PRESENT CONDITION AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF PERU.
Population--Civil wars--Government--Constitution--General
Castilla and his ministers--Dr. Vigil--Mariano Paz
Soldan--Valleys on the coast--Cotton, wool, and specie--The
Amazons--Guano--Finances--Literature--Future prospects.
AFTER a sojourn of a few days at Lima we took a final farewell of the
land of the Incas, on June 29th, 1860. As we steamed along the coast,
in sight of the emerald-green valleys, surrounded by trackless wastes
of sand, and of the glorious cordilleras which towered up behind them,
a long train of memories passed in array before us. In this land
alone, of all the nations of the earth, did the ideal of a perfect
patriarchal form of government become a reality. Here, too, are the
scenes of the most romantic episode in modern history, comprised in the
career of the Pizarros. The sufferings of the gentle Indians excited
the indignation of the Elizabethan chivalry; the fabulous riches
extracted from the mines of Peru attracted the adventurous spirit of
the buccaneers of a baser age; and the brave struggle for independence
led more than one gallant Englishman to shed his blood in the cause of
Peruvian liberty.[351] What is now the state of this famous land, and
what prospect is there of the glowing hopes expressed in Mr. Canning's
well-known speech ever being fulfilled, are questions which cannot fail
to arouse some passing interest.
In giving an account of the present condition and future prospects of
Peru, the invariable kindness and frank hospitality of its inhabitants
impose an obligation to speak with as much leniency and forbearance
as the interests of truth will admit. The South American Republics
are peopled by races of mixed origin, who are doubtless inferior to
Europeans, both mentally and physically; and the unsettled condition
of those countries, which inevitably succeeded the struggles for an
independence for which the people were unprepared, has continued longer
than might justly have been expected. But it appears to be a generally
received idea in England, originating from the accounts of travellers
unacquainted with the people, and ignorant of their language, that the
South Americans are a mongrel degraded race, incapable of improvement,
and hopelessly degenerate.[352] So far as my experience extends, and
after a careful consideration of the subject, I can see no grounds for
resigning the hope that a brighter future is yet in store for the land
of the Incas.
It is true that, after a casual and superficial glance at the state
of affairs in South America since the expulsion of the Spaniards, the
prospect appears sufficiently gloomy. But a more intimate acquaintance
with the subject, and especially a knowledge of the tone of thought
amongst the younger men, as expressed in conversation and in their
writings, would show that, under the surface, noble aspirations and
steady enlightened views prevail, which must eventually yield fruit,
and thus justify our hopes for the future. When independence was
established in South America, there were two principal causes which led
to the civil wars which ensued; namely, the question between a federal
or a centralized form of government, and the disputes respecting
boundaries. The power attained during the revolution by the armies, and
the selfish ambition, treason, and corruption of public men, aggravated
these sources of evil to a melancholy extent. But other countries,
far greater and nobler than these poor struggling republics, have had
to pass through as long and as degrading a crisis in their history.
Englishmen must remember the thirty years comprising the reigns of the
two last Stuarts with quite as much shame as the great-grandchildren of
the present Peruvians will experience when they learn the history of
their country for the first forty years after its independence. It is
recorded that in a British House of Commons there was but one Andrew
Marvel. To my personal knowledge there are now several Andrew Marvels
in Chile and Peru. These young and inexperienced countries have had to
pass through a fierce ordeal, and, truth to say, they have played their
part but indifferently as yet. They indeed require forbearance, but let
us not turn from them with disdain and contempt, in the pride of our
present grandeur and prosperity. Were treason and corruption and base
selfish faction never rife in England's court and parliament?
The fatal mistake of several of the old Spanish colonies was in
establishing a federal system of government, in imitation of the United
States. This was the case in Mexico, Central America, New Granada, and
the Argentine Confederation. No system can possibly be more entirely
unsuited to a thinly-peopled mountainous region, without roads, and
unprovided with a sufficient number of capable educated men in the
distant provinces to undertake the local government. Power necessarily
falls into the hands of any cunning adventurer, every little state
becomes a focus for revolution, and an endless succession of civil wars
are the result. Such, in fact, has been the fate of those republics
where federation has been established. Pernicious as centralization
always is when carried too far in old and densely-peopled countries,
it is an absolute necessity in young states, with a small population
thinly scattered over a vast extent of country. The distant
inaccessible districts do not possess the materials for self-government
within themselves, and necessarily depend for their prosperity and
advancement on the capital.
