With pardonable eagerness they plunged
into the campaign of speculation which was now open to them, and many of
their number rapidly grew rich. Thus after a time they became employers
of labour on a large scale, incidentally solving the labour question of
the peasantry of the country.
Among brand-new States who have yet to prove their worth and importance
the intervention of mutual jealousies may safely be counted on. In South
America the appearance of these disturbing factors was not long delayed.
It was not three years after the last Spanish troops had been driven
from South America that war broke out between the Republics of Bolivia
and Peru. Sucre proved himself as able a leader as ever, and was as
successful against his fellow-Republicans as he had been against the
Royalist forces. The Peruvians were utterly defeated. As a consequence,
the President, Lamar, was banished from his country, and a new official,
Gamarra, was elected as provisional President.
The first war, however, did not succeed in clearing the battle-laden
air, and for some while Peru was destined to suffer considerably at the
hands of its neighbours. Very shortly after the conclusion of the first
war a second broke out between Bolivia and Peru.
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