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tains somo flvo hundred thousand square miles
and has boon but imperfectly explored. No safe
estimate, therefore can bo made of its possi-
bllltlOB. , , .... .
In a most comprehensive work entitled, Peru
in 190G," written by Mr. Alexander Garland
by order of President Pardo, the author pre
sents an olaborato table showing that eastern
Peru has somo ton thousand miles of navigablo
rivors. In fact, a large part of the water which
gives to tho Amazon its primacy among tho
world's greatest rivers la drained from tho soil
of this nation. According to Mr. Garland,,
steamers drawing twenty feet can penetrate four
hundred miles into Peruvian territory; steamers
drawing from four to oight feet can traverse
Hourly six thousand miles; while boats drawing
from two to four foot can carry merchandise
ovor an additional four thousand miles.
This Inclined plane, extending from the tim
bor lino down to an altitudo of less than thrco
hundred feet, is now a vast forest containing
trees of many varieties, tho most valuable be
ing that which produces rubber. A considerable
quantity of hard wood can be cut from this
section, and tho cultivation of tho rubber treo
can bo Indefinitely extended. As this ground
will, when cleared, produce every kind of grain,
fruit and vegetable, it can bo seen that its de
velopment means a largo increase in the as
1 Bossed valuo of Peruvian land, and in the pop
ulation of tho country.
Tho first thing nooded is immigration, and
tho government is encouraging this. Thero aro
somo four thousand Japanese in Peru now, but
thoy arq largely engaged on the sugar, rice and
cotton plantations along the coast, and the ofll
cialsaro anxious to secure settlors from Buropo
and North Amorica. Chinese immigration is
by a recent statute prohibited.
Recognizing that railroads aro necessary for
tho dovolopmont of tho eastern Blope as well
as for communication with the highlands, tho
administration is urging tho building of several
linos. Thoro aro already two steam roads that
cross tho first cordillcra of tho Andes. The
Central runs from Lima up tho Itimac river and
ovor tho crest to Oroya. At Corro de Pasco,
oi this lino, thoro is a great copper mine, owned
by a group of American capitalists, headed by
Morgan, Mills and Ilaggan. According to tho
Coppor Year Book, twenty-three million dollars
havo already boon expondod on this mine, and
a yoarly output of forty-five million pounds of
coppor has been reached. An American com
pany is planning an extension of this lino to
tho navigablo waters of tho Amazon.
A second line, tho Southern, is in operation
from Mollendo, through Arequipa, to Cuzco and
Lake Tltlcaca. This is also likely to be extend
ed to navigablo waters, and ultimately tho two
lines will bo connected, giving Lima, tho pres
ont capital, railway connection with Cuzco, tho
seat of tho Inca dynasty which the Pizarros
overthrew. Bpth these lines aro owned by tho
Peruvian company, an English corporation, and
aro operated by American superintendents who
woro trained in Moxlco.
Tho tourist should, if possible, take a trip
ovor both these iron horses somo sixteen thou
sand foot and along tho route ono sees a suc
cessful solution of ovory problem presented in
railway engineering. In addition, he enjoys tho
fascinating view presented by tho Itimac, as its
tireless waters work thoir way down to tho
Pacific.
Tho Southern route gives ono an opportunity
to visit tho centers of Indian civilization and to
boo tho hlghost navigated lake in tho world
Tltlcaca (12,500 feet), whoso waters aro plowed
by capacious steamers, the largest having a car
rying power of over seven hundred tons. Tho
road passes through Arequipa', one of the cities
founded by Francisco Plzarro and now the sec
ond in importance in tho republic. Harvard
i University has an observatory here.
On the plateau between Mollendo and Are
quipa tho traveler has a chance to examine ono
or tho most curious phenomena to bo found in
the physical world. At an altitudo of about
thirty-fivo hundred feet, tho road crosses a
stretch of almost level land, about thirty miles
wide, a step, as It were, In tho ascent of tho
mountains. It is a yellow, barren, sandy desert
tho last place one would expect to find anything
of interest. Oyer tills desert aro scattered ln
, numorablo dunes of fine white Band which tho
I winds from tho ocean aro driving toward tho
higher ranges. These dunes aro crescent
shaped and travel, points forward, at tho rate
of about two hundred feet per year. They move
, In such an orderly way and keep their shape
; bo perfectly that they seem almost instinct with
i life.
