88 



CHILI. 



years by the indirect vote of the nation. Feclerico 

 Errazuriz was elected for the term ending Sept. 18, 

 1901. The Cabinet, constituted in September, 

 1899, was composed as follows: Prime Minister 

 and Minister of the Interior, Rafael Sotomayor; 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, Worship, and Colo- 

 ni/.ation, Kafael Errazuriz-Urmeneta : Minister of 

 Justice and Public Instruction, Francisco Her- 

 boso; Minister of Finance, Manuel Salines; Min- 

 ister of War and Marine, Carlos Concha. 



Area and Population. The area of Chili is 

 290,829 square miles according to the niost recent 

 estimate. The population on Jan. 1, 1899, was 

 estimated at 3,082,178. The estimated population 

 of Santiago, the capital, was 311,704; of Val- 

 paraiso, 140,262; of Concepcion, 51,781. Of a total 

 population of 2,712,145 enumerated in 1895, the 

 town population was 1,240,353 and the rural 

 1,471,792. The number of marriages in 1898 was 

 13,921; of births, 104,536; of deaths, 83,919; ex- 

 cess of births, 20,617. The number of immigrants 

 in 1897 was 870. The Government grants land 

 to immigrants, and money aid to the extent in 

 1898 of 616,890 pesos. 



Finances. The ordinary revenue in 1898 

 amounted to 88,472,693 pesos, and expenditure to 

 87,726,307 pesos. Including a balance of 28,939,594 

 pesos from the preceding year and 58,978,777 pesos 

 of loans, the total receipts were 176,391,064 pesos. 

 The total disbursements, including 11,968,077 pesos 

 of special expenditure, 14,415,715 pesos of extraor- 

 dinary military and naval expenditure, and 45,- 

 940,991 pesos of advances to banks and exceptional 

 expenditure for financial purposes, were 160,051,090 

 pesos. The ordinary revenue for 1899 was esti- 

 mated at 80,872,93*7 pesos in gold, of which 

 64,698,357 pesos were derived from customs and 

 16,174,580 pesos from premiums, and 19,700,000 

 pesos in paper. The estimated expenditures were 

 4,267 pesos in gold and 9,305,286 pesos in paper 

 by the Ministry of the Interior, 712,067 pesos in 

 gold and 512,140 pesos in paper by the Ministry 

 of Foreign Affairs, 5,000 pesos in gold and 631,138 

 pesos in paper for public worship, 527,300 pesos 

 in paper for colonization, 39,480 pesos in gold and 

 3,804,190 pesos in paper for justice, 28,406,994 pesos 

 in gold and 5,933,417 pesos in paper for public 

 instruction, 78,932 pesos in gold and 4,655,707 

 pesos in paper for finance, 13,185,156 pesos in 

 paper for the army, 9,053,739 pesos in paper for 

 the navy, 767,822 pesos in paper for industry, 

 4,323,786 pesos in paper for public works, and 

 12..~>56,892 pesos in paper for railroads; total, 

 29,246,740 pesos in gold and 65,259,573 pesos in 

 paper. The ordinary revenue for 1900, according 

 to the budget estimate, was 95,954,390 pesos in 

 paper, reckoning the premium on gold at 10 per 

 cent.; extraordinary revenue, 22,404,386 pesos; 

 making a total of 118,358,776 pesos in paper. The 

 estimated expenditure was 104,251,423 pesos in 

 paper. The chief source of revenue is the taxa- 

 tion imposed on the nitrate industry. The treaty 

 of Ancon, signed on Oct. 23, 1883, provided that 

 the Peruvian provinces of Tacna and Arica were 

 to be held by Chili for ten years, at the end of 

 \vhich a plebiscite was to be taken in the provinces 

 to determine their future ownership, the country 

 chosen by the people paying the other $10,000,000. 

 The financial difficulties of Peru have among other 

 reasons prevented the fulfillment of this clause of 

 the treaty. Some Peruvian politicians have been 

 willing t<> appeal to the United States to intervene 

 and compel chili to fulfill the terms of the treaty. 

