102 



CHILI. 



to what has already been worked in the ter- 

 ritory. From these discoveries there will ac- 

 crue not only a profit to the country in general, 

 hut a saving to the national treasury, coal he- 

 ing in great demand, for which reason people 

 have had to contract for it at Lota at the rate 

 of $7 per quintal. According to report, in one 

 single vein five feet in height and about 150 

 cuadras in superficial extent, there are es- 

 timated to be 4,000,000 tons. 



At Santiago it is in contemplation to form a 

 joint-stock company for tne exportation oiquil- 

 foy-bark, great quantities of which have been 

 exported for some time back. The new com- 

 pany may cultivate it in this country, estab- 

 lishing new industries and rendering it more 

 productive. 



The exportation of silver and copper from 

 Coquimbo during 1871 was as follows : 



To England. -217 kilos bar-silver; 21 7 

 ditto fine silver ; 14,141,539 ditto regulus ; 1,708 

 ditto copper-ore; 37,490 ditto argentiferous 

 copper-ore ; and 110,102 ditto silver-ore. 



To France. 69 kilos fine silver. 



To Peru. 2,502 kilos bar and ingot copper. 



The total value, according to the tariff, is 

 $4,179,520. The duties paid amounted to 

 $82,193.16, and the municipal dues to $112.01. 



Congress was opened June 1st, by the Pres- 

 ident. Among the measures first submitted 

 was one for making vaccination compulsory. 



Messrs. Sanchez & Cox have made a propo- 

 sal to the Government to grant them permis- 

 sion to bring to Chili 5,000 immigrants, pos- 

 sessed of sufficient capital to purchase 450,000 

 hectares of cultivable land, at or near to Naci- 

 miento, at the rate of $1 per hectare. In other 

 words, they solicit permission to pay into the 

 national exchequer, during a period not ex- 

 ceeding ten years, the sum, in hard casli, of 

 $450,000! In exchange for their services, 

 Messrs. Sanchez & Cox demand for themselves 

 1,000 hectares of land for every 100 colonists 

 they procure, and, for the colonists, exemption 

 from import duty on their effects, exemption 

 from taxes for fifteen years, and a free school 

 to every 500 colonists. 



The Santiago correspondent of the Patria 

 says tli at an agent of the house of Rothschild 

 has purchased the Santiago & Valparaiso 

 Railway, and also offered to construct thepro- 

 (1 new line between Valparaiso and Santi- 

 ago, ma Melapilla. 



The Banco National de Bolivia was declared 

 legally incorporated. 



\-~> tons of ore from Caracoles produced in 

 London an average of over $10,000 per ton. 



An exclusive privilege was granted, for a 

 term of eight years, for the introduction into 

 Chili of sin apparatus for the carriage of pas- 

 sengers and goods, by metallic cables affixed 

 to posts, or, in other words, a kind of aerial 

 rail \v ay. 



President Errazuriz, in his message to Con- 

 gress, referring to the treaty with Spain, said: 



The treaty of armistice and indefinite truce which, 



with the mediation of the Government of the United 

 States, was signed at Washington", on April 11, 1871, 

 between the representatives of the allied republics 

 on the one part, and the representative of Spain on 

 the other, has been already ratified by the respective 

 Governments, with the exception of that of Peru, to 

 which was conceded an extension of time, to enable 

 it to obtain the approbation of the Congress which is 

 about to assemble in that republic. 



The refusal of Spain to make us the reparation due 

 for her excesses has postponed to an indefinite pe- 

 riod the celebration of peace, but the truce entered 

 into has removed the obstacles that the former state 

 of affairs opposed to the security of allies and neu- 

 trals, and which was the principal cause that induced 

 us to celebrate that treaty. 



With respect to the settlement of the boun- 

 dary question between Chili and the Argen- 

 tine Republic and Bolivia, the President spoke 

 hopefully, as follows : 



Questions of limits with the Argentine Bepublic 

 and Bolivia continued to be discussed with all the 

 temperance and moderation which our right and the 

 friendly and fraternal bonds that link us to those 

 countries require ; and I hope that in a short time the 

 difficulties now standing in the way of the celebra- 

 tion of definite and mutually satisfactory arrange- 

 ments will be overcome. 



The late troubles and disputes concerning the 

 burial of Protestants, or of those outside the pale of 

 the Eoman Catholic Church, have suggested the ne- 

 cessity of the following measure, namely : That in 

 all Catholic cemeteries there be set apart aportionof 

 ground for the reception of the bodies of those to 

 whom the Church denies ecclesiastical burial, and 

 that the cemeteries that may be constructed in future, 

 with their fiscal or municipal moneys, shall be laical 

 or common. 



The justice of the latter determination cannot be 

 denied. The money of all ought to be employed in 

 the service of all. But, as some time must elapse 

 before laical cemeteries exist in all our towns, it is 

 necessary to order the separation of the part of which 

 I have spoken, in the Catholic cemeteries. By this 

 measure the repetition of past conflicts will be avoid- 

 ed, and the legitimate interest of all consulted. 



The remainder of the message is devoted to 

 indicating measures of social reform. 



The opening of Congress was signalized by 

 the presentation of several very important 

 measures. Among them may be mentioned a 

 bill for legalizing civil marriages; one for 

 abolishing the privileges of the clergy (privi- 

 legium clericale); one for authorizing the 

 President of the republic to enter into con- 

 tracts with private individuals for the intro- 

 duction of immigrants; one for the abolition 

 of flogging; one for a new assessment of 

 landed property ; one for the abolition of the 

 tobacco monopoly ; and another for the repeal 

 of the duty on foreign coal. 



The fiscal revenue for 1871 was $11,788,- 

 500.83. 



A vast number of subjects of public neces- 

 sity were laid before Congress after the open- 

 ing of the session in June ; and both Cham- 

 bers seemed to rival each other in activity and 

 determination to discharge the duties imposed 

 upon them. 



Sefior Reyes presented a bill to the Senate 

 for the formation of a new plan of the city of 

 Santiago, with a view to widen the streets, 