It would bo unfair to advise tourists to cross
The Commoner.
tho Andes without warning them that there is
a mountain sickness, called sorrocho, which one
is likely to encounter In tho higher altitudes;
it is similar to sea sickness, and I can testify,
from my own experience, that it is as likely
to bo remembered.
Before passing from the subject of railroads
it is necessary to add that besides roads, built
or planned, to which I havo already referred,
thero is a projected line running from Paita,
in northern Peru, across the mountains to ono
of tho navigable tributaries of tho Amazon. This
road will reach a maximum altitude of only
about seven thousand feet less than half .-that
of the other roads and will bring river com
merce within three hundred miles of the Pacific.
It will bo evident from the above that the
people of Peru recognize tho need of more rail
roads, and are preparing to supply that need.
This is a land of extremes, and conditions
are so varied that one must be hard to please
if he can not find what he desires. The snows
never leave tho mountain peaks, while frosts
never como to the valleys below; in some sec
tions there is practically no rain fall at Are
quipa, for instance, the average is two inches
per annum while in other sections the precipi
tation is excessive. Everything that grows be
tween the Equator and the Anarctic circle can
find a congenial climate here, and social condi
tions present a variety equally great.
In Lima one can find all that tho most ad
vanced civilization has produced. She has a
magnificent cathedral, in which rest the bones
of the great Plzarro, and more than thirty
churches of considerable size; she has a uni
versity, a splendid library, largely tho work of
Sonor Palraa; a museum, which Prof. Uhle,
formerly of the Pennsylvania University, has
crowded with a most interesting collection of
Indian relics; a geographical society; parks,
avenues and statues; she has wide spreading
Spanish houses which have come down from
colonial days, rich in carving and filled with
antique furniture; she has daily and weekly
newspapers, opera houses, clubs, etc. Lima has
an excellent city government and a large num
ber of cultured and refined people, official . and
unofficial. .
We attended tho annual charity entertain
ment given by the fashionable society one of
the sons of the president participating. The
audience which filled the theatre from pit to
dome might havo been mistaken for an audience
in New York or Chicago, on a similar occasion.
This is Lima; but in the mountains the bare
footed Indian trudges along tho trail, bearing
his back-bending burden and suppressing hunger
with the cocoa' leaf, while the untamed savage
still roams through the forests of the Montana
section.
Peru has a republican form of government,
but it is much more centralized than ours. The
president appoints the prefects, who correspond
to our governors, and the executive officers of
the sub-divisions, excepting the cities the
mayors being selected by the city councils
Everything is done at Lima'; all power "ema
nates from the capital. This partly accounts
for the frequent revolutions; local interests are
not balanced as they are in the United States
there is no centrifugal force to counteract the
centripetal.
An attempt at revolution was made last Mav
the insurrectionists killed the guards, entered
the rooms of the executive, captured tho presi
dent and kept him a prisoner in one of the parks
for some three hours. His resignation was de
manded under threat of death, but he was equal
to the occasion and declined, facing their guns
with calmness and courage until rescued bv the
soldiers. J
I havo said that tho centralization of govern
ment is partly responsible for the frequent revo
lutions; Mr. Garland suggests "lack of educa
tion" as a cause, and he is right. This is prob
ably the most influential cause, for revolutions
could not exist with universal education and
tho strongest pledge which Peru gives to tho
future, is given in the development of her school
sys em. While the percentage of illiteracy ?J
still very large, she is making - progressand
direction is after all, more important than the
exact position reached. Any evil can be over!
come in time if a country is moving forward
in 18n.Tnbiro? ?iimary BCh00lB was ony 844
in 1890; in 1908 there were 2,339. The num
ber of children enrolled in these schools in 1 son
was 57,260; in 1908 there were 16 29 8
The enrollment in the secondary, or hiirh
schools, is fifteen hundred, and in the universitv
and other colleges about one thousand Twniy
nine thousand attend private schools. 7
Another encouraging feature is to be found
in the number of young mon who aro attending
college in the United Statea. The president has
a son at the University of Wisconsin, and a
number of other prominent families are repre
sented in our colleges.
