El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-03-07

spits His neighbors covet his possess
sions and dispute his titles to them.
That is the condition OF Peru. We have
had trouble with Ecuador, Colombia,
Prazil Bolivia and Chile as to our
boundaries. and in many of these cases
the exact territory Of each country is
still unsettled. Nearly every country
ie irving to claim something that we
tTinL- is our own; and we have been
kent so busy in trying to hold to our
rights that we have not had the Op-
n0Tfunitv to develop our resources.
1--WE are willing TO arbltrate matters
with Ecuador, but the EcUadOrans
seem afraid to risk such a decision
orr records indicate that our boun-
daries extend almost to Quito and they
fear the result The COlombians hold
much the same views as to arbitration.
and we are having disputes as to Bo-
Hvia and have had some with Brazil.
If we could only agree upon some mid
die ground as our permanent bOun-
territory to be subject to arbitration
we might be free from some of our
complications and in the end be better
off What we need is peace and surety
Of our possession.
I'VE only want square deal and
we are willing to submit the questions
to fair Judges Some Of the countries
have proposed that 1t be left to the
pope. I would not agree to that; for
lust now, you know, Peru has thrown
off the dictation of the church and has
declared religious liberty throughout
the whole country. I will not say that
that was a wise thing to do at this
present time. We had religious liberty
before in reality, although not nOmin-
ally so. At any rate 1t does not seem
to be the psychological moment to ask
the pope to pass upon questions of
such vital relation to US"
Is Really an Empire.
But have you really much good
territory, Mr.. President?' I asked.
I'VE have an empire. The greater
part Of the republic IS susceptible of
development. This is so of the coastal
zone and of the high plateau in the
mountains, and also Of the slopes to
the east which go down to the Amazon
valley. Right here on the coast we
might have three times as much culti-
waited land as we now have, and we
expect to secure this by irrigation. We
have more than so streams that now
flow down from the Andes and cross
the desert on their way to the sea
There are tracts of cultivated territory
along each Of these streams, and wher-
ever water can be got to the soil it pro-
duces like the Nile valley. We have
had surveys made and we believe that
we can treble the irrigated area The
matter is already well under way and
congress has authorized me to issue
$4,000 600 worth of bonds, the proceeds
from which are to be used for that pur-
pose. This money will soon be avail
once"
VIII Develop Valleys First.
Does this mean that you will turn
the water out over the desert plains
or the pampas?"
NO. Some Of my people believe that
adviSa bic, but I am in favor of using
the valleys until we have made every
acre of them into plantations. We
know the soil there, and when that has
been reclaimed there will be time
enough to consider the pampas."
Tell me about the high valleys be-
tween the ranges of the Andes, Mr..
There is another enormous field for
development. We have uplands there
that are much like the high valleys
of Switzerland. We have plateaus up
held by the mountains, and those
plateaus are already covered with sod.
We have vast herds of cattle and mil
miOnS of sheep in the Andes. They
feed upon the plateaUs, and we be-
lieve that these pastures can be great
~ improved We are trying to breed
new grasses, and if We can do as we
hope there is really no limit to our
possibilities in the production of beef
and mutton. We are introducing new
breeds of cattle and sheep, and the
day viii sometime come when Peru
will be one of the great wool and meat
exporting countries. Indeed, I see no
reason why we should not eventually
send meat to your markets through
the canal.
Grain on the Highlands.
Another feature OF our highland de-
velopment" continued Mr.. Billinghurst
is in the raising Of grain We find
that barley will grow well at 1900
feet and more above the sea, and we
are inducing the people to plant it.
Here IS a bottle containing some bar
ley from the highlands. It is not at all
bad. We have millions of acres that
are adapted to that grain. We can
raise wheat in northern Peru, and we
shall eventually produce our own flour.
Just now I am planning to import
wheat and grind the flour here. We
shall protect the industry by tariff.
We are raising good tea near Cuzco.
All the tea 1 drink at my table comes
from there.
Is Rich in Minerals.
'And then as to our mineral lands"
continued the president 'I hardly
know how to express their eXtraordin-
airy richness. The whole of the noun
tains from Ecuador to Bolivia are high
" mineTalized, and we must have vast
unknown deposits of silver and copper.
The old mines of the Spaniards are
now being TeOpened, and we are find
ing new mines and new minerals al
most every month. We have Won
know, the greatest deposits Of yana-
dium in the world, and we have vast
quantities Of tungsten near Chimbote.
The copper mines of CerrO de PascO
are about the largest in all South
America, and there are other treasure
vaults Of the Andes yet to be opened.
The gold placer deposits on the east