Title XIII, of 19 sections, refers to the necessity that mines should be properly supplied with water, as well as with provisions of all kinds for the laborers. Title XIV, containing 13 sections regulates the subject of what the ordinances call maquileros, or persons engaged in the reduction of ores for other persons, and also of the purchasers of metals.

Titles XV and XVI, the former of 17 sections and the latter of 20, respectively refer to "the contractors for supplying the mines with money and other things necessary, and the dealers in gold and silver," and to the establishment of a "supply fund" and a "bank of supplies."

Title XVII, on “the surveyors in mining matters,” and title XVIII, on “the mining education of young people," contain, respectively, 11 and 19 sections, which almost exhaust the matter.

Title XIX, which is the last, contains 13 sections and refers especially to the privileges granted to mines and miners intended to encourage and promote the mining industry.

Appendix No. 2.

FINANCES, TRADE, COMMERCE, ETC., OF PERU.

[From the South American Journal, published in London, of December 30, 1893.]

The report of Sir C. E. Mansfield, our minister at Lima, to our foreign office, on the finances, trade, commerce, etc., of Peru, has been published. This document, covering the year 1891-92, also furnishes some data of 1893, and from it we make the following extracts:

INTRODUCTION.

In the year 1890 Señor Delgado, then minister of finance, published in his annual report to Congress a great deal of interesting information concerning agriculture in Peru-products, industries, statistics, etc.-information which formed the base of a report from this legation upon labor and agriculture in the Republic. Since Señor Delgado's report no information has emanated from official sources upon agriculture, commerce, or industries. No general statistics are forthcoming, and it is therefore to be presumed that such subjects afford. little or no interest to the public in Peru. Señor Delgado lamented the insufficiency and incompleteness of his information, the data by no means corresponding to the same years or periods. If, therefore, the minister of finance be unable to command statistical information of a symmetrical character, it becomes evident that nobody else is in a position to do so.

FINANCES.

The receipts for 1891 amounted to 8,608,042 sols 87 centavos, including a sum 342,540 sols 50 centavos derived from various sources not comprised in the estimates, namely, advances upon future customs receipts, arrears of debts, etc. The receipts from customs dues figure in the budget for 5,528,288 sols 66 centavos, exhibiting an increase of 531,791 sols i centavo upon the estimated amount of 4,996,600 sols. Tobacco tax and excise produced 288,556

sols 86 centavos, a diminution upon the estimate of 11,433 sols 14 centavos. Excise on spirit monopoly produced 251,041 sols 70 centavos, showing at diminution of 22,646 sols 7 centavos. The opium monopoly, estimated at 235,000 sols, yielded an excess of 16,041 sols 70 centavos. The expenditure is stated to have been 8,179,981 sols 13 centavos, leaving a surplus of 428,061 sols 74 centavos; but on examining the items it is found that various departments have been neglected altogether, others paid only in part, while others have received sums over and above the estimates. The surplus of the

year 1891 exists, therefore, only upon paper.

The estimated revenue of the above year amounted to 7,104,423 sols 14 centavos; the actual receipts were 7,066,390 sols 38 centavos; the disbursements authorized by the budget amounted to 6,572,927 sols 37 centavos, leaving a balance not accounted for of 493,463 sols i centavo. In the above sum of 6,572,927 sols 37 centavos is included the sum of 531,595 sols 77 centavos, which has been diverted from the objects to which it was assigned and paid to other departments by Presidential decree.

If the financial condition of Peru was not very encouraging in 1891-92, what shall be said of that of the first six months of the present year, where there is a falling off of 40 per cent in the receipts of the custom-houses. are as follows:

The figures

The return for 1893 is inclusive of 50 per cent additional duty and 8 per cent on other imports.

Converting the receipts into their sterling equivalents at the average rate of exchange obtaining in the periods, viz, 32.84d. in the first six months of 1892 and 28.52d. in the corresponding months of 1893, the comparative result is as follows, viz: For 1892, £407,215, and for 1893, £246,616.

