122 



CHILI. 



The navy in January, 1890, comprised 3 iron- 

 clad battle ships, 1 deck-protected cruiser, 2 tor- 

 pedo cruisers, 3 corvettes, 3 rams, 2 transports, 2 

 gunboats, and 10 first-class and 2 second-class 

 torpedo boats. The " Almirante Cochrane " and 

 the " Blanco Encalada " were built in England, 

 by Sir. E. J. Reed, in 1874 and 1875, and each 

 had a displacement of 3,500 tons, engines of 

 2,900 horse-power, and compound armor 9 inches 

 at the water line, and could steam 12 knots an 

 hour. The armament of the former consisted of 

 6 12^-ton guns mounted in a central battery^ 

 and that of the latter of 4 18-ton and 2 7^-ton 

 guns, in a casemate covered with 8-inch com- 

 pound plates. The third ironclad isthe"Hu- 

 ascar," built in 1865, and captured from Peru 

 in the war of 1879, having 2,000 tons displace- 

 ment, 1,050 horse-power, 4|-inch armor at the 

 water line, and 2 12-ton guns mounted in a tur- 

 ret, protected by 5^-inch armor, besides 2 40- 

 Eounders. The protected cruiser " Esmeralda," 

 uilt by Armstrong, in 1883, is of 2,810 tons 

 displacement, with 1-inch armor on her convex 

 deck running down below the water line, 6,500- 

 horse engines, a speed of 18J knots, a cruising 

 radius of 2,200 miles at 10 knots speed, and an 

 armament of 2 25-ton breech-loaders and 6 4-ton 

 guns, besides machine guns and 3 torpedo tubes. 

 The "Almirante Lynch" and the "Almirante 

 Condell," twin torpedo cruisers of 750 tons, are 

 reputed to be able to make 21 knots an hour 

 and to carry coal for a cruise of 2,700 miles. 

 Besides automatic torpedoes, they carry 3 14- 

 pounder and 4 3-pounder rapid-firing guns. 

 The other vessels are of old types, including the 

 " O'Higgins " and the " Chacabuco," wooden ves- 

 sels of 1,100 tons ; the " Magallanes " and the 

 " Pilcomayo," of 800 and 600 tons respectively, 

 built of wood and iron ; and the " Abtao," also a 

 composite ship, of 1,050 tons, all slow, and 

 armed with light guns. In 1890 the personnel 

 of the navy comprised 5 rear-admirals, 59 cap- 

 tains, 27 lieutenants, 160 other officers, and 1,609 

 sailors. There were 90 cadets in the naval 

 academy at Valparaiso. The " Presidente Pinto " 

 and the " Presidente Errazuriz," steel deck- 

 protected cruisers of 2,080 tons, with wood and 

 copper sheathing, calculated to steam 19 knots 

 and carry coal for a voyage of 4,500 miles, and 

 each intended to carry 4 6-inch and 2 4^-inch 

 Armstrong breech-loaders, 10 rapid-fire and 

 machine guns, and 3 tubes for Whitehead torpe- 

 does, were then building in France. The " Capi- 

 tan Pratt," a steel armor-clad of 6,000 tons, de- 

 signed to steam 17 knots, was in a less advanced 

 stage, and another deck-armored cruiser of 4,500 

 tons and two torpedo gunboats were begun. 



