Agusto's Agony

President Agusto B. Leguia, Peru's malevolent despot, complained to U. S. Secretary of State Charles E. Hughes that a bold, bad bunch of bankers, operating under the name of the Guaranty Trust Co. of Manhattan had been openly discouraging American loans to Peru.

It had long been alleged that the political security of Senor Leguia depends upon the number of North American financial mice that he can catch in his trap. The Guaranty cat having frightened all the mice away, Senor Leguia roared, ranted and raved, then wrote to .Mr. Hughes in Washington. He was particularly angry that the Guaranty Trust had warned a certain New Orleans company against undertaking the development of the port of Callao.* He had when "elected"/- promised his people lots of money and lots of economic entertainment, but the wicked New York bank having acquired an option on loan flotations for Peru, had thwarted him at every turn in a most unfair manner. The U. S. Secretary of State in his reply (unpublished) stated that the Guaranty Trust Co. is a private institution over whose legitimate operations the U. S. Government has no control. He was also understood to have conveyed to Senor Leguia his belief that the Guaranty Trust has not been guilty of any unfair or unusual practices. Senor Agusto is said to be the handsomest president in Latin America. Numerous stories about his villainies are in circulation, some of which are untrue. He is, however, reputed to be the living incarnation of a mediaeval despot that rules his country by force and fear, being allegedly merciless to his enemies.

* Right of developing of this port was said to belong exclusively to a French company. /- Although legally elected, he caused a revolution and seized power one week before his predecessor's term of office had expired.