to complete the chain of apparatus for a complete outfit should be made sure of, before investors embark in the enterprise.

In view of the grave anxieties the fuel problem has recently excited, I am led to regard this industry as of more than passing interest, and I purpose supplying in further reports information covering the mechanism constituting a peat-fuel plant, and other points of interest as to peat fuel, peat gas, peat-moss paper, and the distillation of peat for the extraction of by-products.

TORONTO, October 31, 1902.

EDWIN N. GUNSAULUS,

Consul.

RAILWAY PROJECTS IN PERU.

Under date of October 15, 1902, Minister Dudley, of Lima, reports: An interesting proposal for railroad construction has been recently made to the Peruvian Government by American capitalists who have acquired the larger portion of the valuable copper mines of Cerro de Pasco. This line would extend from one of the ports or inlets of one of the two most northern littoral departments of Peru (Piura or Lambayeque) to a point on the Marañon River, thence to a point in the vicinity of the Manseriche, with a view to reaching navigable waters emptying into the Amazon. This interoceanic route would cross the Andes at the point of their lowest elevation-2,186 meters (7,170 feet), according to Raimondi, As part

of the same project, a line is proposed from a point on the Marañon to Cerro de Pasco, with branches to adjacent regions found capable of industrial exploitation. The Peruvian Government has conceded to these gentlemen the exclusive right for two years to make preliminary surveys along the routes mentioned, and, in case the practicability of the enterprise should be demonstrated, has agreed to enter into a definite contract with them under the terms of existing law. Messrs. McCune and Haggin, the capitalists referred to, are now engaged in building a railroad from the terminus of the Transandine line at Orʊyo to Cerro de Pasco.

The following has also been received from Consul K. K. Kenneday, of Para, under date of October 17, 1902:

An American engineer, Mr. J. C. James, of New York, who has just arrived from an extensive tour in the region above Iquitos, Peru, informs me that the Peruvian Government desires to build a railroad which will connect the head waters of the Amazon with the western coast, and for this purpose offers enticing inducements to capital. This road is to be constructed from Pongo de Manseriche, the extreme head of navigation on the Amazon River, through the

Departments (States) of Loreto, Lambayeque, and Piura, to the city of Piura, where it will connect with the present railroad from Piura to Paita-a distance of 40 miles.

This road will be about 450 miles in length. The Peruvian Government is now constructing a mule road between these two points. Whether the new railroad will follow the track of the mule road is a matter to be determined by the engineers.

It has generally been considered a matter of practical impossibility to build a railroad across the Andes, but recent explorations by competent engineers have discovered a pass northwest of Iquitos through which the governor of Loreto, Don Pedro Portrilla, a famous explorer, believes a road can be constructed on a grade not exceeding 32 per cent.

The construction of this railroad will open up to civilization and commerce one of the most productive regions in the world. After crossing the main range, the road will traverse the great plateau of northern central Peru—a land of perpetual spring. In this vast and fertile valley, all the products of the temperate and subtropical zones can be produced in quantities unknown to less-favored localities, and four crops a year can be reaped.

The mineral riches of this plateau have been reputed for centuries to be the greatest in the world. There are, also, along the line of this railroad vast forests of valuable hard woods-mahogany, walnut, and dyewoods-which, with the cheap labor of the country, can be handled with great profit, once the problem of transportation is solved. There are, besides, vast areas of the finest grazing lands. Here, also, are found rubber and gutta-percha forests, offering these commodities in quantities unknown elsewhere in the world.

It is difficult to measure the vast importance of this enterprise. With the completion of the Panama Canal, Paita, the seaport terminus of the proposed railroad, will be but eight days' steam from New York.

For the building of this road the Peruvian Government, it is said, guarantees 7 per cent interest on all money invested and grants large concessions of mineral and agricultural lands. The builders of this road will control the traffic of the Upper Amazon and its tributaries, the importance of which can be understood only by those acquainted with the country and its trade.

Pongo de Manseriche, or "Falls of the Amazon," the eastern terminus of the proposed road, is six days' steam above Iquitos, Peru. This is the place where the mighty river breaks through the Andes Mountains. Above Pongo de Manseriche, the country is practically terra incognita to all save a few hardy scientists and explorers.