Several young men who had studied at Itha
ca's famous institution gave "the Cornell yell" at
tho close of my speech before the National club.
I find these returning students enthusiastic
friends of the United States, and our colleges
and universities might aid in the spread of
American ideas and Influence "by offering scholar
ships to students from each of the republics of
Central and South America, the students to be
recommended by the several ministers of
education.
But the most significant sign of intellectual
progress in Peru is found in the fact that the
government has sent to the United 'States for
inspectors and teachers. Prof. H. E. Bard of
Indiana, a graduate of Columbia, is associated
in an advisory capacity with the minister of edu
cation, and Professors J. B. Lockey of Florida
and J. A. McKnight of Colorado, also graduates
of Columbia, are employed as inspectors of
schools. Besides these, five Americans one
man and four women are employed by the gov
ernment as teachers.
As experiments had been made with teachers
from several European countries, and as the
American teachers were employed after a careful
investigation of our educational system, their
employment can be construed as an endorsement
of our methods and as an evidence of increasing
friendship for the United States.
This evidence of friendship, however, was not
necessary, for no one can talk with Peruvians
without being convinced that they have confi
dence in our good intentions. They look up to
our nation as an elder brother, and speak with
affection of "the great republic of the northMTr
whose influence Is wholesome and whose aims
are disinterested.
I was frequently asked why our merchants
and manufacturers do not pay more attention to
Peru. W. R. Grace & Company have houses
all over South America, and have been the means
of introducing a considerable quantity of Amer
ican goods and machinery, but there is room
for others Americans will find an open-door
here and a welcome. . - v. '-., j-
Peru is facing the dawn, and lier public omen
reel that the time is ripe for an advance. She
was for three centuries the victim of a Spanish
colonial policy; her wealth was drained away
to Europe and the masses were kept in darkness.
Education was made so expensive that only the
rich could afford it. In order to graduate from
the university a young man must, up to 1743,
finance a bull fight and a public, dinner at a
total cost of ten thousand dollars. Then a de-
E?r . Vw thousand dollars was substituted
for the bull fight and dinner. In 1870 the de
posit was reduced to eight hundred dollars, and
it has more recently been reduced to fifty and
twenty-five dollars.
thSi indePe,ndence was secured, Peru passed
SShitfnn fePie8i of Tevolutl?ns in which the
ambitions of rival military chieftains played an
important part. Her finances were bad?y man-
w Gr re?urces were not developed, and she
lost some of her territory by war
. But a new spirit possesses her: she is becom-
w ?ntnCvl0U8,0f h.er essibilities and Is orSS
ing to take advantage of them. She is planning
to bring education within the reach of a? and
2stommimVSSnt In thIl rGSpect' to PolltSS
system will rest upon a broader base She is
He?nl1Snntfl,?8,l Capltal and igratton!
ver ! ?, are a troaswe-house of gold, sil
dfinHnn nf ?fer4,SCanrcely yet unlocked; the pro
duction of the Pacific coast section can be large
ly increased; her hard woods, her rubber trees
and her cinchona trees will yield a wJa J!
come; and her trans-Andtae te?rf tory canSwh
brought under cultivation, feed an emph-'e
Peru moves forward with confident sten to-
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Copyright, New York WorldW J BRYAN ''
OBSERVE THE DATE 1
ApTil1Sl.edit0rIal appeared in the Free Pressf
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PROTESTING " !
A lot of magazines and neriodinnio -mi,
uttered a protest when ?he Alffi-CaMon tSS
caused a heavy increase in the cost onrVingaS
now how ing in chorus because of a ttJSatoSeS
increase in postal rates. mreatenea
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