CHILI. 



CHINA. 



101 



. milter of delegates elected by the oppo- 

 ;i party reached thirty. 



Ci in-idem! >le trouble was caused by the Area- 

 is \vh< were commanded by their self- 

 ! Kmi>eror, Orelio. Tlie latter was re- 

 ported ti have obtained a battery of light field- 

 aib 1 instructed the Indiana in artillery 

 ice. Congress adopted a bill granting 

 $600,000 for the war department, and authoriz- 

 ing the organization of a force of 2,000 men, 

 lor t lie especial purpose of putting an end to 

 tlu war. In October, Chilian papers reported 

 t hat ( hvlio had disappeared, and that the Arau- 

 eanians were desirous of treating for peace. 



The President on 23d of August received the 

 A routine and British ministers, to give his de- 

 cision as umpire between the two Governments 

 in a claim preferred against the Argentine 

 (iu\ eminent by British residents of Montevi- 

 deo for injuries received when that port was 

 blockaded by an Argentine fleet during the 

 revolution of 1845. The decision of the Presi- 

 dent, based upon the opinions of several of the 

 most eminent lawyers of the republic, was ad- 

 verse to the claimants. 



The Government annulled the Annan con- 

 tract for exporting guano to Europe from the 

 Mejillones deposits, and, instead, adopted the 

 plan of selling the guano as it lies .on the 

 island to the highest bidder. The guano was 

 purchased by Mr. Henry Meigs, who had pre- 

 viously secured the absolute right from the 

 Bolivian Government to export guano from 

 that part of the island belonging to that nation, 

 giving as an inducement the sum of four 

 million dollars' advance on the price of the 

 article. Subsequently the Government of 

 Chili entered into a contract with Mr. 

 Meigs for the extraction and shipment of 

 430,000 tons of Mejillones guano, the joint 

 property of Chili and Bolivia, at the rate of 

 5,000 tons per month, commencing from the 

 1st of September. The price to be paid by the 

 Chilian Government for the extraction and 

 shipment to be $2.50 per ton on 230,000 tons, 

 and $2.25 per ton on the remaining 200,000 tons. 

 It was further stipulated that the before-men- 

 tioned price for extraction and shipment should 

 not be paid for any guano containing less than 

 sixty per cent, of phosphates. 



Great attention is paid to industrial progress. 

 The Chilian Agricultural Society appointed a 

 committee, composed of competent and expe- 

 rienced persons, to study the system followed 

 in the agricultural schools established in the 

 United States, and to make a thorough report on 

 them, in order that some plan might he adopted 

 for the use of institutions of the same class that 

 are to be established throughout Chili. M. Julio 

 Prieto Urriola, a gentleman -who has distin- 

 guished himself in this branch of science, was 

 appointed by the society to communicate with 

 the different associations in the United States, 

 and to offer, in return for the information and 

 data requested, to remit all the publications 

 that have appeared in Chili on the subject. 



illNA, an empire in Eastern Asia. The 

 Council of State is tin- highest official body, 

 and consists of four hi^h dignitaries and of 

 two assistants, selected from the Grand Col- 

 lege. It is the duty of the latter to guard and 

 protest against any decree which may be in 

 contradiction to the fundamental laws of the 

 empire, as contained in the holy books of Con- 

 fucius. The members of the Council of State 

 are called State-Ministers. There are nix de- 

 partments, to wit: 1. For the appointment and 

 control of civil officials throughout the empire ; 

 2. Department of Finances ; 3. Department of 

 Public Worship ; 4. Department of War ; 5. De- 

 partment of Justice (highest criminal court) ; 

 6. Department of Public Works. Besides, there 

 is a college which attends to the external af- 

 fairs. 



The Emperor of China is usually styled Hwang 

 Shang, or August Supreme, by the people; the 

 term Tien Tsz\ meaning Son of Heaven, refers 

 to his position as vicegerent of Heaven, and 

 is not a common appellation. His personal 

 name is Tsai-shun, which is his given name, 

 and is never used by the people. Aisingioro 

 is the family name of the present dynasty of 

 Mantchoos. His reign is called Tungchi, mean- 

 ing United Rule ; it was called Kitsiang for 

 only a few weeks at the beginning of his reign 

 in 1861, and is used no longer. Though he 

 succeeded after the death of his father, Au- 

 gust 22, 1861, his reign dates from January 

 30, 1862, the first day of the succeeding 

 Chinese year. He was born May 16, 1856, 

 and was the only child of Yihchu, whose 

 reign was called Hien-Fung. The regency is 

 now conducted by two Empresses, one of 

 whom, the Empress Tsz (Mercy) is the Em- 

 press-dowager, or the first Empress of the late 

 sovereign ; the other, the Empress Ngan 

 (Peace), is his own mother, and was one of 

 the inferior wives. The late Emperor's four 

 brothers are styled Tsin-wang or blood-related 

 kings; their titles are Kung, Chun, Feu, and 

 Tun ; the first, known as Prince Kung, is ac- 

 tively associated in the Government as Presi- 

 dent of the General Council of State the 

 others hold no important posts. 



The population of China has been much re- 

 duced during the last fifteen years by reason 

 of rebellion and its consequent distress, so that 

 the best-qualified observers, judging from the 

 census of 1812 compared with that of 1822, 

 and noting the enormous destruction of popu- 

 lation in those parts of Kiansi, Chehkiang, Ki- 

 angnan, Shensi, Yunnan, and Honan, where 

 rebel armies resisted the Imperial troops, and 

 both destroyed every thing they could, place 

 the population at present at about three hun- 

 dred millions. The population of Mantchooria 

 is increasing by the immigration of Chinese 

 from Shantung, and is near five millions now ; 

 the population of Corea and Loochoo should 

 not be reckoned in that of China, which ex- 

 ercises no sort of control in either country; 

 Loochoo is in fact a dependency of the Prince 