Peru has only once been subjected to the federal experiment, and she
has not suffered so much from internal dissensions as the unfortunate
countries above mentioned. She holds a central position amongst the
South American republics, not so cruelly torn by anarchy as Mexico on
the one hand, and not enjoying so good and settled a government as
Chile on the other. Her people too are perhaps inferior in capacity and
mental endowments to the Chilians and the natives of New Granada, but
infinitely superior to those of Central America and Mexico. She may,
therefore, be taken as an average example of these half Spanish, half
Indian states; and as such I will proceed to give some account of her
people, her government, and her material resources.
The population of Peru, by the latest accounts, was 1,880,000 souls:
the whole of the labouring classes in the interior being pure Indians;
the artizans and shopkeeping classes in the towns partly Indians and
partly half-castes or mestizos; the lower orders on the coast being
negros, or zambos, a caste between negros and Indians, with some
imported Chinese; and the upper classes being chiefly of Spanish
descent with a slight dash of Indian blood, many nearly or quite
half-castes, not a few pure Indian, and an exceedingly small proportion
of pure Spanish descent.[353] The men of Indian extraction display
perhaps more energy and equal ability with their fellow-countrymen of
pure Spanish origin; and many Indians are wealthy enterprising men,
while others have held the highest offices in the state. The Peruvians
are intelligent and quick of apprehension, exceedingly hospitable
and kind-hearted, and remarkably humane and forgiving, as a rule, in
the conduct of their civil wars; but they are apt to be fickle and
volatile, incapable of any long-sustained effort, and inclined to
indolence. Corruption, bribery, treason, and pusillanimity are but
too common; but may not these be the vices engendered by civil strife
and periods of anarchy, rather than the normal characteristics of the
people? With the exception of the negro races on the coast, there are
few people among whom crime is more uncommon.
The causes of the civil and foreign wars which have retarded the
progress of Peru since her independence may be explained in a very few
sentences.
The first of these has arisen from disputes with her neighbours
respecting boundaries. On her southern frontier the ambitious policy
of Bolivar created a small republic, from no reason or motive that
was apparent, beyond the childish vanity of having a country called
after his name. This country was to all intents and purposes a part of
Peru. Her people, her languages, her traditions and feelings were the
same, and, until the latter part of the last century, she had formed
a part of the Peruvian viceroyalty. No good end was attained by this
division; while disputes respecting a doubtful unsurveyed boundary,
jealousies and misunderstandings arising from all imported goods
from Europe having to be landed at the Peruvian port of Arica, and
conveyed to Bolivia across Peruvian territory, has created a hostile
feeling, embittered year by year, between people who should have lived
as brothers under a single government. On her northern frontier Peru
has the little republic of Ecuador, until 1830 a portion of Colombia;
which possesses the only good port, with the exception of Callao, on
the western coast of South America, that of Guayaquil. This port has
always been coveted by Peru; and the question of the frontier was
further confused by the civil jurisdiction in Peru and Quito, during
Spanish times, having been divided by one line, and the ecclesiastical
by another. The generally recognised rule for deciding the frontiers
between the South American Republics is the _uti possidetis_, as
regards the former colonial jurisdictions, at the time of the war of
independence.
These frontier disputes, carried on with feelings embittered by former
jealousies, led to a war between Colombia and Peru in 1828,[354] in
which the latter republic was worsted; and a campaign, ending in a
treaty, between Peru and Bolivia at the same time.
The second and more disastrous cause for civil dissensions was the
question between a federal and a centralized form of republican
government. Peru enjoyed a period of peace between the war with
Colombia in 1828 and the year 1834; but between the latter period
and the year 1844 the unfortunate country was subject to a constant
series of civil wars and insurrections. The ten years between 1834
and 1844 was Peru's most miserable time. Her public men were corrupt,
pusillanimous, and selfishly ambitious; she was given up to be torn
and distracted by wretched military adventurers; and the marches of
armies, with their system of forced recruiting, banished all attempts
at advancement or improvement from the country. Yet even during this
dark interval there was a space of two years, when General Santa Cruz
established his dream of a federal republic under the name of the
Peru-Bolivian Confederation, during which the land enjoyed peace and
some signs of revived prosperity. The able and vigorous administration
of Santa Cruz, whose mother was an Indian chieftainess, was the one
bright spot in this dreary waste of anarchy.
For the following ten years Peru enjoyed a period of peace, under
the rule of General Don Ramon Castilla, an old Indian of Tarapaca,
for the first six years, and afterwards of General Echenique. During
this period the country advanced rapidly in material prosperity, but
in 1854 it was again convulsed by a revolution, caused by the general
discontent of the people at the gross malversations and unblushing
robbery of Echenique's Government. Castilla placed himself at the head
of this movement, and, with the aid of a large army, has retained his
power up to the present day. The insurrection at Arequipa, and mutiny
in the fleet, in 1857-58, were purely local, and did not affect the
general tranquillity of the country.
