CHILI. 



133 



in the value of our copper, as the result of com- 

 petition. The abolition of export duties on 

 inetals would afford a degree of relief to our 

 mining industry and enable it to grapple with 

 the competition of other countries. To the 

 exhaustion of the large and rich mineral beds, 

 and the fall in the price of copper brought 

 about by competition, has been superadded an 

 increase in the cost of exploitation, to the very 

 great detriment of our mining industry. The 

 price of labor, by territorial extension both 

 north and south, rather than as a result of 

 war, and by the increased activity which the 

 country's prosperity has infused into all branch- 

 es of industry, is considerably enhanced ; the 

 price of coal has risen to such an extent that 

 it is now quoted at figures almost double those 

 of four years ago; and these circumstances 

 add to the expense of production, while prices 

 at the same time are declining. By doing 

 away with the export duties and modifying the 

 excessive import duties on certain commodi- 

 ties required for mining, that industry, of such 

 paramount importance to Chili, may in a meas- 

 ure be raised from its present prostration, and 

 any slight decrease of revenue occasioned at 

 first by these measures, will soon be compen- 

 sated by the increased consumption of other 

 articles of import which will necessarily fol- 

 low upon the revival of our mining inter- 

 ests." 



National Debt. The national debt of Chili, on 

 Jan. 1, 1883, was officially stated at $91,416,- 

 385, or $45 per capita of the population, as fol- 

 lows: 



Foreign debt (payable in gold) $34,870,000* 



Home debt 14,342,450 



Paper money 28,000,000 



Other floating debt 14,203,935 



Total national debt $91,416,385 



The annual charge of the debt in 1882 was 

 $6,891,955, or $3.12 per capita of the popula- 

 tion. The exports m 1882 were $30.34 per cap- 

 ita; the imports, $22.44; the exports and im- 

 ports, $52.78. About $10,000,000 of the for- 

 eign debt is funded at 6 and 7 per cent, inter- 

 est; about $20,000,000, at 5 per cent. ; and the 

 rest at 3 and 4 per cent. A small portion of 

 the home debt is at 9 per cent., but the major 

 part at 6 per cent. 



Commerce. The foreign commerce of the re- 

 public has materially increased within the past 

 five years, but the growth is due rather to the 

 acquisition of new export staples, as before re- 

 marked, than to progressive development or 

 her own natural resources. Peruvian guano- 

 beds, and the nitrate deposits of Peru and Bo- 

 livia, have furnished her with new sources ot 

 wealth. The quantity of nitrate exported from 

 Taltat, Antofagasta, Tocopilla, Iquique, and 

 Pisagua in 1882 was 25*36 per cent, of what it 

 was in 1881. The quantities and values are 

 exhibited in the following table : 



* As already expressed, the Executive was authorized, in 

 November, 1884, to negotiate a loan of 6,000,000 for the 

 consolidation of this debt. 



On comparing the foregoing sum $28,699,- 

 264 with that of the table -of general exports 

 as given below, it will be seen that the nitrate 

 represents more than two fifths of the total 

 value of the whole Chilian exports for the year 

 mentioned. In the exportation of guamo there 

 was a falling off of 43 "40 per cent, as compared 

 with 1881, owing to the circumstance that 

 shipments of Mejillones guano were made from 

 Antofagasta only. 



The destination and values of the Chilian ex- 

 ports, and sources and values of the imports 

 for the years 1881 and 1882, were as shown in 

 the subjoined tables: 



To these totals should be added the value of 

 the provisions exported in 1881, $1,229,835, 

 and in 1882, $1,276,220, which will bring the 

 total values of the exports for the two years to 

 $60,525,859 and $71,209,605 respectively : 



Of the total value of the exports for 1882, 

 mining products of all kinds stood for $57,055,- 

 681, of which amount Great Britain, Chili's 

 largest purchaser, took $47,058,096, with agri- 

 cultural products of the value of $5,645,521, or 

 nearly two thirds of the total quantity ex- 

 ported. The chief buyers of bar copper and 

 bar silver were Great Britain, France, and 

 Germany. The total value of the copper was 

 $14,776,677, and of the silver, $3,986,953, and 