Production and Commerce. The majority 

 of the population follow agriculture. The 

 wheat crop averages 21,000,000 bushels. The 

 annual wine product amounts to 24,000,000 

 gallons. The country is rich in valuable min- 

 erals, producing an average of 750,000 tons 

 of nitrates, 40,000 tons of copper, and consider- 

 able quantities of silver and gold. The total 

 value of the imports in 1889 was 65,090,013 pesos, 

 of which 10,887,636 pesos represent textile man- 

 ufactures, 6,766,985 pesos stand for sugar, 5,083,- 

 715 pesos for cattle, 2,992,905 pesos for coal, 2,- 

 895,630 pesos for manufactures of iron, 1,415,246 

 pesos for bagging, 870,194 pesos for timber, 817,- 



940 pesos for tea, and 793,425 pesos for wine. The 

 exports of mineral products amounted to 56.- 

 452,089 pesos; agricultural products, 7,481,478 

 pesos; specie, 794,017 pesos; manufactures, 52.966 

 pesos ; various products, 55,453 pesos ; re-exports, 

 1,127,097 pesos. The values exported of the staple 

 articles were as follow: Nitre, 36,387,210 pesos, 

 against 33,866,196 in 1888 and 28,690,970 in 

 1887; bar copper, 5,689.329 pesos, against 13,- 

 878,439 in 1888 and 6,993,137 in 1887; silver, 

 4,906.791 pesos, against 7,723,957 in 1888 and 

 8,291,920 in 1887; wheat, 2,915,215 pesos, against 

 4,548,729 in 1888 and 5,663,333 in 1887. Of the 

 total imports in 1889, the port of Valparaiso re- 

 ceived 45,752,290 pesos; Iquique, 5,575,521 pesos; 

 Talcahuana, 4,974,425 pesos ; and the rest passed 

 through Coquimbo, Antofagasta, Pisagua, and 

 Coronel. Of the total exports, Iquique shipped 

 22,896,805 pesos; Pisagua, 15,536,174 pesos; Val- 

 paraiso, 9,691,920 pesos ; and the other ports be- 

 tween 2,000,000 and 4,000,000 pesos each. The 

 exports to Great Britain amounted to 56.898.407 

 pesos ; to Germany, 4,751,990 pesos ; to France, 

 4,295,055 pesos ; to the United States, 2,070,304,- 

 694 pesos; to Peru, 2,071,304 pesos. In 1888 the 

 imports from Great Britain were 26,351,141 pesos 

 in value ; from Germany, 14,046,577 pesos ; from 

 France, 6,181,513 pesos ; from the United States, 

 3,133,173 pesos ; from Peru, 4,345,497 pesos. 



Nayigation. The number of vessels of over 

 100 tons in the Chilian commercial marine on 

 Jan. 1, 1890, was 152, of the aggregate burden 

 of 102,391 tons, and of these 29, of 30,934 tons, 

 were steamers. During 1889 there were 11,109 

 vessels, of 9,723,998 tons, entered, and 11,286, of 

 10,174,173 tons, cleared, at all the ports. Of these, 

 about 40 per cent, were Chilian, 30 per cent. Brit- 

 ish, and 30 per cent, of other nationalities. Eng- 

 lish, French, and German steamers run between 

 Chilian ports and Europe by way of Cape Horn, 

 and English and Chilian lines along the Pacific 

 coast northward. 



Communications. The first railroads in 

 South America were built in Chili by American 

 engineers. The aggregate mileage open in 1890 

 was 1,700, of which 670 miles, built at a cost of 

 48,247,398 pesos, were, state property. The tele- 

 graph system embraced 13,730 miles, the state 

 owning 8,000 miles, over which 603,628 messages 

 were dispatched in 1889. The postal traffic con- 

 sisted of 17,606,056 letters and 24,715,629 news- 

 papers and circulars. 



Constitutional Conflict. The Chilian Con- 

 stitution, adopted in 1833, was copied from that 

 of the United States. The social organization 

 of the country was rather feudalistic than demo- 

 cratic. The owners of the soil and of the mines, 

 descendants of the Spanish conquerors, consti* 

 tuted an oligarchy which for many years ruled 

 in accordance with its aristocratic predilections 

 and the views of the clergy, under the name of 

 the Partido Conservador or Conservative party. 

 The clash with modern ideas and rivalry between 

 leaders led to revolutionary outbreaks in the 

 middle of the century, which ended in the tri- 

 umph of a form of Liberalism that was far from 

 satisfactory to the Radicals, and a period of 

 quiet progress succeeded under the rigorous ad- 

 ministration of President Montt and his minis- 

 ter, Varas. The Constitution was revised in 

 1874, and some belated reforms were introduced 