How much of the decline may be attributed to the receipts of the early months of 1893 having been anticipated through the desire of importers to avoid the higher rates of duty which came into operation in January, 1893, it is difficult to estimate. The law imposing the extra duties was passed in the last days of October, and there would not have been much time for the arrival of fresh consignments from abroad. On the other hand, the principal importers keep their

stocks in the warehouses at Callao, and clear the goods according to requirement, and it would seem that the warehouses were pretty well emptied by the end of December, 1892.

the

The decline in the customs receipts is mainly owing to the depreciation of silver, a matter which will be treated further on under a separate head. Under any circumstances it is to be apprehended that the gross deficiency of receipts in year will be some 30 per cent. Increased excise and duties would only check an already failing consumption, and it is difficult to see how the Government of the Republic is to deal with a diminution of revenue, which is not a matter of opinion but a simple question of facts and figures.

EXPORTS AND IMPORTS.

To obtain information concerning exports and imports in Peru recourse must be had to the statistics of other countries. Even then no exact or complete information is attainable. Great Britain, France, and the United States give such returns in money value, and Germany in weight. In 1891 the exports from Peru to Chile amounted to the sum of 1,190,479 sols 12 centavos, while the imports from Chile were to the value of 1,103,274 sols i centavo, exclusive of wheat, which was roughly estimated at 2,000,000 sols. Excluding wheat, the balance was in favor of Peru. Since the recent legislation in India touching the rupee, Chinese rice is said to be supplanting Indian rice in Peruvian ports.

The value of imports and exports during the year 1891 were: Imports, 14,763,241 sols 18 centavos; exports, 11,616,716 sols 27 centavos; excess of imports over exports, 3,146,524 sols 91 centavos.

The articles of export mentioned below were in 1891 valued as follows:

silver mines in Peru.

The crisis in silver need not necessarily lead to any considerable closing of The average of Peruvian silver mines are, as is well known, not of a high standard as compared with Bolivia. The rate of labor, however, is so low that even with prices ranging below the present, silver workings in Peru may still yield profit for some time to come.

SUGAR.

Sugar is without doubt the most paying business in Peru. Estates, whether owned by companies or individuals, when not weighted with excessive capital or incumbrances, do extremely well, and probably the day is not far distant when many sugar estates will pass into the hands of English companies, like the Cartavio estate in the Chicama Valley, formerly owned by the Messrs. Grace and now worked by an English limited liability company. In many cases the Peruvian sugar producer has not been able to reap the full benefit consequent upon the late high prices of sugar. Through deficiency of capital and other causes there had been a considerable cessation in cane planting during the last few years, while the long, chilly winter of 1892 prevented the cane from shooting up, and the crop was of an inferior quality, so that for many months during the present year grinding was carried on to but a limited extent.

COTTON.

In the report from this legation, transmitted in the year 1890, upon labor and agriculture in Peru, mention was made of plans for irrigating the great northern cotton field in the vicinity of Piura from the waters of the River Chira. The schemes are still in a state of gestation. Much is talked and written upon the subject, but it seems doubtful when any action will be initiated, unless, indeed, the circumstance of the Peruvian Corporation taking over the PaytaPiura Railway and introducing a better management of the line may give an additional stimulus to the district, while it is also possible that the corporation might materially give a helping hand to an undertaking which would assist in increasing the receipts of the line. Peruvian cotton does not compete with that of the United States, but a certain quantity finds its way to North America.

Peruvian cotton is almost exclusively used by manufacturers of woolen goods. The mixing of this cotton with wool should not be termed adulteration; in fact, in many cases the cotton is more valuable than the wool with which it is mixed. It improves the woolen goods, reduces the tendency to shrinkage, makes them more durable, adds often a better luster, and gives a superior finish. For dyed goods it is equally suitable, and makes fast colors. Peruvian cotton might well be designated as vegetable wool. When carded, the resemblance is so close and its characteristics so similar to wool that it could be readily sold as such. When woven with wool the cotton fibers can not be determined with certainty except by special test.