1074 CHILE 



and railway extension increasing to an unprecedented extent, while the high prices of 

 coffee, upon which its prosperity mainly depends, were well maintained. :]: 



On January 13, 1912, the Minister of Marine Admiral Marques Leao resigned, and 

 was succeeded by Admiral Belfort Vieira. Serious political disturbances occurred this 

 year at Bahia (capital of the State of the same name), the Government resigning, and 

 being succeeded temporarily by the : President of the Court of Appeal. The troubles 

 arose from the city of Bahia refusing to obey a writ of Habeas Corpus issued by the 

 Federal Court regarding certain Opposition Deputies. Troubles continued for some time, 

 while a similar condition prevailed in the State of Cera, where, owing to the elections 

 of a new Governor, feeling ran high. In September 1912 an outbreak, led by a fanatical 

 monk, occurred in the State of Catharina, but was suppressed by Federal troops 



On July 24, 1912 the Senate passed a bill making it obligatory upon all States in the 

 Republic to obtain the Federal sanction before contracting any loans. The bill was 

 intended to prevent abuses, and to avoid complications between the different States of 

 the Federation. The State of Rio de Janeiro floated a new loan for 3,000,000, at 5 per 

 cent in London on September 3oth, which fell to a discount, the public subscribing less 

 than 20 per cent of the amount. 



In May 1912, at the banquet of the Pan-American Society held in New York, some 

 sensation was occasioned by the Brazilian Ambassador, Senhor da Gama, denouncing 

 the attitude of the United States towards Latin- America, especially the seizure by the 

 American Government of nearly 1,000,000 bags of coffee belonging to the Brazilian 

 Coffee Trust; but the United States subsequently released the coffee. 



In July 1912 a new Brazilian coinage was authorised, the standard gold coin corre- 

 sponding in weight, denomination and form with the British pound sterling, the silver 

 money to correspond with that of France. 



The protracted labour unrest, which first became acute in January, came to a head 

 in August 1912, when serious strikes occurred at both Rio de Janeiro and Santos, the 

 stevedores in both ports refusing to work. Thousands of strikers prevented ships from 

 being loaded and unloaded, and the railways from operating their lines. Heavy losses 

 were incurred by merchant shippers. The Santos strike terminated on September 6th, 

 but a further strike among the employees of the Port of Para Co. occurred on September 

 28th. In the same month, frosts caused damage to the coffee crops in the State of Sao 

 Paulo, the loss being equal to 20 per cent, reducing the production to 10,000,000 bags. 



On September 27, 1912, the Minister of Agriculture introduced a measure conferring 

 all rights of citizenship upon the Indian population, which had hitherto been regarded 

 in the eyes of the law in the position of orphans. 



CHILE 1 



Chile has an area of 292,580 square miles, and the population according to the most 

 recent estimates is 3,329,030, giving an average of n.i inhabitants per square mile. 

 Imports in 1910-11 (one year) were valued at 26,174,276 and exports at 25,455,702. 

 Exports to Great Britain were valued at 11,012,989 in 1911, and imports from Great 

 Britain at 8,382,586. Exports to the United States in 1910-11 were valued at $19,- 

 041,000 (U. S. currency) and imports from the United States at $12,044,578; in 1911-12, 

 exports at $20,164.848 and imports at $15,491,846. The revenue was estimated 

 according to the budget of 1912-13 at 15,799,870, and the expenditure at 17,368,045. 

 The total public debt amounts to 43,056,007 (34,728,800 external and 8,328,007 in- 

 ternal). The total mileage of railways is 3,571 and. that of telegraph lines 16,407. 

 The army has a strength of '17,123 men. The navy comprises 28 vessels with a 

 personnel of 6,000. 



Peaceful conditions continued during the early years of President Jorge Montt's 

 tenure of office, which began in September 1906, cheap money proving favourable in 

 many ways to business, and contributing to a general and steady improvement in trade. 

 The overtrading and excessive speculation in shares, which had occurred in 1908, prac^ 



1 See E. B. vi, 142 et seq. 



