Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-02
BY WALLACE rHoMPsoN.

TINE South American republic of
Peru today is one of the few
Latin American countries which
Il are based Solidly on an economic
structure independent of a
steady flow of foreign capital struc-
ture becoming more and more deeply
founded in a sound home production
and a slowly growing national con-
sumption.
BY contrast, Peru. SO years ago. was
the outstanding bankrupt of South
America, a land which had dissipated
its wealth and squandered its patri-
mony, and so divided itself that in 1890
1t was forced to turn over to a British
corporation virtually every national re-
source it possessed, including its great
railway systems and its beds of guano
fertilizer, in order to save itself from
virtual Intervention by foreign powers.
Work of One Person.
This astonishing change in the aspect
Of the Oldest and once the richest of
all the countries of South America is
In large part the work of a single in
dividual. He is Augusta B. Leguia, who
on october IL, last, entered upon his
third successive and fourth actual term
as President of Peru. President Leguia
is unquestionably one of the great men
of our time, in either North or South
America. AS nation-build he stands
head and shoulders above any living
ruler in Latin America, and in con-
structive ability he is second only Cf at
alb to the leaders of the revolutionary
period-all Of them soldiers, some of
them, in after years, builders. These
apparently extravagant statements are
made by sober men today, by both his
political enemies and his international
rivals.
The story of Leguia is nationally,
therefore, the story of modern Peru,
and modern Peru has its roots far back
into the Oldest history that the West
ern world knows. A thousand years
ago the empire of the Incas was one
of the greatest in the world; ruins
stretching from the northernmost bor-
derS OF Ecuador to the southern tip of
the Andes testify gloriously to their
magnif1cence. Something over 400
years ago the Spanish goatherd, Fran
cisco Pizarro, came with his handful of
followers, and with 80 men overthrow
with intrigue and the marvel of gun
powder, this mighty civilization.
Riches Of Empire Fabulous.
The riches of the empire were fabu-
louS-and actual. The Inca Atahualpa
was ransomed from torture by his de-
voted followers with great room filled
from floor to ceiling with gold and sill
ver-aS the Spaniards demanded. In
the colonial era Peru and Bolivia (then
known as Upper PERU poured into the
Golfers Of the Spanish crown q sum of
silver estimated at the equivalent of
$1,000, 000, 600. In historic time Peru
has been pouring out a wealth of gold
and silver and copper, vanadium and
tungsten OF immense value. It's noun
tainS contain coal, anthracite and BIZ
luminous; its coastal plain pours out g.
000,00G barrels Of oil yearly from the
developed flelds and more oil lies along
the coast and beyond the ranges. Every
known mineral, it has been said, exists
In Peru; the development Of its re-
sources Is q question of modern busi-
ness efdciency-but they are there,
awaiting development, and indeed are
already under development through the
sane, friendly policy which President
Leguia has followed.
The agricultural wealth of Peru is now
IN the making under the wise care Of its
ruler. Peru for centuries has been the
victim, as have so many Latin American
countries, Of the old European economic
fallacy that country should produce
only what 1t could export probably. and
should import everything else. Peru has
raised sugar and cotton, and the limited
territory available for cultivation has
been harneSsed to foreign factories.
while foods Peru could produce more
cheaply at home have been imported.
land system by which q few have