CHILI. 



101 



of the substance being arrested by the sudden 

 solidification of the whole. We should thus 

 have a solid with its different parts pulling 

 against each other, or set in rigid grasp, or a 

 stats in which the opposite character and 

 fluidity or mobility of particles would be ex- 

 cessively developed. This would be excessive 

 solidity, or hardness and brittleness. The mo- 

 lecular strain must be still more severe in the 

 case of a substance which goes on contracting 

 as it approaches the temperature of solidifica- 

 tion, and then suddenly expands as it assumes 

 solidity. This is the case with iron." Repeat- 

 ing the heating process would relax the mutual 

 grasp of particles in proportion to the develop- 

 ment of that viscosity which is one of the 

 characteristics of heated iron ; and steel is 

 tempered at a point approaching the "welding- 

 heat" of iron. 



CHILI (REP&BLIOA DE CHILE). To the gen- 

 eral statements of area, territorial division, 

 population, etc., given in preceding volumes,* 

 it may here be added that the population on 

 January 1, 1879, has been reported at 2,155, 029. 



The President of the Republic is Senor Don 

 Domingo Santa-Maria, inaugurated September 

 18, 1881, for the usual term of five years. 



The Cabinet was composed, June, 1881, of 

 the following ministers: Interior, Sefior Re- 

 cabarren; Foreign Affairs and Colonization, 

 Sefior Valderana ; Finance, Senor Don J. Al- 

 fonso ; Justice, Public Worship, and Public In,- 

 struction, Sefior Garcia de la Huerta ; and War 

 and the Navy, Sefior Don J. F. Vergara. 



General Baquedano, the distinguished com- 

 mander-in-chief of the Chilian forces in the 

 Chilo-Peruvian War, had been nominated as a 

 candidate for the presidency, but withdrew his 

 candidature. Sefior Santa-Maria had the port- 

 folio of Foreign Affairs in 1880. 



The regulation strength of the army in time 

 of peace was fixed by Congress, in 1875, at 

 3,573 men, deficiencies to be made up by con- 

 scription. The regular array, at the time of 

 the latest returns before the commencement of 

 the war with Peru and Bolivia, comprised 712 

 horse, 2,000 foot, and 804 artillery, with 749 

 officers of all arms ; 7 generals, 14 colonels, 54 

 lieutenant-colonels, 67 majors, 182 captains, and 

 425 lieutenants; constituting a total of 3,516. 

 The National Guard consisted of 1,215 horse, 

 21,147 foot, and 1,925 artillery; total, 24,287. 

 But, on war being declared, the regular army 

 was raised to a strength of 20,000, distributed 

 in three divisions, and the National Guard to 

 30,000; thus forming a total land-force of 

 50,000. A single number of the " Official Ga- 

 zette" was said to contain, in October, 1880, 

 eleven decrees relating to the formation of as 

 many new corps, with an aggregate of 20,000 

 men. 



In an official report published in the second 

 half of 1880, the navy was stated to comprise 

 11 ships of war, 12 transports, 3 pontoons, and 

 2 launches (torpedoes) in all, 28 craft ; with an 



* See "Annual Cycloptedia" tor 18T9. 



aggregate of 20,107 tons, 5,459 horse-power, 

 an armament of 83 pieces of cannon, 224 naval 

 officers, and 1,686 seamen ; besides six marine 

 officers, commanding 389 marines. In the 

 above number of vessels were included six 

 mail-steamers chartered by the Government 

 until the end of the war, and equipped by their 

 owners. 



Touching the question of finances, the most 

 reliable information at hand is that derived 

 from President Pinto's message to the Chilian 

 Congress under date of June 1, 1881. The rev- 

 enue, ordinary and extraordinary, for the year 



1880, was in that document set down at $43,- 

 992,584, and the expenditure at $43,123,829; 

 the latter sum being only approximate, "inas- 

 much as, out of the extraordinary number of 

 accounts arising from the war, it is but natural 

 that many should still remain unsettled, the 

 amount of which is not precisely known ; as, 

 for instance, the outlays made by the legation 

 in France for military and naval supplies." The 

 ordinary revenue for the year referred to stood 

 at $27,992,584, while the total revenue, ordi- 

 nary and extraordinary, for 1879, was but $27,- 

 693,087. It is true that in the revenue for 

 1880 was included the sum of $2,500,000 de- 

 rived from an " accidental source " the re- 

 demption of annuities; and the proceeds of 

 the sales of nitrates, amounting to $4,000,000 

 up to October 2, 1880, after which time "this 

 latter source of income was replaced by the 

 export duty, which, besides being almost equal 

 in amount, possesses the advantage of facility 

 of collection without the inconveniences at- 

 tending mercantile operations." The Tarapacd 

 nitrates, just referred to, yielded considerable 

 sums to the Government, for account of which 

 they were worked until October 2, 1880, as 

 stated above, the sales having been effected 

 first by auction and afterward by British con- 

 signees. The working of the guano deposits 

 having been retarded by scarcity of laborers, 

 transactions in that commodity had been lim- 

 ited, the quantity exported up to June 1, 1880, 

 not having exceeded 40,000 tons. The guano 

 shipments were in accordance with the terms 

 of the decree issued by the commander-in- 

 chief of the army on February 22, 1880. In 

 conformity with the act of September 2, 1880, 

 all the stocks of the monopoly office had been 

 disposed of, and the offices established in its 

 stead were working satisfactorily. As, how- 

 ever, these offices were of a temporary char- 

 acter, the President announced his intention 

 of submitting a bill to Congress for their or- 

 ganization on a permanent basis. The issue 

 office had emitted, up to the middle of May, 



1881, $10,626,000, in exchange for a corre- 

 sponding amount in treasury notes. The total 

 value of notes issued, including the amount on 

 hand, was estimated at $12,000,000, which, 

 with $13,000,000 in bank-notes, constituted an 

 aggregate of $25,000,000 in circulation: an 

 amount of paper that might under ordinary 

 circumstances appear to be excessive, but 