Towards the close of Peru's ten years of convulsion, a constitution was
adopted, establishing a strictly centralising form of government, in
1839, in which immense power was placed in the hands of the executive.
But during the ten years of peace which followed the election of
Castilla in 1844, men's minds were strongly influenced by European
travel and by more extended reading, extreme liberal views were very
generally adopted, and the old constitution was felt to be out of
date. In 1856, therefore, a new constitution was promulgated by a
national assembly summoned for the purpose by General Castilla, in
which abstract ideas of what is just and right were unhesitatingly
and heedlessly adopted; and a strong tendency to federalism and local
self-government was displayed.
By a stroke of the pen the capitation-tax paid by the Indians, the
principal source of revenue in ordinary times, the slavery of negros
on the coast, and all capital punishments were entirely abolished.
There would have been some nobleness in the abolition of slavery, and
the grant of 1,780,000 dollars as compensation, as well as a display
of liberal sentiment, if it had in any way increased the burdens
of the people, but this was not the case. For the same reason the
discontinuance of the tribute paid by the Indians was a mere act of
recklessness. In this constitution there were two legislative chambers,
a Senate and a House of Representatives; but half the representatives
were chosen by lot to form a Senate, so that one chamber was a mere
counterpart of the other. The most remarkable clauses, however, were
those in which measures leading to the federal form of government, a
plagiarism of the disastrous system of the United States, were adopted.
Peru continued to be divided into Departments governed by Prefects
appointed by the President; but it was now enacted that in the capital
of each Department there should be a sort of state legislature called
a _Junta Departmental_, the members being elected by the people, and
empowered to deliberate and legislate for the good of the Department.
This measure was but a commencement of that fatal system which had
convulsed some of the other republics; and its tendency was so apparent
that Castilla was accused of intending to divide Peru into a dozen
petty states, and to rule as a Dictator, by fomenting dissensions
among them.[355] A wiser and more useful measure was the establishment
of what are called _Juntas Municipales_ in the towns and unions of
villages, composed of the principal residents, who are intrusted with
the supervision and promotion of all local interests and improvements.
In November 1860 this constitution was reformed, improvements were
introduced, and some of its more absurd and injurious provisions
were repealed. Capital punishment for the crime of murder was again
enacted. The Congress was to meet every two years on the 28th of July;
a third of their number to be renewed every two years; and, during the
recess, a permanent committee of the Congress, consisting of seven
senators and eight deputies, to be elected at the end of each session,
was to watch the execution of acts passed by the Congress, and to
exercise its functions. A great improvement was also adopted in the
constitution of the Senate. The members of that body are to be elected
by the Departments, each one electing a certain number according to the
number of its provinces, and the qualification of a senator is raised
to 1000 dollars a-year. Thus there is now an intelligible difference
between the two chambers, and, in the formation of the Senate, one of
the few good points of the constitution of the United States has been
wisely adopted. The executive power is in the hands of a President
and two Vice-Presidents elected for four years, and a council of
ministers. Finally the mischievous _Juntas Departmentales_, which I
believe had never been allowed to meet, were abolished, while the
municipal institutions of the constitution of 1856, which could only be
productive of good, remained in full force.
Such is the present form of government in Peru, perhaps as good a one
as the country is fit for, and capable, in firm and honest hands,
of meeting all the present requirements of the people; but it is of
more importance to know in whose hands the government of the country
is placed, and what manner of men are intrusted with the destinies
of a country so rich in memories of the past, as well as in material
resources; a young republic still bleeding at every pore from a series
of civil wars, yet with a growing desire to struggle up, through shame
and misfortune, to a respectable place among the nations. I will give a
few hasty sketches of the men who formed the executive power during my
stay at Lima in 1860.
General Ramon Castilla, the President, is a native of Tarapaca in the
extreme south of Peru, and must now be close upon seventy years of age.
He is the son of Pedro Castilla, who worked the refuse silver-ores of
the mines of El Carmen,[356] and young Ramon acted as his father's
_leñatero_, or woodcutter. He, afterwards, entered the Spanish army,
and on the arrival of the patriot forces from Chile in 1821 he joined
their cause, and attained the rank of colonel. After the independence
he was appointed Sub-prefect of his native province of Tarapaca, in
1826; and he was Prefect of Puno from 1834 to 1836; but he was mixed up
in all the civil wars, and, after a victory gained by him in 1844, he
was elected President of the Republic. Castilla is a small spare man,
with an iron constitution, and great powers of endurance. His bright
fierce little eyes, with overhanging brows, stiff bristly moustaches,
and projecting under lip, give his countenance a truculent expression,
which is not improved by a leathery dried-up complexion; but he has a
look of resolution and an air of command which is almost dignified.
