CHILE. 



107 



struction, Manuel E. Ballesteros; Minister of 

 Finance, Juan E. Sanfuentes; Minister of War 

 and Marine, Beltran Mathieu; Minister of Indus- 

 try and Public Works, Ismael Tocornal. 



Area and Population. The area of Chile is 

 estimated at 290,829 square miles. The popula- 

 tion on Nov. 28, 1895, was 2,712,145, being 9.6 

 to the square mile. On Jan. 1, 1901, the popula- 

 tion was estimated at 3,128,095. That of San- 

 tiago, the capital, was estimated at 291,725; of 

 Valparaiso, 135,674. The number of marriages in 

 1900 was 13,331; of births, 110,697; of deaths, 

 106,812; excess of births, 3,885. The immigration 

 was 1,031. 



Finances. The revenue in 1900 was 103,965,- 

 030 pesos, and the expenditure 104,730,054. For 

 1902 the revenue was estimated at 96,950,000 

 pesos, of which 48,000,000 pesos are derived from 

 duties on nitrates, 400,000 pesos from the duty 

 on iodin, 26,000,000 pesos from import duties, 

 1,400,000 pesos from posts and telegraphs, 800,- 

 000 pesos from custom-house storage, 4,000,000 

 pesos from treasury receipts, 15,000,000 pesos 

 from railroads, 500,000 pesos from stamps, and 

 850,000 pesos from other sources. The expendi- 

 ture was estimated at 95,850,000 pesos, of which 

 19,625,458 pesos were for finance, 13,033,481 pesos 

 for the army, 11,120,326 pesos for the navy, 

 11,585,327 pesos for the interior, 19,875,624 pesos 

 for railroads, 8,986,645 pesos for education, 5,370,- 

 468 pesos for justice, 1,698,500 pesos for public 

 works, and 4,554,171 pesos for other purposes. 



The foreign debt of Chile on Jan. 1, 1901, was 

 17,230,680, equal to 229,742,400 pesos, and the 

 internal debt amounted to 75,826,488 pesos. The 

 foreign loans pay 4J and 5 per cent. To keep 

 pace with the Argentine Republic in armaments 

 Chile had a harder task to perform than the rival 

 state. In 1901 the price of Chilean bonds de- 

 clined from 5 to 8 per cent, in the London market 

 and an attempt to place a new loan of 3,000,000 

 was unsuccessful. New York financiers were 

 equally obdurate. The Tarapaca nitrate fields, 

 from which Chile derives 60 per cent, of the 

 public revenue, will be exhausted in twenty or 

 thirty years. In 1898, three years after the adop- 

 tion of the single gold standard, the Government 

 found itself in such financial straits that it is- 

 sued 50,000,000 pesos of new paper money, of 

 which 20,000,000 pesos were lent to the banks to 

 relieve the money crisis. In order to withdraw 

 the paper money at the end of four years a new 

 loan of 4,000,000 was obtained in England. In 

 November, 1901, the period for the redemption of 

 papeK money in gold was prolonged two years. 



The Army. Compulsory military service was 

 introduced* by the law of Sept. 5, 1900, which de- 

 dares .every Chilean liable to serve nine months 

 with the colors from the age of twenty, and 

 afterward nine years in the first and fifteen years 

 in the second reserve. The number enrolled as 

 fit for service in 1901 was 400,397. Of 41,114 

 subject to be called into the active service 11.500 

 were drafted into the army, which numbered in 

 all 17,385 men. The number of officers was 868. 

 The infantry weapon is the Mauser rifle made 

 after a Chilean model. The cavalry have car- 

 bines of the same pattern. The artillery use 

 Krupp rapid-fire guns. 



