ANCIENT PERU.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4826, 25 March 1925, Page 3

ANCIENT PERU.

A GLIMPSE OF THE INCAS. SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT. In* London recently the Consul-Gen- * eral for Peru, Senbr Salomon, delivered an interesting lecture on ancient Peru. He pointed out that the ruins of the Inca civilisation were spread over a wide area from Panama to Chile, embracing Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia; "But still more important than the Ihca civilisation was - the fact of a pre-inca civilisation, • called Tai Tuanco, superior to that ot (he Inca, the remains of which—monuments, monoliths, palaces, fortresses, etc. —were found scattered over Bolivia, in Cuzco, round Lake Titicaca, and in many other places. The ‘ proper name of this pre-inca civilisar tion was Tahuantisuvu, which meant a country divided into four districts ' north, south, east, and west. As for the Incas, they were a great agricultural people, and the remains of their canals and aqueducts, which modern engineering considered as serviceable as those constructed to-day; might be seen in many places, especially along the coasts of Peru. The Incas worked the metals —gold and silver. While failing to attach value to them like .the modernp, they ornamented their palaces, temples, and fortresses with them, and the specimens in the British Museum of their gold and silver works were proof of their artistic ability. They had no rich and no poor. But, said the lecturer, everyone was happy and discontent was unknown among ■ them; The State did everything for its subjects, interfering in, all things, even in the affairs of private life. Inx deed, the system wap Socialistic. There were three classes—the royal family, the priests, and the people. The chief priest and the head of the c army were drawn from .the royal ‘ house. The Inca had many wives and a large progeny, and he married his sister in order to keep the royal blood unmixed. Every man of 21 and every girl of 18 was compelled to marry. To every child bora a piece of land was given—a boy getting more than a girl. All the work was done by the = people, and every person, man, woman, and child (from five upwards), had his or- her allotted, share of work to do. No one was permitted to be overworked, but no one dared be lazy un- ' der.penalty of death for such a crime against the State. The agricultural season was opened by the Inca himself with a golden plough. It was very curious to note that in the remoter parts of Peru to-day many of these old customs were still followed, and the old communistic spirit still prevailed. Transport was bn the ■ backs of the nativs or by the llama the camel of Peru for immemorial ages..