Persons with moderate capital not interested in mining or agriculture might find it profitable to undertake manufacturing in certain lines. There are now in the country a few factories for cotton, woolen, biscuit making, chocolate, fruit preserves, cocaine, and matches; also flour mills.
There is opportunity for electrical power in many places, for installing electric lights, sewers, water pipes, etc.
Provisions are in certain sections extremely cheap, in others very dear, on account of transportation difficulties. Lima is called expensive and it would seem that eggs and chickens might be profitably raised near by, also dairy products and other supplies.
At present the chief exports from Peru in the order of their value are minerals, sugar, cotton, rubber, wool, petroleum, guano, Panama hats, hides and skins, ice, cocaine, coca, coffee. The leading imports are textiles, coal, machinery, etc. from the United States, machinery, wood, drugs, meats, bread-stuffs, shoes, coal, hardware, arms and ammunition, soap, vehicles, instruments and apparatus, general merchandise.
It should be noted in connection with Peru, that machinery and supplies for railroad construction and for mining are admitted free of duty; also as an item of great importance, that the export tax on rubber is less than one-quarter of that exacted by Brazil and a little smaller than the one fixed by Bolivia. For this reason the country is especially favorable for the extension of the rubber industry.
Bolivia. The products of Bolivia are like those of Peru except that its agricultural resources are as yet little developed. Hence there is more importation of food stuffs; flour is an article of export from the United States, as well as preserves and suet. Canned stuffs are useful to the mining and railroad people. Cartridges, leather goods, soap, kerosene, furniture, clothing, dynamite, firearms, copper wire, iron and steel, vinegar, Florida water, wood, agricultural tools, mining machinery, lard, cotton, cameras, sewing machines, typewriters are other imports.
Bolivia presents excellent opportunities for mining. Tin of first importance, silver, copper, and bismuth are now the chief mineral exports, although rich deposits of gold are attested.
The montaña country presents conditions similar to Peru, for the rubber industry, for the raising of coffee, coca, quinine, and other products. A grain called quinua, cultivated on the plateau, is said to be more nutritious than wheat. The alpaca and vicuña here flourish, the former supplying 15 lbs. of wool every other year. Persons who find the plateau region cheerless might enjoy the agricultural section part way down the eastern slope of the mountains; thus a San Francisco gentleman, many years resident of the Garden City, Cochabamba, over whose climate and future prospects he speaks with enthusiasm. Tarija, farther south, has a delightful climate and equal prospects.
One American living on the plateau has been doing a thriving business by making monthly trips to the interior 150 miles to the east, selling goods at the haciendas and the Indian villages, $10,000 worth on a trip, and bringing back fruit and vegetables to the cities above.
The several lines of railway just completed and several more in construction make certain the immediate development and rapid progress of this country. The possibilities for the production of wool are very large and also for cattle raising. The climate of a large part of the country is healthful and agreeable, and residence in La Paz and other cities is enjoyed by many Americans. Bolivia’s rapid development and prosperity is assured.