122 



CHILI. 



owing to the recent death of the President of 

 Peru, and to subsequent disturbances, the ques- 

 tion as to the future ownership of the provinces 

 was postponed. 



General Election. The elections for Con- 

 gress were held in the beginning of March, 1894. 

 The last Congress was composed of 31 Conserva- 

 tives, 26 Liberals, 22 Radicals, and 21 Balmace- 

 lists in the Chamber, and 11 Conservatives, 7 

 Liberals, 5 Radicals, and 8 Balmacedists in the 

 Senate. Of the Liberals, 6 in the Chamber and 

 1 in the Senate were Nationalists, former mem- 

 bers of the party led by President Montt and 

 now following Pedro Montt, who agreed in gen- 

 eral policy with the Conservatives, except that 

 they were anti-Clerical. The Radicals were ex- 

 tremo in their views on the subject of any in- 

 fluence exercised by the Church. The Balmace- 

 dists were also hostile to the Church, and in 

 many things agreed with the Liberals, but as 

 supporters of the late President held aloof from 

 tin-in. In fact, they were forcibly repressed, 

 many of their leaders being exiles or in prison. 

 Only a month before election Balmacedists were 

 arrested, or fled to escape imprisonment. The 

 Conservatives were the party of the landholders, 

 the clergy, the wealthy classes, and the foreign- 

 ers who exploit the nitrate beds and other re- 

 sources of the country, and as such they op- 

 posed Balmaceda ? s policy of developing popular 

 education and democratic government and cur- 

 tailing grants to foreign corporations. The 

 Cabinet was the result of a coalition between the 

 Liberals and the Radicals, and was generally 

 Mipported by the Balmacedists. 



The elections were entirely tranquil. The 

 Balmacedists, who formed coalitions with the 

 Liberals, developed unexpected strength, and 

 the result was the defeat of the reactionary ele- 

 ments. The Cabinet resigned, and on April 3 

 one was formed by Senor Reyes, containing 

 S.-fiors Fortecilla, Mac Iver, Errazuriz, Ganda- 

 rillas, and Gen. Valdes, all Liberals or Radicals. 

 The President rejected their programme, and it 

 was not till April 26 that a satisfactory Cabinet 

 was organized by Dr. Mac Iver as follow: Pre- 

 mier and Minister of the Interior, Enrique Mac 

 Iver; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mariano San- 

 ehey, Fortecilla; Minister of Justice, Federico 

 Krrazuriz ; Minister of Finance, Carlos Riesco ; 

 .Minister of Public Works, Manuel Prieto; Min- 

 Hter of War and the Navy, Manuel Aldunate 

 Buscunan. 



Among the proposals contained in the mes- 



to Congress, which began its session on 



. I nnc 1, was one for the reduction of freight 



rates lor the purpose of stimulating foreign 



tra<le in national products, although the rates 



had I n lowered already to the point where 



railroad receipts would barely cover running ex- 

 p-nscs, leaving nothing for profit or even for 

 necessary repairs. The Government proposed 

 to Mop collecting customs duties in gold, 

 and asked for a bill guaranteeing bank issues, 

 which was a part of the plan of resumption. 

 Another feature of its policy was the promotion 

 of colonization by opening public lands, of which 

 1,482,000 acres remained unsold, deducting 

 mountains and swamps and :!:'">, 000 acres needed 

 for an Indian reservation. The navy needed 

 renewal, but the President could not recommend 



CHINA. 



appropriations for that purpose in view of the 

 necessity for economy. The Talcahuano dock, 

 costing over $2,500,0*00, gold value, would be 

 completed before the end of the year. 



CHINA, an empire in eastern Asia. The Gov- 

 ernment is an absolute monarchy, hereditary 

 since 1644 in the Manchu or Tsing dynasty. 

 The reigning sovereign, who was proclaimed Jan. 

 22, 1875, under the style of Kwangsu, signifying 

 " Continuation of Splendor," was born Aug. 2, 

 1872, and assumed the government after his mar- 

 riage, in February, 1889. He is the son of Prince 



THE EMPEROR OP CHINA. 



Chun, the seventh son of the Emperor Tarkwang 

 and the adoptive son of the Empress Dowager, 

 his aunt, who was co-Regent from 1861 till 1881, 

 then Empress Regent till March 4, 1889, and has 

 since had a great influence over public affairs. 

 The head of the Tsung-yen-f u or Ministry of the 

 Imperial Household in the beginning of 1894 was 

 Prince Li ; Secretaries of State in the Chun-Chi- 

 Chu or Grand Council, Shito and Prince Li ; mem- 

 bers of the Nui-ko or Cabinet, Li-Hung-Chang, 

 Olehopu, Fukun, and Chang-Chi-Wan ; Minister 

 of War, Olehopu ; Chief of the Tsungli-Yamen 

 or Foreign Office, Prince Ching. 



Area and Population. The estimated area 

 of the 19 provinces of China proper is 1,336,841 

 square miles. The population is estimated at 

 349,250,000 by one authority, by another at 386,- 

 000,000, by others still higher. Manchuria has 

 about 362,310 square miles of area, and 7,500,000 

 inhabitants. The area of Tibet is 651,500 square 

 miles, with a population estimated variously from 

 1,500,000 to 6,000,000. Mongolia is estimated to 

 have an area of 1,288,000 square miles, with 

 2,000,000 population. The subject countries 

 have an area of 1,823,000 square miles, and about 

 3,500,000 inhabitants. The number of foreigners 

 residing in the treaty ports at the end of 1892 

 was 9,945, of whom 3,919 were British subjects, 

 1,312 Americans, 1,087 Japanese, 862 French, 732 

 Germans, 659 Portuguese, and 315 Spaniards. 



The Army. The Army of the Eight Banners, 

 or Manchu army, is the ancient military corps 



