The old and the new Peru

by Marie Robinson Wright

The Department of Loreto is a promising territory for colonization. As it lies entirely within the region of the Montaña and directly over the equator, it is generally supposed to be a land of fevers and other tropical diseases; but Colonel Palacios Mendiburu, who has travelled throughout this part of the republic and has spent much time in studying its conditions, says there are three points, “and only three,” in the entire Department of Loreto in which malarial fever, known as paludismo, is prevalent. These malarial districts are: San Antonio, on the Marañon; between the mouth of the Pastaza and that of the Cahuapanas; and along the Yavary and the Tigre Rivers. The humidity of the atmosphere and the intensity of the heat have a debilitating effect in the lower plains, and anemia frequently attacks the over-energetic and those addicted to alcoholic stimulants. But the tales of terrible diseases, attacks from cobras and boa-constrictors, as well as other sensational experiences reported to be everyday occurrences in the Montaña, are woven chiefly of the fabric of fancy. Colonel Palacios says that the serpents and other poisonous creatures of the forest flee from man; though he explains that it is advisable to travel always with one or more companions, as a person alone is likely to meet with disagreeable encounters in the bosque, where jaguars abound. The natives of the forest find abundant game in this region; a successful hunter will bring home a variety of meats, the monkey providing a favorite dish. Fish are found in all the rivers, and turtles are abundant in many localities. For a more vegetarian diet, the Montaña supplies plenty of cocoa, the tree of which grows wild here; and the bread-tree, the papaya, the pineapple and other tropical fruits are found everywhere. Cotton grows wild, totally neglected in this remote region.

A FERTILE VALLEY FOR COLONIZATION IN THE APURIMAC REGION.

According to the recent land law, especially designed to cover the region of the Montaña, presented to the senate by the representatives of Loreto in 1907, the state lands of this territory may be ceded to individuals for exploitation and profit by sale, denouncement, adjudication, or contract. When ceded by sale, the price is five sols per hectare (two and a half acres), in consideration of which the purchaser acquires perpetual and irrevocable possession of the lands, the proprietorship of the trees found thereon, etc. Not more than five hundred hectares can be sold to the same person without legislative authorization. If, after ten years, the purchaser has not at least one-tenth of his land under exploitation, it becomes again the property of the state; but if, in addition to satisfying this obligation, the owner has planted rubber trees, he receives a premium from the government.

By denouncement, lands in the Montaña may be acquired as concessions from the government, not to exceed a thousand pertenencias, the pertenencia for this class of property being a hundred hectares (two hundred and fifty acres). In case a concession of more than a thousand acres is asked, the granting of it depends on Congress. As elsewhere stated, a half-yearly tax of two sols and fifty centavos (one dollar and twenty-five cents, gold) is levied on each pertenencia.

The government may concede lands by adjudication gratuitously, up to five hectares for each person, with the obligation to cultivate, within three years, at least the fifth part of the land granted. Failing to fulfil this demand, the colonist loses his claim. The concession of lands in the Montaña may be made by the government in the interests of public works, such as road-building, etc., or for purposes of colonization on a large scale, as has been done in the case of the Inca Mining Company and other enterprises. The funds arising from the taxes on adjudicated lands are employed in the improvement of highways and in the payment of premiums to the cultivators of rubber trees.

The government desires to bring into the country a good class of foreign labor, and facilities are granted to colonists who come of their own accord to settle here, especially to those who establish themselves in the Chanchamayo valley and other regions of the Montaña. Two hectares of land are granted free to each person, and his passage is paid from the port of Callao to Oroya by railway, and beyond that point to his destination by muleback; a monthly subsidy is also granted for a year, consisting of three pounds sterling to each family, and one pound to each individual without a family, the first quarterly allowance being paid in advance.

It is recognized by all the countries of America that only by increasing their population through immigration can their territories be developed and made to yield the riches which a beneficent creator meant they should. As the Argentine statesman Alberdi wrote, more than half a century ago: “To populate is to civilize. Bring immigrants to make of them good Argentinos.—Bring colonists, not to be exploited by the capitalist class, but that they may here set up their domestic hearth, and live among us as one of ourselves. The laws should amply favor these new brethren of ours who come to earn their living by the sweat of their brows, and they should have ample liberty, if they wish to fix their permanent residence in the country and to contribute to the development of the nation.”

AN INGENIOUS PROSPECTOR’S HOUSE IN THE FOREST.