This remarkable man is an excellent soldier, brave as a lion, prompt
in action, and beloved by his men. Uneducated and illiterate, his
political successes and management of parties almost amount to
genius, while his victories have never been stained by cruelty, and
his antagonists have seldom been proscribed for any length of time,
generally pardoned at once, and often raised by him to posts of
importance in the service of the Republic. His firm and vigorous grasp
of power has secured for Peru long periods of peace; faction has been
kept under, while an incalculable blessing has thus been conferred on
the country; and probably no other man had the ability and the nerve
to effect this. But Castilla, though a necessity, has been a necessary
evil. His want of education renders him useless as a statesman. He
has generally shown himself indifferent to all public works, and to
measures for the moral or material benefit of the country, while
he insists on keeping up an enormous standing army, and on spending
untold sums on a costly navy, thus squandering the public money, and
continuing a pernicious and ruinous system. The brave old man has been
a necessity. He alone has been able to keep the peace, and give time
to the Peruvians slowly to develop the resources of their country;
and through this period of tranquillity, when he shall have passed
away, interests and influences may have insensibly risen up, which
will prevent the recurrence of such periods of anarchy as preceded
Castilla's first accession to power.
Juan Manuel del Mar, the first Vice-President, a tall, sallow,
earnest-looking man, is a native of Cuzco, the old capital of the
Incas. He has held office for some years, and has more than once been
in supreme command during the absence of Castilla. This statesman was
called to the bar in 1830, and has led an active public life as deputy
to Congress, judge, or minister ever since. He is thoroughly honest,
possessed of enlightened views and some ability, very popular, and
universally and deservedly respected.
The second Vice-President, elected under the provisions of the reformed
constitution of 1860, is General Pezet, the son of a physician of
French extraction, who died in Callao Castle when it was held by the
Spaniards, and stood a long siege. General Pezet, a native of Lima,
joined the patriot ranks when they landed in Peru in 1821, then only
eleven years of age; and was at once sent on active service. Thus he
was present at the battles of Junin and Ayacucho, which destroyed the
Spanish power, and was mixed up in the subsequent civil wars.
Castilla's ministers, at the time of my visit, were far from
representing the most able and distinguished class of Peruvians.
Colonel Salcedo, the Minister of Finance, a native of Lampa, was born
in 1801. He was one of the few members of Congress who, in 1824,
firmly opposed and defeated the ambitious designs of Bolivar; and he
has since almost constantly served as sub-prefect or prefect, or as
a member of Congress. Another minister was Don José Fabio Melgar,
a brother of the famous poet of Arequipa, whose melancholy death I
have already mentioned. He has served as chief clerk in one or other
of the public offices since 1833, is an amiable man, well read, and
intelligent, but with only moderate abilities, and no originality or
force of will. The minister of Foreign Affairs was Don Miguel del
Carpio, a veteran statesman, born in 1795, and who, having joined the
patriots and been taken prisoner by the Spaniards in 1822, was long
kept in prison, and heavily chained. Since the independence he has held
important offices both in Bolivia and Peru.
But old Castilla requires obedient clerks around him, not independent
ministers, and the more able and active-minded Peruvians are not to
be found filling high political posts. The best specimens of the
natives of Peru are either to be met with leading unobtrusive literary
lives, and preparing for better times; or on their estates actively
and energetically developing the resources of their country. Such men
are Mariategui, Felipe Pardo, Vigil, Paz Soldan, and Elias, whose
patriotism and great ability would do honour to any country.
Dr. Vigil is one of Peru's most distinguished sons. In early life
he was an active and eloquent member of Congress; subsequently he
was engaged on one of the most learned, as well as the most liberal
works that a Roman Catholic clergyman has ever ventured to publish on
the Papacy; and now in his old age he continues to advocate, in his
forcible writings, every cause and every measure which is intended to
advance religious freedom, or the moral well-being of his countrymen.
Dr. Vigil fears that liberal views on religious subjects, such as
toleration, the marriage of the clergy, and independence of Rome,
cannot be expected to make any rapid progress at present, but he
is confident that a future generation will appreciate his works,
and introduce the measures which he advocates. One of his strongest
convictions is that priests will never lead virtuous lives until they
are humanized by family ties: and that, while now they live for the
Church--that is for themselves and their order--they ought to live for
their flocks.
