The Minneapolis journal., 1904-06-04
"a NEW AMERICAN
SPIRIT I'm PERU
New York Commercial Advertiser.

SPIRIT In PERU
New York Commercial Advertiser.
| Peru is getting to be the country
for North Americans. have been
tracks everywhere. They are on the
edge Of the rubber country; develop
4 ing the mines. building railways. pros
/ pecting for oil in the desert studying
/ the cotton growing possibilities, ex
plotting electricity, and hunting con-
tracts for public works. The number
| OF individuals is not large, as yet,
but the United States colony spreads
over a large territory, and its az
4 gressiveness and enterprise are felt.
i The government is more than friendly
4 to legitimate enterprise, backed by
j genuine capital. To the promoter who
| represents neither, it Is chilly.
i The constructive American spirit is
the one which has met with the great
est success In Peru. There are two
concerns which, it is agreed, have
made winning" One is the Penn
sylvania corporation that controls the
San Domingo gold mines, near the
Bolivian border, in the Lake Titicaca
region. The company spent a fair
sum OF money in building trails and
cart roads, and stretching cable
bridges across the gorges. This COM
pany has expanded, and gone into the
rubber country, opening trails and
building wagon roads under an ar
rangement with the government, by
which it receives a fixed number of
: acres of land for every mile Of trail
! opened and Of road built. The ar
: rangenent is working to the satisfac-
I ton of both parties.
I Some of the capitalists identified
j with the Inca company which Is the
Y,9 nf mi
i ton, were ready to make further VEN
T lures by developing the petroleum
t fields in the Puma district near Lake
$ Titicaca, but 2their 2inability to get
t railway rates cheap enough to insure
: the profitable working Of these fields
$ has halted this project. The head
: quarters of these and similar enter
i prises is at Arequipa in southern Peru.
Q Arequipa used to be known because
n the Harvard astronomical observatory
. is located there. but now it has an
American colony engaged in business
n of various sorts. Not all Of this is
d mining enterprise, for the city is the
: center of the alpaca wool and the
: hide trade. 1t lays claim to being the
e Boston of Peru in this respect, as
!. well as from its reputation as an In
: tellectual center.
g The Montana or Haggin syndicate
d came after the Pennsylvanians, and
o entered the Cerro de Pasco district,
e acquiring the copper mines. The COM
e pany began building railroad to
transport the ores instead Of relying
y on the llamas and burros which have
d been the freighters for three centuries
: The line is eighty-three miles long
and runs from Cerro de Pasco to
: Oroya, where it connects with the
mountain railway, built by Henry
Meiggs, to the seaboard at Callao.
The road will be opened for traffic
y AZ. ~~,s1I L.
Z railway building, with special regard
to the coal mines. Both these Amer
= lean corporations have had liberal
- concessions from the Peruvian gov
ernment. Whatever questions have
arisen have been adjusted.
F. An outcome of the American enter
/ prises has been the encouragement OF
!, the English investors. The Americans
-. have made business for the Peruvian
IN railways which are controlled in Lon
II II don. Several London companies are
- engaged in mineral developments and
~ been informed, is partly the result Of
-. the American example and partly the
:, - outcome Of the favorable reports made
', blythe commercial and financial houses
- of the stability and progress Of the
- = Peruvian government
- Tho there is sharp competition with
20 - the German manufacturer in electrical
~ supplies, the Americans seem to have
"a the best of it. The new electric road
le between Lima and Callao is an Aneri-
- I. can project. Yet manufacturers in
10 the United States do not take full ad-
y vantage of their opportunities. Man
ufactures are admitted free to the per-
at manent industrial exposition, which is
70 maintained by the government, and an
IN excellent chance is given for their ex-
I'd hibition. This applies not only to
electrical apparatus, but to farm tools
mining machinery and the like.
or Material for public works is GER
L tain of an increased demand in the
H. future. The navy mole has been
1g completed at Callao, and the water
s. s. works are progressing so that it prom
IL ises to become one Of the healthiest
and best appointed ports on the Pa
cific coast. The bubonic plague al
he some Of the seaports has been a heavy
g. loss to commerce during the last six
S. months, but it has been a permanent
s. gain for hygiene and sanitation in the
all provisions that have been made. The
municipality Of Lima is arranging 9
loan Of s1,5oo,ooo. chiefly for sanitary
Minister Dudley says that the trade
between the United States and PERT
is growing. At several Of the little
ports in the south I inquired about
the cotton in bales which the steam.
ship was taking, and was told it was
consigned directly to New York, ant
would be transshipped at Panama
The best known Peruvian cotton 1.
the Piura, which is produced In the
north. It's quality is very fine, and i
is always in demand. The presen
movement is to ship direct instead O.
sending the product via Liverpool.
Peru also is increasing the quantit.
Of goods imported from the United
States. Yet she would take still NOR,
If the right effort were made b.
American exporters. The British
commercial colony is strong. Peru ii
one Of the few places in South Amer
lea in which 1t seems to have with
stood successfully the German in
vasion. This probably is because th
Scotch element predominates. No
only are there Glasgow houses, bu
the Liverpool firms are Of kin witt
these. Scotch tenacity SO far has out
matched German plodding patience
The Peruvian representatives Of Glas
cow and Liverpool are clever, keel
and able. They have done we'll Il
keeping Germany off commercial
nj reservation that properly belongs t
lat the United States. No one will grudg
them the usufruct of this trade Will
ar longer. But it's rightful owners shoul
not wait too long to come into pos
session.