CHILI. 



103 



beautify it, and improve its sanitary condition ; 

 and another concerning marriage among dis- 

 senters. The non-Catholic residents of Val- 

 paraiso expressed, in a memorial to Congress, 

 their approbation of Sefior Reyes's bill for the 

 reform of the articles of the civil code relative 

 to marriages between dissenters, declaring that 

 they prefer civil marriage to being married by 

 a Catholic priest. 



The President asked the permission of Con- 

 gress to close contracts relating to the coloni- 

 zation of lands belonging to the Government. 



In the Chamber of Deputies the business 

 was larger, and a number of projects were 

 proposed, some of which were of consider- 

 able importance. Among the latter was one 

 for a reform of the electoral laws, which, if 

 adopted, would justify the claim of Chili to the 

 sovereignty of the people. Another, worthy 

 of mention, was for the abolition of flogging, 

 and suggested by the cruelty with which that 

 punishment had been inflicted in several in- 

 stances during the year. 



The Council of State approved a bill au- 

 thorizing the President of the republic to ap- 

 propriate a sum not exceeding $50,000 to the 

 construction of such works as may be neces- 

 sary to improve the navigation of Maule bar, 

 which is the port of Concepcion. 



Much interest was excited by the publica- 

 tion of the sentence of the Judge of the Court 

 of Appeals, Sefior Ugarte Zonteno, for the 

 flogging of Jos6 Kei, who died from the effects 

 of the infliction. The judge condemned the 

 chief of police, Don Diego Perales, to the 

 penalty of death ; the acting-surgeon, Don Juan 

 N. Favres, to ten years' imprisonment in the 

 penitentiary, forbidding him at the same time 

 to exercise his profession ; and the jailer, Gui- 

 llermo Silva, for the crime of perjury in the 

 same case, to ten years' confinement. 



Mr. Studdy Leigh presented a petition to 

 Congress, stating that the obstacles no longer 

 existed which had hitherto prevented the lay- 

 ing of a submarine telegraph-line to connect 

 South America with the United States and 

 Europe. Within eighteen months, at the very 

 latest, the company now engaged in laying tele- 

 graphic lines in various parts of the world will 

 devote its whole attention to the submersion 

 of the cable through the Pacific and Atlantic. 



The subscriptions of the por^t of Valparaiso for 

 providing accommodation to the sick through 

 the prevailing epidemic small-pox amounts 

 to $18,000, and it was expected that the fund 

 would reach at least, for Valparaiso alone, the 

 sum of $27,000, independently of the sums 

 given by the municipality. Liberal subscrip- 

 tions had been raised for the sufferers. In 

 Santiago they amounted to $19,504. The di- 

 rectory of the National Bank sent to the in- 

 tendente a donation of $2,000. The artillery 

 barracks were transformed into a huge laza- 

 retto. A joint-stock company, with a capital 

 of $100,000, was formed, for the purpose of 

 establishing drug-stores in Valparaiso, and 



such other places as the shareholders might 

 decide upon. The company was called "Dro- 

 gueria y Botica Nacional." 



The Chilian Minister of Finance approved 

 of the articles of association of the new bank 

 called "Banco Sud- Americano." The capital 

 to commence with is $500,000, and five per 

 cent, to be kept as a reserve. 



An attempt was made to form a company 

 for the purpose of constructing a railway from 

 the Palmillos to Port Kapel, or some other 

 post near to Kapel. 



The Intendente of Valparaiso addressed a 

 note to the Minister of Marine, recommending, 

 in view of the increase of the navy, the con- 

 struction of a dry dock in some convenient 

 place in the archipelago of Chiloe". From the 

 report of the Minister of Finance, it is seen that 

 the receipts of the custom-house in 1871 show, 

 as compared with 1870, a falling off of $495,- 

 276.22. The first five months of the present 

 .year show an increase of $356,205.31, as com- 

 pared with the corresponding period of last 

 year. The net profits of the Estanco in 1871 

 amounted to $711,624.85, a decrease, as com- 

 pared with the previous year, of $62,959.13. 



A new joint-stock company was formed, 

 called La Empresaria, with a capital of $600,- 

 000, for the purpose of working several mines 

 at Caracoles. Among the large transactions 

 in mining property that took place during the 

 year was the purchase,, by the wealthy firm of 

 Escobar, Ossa & Company, of the mines of Don 

 . Federico Verela, at Chafiaral, for the sum of 

 $1,200,000. Messrs. Watson & Meiggs, of Val- 

 paraiso, and Don Marcial Martinez, of Santiago, 

 obtained a privilege from the Bolivian Govern- 

 ment for the construction of a railway from 

 Mej ill ones to the celebrated silver-mines at 

 Caracoles, in Chili. The price, including sta- 

 tions, rolling-stock, wharf at Mejillones, water- 

 condensers, etc., was to be $40,000 per mile. 

 The total length will be about 100 miles. The 

 works were to be commenced six months after 

 the date of the contract, under a penalty of 

 $200,000 ; and the line to be finished in three 

 years and a half, under a penalty of $5,000 a 

 month, the Bolivian Government to pay to the 

 contractors a like sum for each month of delay 

 beyond that time. Payment is to be made in 

 bonds issued at 80 ; but, if the price should at 

 any time exceed 90, the excess is to be equally 

 divided between the Bolivian Government and 

 the contractors. The contractors oblige them- 

 selves to place the bonds at 7i per cent, interest, 

 with an accumulative amortization of 2 per 

 cent. It is understood that the construction of 

 the line was intrusted to Mr. Joseph Hill. 



The National Agricultural Society distributed 

 a considerable quantity of tobacco-seed, for the 

 purpose of testing the capabilities of Chilian 

 soil for the cultivation of this plant. The Chili 

 Congress was interrupted up to the end of Au- 

 gust. Fears of the epidemic small-pox was 

 said to be the reason why a quorum oould not 

 be obtained. 