While the learned and amiable Vigil represents the literary men of
Peru, Mariano Paz Soldan is one of the best specimens of the men of
action. His benevolent mind was shocked at the wretched condition
of the prisons in Peru, and he has displayed an amount of energy
and ability in endeavouring to remedy this evil which goes far to
vindicate the Peruvian character from the charge of indolence and
procrastination. In 1853 Paz Soldan published a very able and detailed
report on the prisons of the United States; and in 1856, by dint of
unceasing representations, he obtained the necessary grant from the
Government for the erection of a penitentiary on the most improved
principle at Lima. The work was at once commenced with vigour. The
foundations, basement, and first story are built of a very hard
porphyritic stone, brought from the hills about two miles from Lima,
where a quarry was opened for the first time by Paz Soldan, with a
tramroad direct to the works. The entrance is by a flight of four
steps, cut out of a single block of this porphyritic rock. The second
story is of brick, and all the iron for gratings, doors, bolts, and
roofing came out ready made from England. The wards for men, women, and
children are separated, each with its large well-ventilated workroom,
exercising yard, and cells; and everything is arranged on the best
English and American models. It will hold 52 women, 52 boys, and 208
men. This great public work will be a credit to the country, and a
lasting monument of the energy and perseverance of its projector, who
trusts that it will be but the first of a series of such penitentiaries
in different parts of the country. Don Mariano Paz Soldan is also
engaged in organizing a general topographical survey of Peru.
There are many landed proprietors and others, of Paz Soldan's stamp,
who have availed themselves of the period of tranquillity since 1844,
interrupted only by one year of revolution, to improve their estates,
and thus add to their country's wealth, especially in the valleys on
the coast. The long slip of land between the Andes and the Pacific
Ocean enjoys an equable climate, rain and heavy storms are nearly
unknown, and refreshing dews descend during the night. The greater
part of this region consists of sandy desert, traversed by ridges of
rocky barren hills; but wherever a stream, descending from the Andes,
is of sufficient volume to reach the ocean, a rich and fertile valley
borders its banks. These valleys, of greater or less extent, and at
various intervals, break the monotony of the desert from the bay of
Guayaquil to the river Loa, which separates Peru from Bolivia. They are
admirably adapted for the cultivation of cotton, the vine, the olive,
and sugar-cane.
Immense wealth is already derived from these valleys, and, with
judicious outlay for obtaining more regular supplies of water, their
capabilities might be multiplied indefinitely. The valley of Cañete,
south of Lima, which is in the hands of six enterprising proprietors,
is covered with sugar-cane plantations. In 1860 it yielded sugar
worth 1,000,000 dollars, all raised by Chinese and free negro labour.
Further south, the valleys of Pisco and Yca, thanks chiefly to Don
Domingo Elias and his sons, yield 70,000 _botijas_ of a spirit called
pisco, 10,000 barrels of excellent wine, 800,000 lbs. of cotton, and
40,000 lbs. of cochineal. Still further south there are many valleys
which render their owners wealthy by the produce of cane-fields and
vineyards, in the departments of Moquegua and Arequipa; and in the
valley of Tambo, near Arequipa, there are 5000 olive-trees and seven
mills.
Now that the question of cotton-supply is attracting so large a share
of attention in England, it is gratifying to be able to state that
landed proprietors on the coast of Peru have seriously turned their
attention to the subject, and that in 1860 the cultivation of cotton
was becoming a favourite speculation. The soil and climate of these
coast valleys are admirably adapted for its growth, and, though the
quantity that could be drawn from them would be insignificant when
compared with the vast demands of Manchester, yet the quality is good,
and they will supply one out of many sources which may hereafter
render us partially independent of the Confederate States. The estates
of Don Domingo Elias and others, in the valleys of Yca, Palpa, San
Xavier, and Nasca, yield 800,000 lbs. of excellent cotton. I visited
these cotton estates in 1853, and found that the cotton was carefully
picked, and packed by screw presses. A great deal of cotton is also
shipped from the port of Payta, which sells in Liverpool at 8_d._
to 9-1/2_d._ the lb.; and in the valley of Lambayeque,[357] between
Payta and Lima, cotton cultivation has lately been undertaken on a
very large scale. In 1860, in the four districts of Talambo, Cayalti,
Collus, and Calupe, there were already 600,000 plants in the ground,
and in neighbouring estates extensive tracts of land had been prepared
for cotton by the house of Zaracondegui and others. At Talambo, in
the valley of Pacasmayo, there are many Biscayan families, numbering
in all 176 souls, who are exclusively engaged in cotton cultivation;
and the yield in that district in the first year was 800,000 lbs.
