12(5 



CHILI. 



icals, 1,009.207 pesos; miscellaneous merchandise, 

 5,781,089 poos; specif, 427.546 pesos. Of 72,245,- 

 114 pesos, the total value of exports in 1808, the 

 value of nitnite made 39,211,913 pesos: iodine, 

 .V.i.M.l'JO pesos; other minerals. 18,692,823 pesos, 

 about half of this sum representing bar silver and 

 the oilier half silver ore: wheat, 6,082,001 pesos; 

 other agricultural products. 5,54:3,773 pesos; manu- 

 factured iruods. 40.408 pesos; miscellaneous prod- 

 ucts, 164,465 pesos; specie, 896,205 pesos; re-ex- 

 ports, 660,116 pesos. Of the exports of nitrate, about 

 :',!) per cent, goes to Germany, 17 per cent, or more 

 to France. 13 per cent, to the United States, 11 per 

 cent, to Great Britain, 11 per cent, to Belgium, and 

 9 per cent, to other countries. The trade with the 

 principal foreign countries in 1893 is shown in the 

 following table, giving, in pesos, the values of the 

 imports from and the exports to the same : 



In 1884 Great Britain furnished 38 per cent., in 

 1889 nearly 43 per cent., in 1894 about 46 per cent, 

 of the imports. Germany furnished in 1884 about 

 19 per cent., and the share of France was nearly as 

 great; in 1889 German imports constituted 23 per 

 cent, of the total, while those of France were less 

 than half as much : in 1894 22 per cent, of the im- 

 ports came from Germany, and only a sixth as much 

 from France. For the whole ten years 42 per cent. 

 of the total imports came from Great Britain, and 

 over 22 per cent, from Germany. The large pro- 

 portion that Great Britain has in the trade is due 

 greatly to large imports of coal, aided by heavy 

 shipments of iron, steel, and a few articles of small 

 manufacturing importance. There is a variety of 

 manufactured articles in which the Germans have 

 beaten the English by lower prices and adaptation 

 of the goods to the requirements of the markets, 

 though at equal prices British goods are still gen- 

 erally preferred. While Great Britain has gained 

 in machinery and a few manufactured articles, Ger- 

 many has made great progress also in machinery, 

 and in furniture, earthenware, chinaware, hardware, 

 and in textile goods, mainly at the expense of 

 France, which has lost ground all round, and in 

 some articles has almost disappeared from the trade 

 of Chili. 



The foreign trade in 1895 amounted to 142,126,- 

 434, an increase of 15,602,398 over 1894. The value 

 of the imports was 69,206,552 pesos, showing an in- 

 crease of 14,722.396 pesos. The value of the ex- 

 ports was 69,206,552 pesos, an increase of 713,462 

 pesos. 



Navigation. During 1893 there were entered at 

 Chilian ports 1,791 vessels in the ocean trade, of 

 .'..~>4-2 tons, and cleared 1,662, of 2,509,279 tons. 

 The vessels were mostly German, English, and 

 French steamers trading" with Europe by way of 

 Cape Horn, and English and Chilian steamers trad- 

 ing between Chilian ports and Peru and Panama. 

 Tin- coasting vessels entered in 1893 had a total 

 toiitKiir of n.-,'.-)7.4(;:j tons. 



The Chilian merchant navy comprised 137 vessels 



h(94, of which number." having an aggregate 



burden of 102,199 tons, 39 were steamers, of 43,741 



Communications. The total length of railroads 

 inpperation -v.i:{ was 1,782 miles, of which 686 

 miles belonged to the Government, which had ex- 



pended in the'construction of these lines 64,459,179 

 pesos. Of the Trans-Andean Railroad, from Santa 

 Rosa to Mendoza. already 18 miles had been built 

 on the Chilian and 88 on'the Argentine side, requir- 

 ing 46 miles more to join the two, sections. There 

 were 400 miles of railroad building in 1894. 



The length of the Government telegraph lines at 

 the beginning of 1895 was 6,965 miles, with 8,330 

 miles of wire. During 1893 there were 894,280 tele- 

 grams sent. The Government had 22 telephone 

 systems in operation. The railroad and private 

 telegraphs had a length of over 4,500 miles. 



The post office carried in 1893 the number of 25,- 

 419.553 letters, besides 1,893,032 circulars and 30,- 

 839.684 newspapers and books. The revenue in 

 1893 was 937,420 pesos, and expenses were 812,235 

 pesos. 



International Relations. Chili and Argentina 

 seemed to be on the verge of war in the early months 

 of 1896 over the dispute in regard to the boundary 

 line in Patagonia. In both countries financial 

 measures were taken and military preparations 

 made for such an eventuality. The jealousy and 

 hostility existing between the peoples of the two 

 republics was very apparent, but the governments 

 handled the question at issue with calmness and 

 discretion. Finally they agreed on April 17 upon 

 a protocol referring the question to the arbitration 

 of Queen Victoria. Negotiations for the determina- 

 tion of the definite ownership of Tacna and Arica 

 were continued between Chili and Peru during 1896 

 without coming to a complete agreement. Accord- 

 ing to the treaty of Ancon, concluded in 1883, the 

 provinces were to be held by Chili till 1895, and 

 then the citizens were to hold a plebiscite to decide 

 whether they would return to Peru or remain with 

 Chili. According to all indications they would 

 vote overwhelmingly to return to Peruvian alle- 

 giance. The date passed without any steps being 

 taken to put the question to a popular vote, and 

 subsequently the negotiations were begun, which 

 hinged on the immediate payment by Peru of the 

 indemnity of 10,000,000 pesos, and on other con- 

 ditions and guarantees demanded by Chili. 



A treaty has been negotiated with Brazil provid- 

 ing for free trade between the two countries. A 

 treaty of amity and commerce with Bolivia proved 

 at once advantageous to both countries. An extra- 

 dition treaty with Spain was submitted to Congress 

 in August. 



An agreement was reached in January, 1896, by 

 which all claims of citizens of France against the 

 Chilian Government for wrongs committed upon 

 them will be canceled by the payment of 5,000. 

 The total value of the claims presented to the 

 Anglo-Chilian tribunal amounted to 4,050,354 pesos, 

 of which only 295,297 pesos were allowed. The 

 claims presented to the Washington arbitration 

 tribunal amounted to $28,555,715, while the awards 

 against Chili amounted to only $240,564. Sixteen 

 claims for $9,135,699 were undecided when the day 

 came for closing the tribunal. In this amount 

 figured the claim of the North and South America 

 Construction Company for $6,334,203, which was 

 settled in 1896 for $150,000. For the settlement of 

 the remaining 15 claims, amounting to $2,801,496, 

 the Chilian Government agreed to the reorganiza- 

 tion of the Washington tribunal, subject to the ap- 

 proval of the Congress. 



Legislation. Congress met in extraordinary 

 session on April 27. President Montt announced 

 that the Government was working for the better- 

 ment of its finances, the completion of necessary 

 public works, the advancement of popular educa- 

 tion, the extension of useful industries, and the en- 

 largement of commerce. Among the measures in- 

 troduced by the Executive was an amendment of 



