The old and the new Peru

by Marie Robinson Wright

COLONISTS OF THE SIERRA.

The amount of foreign capital invested in Peru runs far into the millions. North Americans have led in the successful inauguration of large foreign enterprises, though English, German, Italian, and other European nations are represented among the owners of industrial and commercial establishments of increasing importance. During the year 1907, thirty new enterprises were initiated by Peruvian and foreign syndicates for the exploitation of the national products, two-thirds of the number being devoted to the development of the mining and rubber interests of the country. Several existing companies augmented their capital and enlarged the scope of their establishments, looking forward to an increase in their business as a consequence of the improving of facilities for transportation now in progress.

The most important British interests in Peru are in the hands of the Peruvian Corporation, which, as elsewhere stated, has the control of the principal railways and of a large share of the guano production for a term of years, in accordance with their contract with the Peruvian government. This powerful syndicate is interested also in colonization in Peru, having established a foreign settlement on the banks of the Perené River, in the valley of Chanchamayo, where the corporation owns three million acres of land, ceded to it by the Peruvian government for the purpose of colonization. The Perené colony was founded in 1892, a hundred Italian immigrants being brought over under contract to clear the land and cultivate it, to build roads, put up necessary dwellings, and establish their homes there. They were, at first, maintained at the cost of the Peruvian Corporation and received wages for their labor, being at no expense for utensils, materials, etc., which were supplied by the company. But as this support was gradually withdrawn, the colonists became dissatisfied and many of them abandoned the settlement; so that, five years later not more than half a dozen of the original hundred remained. The colony has since grown and flourished, however, its coffee plantations now extending over a large area and yielding a valuable harvest annually. Besides coffee, the colonists of the Perené also cultivate sugar, cocoa, and other products of the Montaña.

German interests in Peru are almost entirely of a commercial character, though German colonists have taken up land in the Chanchamayo and other valleys of the interior, and are engaged in agriculture. The first German colony in Peru was founded in 1858, at Pozuzo, near Puerto Mairo, in the department of Huánuco, on a branch of the Pachitea River. It now numbers about a thousand, many of the original immigrants having separated from the parent colony in 1891, to form a new settlement at Oxapampa, in the Department of Junín, midway between Pozuzo and Cerro de Pasco. Both the Pozuzo and Oxapampa colonies have grown, and the latter has become very prosperous. “Oxapampa” means “a plain covered with pastures,” and the name is well applied to this district, on which the flocks and herds of the colonists increase rapidly and thrive with moderate care. The people of Oxapampa cultivate everything that they require, and are able to provide themselves with food, clothing, and shelter from the products of their forests, pastures, and plantations. The settlement is located on the margin of a river, a branch of the Chorobamba, which feeds one of the numerous tributaries of the Pachitea. Situated on the lowest slope of the oriental chain of the Cordilleras, where the region of the forest begins, its resources include those of both the semi-tropical and the tropical zones. Sugar, tobacco, yucca, and plantains grow on its plantations. The colonists’ houses are built of wood, and the sharp spikes of a native palm, the Batrix ciliata, are used as nails for fastening the boards together. Some of the haciendas of the colony have established sugar mills and manufacture aguardente, literally “fire-water.” Others supply Cerro de Pasco and neighboring towns with butter and lard. Cigars of a good quality are made in the colony. The most urgent need of these people seems to be a better opportunity for education and more facilities for travelling.

The Italians have been very successful colonists in all parts of South America. In Brazil and Argentina they have become an important factor in the development of industry and commerce, and in Peru they have established successful enterprises of various kinds. Formerly the great tide of Italian emigration was toward the United States, but of recent years Italians have been finding their way to Brazil, Argentina, and other Latin-American countries in increasing numbers. Peru has been too remote from the transatlantic ports to secure a large proportion of the immigration to South America, and its foreign population does not approach that of the republics on the Atlantic seaboard; neither has Peru sought to introduce great throngs of immigrants without considering their desirability as citizens; the result is that those who have come to the country are thrifty and industrious, a real acquisition to the industrial population. The last census, taken in 1900, places the number of Italian residents in Peru at ten thousand, but it is certain that the census now in preparation will show a notable increase, as the Department of Lima alone has more than five thousand Italians among its residents.

IN THE HEART OF THE MINING REGION.

The Italians have shown both initiative and energy in their various enterprises in the republic. They are identified with some of the most important improvements made in the capital and in Callao, besides which they have established large factories in several cities. In the southern coast region, the Italians are the chief owners of the olive groves and other fruit orchards. In the city of Lima their bank and insurance company are important institutions of credit. The capital owned by Italians and employed in industrial and commercial enterprises in Peru is estimated at about thirty million dollars, gold.

A FOREIGN COLONY IN THE RUBBER COUNTRY.