ROMANTIC FIGURE

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 49, 26 August 1930, Page 9

ROMANTIC FIGURE

LEGUIA THE DICTATOK v ' ,

. The outbreak of the World _ Wart found, Peru passing through a periodolj eeoaomie and financial difficulty which! continued until the end of 1915, wheni the demand for Peruvian cotton, sugar, and copper at war prices did jnuch .to; relievo tho situation. When-Don PardoJ ontored upon his second term as Presi* dent in 1915, public opinion waaj divided on the subject of Peru's part ticipation in tho war, a section of thai Conservative aristocracy being inclined! to favour the Contra! Empires, partly, because of their dislike of President Wilson's utterances and partly becausei of financial and sentimental tiesi wi.thj Germany. On the other hand, the in-* telligentsia strongly inclined to France and her allies and prevailed, diplomatic relations with Germany being broken; off in 1917, soon after the United! Statea had entered the* war. In thai next three yearp, Peru enjoyed 'the; most remarkable period of prosperity* in her history, but the national fiuaneeaj did not improve. The administration^ it became apparent, needed an over^ haul, but the complexities of local administration- prevented the President' from taking action. On several occai sions crises occurred, notably in 1918j when the military garrison of Ancon' revolted and caused a great deal of] damage, including cutting tho railway* before they escaped into the interior. LEGUIA RETURNS. . Early in.the following year, Augustoj Leguia returned from England, and an* nounced his intention of standing £03 the Presidency. On 18th May thaf elections took place quietly enough^ but before the result could be an* nounced a coup d'otat, on 4th July^ placed Loguia in the chief executive) office. The new President issued'aj manifesto in which he declared that an! attempt to deprive him of victory hadj compelled him to seize the. direction oJS affairs and that he proposed to intro* duee constitutional reforms which! would render personal and autocratic^ government impossible. He then issued! a decree authorising the formation ofl a Constituent Assembly for the pui'pos^ of altering the existing Constitution^ and this body was instituted in Sepi tember, passing a law giving legal sanction to all the Acts and Decree* of the provisional government. _ Leguia; was inaugurated as constitutional! President in the following month anil! at the end of the year the constUm* tional reforms which he proposed wer«j referred to a plebescite and accepted almost in their entirety. He increased! tho Presidential term from four ta| five years, instituted a Council of Stataj to advise tho President, provided foi| a Congressional election every flv^ years instead of every two years, ia« troduced the income tax for the flrs<« time in Peru, debarred ■ Government officials from drawing salaries for -morflj than one post at a time, and provided] that labour disputes must bo settled by compulsory arbitration. PEOPLE BEHIND HIM. Some of these reforms did _no^ materialise at jonce, others came intaj being at the end of 1919. The general prosperity of the country helped Leguia| in the opening phases of his adnriniso tration and the masses were fervontljj in his favour, though the viow of his| opponents was that his reforms weraj too ambitious to be successful inn mediately. Throughout 1920 and 1921* he continued his policy of reform, of ted with acrimonious discussions in Com gresß and with attempts at obstruction! and in the lattor year there began aj 'movement under Captain Cervantes foii "constitutional restoration." Thai movement spread, and though the Got* eminent despatched small bodies of) troops to the scene, risings continued! among the Indians in the south. Afte-q some months the .revolt was sup* pressed. '• In 1921, and until 1923, there caniq the tragic phase of the world-wide; economic crisis and the succeeding yeaij was a period of gradual financial ad-, justment which saw the Government* Still hampered by lack of funds, obtaining many reforms in. administratioiM In 1924 Leguia was again elected toj the Presidency, this time unopposed* He proposed ■to continue his reforms* and perhaps owing to the fact that thai public mind was largely occupied with,' the coming celebration of the Centeiw ary of Peru's successful struggle against Spain, he carried through 1923! with little political disturbance. Thej difficulties in. his path were great, de* spite a virtual dictatorship, and pro* gress was slow. He had alienated the? sympathy of tho ruling class whicW had hitherto regarded the privilege oi) government as reserved to itself. How* ever, he had the commercial community and the weight of popular feeling be* hind him and achieved much, reducing yellow fever almost to nothing, begin* ning sanitation schemes, beginning aj programme of road-making, and greatlsj improving tho national finances. la October, 1928, Leguia celebrated hM political jubilee, and a law promoting! his absolutism wa. passed. _ From than moment, it appears, opposition to hmi has developed until it culminated ;thia| month.