In the province of Chiclayo 700,000 plants were put in the ground
during 1860, and land was being prepared for the growth of cotton
crops to a much larger extent. These cotton-growing provinces of
Lambayeque, Chiclayo, and Truxillo are fertile and well watered;
storms of rain are unknown, and they enjoy an equable climate with
a mean temperature between 70° and 84° Fahr. It has been calculated
that, after leaving a fifth of the available land for crops to supply
provisions for the inhabitants, as many as 140,000 _fanegadas_[358]
might be brought under cotton cultivation in these provinces alone.
Allowing four feet for each plant, and that each plant yields four
pounds a year, this extent of land would produce 580,000,000 lbs. of
cotton annually, worth twelve dollars the cwt. at the port of shipment,
or 69,600,000 dollars. Deducting 22,400,000 for expenses, this would
leave 47,200,000 dollars profit. But these provinces only contain a
small fraction of the fertile coast valleys of Peru; and it is clear
that, if the speculations of 1860 yield a reasonably profitable return,
the cultivation of cotton may, in all probability, be undertaken
over a vast area, and render Peru an important source of supply for
Manchester.[359]
The lofty table-lands of the cordillera of the Andes produce
sufficient maize, wheat, and sugar for home consumption; but their
chief exportable wealth is to be found in the vast flocks of sheep and
alpacas which find pasture on those grassy uplands, and in the veins
and washings of silver and gold. About 400,000_l._ worth of wool is
annually exported, of which 5,017,100 lbs., valued at 287,339_l._, were
embarked from the port of Islay in 1859, and 4,214,000 lbs. in 1860.
The export of specie amounted to about 200,000_l._ in 1859, of which
34,705_l._ were exported from Islay, and 32,000_l._ from Arica. But of
this a portion is in coined money and _chafalonia_, or old plate.
Besides the raising of the various valuable products suitable to the
coast valleys and the _sierra_, the vast forests to the eastward of the
Andes, and the great fluvial highways which flow through them to the
Atlantic, offer an inexhaustible field for Peruvian enterprise. The
incredible resources of this portion of Peru are only now beginning to
be fully appreciated, though ten, and even twenty years ago, there were
evident symptoms of the first early pulsations of life and commerce
on the mighty river Amazons and its tributaries. Petty traders, the
pioneers of a stirring future, were then busy, each in his little
traffic; canoes laden with hammocks, hats, wax, sarsaparilla, copaiba,
and other products of the forest, found their way to Para at the mouth
of the Amazons, and returned with European manufactured goods.
But of late years an immense stride in advance has been taken; and in
1857 a Brazilian company was working eight steamers on the Amazons
and its tributaries, conveying passengers, and bearing up and down
a ceaseless ebb and flow of commerce. Measures were adopted in 1853
to connect the Brazilian line of steamers with a Peruvian line
navigating the upper waters, and two small steam-vessels were sent out
from New York for the purpose, called the "Tirado" and "Huallaga."
The revolution of 1854 temporarily put a stop to these efforts,
and the two steamers were left to rot at Nauta, 2300 miles up the
Amazons. Latterly, however, steps have again been taken to supply
the Peruvian tributaries of the Amazons with steam navigation, and
thereby to encourage settlement, attract commerce, and thus develop the
incalculable wealth of Peru's Amazonian provinces.
In October 1858 a fluvial convention was signed between Brazil and
Peru, establishing the free navigation of the Amazons, under certain
restrictions; and in February 1860 the Brazilian steamer 'Tabatinga'
arrived at Laguna on the Peruvian river Huallaga, upwards of 3000 miles
from the mouth of the Amazons. Meanwhile the Peruvian Government have
ordered steamers to be constructed to work on the upper waters of the
Amazons, in conjunction with the Brazilian line; and roads are to be
made connecting inland towns with the nearest navigable points on the
tributaries of the Amazons. In June 1860 a party of sixty men left the
town of Huanuco to explore the wide forest-covered plains known as the
"Pampas del Sacramento" to the eastward; and in July a road had already
been commenced, which is to connect Huanuco with a navigable part of
the river Ucayali, a distance of 150 miles. A small colony of Germans
has been established on the river Pozuzu. Other measures of a similar
nature are in contemplation, and it is impossible to estimate the rapid
and certain increase of wealth which will accrue to this hitherto
neglected region, when steam communication has thus brought one of the
richest regions in the world within reach of a market. Para, at the
mouth of the Amazons, already exceeds, in the number of its staple
commodities of export, all indigenous to the regions of which it forms
the outlet, almost any other port on the surface of the globe. My space
will not allow me to dilate further on this most interesting subject;
but it is assuredly one which well deserves the attention of commercial
men in England.
