It is now proposed to tax the products of South America, unless the South American states reciprocate and admit our breadstuffs and manufactures free. If this scheme can be carried out, a large and prosperous commerce will be established between North America and South America, and American houses will be started in the large cities to dispose of our manufactures and ship the products to South America. By this interchange, our manufacturers and farmers will find a market for their goods and products, our mercantile navy freight for its vessels, and our bankers and merchants a profitable business in the large cities of South America.
RAILROADS.
We have already referred to the several railroads which start from the little ports on the Pacific coast and run up the valleys toward the Andes. Three of these, among the most remarkable roads in the world, ascend to a greater elevation than any others, and to a height which in Europe or the United States, would be above the snow level. They were intended to reach the gold and silver mines between the Andes and Cordilleras.
The first, called the Oroya or Central railroad, 111 miles in length, starts from Callao on the Pacific, and crosses the Andes, at an elevation of nearly 15,000 feet, to the plateau between the Andes and the Cordilleras. It is expected that this road will be extended to the navigable waters of the Amazon.
Three hundred miles southward, the second road runs from Mollendo, Peru, by Arequipa to Puno on Lake Titicaca, and thence northward on the plateau 407 miles to San Rosas, on the route to Cuzco. The road from Mollendo to Arequipa runs through a country so destitute of water that the only supply for the engines and stations is by an iron pipe 8 inches in diameter, and 50 miles long, running from an elevation of 7,000 feet to the sea-coast.
Seven or eight hundred miles south of Mollendo, a line runs from Valparaiso in Chili to Buenos Ayres, 870 miles. It crosses the Andes through a tunnel two miles long, at an elevation of 10,568 feet above the sea; after leaving the mountains it runs over the pampas two hundred miles, without a curve or a grade over three feet above or below the plain, and will soon be completed from ocean to ocean.
From Rio de Janeiro several roads have been constructed over the mountains west of that city to different parts of Brazil. One of these runs westwardly toward Bolivia.
Bolivia has recently granted concessions for the construction of a road from La Paz to connect on the west with the Peruvian roads at Lake Titicaca, and on the east with the Brazilian lines on the Pacific; and thus ultimately a road will run from Mollendo on the Atlantic ocean by Lake Titicaca and La Paz to Rio de Janeiro.
There are now from 6000 to 7000 miles of road in operation in the Argentine Republic, 5000 to 6000 in Brazil, and 3000 to 4000 miles in the other states, making a total of about 15,000 miles of railroad in operation.
A proposition is now before the public for the construction of the Pan-American railroad, from the Caribbean sea southward to the Argentine Republic to connect with the Peruvian, with the Brazilian, and ultimately with the Argentine roads.