The daily gazette. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1874-1883, 1882-02-01
cHRIsrIANCY ON PERU.
A REMARKABLE LETTH II DEscRIPs
TIVE OF THE PEOPLE OF THE DIs.


RUPTED REPUBLIC.
The following letter from Minister
Christancy to Mr. Blaine has Just been
given for publication
LEGATION OF THE UNITED
STATES, LIMA, PERU, Maya, 1884,
Sir:-I ought here to say, by way of
introduction to what follows, that
with my own personal observation of
over two years and the best sources
OF information have been able to
obtain, am unable to discover any
sufficient elements here for establish
ing an independent, or I'd fact, any
kind of regular or permanent gov~
eminent of Peru-certaihly no form
of popular government ny the PeruA
vians themselves. To state all the
grounds Tor this conclusion would re-.
qulre volume. / can only refer to a
lew of the fundamental reasons for
this state of things and fpr this con.
clusion. The original immigration
into this country from Spain did not
consist Of men who, like the original
colonists In the United States, only
sought to better their condition by
honest, perseyering industry but of
adyentnrers, seeking only to make
money rapidly by robbinR the origi
nal inhabitants and by sudden ac4
cumulations Of wealth from mines of
silver and gold. Nearly all the
Spanish adventures either took
Indian wives, or, which more COM
mon, kept harem of Indian girls,
as many as he chose. b 1t as a
general rule they did nol treat their
children as slaves, but recognized
them as their children. In this way
1t has happened that almost all the
people Of Peru are of this mixed race
and the mixture with tho negro, 30
that / do not think that there are
now in the city Of Lima zoo females
OF pure white blood, and probably
not in all Peru 100000 OIL the white
race unmixed.
Slavery was only finally abolished
there in 1856, in article IA Of the Con-
stltntion OF that year, and The old ideas
and habits of the people remain. Labor
Is looked upon as dibgrace aud degra-
dation, aud as only tit for servile man.
Any man OF standing in Lima to-day,
who purchases an article at store,
however small The package, would at
once lose caste Ii he dared to take 1t
home in bis hand He N ust have a
servant TO carry II for hin. The con-
| sequence Of all this Is that ill the sugar
and rice estates, instead of employing
Tree labor have resorted TO the Chinese,
who are nominally imported into this
country as hired servants, but except In
the cities, under the eyes oil responsible
officers, those Chinese are treated with
about the same severity al the slaves
were In our Southern States, and In
many respects worse.
From what have already said 1t
might appear sufficiently evident that
the laboriDg classes In Peru are sunk
beyond the hope of redemption. Every
man naturally looks only to what he
deems his own Immediate interest or
| elevation to power, aud when placed In
| power he seeks only to enrich himself
| by the opportunities which his Office
gives him to appropriate the public
funds to his own use. This has become
SO settled conviction In the public
mind that whenever q man obtains
once IL 10 AZ ohce assumed Dy people
that such Is his object.
This opinion is doubtless sometimes
unjust, but on looking back through the
various governments and forms OF gov
eminent am satisfied this conviction is
generally we'll TO unded. If for instance
except la time of war, when 10 adj
ministration would dare to entertain
any clatm-any man had claim against
the government, well or ilI-founded, he
could set it allowed by giving q far
share of it to the President and Cabinet
officers, aud however good the claim
might be it was seldom allowed without
this reward. The Joint commission got
up here by General Hovey while he was
here In favor OF American claims was no
exception TO the general rule, and am
informed several claims were allowed
against Peru which should have been al
lowed at all, or only for Ehuch smaller
sum, our Minister allowing some spec
ial friend, such As, to make the ar
rangement between the cl aimants and
| the officers of the Government aud these
claimants,p sometimes 10 per cent.
aud upwards of their claims, which per
| centage to all appearances must have
been shared among all the parties act
| ing 10 the scheme. This, however, Is
only q sample of the mode in which the
public business has been generally
transacted by the var Gus PAiuVian Gov
ornaments here for many years past A
1 few honest men have from time TO time