The most remarkable source of Peruvian wealth, and one which has
caused effects on her financial system which are perhaps unique in the
history of any country, is the guano on the desert islands off the
coast. When the South American Republics were thrown open to the trade
of Europe, the value of guano as a manure was soon discovered, the
demand rapidly increased, and the Peruvian Government were not long in
availing themselves of this, as they believed, inexhaustible source of
riches.[360] The three Chincha islands, in the bay of Pisco, contained
a total of 12,376,100 tons of guano in 1853, and, as since that time
2,837,365 tons have been exported up to 1860, there were 9,538,735 tons
remaining in 1861.[361] In 1860 as many as 433 vessels, with a tonnage
of 348,554, loaded at the Chincha islands; so that, at the above rate,
the guano will last for twenty-three years, until 1883. The guano
monopoly brings in a revenue to the State of 14,850,000 dollars.
In Peru even the arid deserts are the sources of enormous wealth; for
while the desolate Chinchas pour millions into the treasury, the pampa
of Tamarugal, in the Tarapaca province, contributes its nitrate of soda
(_salitre_) and borate of lime to swell the riches of this favoured
land. It is calculated that the nitrate of soda grounds in this
district cover fifty square leagues, and, allowing one hundred pounds
weight of nitrate for each square yard, this will give 63,000,000
tons, which, at the present rate of consumption, will last for 1393
years.[362] In 1860 the export of nitrate of soda from the port of
Iquique amounted to 1,370,248 cwts., and a good deal of borax is also
exported, though its shipment is prohibited by the Government.
The extensive use of mineral substances, such as guano and nitrate of
soda, as a top-dressing for corn-crops, is a discovery of modern times,
and these manures were not generally appreciated in England until a
period between 1824 and 1829. I believe that farmers consider guano and
nitrate of soda to be about equally efficacious as a top-dressing for
corn; and it is now a matter of pressing interest to the agricultural
community in England to reduce their prices, which are as high as
twelve and sixteen pounds a ton respectively. But, with this view,
a careful search for deposits of guano in other parts of the world
has only led to the discovery of those at Ichaboe, on the coast of
Africa, in 1843, and of those on the Arabian Kooria Mooria islands
more recently. The deposit at Ichaboe was all carried off by the end
of 1845, while that on Jibleea, one of the Kooria Moorias, is still
being worked; but it is very inferior to the guano of the Peruvian
islands.[363]
On the whole these attempts to find other deposits of guano, which
would tend to bring down the price in England, have failed of success;
and the Peruvians may consider themselves secure of their strange
source of revenue for some twenty years to come. And a stranger means
of defraying nearly the whole expenditure of the state was never before
heard of. In 1859 the disbursements amounted to 20,387,756 dollars, of
which sum three-fourths were raised by shovelling heaps of dirt off a
desolate island on the coast!
A prudent Government would have looked upon the guano monopoly as
an extraordinary item in the receipts, and would have reserved it
for paying off the internal and foreign debt, for public works, and
improvements; but the heads of the Peruvians appear to have been
turned by this wonderful increase of their revenue, and they have
squandered it with ruinous and dishonest recklessness. It is true that
the interest of the foreign debt has been paid,[364] but otherwise the
large receipts have either been embezzled, as in General Echenique's
time, or spent on immense and unnecessary armaments, and in jobbing
salaries and pensions. Thousands of families now live on the public
money, and, when the guano receipts fail, the ruin and suffering will
be severe and widely spread. On the strength of the guano monopoly
almost all the taxes have been abolished, the tribute of the Indians
amongst them, and the revenue is composed mainly of three items--guano,
customs, and stamps. A biennial budget, containing the receipts and
disbursements, is laid before Congress every session. I have these
budgets before me for several years back; but that for 1859 will
suffice to show the extraordinary nature of the revenue, and the still
more extraordinary way in which it is spent:--
_Receipts._ | _Disbursements._
|
Dollars. | Dollars.
