
duties, and their rights; to develop their faculties and energies, their
labor forces, their industrial and commercial capacity and power,
elevate their moral dignity, consolidate and strengthen the national
unity, insure definitely the government of the people, of justice, of
order, and of peace; to attract capital and foreign immigration, develop
and give impulse to the commercial relations with other countries,
maintain a frank and true harmony and international solidarity, respect
all mutual and reciprocal rights, and resolve all disagreements by
friendly, just and honorable means; to perform, in short, a work of
human civilization.”
[Illustration: HIS EXCELLENCY DR. AUGUSTO B. LEGUIA, ELECTED PRESIDENT
OF PERU 1908–1912, TO BE INAUGURATED SEPTEMBER 24, 1908.]
The national constitution of Peru declares the form of government to be
republican, democratic, and representative, based on the unity of the
three governing bodies, the executive, legislative, and judicial, each
independent of the other in exercise of its authority. The executive
power is charged with the duty of guarding the general interests of the
nation, by carrying out the purposes of the constitution through a
correct and capable administration of public affairs, the president of
the republic being the chief executive, assisted by six ministers of
State, who direct the departments of Foreign Affairs; Government and
Home Affairs; Justice, Worship and Public Instruction; War and Marine;
Finance and Commerce; and Public Works and Promotion. The first and
second vice-presidents, who are called upon to perform the duties of
president under circumstances set forth in the constitution, are elected
simultaneously with the president and in the same form, their official
term covering four years, as does that of the president. The
qualifications necessary to entitle a citizen to become president are,
that he shall be a Peruvian by birth, not less than thirty-five years of
age, and have resided at least ten years in the country. As stated
elsewhere he cannot be reëlected president, nor can he be elected
vice-president, until the expiration of an intervening term.
[Illustration: DR. EUGENIO LARRABURE Y UNÁNUE, ELECTED VICE-PRESIDENT
FOR THE TERM 1908–1912.]
The legislative power is exercised by Congress, composed of two
chambers, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Senators are elected
by the departments (the largest and most important of the territorial
divisions), each department being entitled to from one to four
senatorial representatives, according to the number of its provinces. In
order to be eligible for the Senate, a candidate must be over
thirty-five years of age. The Chamber of Deputies consists of as many
representatives as there are provinces or territories of from fifteen
thousand to thirty thousand inhabitants. Both senators and deputies are
elected for a term of six years by direct vote, both must be Peruvian
citizens, born in Peru; and a deputy must be at least twenty-five years
of age. The president of the republic, vice-presidents, ministers of
state, prefects and sub-prefects of departments and the governors of
provinces are ineligible to membership in the legislature until two
months after leaving their executive offices; the same applies to the
judiciary and to all public employés under the direct authority of the
executive; ecclesiastics cannot represent the departments or provinces
of their diocese. The regular sessions of Congress are opened on the
28th of July each year, the term lasting for ninety days; extraordinary
sessions may be convoked by the executive, with no stated period of
duration, though they cannot be continued over a term of more than
forty-five days.
The judicial power of the government is administered by a Supreme Court,
established in Lima, and nine superior courts, which are installed in
Lima, Cuzco, Arequipa, Puno, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Huaraz, Trujillo,
Piura, and Iquitos; each of these courts has jurisdiction over one or
more departments. The court of Tacna, which performed its labors until
the period of the war of the Pacific, is still in recess, and judicial
questions arising in the section subject to Peruvian authority are
brought before the court of Arequipa. In almost all the provinces there
are judges of the first instance, and in all districts are justices of
the peace.
[Illustration: THE MILITARY SCHOOL, CHORILLOS.]
In accordance with the national constitution, the local government of
the republic is under the direction of departmental and municipal
boards. The departmental board has its headquarters in the capital of
the _Departamento_, as this division is named in Peru; its duties are to
attend to the service of public works, public instruction, and works of
the benevolent societies, and to revise the acts of the municipal
boards. The members of the departmental boards are delegates elected by
the provincial councils, as the municipal boards of provinces are
called; the municipal boards of the districts into which the provinces
are subdivided are known as district councils. The provincial council is
composed of citizens elected by the people, foreigners having the right
to vote and being eligible for election; from among its members are
chosen the mayor, vice-mayor, two recorders who administer the finances
of the municipality, and a number of inspectors who superintend its
various branches of public service. All these posts are unsalaried. The
district council is composed of the mayor, or alcalde, two aldermen
elected by the people, and two recorders appointed by the provincial
council. The duties of both the provincial and district councils are to
govern the towns of their jurisdiction as regards sanitation, hygiene,
the supply of water and lighting, the superintendence of public roads,
markets, street cars and other conveyances, public amusements, etc.;
they also have charge of the civil register and statistics. Primary
instruction and the police service are not under the direction of the
municipal boards, but under the supreme government. The revenues of
provincial and district councils are derived from municipal properties,
and chiefly from local taxes called _arbitrios_, which are imposed with
the approval of the supreme government. The proceedings of the district
councils are revised by the provincial councils, whose acts are, in
turn, subject to revision by the departmental boards.
[Illustration: DR. SOLÓN POLO, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS IN PRESIDENT
JOSÉ PARDO’S CABINET.]
Politically, the republic is divided into twenty-two departments, two of
which, Moquegua and Tumbes, known as littoral provinces, consist each of
a single province only. The departments are subject to the authority of
a prefect, who is appointed by the executive, receiving his instructions
from the minister of government. The departments are subdivided into one
hundred and one provinces, governed by sub-prefects, and the provinces
are again subdivided into eight hundred and one districts, under the
authority of governors. By this arrangement the supreme government
maintains immediate control of the national interests in every part of
the republic, the prefects, sub-prefects, and governors having direct
supervision of primary instruction and the police service within their
respective jurisdictions. The recent reorganization of the police system
has brought notable improvements into the service, which is conducted in
conformity with modern regulations.
