132 



CHILI. 



were allotted for mobilization, in case of need, 

 for that year. 



Navy. In 1884 the fleet was composed of the 

 following craft : 



There were, besides, five small steamers and 

 eleven torpedo-boats, and an additional gun- 

 boat in course of building. In January, 1884, 

 it was reported that Chili had given orders for 

 the construction of still another ironclad, to 

 cost $2,000,000. " Precisely what the purpose 

 of the Chilians, in making such important addi- 

 tions to their already respectable navy, may be, 

 is not very apparent. Their immediate enemies, 

 Peru and Bolivia, are reduced to such abject 

 extremities that they can scarcely be counted 

 upon in any conflict that may arise in the near 

 future. With no other powers have they any 

 questions likely to provoke war, unless it be 

 the United States, on account of the so-called 

 unwarrantable interference of the latter re- 

 cently in South American affairs. Such an idea 

 is, however, too huge a burlesque even for Chi- 

 lian national pride to consider." The Govern- 

 ment bill, referred to in the paragraph on the 

 army, proposed the limitation of the fleet to 

 two ironclads, one monitor, three corvettes, 

 three f gunboats, three transports, five hulks, 

 two dispatch-boats, and a corps of marines 800 

 strong. 



Education. The University of Santiago, with 

 faculties of law, medicine, mathematics, and the 

 fine arts, was attended, in 1882, by 920 stu- 

 dents; and the secondary school in connection 

 with it by 1,059. The aggregate attendance 

 at the 17 lyoeums in the provincial capitals 

 was 4,460. Besides the foregoing, there are 

 normal, agricultural, and other special schools. 

 The number of public primary schools in the 

 year mentioned was 703, with 54,470 pupils 

 enrolled, and an average attendange of 38,886; 

 and that of the private schools 405, with an 

 attendance of 15,106. The census of 1875 

 showed that more than half of the inhabitants 

 of the republic, adults and children, could nei- 

 ther read nor write. 



Finance. No more recent returns have been 

 published by this department than those given 

 in the "Annual Cyclopedia" for 1883. On 

 the occasion of the inauguration of the Na- 

 tional Exhibition at Santiago, on Oct. 26, 1884, 



the chairman of the Exhibition Committee, 

 Don Vicente Davila Larrain, said that, in the 

 nine months ended September 30th of that 

 year, the revenue was larger by $1,403,501 

 than in the corresponding period of 1883, and by 

 $3,310,123 than in 1882. The total yield of the 

 customs department in the first nine months 

 of 1884, 1883, and 1882, was $18,420,610, $17,- 

 027,109, and $15,120,487, respectively. In his 

 message to Congress, President Santa Maria 

 confirmed the announcement of a surplus of 

 $13,000,000 in the national treasury, and said 

 that a saving of $4,000,000 would be effected 

 in the current year (1884). These assurances, 

 however, could scarcely be expected to remove 

 from the public mind apprehensions of an im- 

 pending crisis. In November it was rumored 

 through the Chilian press that a loan of 2,- 

 000,000 was being negotiated by the Govern- 

 ment, the security offered being the proceeds 

 of the sale of 400,000 tons of guano for which 

 the Executive was then in treaty. By the 

 terms of the contract, it was added that ship- 

 ments were to begin within tliree months, and 

 not be less than 15,000 tons monthly ; 12,000 

 tons from the Lobos Islands and 3,000 from 

 Huanillos and Pabellon de Pica. Many believed 

 that by this means the crisis would be averted ; 

 while others regarded the contract as an error, 

 asserting that, as only half the proceeds of 

 the loan could be paid to Chili, it would hasten 

 the very financial troubles it was intended to 

 prevent. Again, the Congress, in November, 

 authorized the Executive to negotiate a loan of 

 6,000,000 in Europe, for the purpose of con- 

 solidating a portion of the foreign debt. 



The estimated revenue for 1883, inclusive of 

 the surplus of 1882, was $51,320,000, and the 

 expenditures $44,437,110, whence would re- 

 sult a surplus of $6,882,890. A native jour- 

 nalist made some important revelations con- 

 cerning the financial state of Chili in connec- 

 tion with the industries of the country, and 

 particularly that of mining. " The abolition of 

 oppressive export duties on metals (he observes) 

 has come to be a measure of urgent necessity, 

 owing to the depressed condition of our cop- 

 per - mining interests. The production of the 

 Chilian mines, which formerly represented two 

 thirds of all the copper in the world, is now 

 rapidly declining, while that of other coun- 

 tries, particularly Spain and the United States, 

 is growing apace. Not only do we sell less, 

 owing to competition, but our copper brings a 

 very much lower price than in the prosperous 

 days of that industry. Had the fortune of arms 

 not given us the niter regions, and if niter did 

 not figure as an element of our commerce, Chi- 

 lian exports would now be inferior in value to 

 those of the years preceding the crisis of 1877 

 and 1878. In 1876 they were of the value of 

 $37,848,506, gold ; and in 1882, exclusive of 

 niter and iodine, $36,345,683, paper money. 

 But for the niter our situation would be the 

 reverse of brilliant ; and this is chiefly due to 

 the decline in the production and depreciation 