Guano 15,875,352|Pay, &c., to members of Congress 211,084
Customs, &c. 5,079,439|Army and navy, with pensions 9,746,432
Surplus from 1858 938,389|Civil expenses, with pensions 2,129,904
|Payments to ecclesiastics 63,296
|Public works 718,124
|Education and charitable
|institutions 332,471
|Police 92,807
|Compensation for slaves
|and internal debt 1,576,004
|Redemption of Bonds 3,218,700
|Miscellaneous 107,146
|Interest of all kinds 2,191,777
| 20,387,745
--------- | Surplus 1,505,435
21,893,180 | 21,893,180
---------- |
The foreign debt is 24,205,400 dollars, and the internal debt and
compensation for slaves amount to a still larger sum. But the great
drag upon the public treasury is the enormous army of 15,000 men for a
population under two million, with upwards of 2000 officers, those who
are unattached being still retained on full pay. This will give some
idea of the number of families who are living in luxury and idleness
on the public money, and of the distress that will follow the sudden
stoppage of their incomes, which is inevitable when the guano comes
to an end. It will be an embarrassing and difficult question for some
future Government to decide upon the proper measures for the disposal
of an unwieldy army and a crowd of hungry beggared officers. The best
suggestion on this subject has come from the late General Miller,
who, when governing Cuzco in 1836, proposed to establish military
colonies in the forests to the eastward of the Andes, and thus convert
a mischievous and dangerous tool for treason and faction into a means
of enriching the country.
The administration of justice in Peru, though the laws are excellent,
and have been codified and ably edited, is so corrupt that it is better
to pass over the subject with a hope that things may be better in a
future generation; and the police administration, especially round
Lima, is disgraceful.
Much indeed will be required, and much I trust is to be hoped, from the
rising generation of young men who are now about to enter upon public
life. Many of them have been educated in Europe, a large proportion
are well-informed, polished by travel and extensive reading, and
ardently desirous of distinguishing themselves in the service of the
State. In literature they have already displayed considerable industry
and ability. The 'Revista de Lima,' a bi-monthly periodical, contains
archæological, biographical, historical, and financial articles and
reviews, generally very ably written, in an enlightened and liberal
spirit, and by men who evidently take an earnest view of life. The
contributors, among whom are the Señores Lavalle, Ulloa, Pardo, Flores,
Masias, and the painter Laso, are all young men with a career before
them. It is a good sign, too, that effective steps have been taken
to edit and reprint historical materials which have long remained in
manuscript, or in scarce old editions. Thus Don Manuel A. Fuentes has
recently brought out six most interesting volumes containing reports of
the administrations of several of the Spanish viceroys of Peru,[365]
and a new edition of the 'Mercurio Peruano.' His 'Estadistica de Lima'
is also a work which displays considerable merit: and Don Sebastian
Lorente's well-known learning, and habit of careful research, promise
that his history of Peru, now on the point of being published in Paris,
will be a work of great value.
This hasty glance at the present state of Peru, as regards its
government, material resources, and literature, will, I trust, have
shown that the people of these South American states are not altogether
the hopelessly degraded race that they are often represented; and that
there are grounds for believing that there is yet a happier future in
store for them. For, be it remembered, that Peru is far from being the
best specimen of these republics, and that the Chilians have displayed
tenfold the ability, both in governing, in commercial and agricultural
pursuits, and in literature. I think there can be no doubt that a
hasty conclusion respecting the South American races, founded on their
history since the independence, is likely to be erroneous and unfair;
and that, under more favourable circumstances, they are in every way
capable of better things.
I cannot better conclude this chapter than by quoting the words of that
noble old warrior General Miller, written only a few months before
his death, in November 1861. This most excellent of men fought all
the battles of independence from 1817 to 1824; he was covered with
wounds and riddled with bullets[366] while striving for South American
freedom; he had watched with sorrowful attention the subsequent anarchy
and civil wars, and his words carry great weight with them. It will
be seen that he does not despond, but looks forward with hope to the
future.
He says, "South America, with good reason, must feel for ever proud
of Camilo Henriquez, Vigil, and Mariategui, Olmedo and Felipe Pardo,
San Martin and O'Higgins, and many others of her illustrious sons. And
what may not be expected from the rising and future generations, now
that there are such universities as that of Santiago de Chile, and
such men as Bello to direct and foster them! Who can be blind to the
genius and great natural abilities of the Peruvian youth, now shooting
forth, notwithstanding the great disadvantages under which Peru at
present labours, with regard to the state of her colleges? With her
immense resources, a good government, and tranquillity, what may not be
expected! But every nation has its beginning, an inevitable and perhaps
necessarily rough ordeal to undergo, and South America must not expect
to make a leap that no other country has been able to do."
[Illustration: Map to illustrate M^R. SPRUCE'S REPORTS on the "RED
BARK" REGION OF ECUADOR.]