 The duties collected by Chili from exports of salt- 

 peter and iodine froin Tarapaca since the occupa- 

 tion of the nitrate fields in 1879 and those which 

 may be collected during the next thirty-live years 



are estimated by a Peruvian diplomatist at 

 $2,350,000,000, and those collected and to be col- 

 lected in the Bolivian province of Antofagasta at 

 650,000,000. A convention for the purpose of 

 carrying out the plebiscite was signed at Santiago 

 on April 16, 1898, but new difficulties have since 

 arisen. 



The foreign debt on Dec. 31, 1898, amounted to 

 18,070,080 sterling, equal to 244,934,400 pesos, 

 paying 4$ and 5 per cent, interest, a small portion 

 even 6 per cent., the total interest charge being 

 965,455 or 12,872,733 pesos. The internal debt 

 amounted to 72,892,119 pesos. 



The Army and Navy. By the law of 1897 the 

 strength of the regular army is limited to 9,000 

 men, organized in 10 infantry, 8 cavalry, 5 artil- 

 lery, and 1 coast artillery regiments, the corps of 

 engineers, and invalid corps. The number of offi- 

 cers is 884. The infantry weapon is the Mauser 

 rifle. The navy consists of 5 armor clads, 2 second- 

 class and 2 third-class cruisers, 11 gunboats, 4 

 destroyers, and 15 first-class and 4 second-class 

 torpedo boats. 



Commerce and Production. Agriculture em- 

 ploys about half the population. Wheat is the 

 principal crop, but other cereals are grown as well 

 as vegetables and fruits in abundance. The nitrate 

 output in 1899 was 1,360,000 tons. In Valparaiso 

 and its environs are sugar mills, gas works, brew- 

 eries, machine shops, and other industrial estab- 

 lishments. The total value of imports in 1898 was 

 102,262,058 pesos, reckoning the peso at 37 cents; 

 exports, 168,069,431 pesos. The values of the prin- 

 cipal imports were 7,034,909 pesos for white cotton 

 goods, 3,301.720 pesos for cattle, 2.966,419 pesos 

 for bags and bagging, 2,696,201 pesos for machin- 

 ery, 2,395,453 pesos for oil, 2,195,335 pesos for 

 Japanese kimonas, 1,556,635 pesos for cassimeres, 

 1,457,808 pesos for candles, 1,347,106 pesos for tea, 

 and 407,053 pesos for wines. The export of nitrates 

 was valued at 90,675,297 pesos; copper bars, 

 20,600,103 pesos; copper concentrates, 861,999 pe- 

 sos; copper ore, 2,022,730 pesos; gold, 2,445,735 

 pesos; wheat, 7,696,460 pesos; beans, 1,163,211 

 pesos; nuts, 576,305 pesos. The exports of copper 

 ores in 1898 showed an advance over 1897, and in 

 1899 they were nearly 15,000 tons more than in 

 1898, amounting to 35,290 tons. Mines that were 

 closed have been reopened, new companies formed, 

 and more scientific and economical methods intro- 

 duced. Mining machinery is now turned out by 

 local foundries established by Englishmen. 



The trade with the chief foreign countries, val- 

 ued in pesos reckoned at 76.8 cents, was in 1897 

 as follows, the total imports for the year having 

 been 65,502,805 pesos and exports 64,754,133 pesos: 



Navigation. The number of vessels engaged 

 in foreign commerce entered at Chilian ports in 

 1897 was 1,734, of 3,140,760 tons; cleared, 1,628, 

 of 2,943,514 tons. The tonnage of coasting vessels 

 entered was 7,233,911. English and Chilian steam- 

 ers trade between Chilian ports and other parts of 

 the west coast of South America, and English, 

 < lorman, and French lines run between Chilian 

 and European ports. The commercial navy of 

 Chili consisted on Jan. 1, 1899, of 51 steamers, of 



