CHILI. 



CHINA. 



135 



the three months ending Dec. 31, 1883, were 

 $113,150, against $110,224 for the correspond- 

 ing term of 1882, the corresponding net profits 

 having been $65,353 and $66,004, respectively. 

 The net profits for the six months ending Dec. 

 31, 1883, were $120,416, against $115,803 for 

 the same months in 1882. The traffic receipts 

 of the Copiapo Railway for the quarter ending 

 Dec. 31, 1883, were $161,467, against $162,584 

 for the same months in 1882 ; and the corre- 

 sponding net profits, $64,257 and $78,510, re- 

 spectively. The net profits for the two years 

 mentioned were $284,767 and $319,298. 



Telegraphy. The telegraph statistics for 1884 

 were as follows : Total length of lines, 12,430 

 miles; number of offices, 131; number of dis- 

 patches, 423,705 ; receipts, $378,749. Of the 

 offices, 115 belonged to the Government, with 

 5,590 miles of the lines. 



Post^Office. The Post-Office statistics for 

 1883 were given as follow : Number of offices, 

 343 ; number of letters transmitted, 19,204,- 

 097; samples, 19,950; legal documents, 13,- 

 786 ; official dispatches, 493,572 ; newspapers, 

 11,046,534: total, 21,777,939 packages. Re- 

 ceipts, $378,749. Differential rates of inland 

 postage still exist in Chili, as in most of the 

 other Spanish- American republics. The time 

 has arrived for a uniform rate of two cents 

 per half-ounce for letter-postage, and the Chi- 

 lian press has began to urge the importance 

 of this reform. Experience has shown, par- 

 ticularly in the United Kingdom and in the 

 United States, that a uniform and low rate, 

 far from prejudicial, has proved advantageous 

 to the revenue; and there is reason to sup- 

 pose that a similar system would be attend- 

 ed by like good results in Chili and else- 

 where. Again, letters in Chili, besides post- 

 age, are subject to a delivery-tax, in some 

 cases even higher than the original cost of 

 transmission by mail. For instance, a letter 

 costing, say, ten cents for conveyance from 

 England to Valparaiso, costs five cents for de- 

 livery to any part of the city, or one half the 

 amount paid for its transmission 10,000 miles 

 by sea ! A letter from any other province to 

 Valparaiso costs ten cents additional for de- 

 livery there ; but a letter from any part of the 

 department of Valparaiso to the city pays but 

 two cents postage, yet the receiver is subjected 

 to a delivery-tax of five cents. 



Politics. The question of the separation of 

 church and state has again been mooted in 

 Chili, and gave place to an interesting debate 

 in the Chamber of Deputies in September. A 

 large majority of the members were agreed as 

 to the desirability of the separation of the spir- 

 itual and temporal powers, but they differed 

 widely with respect to the manner of effect- 

 ing the disunion ; the Government and a large 

 majority of the House being in favor of a grad- 

 ual separation, while some urged the expedi- 

 ency of the separation at a single stroke. Such 

 is the only important question of a purely na- 

 tional character that occupied the legislative 



body in 1884. It gave rise to warm discus- 

 sion in ecclesiastical and political circles, but 

 the people looked on unmoved and apparently 

 unconcerned as to the issue. The opinion of 

 the press was, that the reform, though prob- 

 ably still to be postponed for years, would 

 eventually be effected, and that without caus- 

 ing any excitement or giving ground for 

 alarm. 



lIIIjVA, an empire in Asia, officially called 

 Chung Kwoh (" The Middle Kingdom "). The 

 Government is organized an patriarchal prin- 

 ciples laid down in the books of Confucius and 

 other ancient sacred writings. The Emperor 

 has supreme despotic power, but for more than 

 twenty years there have been minors on the 

 throne, except during Tungche's reign of a 

 year; and during this period a regency has 

 directed affairs. The Grand Secretariat, con- 

 sisting of two Manchu and two Chinese mem- 

 bers, with two under- secretaries and ten sub- 

 ordinates, has the duty of placing public mat- 

 ters before the Regent for decision. The office 

 of Grand Secretary confers the highest official 

 rank, and is usually coupled with one of the 

 highest posts in the public service, perhaps at 

 a distance from the capital. Another body, 

 called the Grand Council, consisting usually of 

 four members, performs the duties of a privy 

 council, and exercises a greater influence in the 

 conduct of affairs. There are six boards of 

 administration which have charge respectively 

 of the civil service, finance, ceremonies, the 

 army, justice, and public works. There is a 

 Court of Censors, which, in conjunction with 

 the Board of Justice, or Punishments, consti- 

 tutes the highest judicial tribunal. The doctors 

 of the Hanlin, or Academy, draw up important 

 state papers in classical form, and collect the 

 records of the dynasty. The Li Fan Yuen, an 

 important ministry, always filled by Manchus 

 and Mongols, attends to the relations with 

 tributary states. The Tsungli Yamen, founded 

 in 1861, has charge of foreign affairs. 



The provinces of Pechili and Szechuen are 

 each governed by a governor-general, or vice* 

 roy. There is a viceroy over the Liang Kwang, 

 or two Kwang provinces of Kwangtung and 

 Kwangsi; one over Kiangsi, Kiangsu, and 

 Anwhui, called the Viceroy of the Liang Kiang ; 

 one over Fuhkien and Chekiang, the Viceroy 

 of Min Cheh ; one over Yunnan and Kwei- 

 chow ; one over Kansuh and Shensi ; one over 

 Hupeh and Hunan, the Viceroy of Houkwang. 

 Each of these provinces, except three, is admin- 

 istered by a governor, subordinate to the vice- 

 roy. The provinces of Shansi, Honan, and 

 Shantung are directed by independent gov- 

 ernors. In 18T5 the ancient military govern- 

 ment of Manchuria, which had fallen into des- 

 uetude, was finally abolished, and the province 

 placed under a viceroy, called the Viceroy of 

 Shenking. In 1884 Chinese Turkistan was 

 also organized as a province. Since 1877 For- 

 mosa has been a governorship. The Adminil 

 of the Yangtsze-Kiang has the rank and title 