The ecclesiastical authority is exercised in accordance with the
national constitution, which states that Roman Catholicism is the
established religion, freedom of worship being permitted to
non-Catholics. The church territory is divided into nine dioceses: the
archbishopric of Lima, and the bishoprics of Trujillo, Chachapoyas,
Huaraz, Huánuco, Ayacucho, Cuzco, Puno, and Arequipa. These are again
divided into curacies, of which Lima has sixty-six, Trujillo one hundred
and three, Chachapoyas forty-three, Huaraz forty-seven, Huánuco
fifty-seven, Ayacucho ninety-two, Cuzco eighty-two, Puno fifty-two, and
Arequipa seventy-one, making in all six hundred and thirteen, in charge
of curate-vicars, who receive their instructions from the bishops of the
diocese to which they are appointed. Every village in the republic has
its church or chapel and religious instruction is given to every
citizen, the churches being open at all hours of the day to admit anyone
who wishes to consecrate a few moments to devotions.
[Illustration: DR. CARLOS WASHBURN, PRESIDENT OF DR. PARDO’S CABINET.]
The civil rights of all persons are respected in Peru without
distinction of nationality, and all who reside in the country are
equally protected by its laws. Any foreigner may acquire property in
Peru and dispose of it at will; in general, everything concerning landed
property is amply guaranteed by the Peruvian laws. The Thirty-second
Article says: “The laws protect and oblige all persons equally; and the
civil rights are independent of the quality of the citizen.” The
Twenty-eighth Article declares that “every foreigner can acquire, in
accordance with the laws, landed property in the republic, possessing in
everything relating to that property the same obligations and privileges
as a Peruvian.” Special dispositions expressly authorize foreigners to
denounce mines and obtain concessions of mountain and rubber lands on
the same conditions as Peruvians. In the exercise of any trade,
profession or industry of any kind, absolute freedom is permitted to
native and foreigner alike, so long as it is not opposed to morality,
health or public security. Foreigners desiring to practise medicine,
law, or engineering are required to prove their ability by presenting
their title received from a university, and by submitting to the
prescribed examination. In order to guarantee the titles of land owners,
a registry office has been recently established, in which is inscribed
the name of the actual owner, the manner in which the property was
acquired, the incumbrances attaching to its purchase, if any, and any
conditions which limit the possessor’s right to dispose of it. The Civil
Code recognizes the right of a foreigner to dispose of his property by
will, and, in case of his dying without having made a will, and without
leaving immediate heirs, it provides for placing the property in
security, under the direction of the consular representative of the
nation to which the deceased belonged; an inventory is taken and the
inheritance liquidated, so that claims against it may be presented in
due form, after the settlement of which the balance is handed over to
the heirs legally entitled to receive it. As regards the personal
liberty of foreigners as well as Peruvians, the Eighteenth Article of
the Constitution expressly says that no one can be arrested without a
written order from a competent judge, or from the authorities charged
with the preservation of public order, except in cases of _flagrante
delicto_, and in any case the person arrested must be brought before the
judge of the case within twenty-four hours afterward. The law of _habeas
corpus_ is recognized, by which anyone detained more than twenty-four
hours without having his case submitted to the proper authorities may
present himself, or be represented by a proxy, before the judge with a
complaint, and the judge is bound to investigate the arrest and to
decree the liberty of the detained person in case no legal reason for
his further detention can be established.
[Illustration: THE MINT, LIMA.]
Naturalized foreigners enjoy the rights and are subject to the
obligations imposed upon Peruvians, except that they cannot be elected
to the presidency of the republic, or be ministers of State, Senators,
deputies, or judicial authorities, though they may be appointed justices
of the peace. The children of foreigners are, if born in the country,
Peruvians by birth, provided their names be inscribed in the Civil
Register. A Peruvian woman follows the nationality of her husband,
though, should she become a widow, she again assumes the nationality of
her birth. It is important for foreigners who contemplate living in Peru
to know that civil marriage is established for non-Catholics, who may
celebrate the marriage ceremony before the mayor of the place in which
either of the contracting parties resides, in the presence of two
witnesses who must be residents of the same locality. It is necessary
only that a declaration be made before the mayor that they do not belong
to the Catholic community, or that they have separated from it. It is
obligatory that the Act of Marriage shall be inscribed in the Civil
Register within eight days after the ceremony, even in the case of those
who are married according to the religion of the country. The divorce
court is unknown in Peru, the only legal separation being one which
dissolves the union only so far as regards the property, the marriage
tie remaining in force. In the case of non-Catholics, the civil courts
decide as to the judicial separation or nullity of the marriage, while,
for Catholics, the ecclesiastical authorities dispose of the matter in
accordance with the ruling of the Council of Trent.
The new laws that have been introduced from time to time in the national
code show a spirit of fraternity in the Peruvian character which is
particularly promising for the development of friendly foreign
relations. In the liberal mining laws, the enterprising prospector from
abroad finds every facility to aid him in his ambitious undertakings;
and in the laws governing colonization, the establishment of industries,
or any foreign enterprise, the conditions are as favorable as a
progressive and far-seeing policy could make them. A description of this
richly dowered country will show that its society, its intellectual and
benevolent institutions, its industries and its growing trade, are the
outward expression of a people’s faith in their political security and
the wisdom of their laws.
[Illustration: REVIEW OF ARTILLERY TROOPS, LIMA.]
[Illustration: BOLOGNESI CIRCLE, PASEO COLÓN, LIMA.]