Before leaving Iquitos, Mr. James fitted out an expedition, under the command of Mr. William Gerdeau, to explore the Rio Santiago,

a tributary of the Amazon, a few miles above Pongo de Manseriche. This territory, it is said, has never been penetrated by white men. Mr. Gerdeau will travel through the country of the famous head hunters, the most dangerous savages in all South America. It is expected that if he makes the trip successfully he will bring information in regard to gold and copper deposits which will attract wide interest.

Mr. James, who represents a syndicate of New York, Boston, and Pittsburg capitalists, informs me that he has obtained from the Peruvian Government a contract to pave the streets, widen and straighten the avenues, construct sewerage, erect waterworks, put up an ice factory and lighting plant, place in operation a telephone system, and build a street railway in Iquitos. This is a city of some 20,000 people, about 3,000 miles above Para. Mr. James further advises me that negotiations with the Manaos officials are on the way, looking to the completion of a similar contract to improve the city of Manaos, which has a population of 40,000, and is situated about 1,000 miles above the mouth of the River Amazon.

IMPORT DUTIES IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

Under date of October 4, 1902, Minister W. F. Powell, of Port au Prince, sends translation of a decree of September 12, 1902, regarding import duties in the Dominican Republic, which reads as follows:

Considering that the importation duties with which in some countries our agricultural products are burdened are equivalent in certain cases to prohibition, and that it is a good economic doctrine to facilitate to the said products an entry into those countries by means of reciprocal commercial treaties, since it is not possible to have absolute control of free exchange

On the advice of the council of the secretaries of state, it is decreed: ARTICLE 1. There shall be four classes of tariffs for the collection of the importation duties of the Republic-the minimum, the moderate, the additional, and the maximum. The minimum shall cover those import duties at present in vigor or those that may be established in the future; the moderate, the same duties, with an augmentation of 30 per cent; the additional, the same duties, with a 70 per cent augmentation; the maximum, the same duties, with 100 per cent augmentation.

ART. 2. For the purpose of this decree, there shall be fixed in this Republic on sugar, coffee, cocoa, and tobacco the following amount for each 50 kilograms (110.2 pounds) of weight: On sugar of 94° to 98° grade of purity, $2 United States gold; on that lower than 94° and on cane sirup, $1.50 United States gold; on cocoa, $10 United States gold; on coffee, $12 United States gold; on tobacco, $10 United States gold.

ART. 3. The minimum tariff shall be applied to all goods coming from any country where there is no duty levied on any one of the aforesaid Dominican products more than 20 per cent of the value that is fixed on the articles before mentioned or where the introduction of the said products shall be free. There shall be applied the moderate tariff on all imports from the countries that collect on any of the said Dominican products 21 to 30 per cent of the value expressed above. There shall be applied the additional duties to those that come from countries that collect

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on any of the Dominican products indicated 31 to 40 per cent of the value above expressed. There shall be applied the maximum tariff to those products that come from countries that collect in any manner whatever on the Dominican products indicated more than 40 per cent of the value above expressed, or where the entry is prohibited.

SECTION I. The colonies of a nation, as well as the divers entities that constitute a confederation or state, shall be considered, for the purpose of this decree, as the state or nation to which they may belong, though they of themselves may not collect importation duties on the Dominican products described in article 2, or may collect them in a less proportion than the state or nation to which they appertain. SEC. 2. The products that may come from these countries to the Republic, shall be considered as from such countries, unless it be known with certainty that such products are not the result of the agriculture or industry of those countries, or unless the particular marks that the articles bear, or other clear and precise indications, determine the country of origin without any kind of doubt.

ART. 4. The increase of the duties that articles shall pay when coming from countries where. more than 20 per cent is charged on the Dominican products, to which this decree refers, shall be applied thus:

Ten per cent, four months after the promulgation of this decree; 30 per cent, seven months after the said promulgation; 70 per cent, ten months after; and the whole, one year after the promulgation of this decree.

ART. 5. With the nations with whom we may have treaties of reciprocity, the stipulations of these treaties shall regulate the application of this decree.

NEW JAPANESE TARIFF.

Minister Buck, of Tokyo, October 16, 1902, sends copy of a revised tariff schedule, to take effect April 1, 1903, as follows: