Under the head of Government and Home Affairs, Dr. German Arenas supervises legislative matters, public order, political administration, government buildings, etc., and the postal and telegraph service. The development of industry and wealth has naturally given rise to greater ambition among the laboring classes, and the struggle between capital and labor has brought about occasional huelgas, or “strikes,” in the larger cities; but the authorities have been able to avoid any violent attacks on property, and public tranquillity has been easily restored. The police system, reorganized and reinforced by a large number of mounted troops, is better prepared than ever before to maintain respect for the law.
MONUMENT TO BOLOGNESI.
The modern improvements made in the postal service by the present executive have been demanded as the result of a remarkable increase in correspondence passing through the various post offices of the country. During the past year, the general post office has increased its capacity and new branches have been established in numerous districts of all the Departamentos of the republic. Great obstacles have been overcome in placing the post office on the present high plane of efficiency. The vast extent of territory traversed by mountain ranges and cut by immense cañons has made the question of postal delivery an exceptionally hard problem to the government, as the expenses of maintaining the service were formerly far in excess of the receipts. Owing to the expansion of trade, the increase of population, and the careful attention lately given to this branch of the administration, the post office has shown a surplus of receipts over expenditures during the past three years. Peru is a member of the Universal Postal Union, and its relations with the post offices of foreign countries are maintained with great credit to its government. The issue of post office orders and the service of parcels post have been established between Peru and the United States, England, and Bolivia, arrangements being under way to extend these advantages to Italy, Japan, and Chile.
The telegraph service extends from one end of Peru to the other, the capital being united by wire with the most remote departments of the republic. The system covers more than three thousand miles of telegraph wires. The first line in Peru was constructed by private enterprise in 1864 between Lima and Callao, the government assuming the administration of the public telegraphs in 1875. The national wires connect at the boundary line with those of neighboring republics, making a general South American system.
The Minister of War and Marine, General Juan N. Eléspuru, is a distinguished soldier and statesman, universally admired for his military talent and the noble qualities of his character. His administration is devoted especially to those matters which tend to the elevation of the army, and particularly to its education. Civil as well as military instruction is provided in the quartel, and the standard of training in the military schools is higher than it has ever been. The French military commission, engaged in 1896 to reorganize the army, under the direct authority of the War Office, has accomplished an important work, with the entire approval of the government. The head of the commission, Brigadier-general Pablo Clement, is chief of the general staff and is consulted on all matters relating to the instruction and organization of the army. One of the captains of the commission has charge of the Military High School, and another, of the Military Academy, in Chorillos. The latter, created for the technical and practical instruction of commissioned and non-commissioned officers destined to serve in the army, has been most important in increasing the efficiency of the military service. Annexed to the Military Academy is a school of musketry for technical instruction in the use of portable arms. The preparatory school and the school of application afford instruction for beginners.
THE WAR ARSENAL, LIMA.
INFANTRY UNIFORM, PERUVIAN ARMY.