PRESIDENT RESIGNS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8653, 11 February 1914, Page 10

PRESIDENT RESIGNS

PERUVIAN CHANGE INTERESTING CAREER OF MR G. E. BILLINGHURST. Guillermo Eduardo Billinghurst, who has just resigned tho Presidency of Peru, was born in Arica on July 27th, 1851. His paternal grandfather was a distinguished British officer. Captain Robert Billinghurst, who was a member of the well-known county family of Billinghurst, which traces back to Adam de Billinghurst, who was granted the Manor of that name in Sussex by William the Conqueror. He was among the valiant British officers who fought for the independence of , the Argentine, in which country ho married, being tho first foreigner to receive the citizenship of his adopted land. His descendants occupy important positions there to-day; one of the streets in Buenos Ayres was named after him. His son, and the father of the present Chief Executive of Peru, was bom in 1839, settling subsequently in Moquegua, where he married Dona Belisaria Angulo, of a prominent family of that subject of this article, wrote the

editor of “Peru To-day/’ just after the last Presidential election, was educated in Valparaiso and Buenos Ayres, and was obliged to return to Iquique, where his parents then resided, on account of tho earthquake of August 13th, 1808. This catastrophe, by which he lost his father, also caused thp loss of the family fortune and he had to set to work to rebuild it. This circumstance, however, did not lessen his enthusiasm for study and hia desire for knowledge. He devoted his spare time to scientific tresearch, so that later he was recognised as one. of the most brilliant publicists of. South America. Ho was elected deputy in the Legislatures of 1878 and in 1879, representing the new province of Iquique, and distinguished himself in Congress by his knowledge of the economical and social conditions of his province;, whose interests he warmly safeguarded, obtaining redress for some administrative errors by causing the restoration of its privileges and jurisdiction to the Tribunal of Mines of Iquique. Having made a deep study of the defects of the Peruvian legislation affecting its nitrate, of soda districts, he prepared for Congress various projects tending to better the situation in the south of the Republic, which, however, were never put in practice. Had these efforts. of his been seconded, the public wealth would have been greatly increased, but, unfortunately for Peru, it was left to Chile to legislate on _the mineral riches of Tarapaca, and utilise the ideas of Mr Billing-hurst. On the <■ breaking out of the war with Chile, he aided in the organisation of the Red •Cross in Arica, and rendered most useful service by his detailed knowledge of the vast and coveted region which was then the theatre of events in the South. In 1880 the Government of Lima appointed him Commissioner to reconnoitre the river Desaguadero-and-the Andean plateaus, with the object of forming a plan of defence of Peruvian territory. As a result of his labours he published a book entitled “Military Surveys of the River Dcsaguaderq and the A.ndeah Highlands.” Afterwards the Government appointed Mr Billinghurst Chief of the Northern Army. While thus engaged, the battle of January 13th, 1881, took place, and when the enemy had surrounded tho Peruvian army, ho directed the reorganisation _On the heights of Chorrillos, where, in union with Colonel Iglesias, then Minister of War, he made a heroic resistance. .Witnesses relate that when Colonel Iglesias with his troops—accompanied hy Mr Billinghurst and the other leaders—descended from the Morro Solar, they were intercepted by a company of Chilean soldiers with levelled rifles. Mr Billinghurst was not disconcerted by this unlooked-for and cowardly assault, and, advancing toward the enemy, he commanded them to lower their weapons. His bold and decisive action undoubtedly saved the lives .of the party, who . continued their interrupted progress. Mr Billinghurst afterwards returned to Iquique, and devoted himself to helping his unprotected fellow-country-men. He accepted the office of Con-sul-General at Iquique, and rendered valuable services in that capacity. He then founded tho Peruvian Benefit Society which is still in existence, nobly carrying out the high aims of its founder. In 1895 he was chosen First Vice-President of the Republic, and Senator for Moqnegua, in the Government of Mr Nicolas de Pierola. In 1898 he was named Minister Plenipotentiary to Chile-and prepared the BillinghurstLatorre treaty.- During that time Chile was in a more tractable mood on account of strained relations with the Argentine, and when the danger of war with that country was over Chile refused to have the protocol ratified by its Congress, though that of Peru had done so. On his return to Peru, 3899, he was named as a -candidate for the Presidency, but declined, withdrawing from public life and devoting himself exclusively to scientific and industrial work. Some of his books have European fame, and his “Geography of Tarapaca” is the most complete which has yet been written. In April, 1909. Mr Billinghurst was elected Mayor ot the city of Lima, and during the sueceeding twenty months gave a notable impulse to municipal affairs, and carried out many valued improvements. Among them was the destruction of the old hospital for infections diseases, itself a pesthole, and of some of the worst parts of the Chinese quarter. He also planned some of the embellishment

projects for a “ Lima Beautiful ” which are gradually being carried out. Ho again turned his attention to private affairs, giving his time "and means freely and unobtrusively, as always, to any worthy civic cause. His election to the Presidency was the result of a popular demand, and he was inaugurated to that high office on September 2-lth, 1912.