The Navy. The Chilean navy consists of 5 

 armored vessels, 4 cruisers, 11 gunboats, 4 de- 

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

 torpedo-boats. The belted cruiser O'Higgins, 

 launched in England in 1896, has 7 inches of 

 armor on the hull, a displacement of 8,500 tons, a 

 speed of 21 knots with engines of 16,000 horse- 

 power, and a powerful armament consisting of 4 



8-inch guns mounted in barbettes, 10 6-inch 

 quick-firing guns in casemates, and 10 3-inch and 

 10 six-pounder quick-firers. The armored cruifier 

 Esmeralda, also English-built and launched in 

 the same year, displacing 7,030 tons, can make 

 23 knots with engines of 18,000 horse-power, and 

 carries 2 8-inch guns, 12 6-inch quick-firers, 4 4.7- 

 inch, 8 3-inch, and numerous lighter ones. The 

 Blanco Encalada, an unarmored cruiser of 4,420 

 tons, launched in 1893, carries 2 8-inch guns and 

 10 6-inch and many smaller quick-firers, and is 

 capable of making 22 knots with engines of 14,- 

 500 horse-power. The Ministro Zenteno, of 3,600 

 tons, a 20-knot cruiser, launched in 1896, carries 

 8 6-inch and 14 smaller quick-firers. The other 

 vessels are older except the destroyers, built in 

 England in 1896, and all capable of going 30 

 knots or faster. 



Commerce and Production. More than half 

 the people of Chile are agricultural. The coun- 

 try produces cereals in large quantities. There 

 are 10,000 acres in vineyards, producing wine of 

 good quality. Excellent fruits are raised, and 

 vegetables of many kinds. About 500,000 cattle 

 and 2,000,000 sheep and goats are reared each 

 year. The exports of barley in 1900 were 24,063 

 metric tons; of wheat, 9,440 tons; of merino 

 wool, 1,480 tons; of ordinary wool, 2,300 tons. 

 More important are the mineral products, espe- 

 cially the copper and the nitrates of Atacama and 

 Tarapaca. In 1900 there were 25,178 metric tons 

 of metallic copper and 20,210 tons of ore export- 

 ed. The production of gold in 1900 was 1,871 

 kilograms; of silver, 45,438 kilograms. The 

 quantity of manganese ore exported in that year 

 was 25,715 metric tons; of cobalt, 25 tons; of 

 borate of lime, 13,175 tons; of coal, 325,042 tons; 

 of guano, 34,435 tons. The nitrate deposits cover 

 89,177 hectares and are estimated to contain 231,- 

 600,000 tons. The production was 1,490,000 tons 

 in 1900 and 1,263,000 tons in 1901. The produc- 

 tion of iodin was 193 tons. 



The total value of imports in 1900 was 128,538,- 

 142 pesos; of exports, 167,674,635 pesos. The im- 

 ports of coal were 13,494,960 pesos in value; of 

 sugar, 6,518,105 pesos; of cotton goods, 6,047,201 

 pesos; of oils, 3,480,856 pesos; of sacks, 2,983,084 

 pesos; of woolen suitings, 2,973,401 pesos; of 

 chintzes, 2,911,745 pesos; of flannels, 2,757,798 

 pesos; of paper, 2,668,667 pesos; of iron, 2,484,- 

 562 pesos; of cattle, 2,290,074 pesos; of drugs, 

 2.192,365 pesos; of coffee, 1,862,725 pesos; of rice, 

 1,474,869 pesos. The exports of niter were 109.- 

 945,156 pesos in value; of copper, 19,834,365 

 pesos; of iodin, 4,043,172 pesos; of coal, 3,900,460 

 pesos; of gold, 2,806,608 pesos; of silver, 2,499,- 

 116 pesos; of leather, 2,348,053 pesos; of copper 

 ore, 2,021,267 pesos; of barley, 1,472,061 pesos; 

 of wool, 1,465,883 pesos; of guano, 1,377,400 

 pesos; of borate, 1,317,676 pesos; of wheat, 944,- 

 075 pesos; of manganese ore, 761,406 pesos. The 

 value of mineral products exported was 151,626,- 

 206 pesos; of agricultural products, 14,704,822 

 pesos; of reexports, 1,343,607 pesos. The value 

 in pesos of the trade with different countries in 

 1900 is given in the following table: 



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