CHILI. 



113 



A bill to empower the Government to pur- 

 chase the stock held by private individuals in 

 the Southern Railway having passed Congress, 

 in August, the Minister of the Interior ap- 

 pointed a commission to frame a code of regu- 

 lations for the administration of the state rail- 

 ways. The Council of State sanctioned an- 

 other bill, authorizing the Government to 

 expend $2,700,000 in the purchase of new 

 rolling-stock for the line just mentioned. The 

 works on the road were pushed forward with 

 remarkable activity ; and, if the same rate of 

 progress is maintained, the line will be com- 

 pleted considerably under contract time. 



The works on the Mejillones Kailway were 

 definitively suspended on August 9th, and one 

 thousand laborers discharged. 



The Talcahuano & Chilian Railway prom- 

 ises to prove very prosperous. The portion 

 of the road in operation as far as Malvoa 

 produced, in little more than twelve months, 

 a surplus of $17,000, and that in spite of the 

 high rates still ruling on the line. Once the 

 latter has reached Chilian, a larger number of 

 places will be connected, and the returns will 

 be most satisfactory. It was expected that 

 trains would commence to run over the whole 

 line early in 1874. 



The Copiap6 & Paquies Railway will before 

 long form a part of a transandine line, the 

 construction of which, from the heart of the 

 Argentine Republic to the mountain frontier, 

 was finally sanctioned by the Government of 

 the latter country. 



In 1872 no less than 6,000,000 passengers 

 were carried by the different city railroads in 

 the republic. 



In the course of the year 1871, the total 

 number of letters, newspapers, and packages 

 that passed through the post-office was 11,- 

 549,175. 



Wheat, for export to England, brought from 

 13.50 to $3.90 per hectolitre of 166 pounds, 

 on board, in April, in bulk, or in buyers' bags ; 

 and the flourishing state of trade in general, 

 in and around Concepcion was hailed as the 

 herald of the prosperity expected to result 

 from the opening of the new railway to 

 Chilian, which is situated in the very heart of 

 the wheat country. 



Concepcion now boasts of two banks of 

 issue and deposit, and one mortgage bank; 

 and the numerous and handsome buildings, 

 both public and private, in course of construc- 

 tion, afford ample testimony to its prosperity. 



A Protestant congregation has existed there 

 for some years, under the ministration of Dr. 

 I. A. Swany, of the United States. 



The total value of the exports from Tome', 

 in 1872, was $2,459,436, being upward of 

 $1,000,000 in excess of 1871. 



Samples of Chilian tobacco were found to 

 be of excellent quality. 



The ordinary national income, in 1872, was 

 $18,843,288; and the expenditure, $12,514,- 

 408; constituting a surplus of $1,828,880. 

 VOL. xin. 8 A 



The annexed table shows the sources and the 

 amount of the income for 1871 : 



Customs dntins $5,942.906 



State railways 1,892,686 



Government monopolies (tobacco, playing- 

 cards, etc.) 1.402,174 



Real-estate tax 



Alcabala 



Patent rlghtc 



bale of Mejiilones gnano 



Post-Office 



Telegraphs 



Sundries 



6,G83 

 445,.;bO 

 848,7117 

 1%,;50 

 SS.C03 

 S3.E05 

 694,09!) 



Total $11.782,880 



Expenditures for same year 12,B-1-J.-!'.W 



Deficit $759,613 



Here follow the estimated expenditures for 

 1873: 



Ministry of the Interior $2,918,514 



Ministry of Foreign Affaire 229,383 



Ministry of War and Marine 2,899,6611 



Ministry of Justice, Public Worship, and Pub- 

 lic Instruction 1,978,267 



Ministry of Finances 5,838,780 



Total $13,364,350 



The railway debts, which are included in 

 the above total, amounted, on January 1, 

 1872, to $7,886,000. 



Articles of consumption pay, for the most 

 part, an import duty of 25 per cent, ad va- 

 lorem ; tools, hardware, etc., 15 per cent. ; 

 and most machines enter duty-free. The ex- 

 port duties on metals and ores reach as high 

 as 5 per cent, ad valorem. 



The receipts of the Valparaiso custom-house 

 for January amounted to $1,200,000. Those 

 for June were $600,724.55 an increase of 

 $102,223.37 over the same month of the pre- 

 vious year. The total receipts, from January 

 1st to September 30th, figure in the official re- 

 turns at $5,429,379.39, being an improvement 

 of $777,109.73, as compared to those of the cor- 

 responding period in 1872. 



The coinage in the mint for the month of 

 December, 1872, was as follows : $506.76 in 

 2-cent nickel coins; $1,195.58 in 1-cent do.; 

 and $724.57 in i-cent do. The purchases 



