New-York tribune., 1909-03-28
emergency,

The recent announcement OF the making or
two loans aggregating S5G100Oo by Peru is
not to be regarded as Ominous or unfavorabe,
but rather as an Indication of the fiscal integ-
rity and general welfare of that progressive
country We are told that the proceeds Of these
loans are TO be used for cancelling the German
loan of 100000 which was made three years
ago and which has been guaranteed by the salt
tax and for settling some floating Indebtedness
which was incurred by the last administration,
thus establishing a normal financial situation
in the republic When these things are done
Peru will have no foreign debt whatever and
only about S25.000,000 of domestic debt, of
which less than S140OO.OOO is funded and bear
ing interest at only per cent, while the remain
ing 100000 is also funded but bears no in
terest. In such circumstances, and with year
" revenue several millions greater than ex-
penditures and with exports exceeding imports
by several millioDs the republic Is in q condi-
ton which many of its neIghbOrs might well
envy It is true that nine years ago, IN order
to get rid of her then large foreign debt Peru
turned over 10 a corporation the state railroads
and some rich guano mineral and real estate
concessions. Bat the bargain was good one
for the republic and. with the adoption and
secure maintenance of the gold standard. it
placed Peruvian credit high among the nations.
Peru is in fact a far richer. more prosperous
and more important country than most Amer
leans probably suppose. It is. pending the com
pletion of the Panama Canal so isolated from
US commercially that know much less about
II than about other lands which are actually
more remote but at present more easily ac-
cessible. A sUmptuous folio volume which was
written by Mr.. Alexander Garland and pub
lished by order of DR.. PardO while he was
President of Peru, last year. gives a compre
hensive and accurate account of the republic
which is worthy Of careful study by all who
would have correct knowledge of great South
American state which has long been dstin-
gushed by its friendship for the United States
The boundaries Of Peru are not yet definitely
settled. and Chill is still holding two provinces
10 which Peru claims title. but the area of the
republic may he tentatively reckoned at some
thing more than seven hundred thousand square
miles. more than three times that Of France or
Germany, or one-third that OF the forty-siX
states of this Union. The coast line on the Pa
Cific is about sixteen hundred miles in length
and there is direct deep water access to the At
lantic by way of the Amazon River and its
tributaries Much of the country Is mountain
Gus. but the mountains are enormously rich In
minerals and timber. while there is also an
abundant area Of tillable land to maintain In
plenty population many times as numerous
as the present 100000. The variety of eli
mates, ranging from torrid to frfgid. gives to
the country the natural products OF every zone
while the plenitude Of water power and the
splendid facilities for shipping mark 1t as
land designed for industrial and commercial
supremacy. Politically It has one of the most
liberal, enlightened and stable governments Of
all the American republics In the DAYS of
the Ineas 1t was one OF the most highly civil
ized-perhaps the most hghly-of all the
lands of the Western Hemisphere and it seems
to retain within itself the promise and the