CHILE 



1335 



CHILE 



out the republic, Tribunals of First Instance 

 in department capitals and smaller courts in 

 districts. There are two central prisons, twenty- 

 four penitentiaries, eighty other prisons, be- 

 sides houses of correction, reformatories and 



ENSIGN 



Horizontal lines, blue ; perpendicular lines, 

 red ; plain surface, white. 



public hospitals, lunatic asylums, shelters and 

 dispensaries. 



Affairs of state are still largely controlled by 

 great landholders; and the Roman Catholic 

 Church, which is the state Church and sustained 

 at public expense, is also powerful. Other 

 churches, however, are tolerated. 



Cities. The chief cities, which look like mod- 

 ern business towns, with their trolley cars and 

 attractive shops, are the capital, Santiago; Val- 

 paraiso, the most important seaport of the west 

 coast of South America; Concepcion, a seaport 

 about 300 miles south of Valparaiso ; Coquimbo, 

 in the iron-ore district; Iquique, the port of 

 export trade in the nitrate section; Nuble, 

 Cautin, Valdivia, Aconcagua and Talca. The 

 most important of these are described under 

 their individual titles in these volumes. 



History. The real conquest of Chile began 

 under the direction of Valdivia in 1540. For 

 more than two centuries the brave and intelli- 

 gent Araucanians struggled against the Spanish 

 power. The history of Chile from the suc- 

 cessful revolution of 1817-1818, which over- 

 threw the Spanish domination, has been for the 

 most part orderly and progressive. San Mar- 

 tin and O'Higgins were the outstanding heroes 

 of the short war for independence. The his- 

 tory of Chile is of interest to both Americas, 

 for it is connected with both the northern and 

 southern continents. The Battle of Valparaiso 

 was a naval conflict (March 28, 1814) of the 

 War of 1812, between the United States and 

 Great Britain, in which Commodore David 



Porter's famous battleship Essex was destroyed 

 by British ships outside of Valparaiso harbor. 



The valuable deposits of nitrate in Northern 

 Chile caused many boundary disputes. Begin- 

 ning in 1843, the question of the Argentina 

 boundary menaced peaceful relations, until in 

 1881 a treaty was signed. But even after that, 

 rumors of war caused a disturbed condition 

 in both countries until 1902. A remarkable 

 statue of Christ was erected in the heart of 

 the Andes, on the boundary between the two 

 countries, to celebrate ultimate peace. (There 

 is an illustration of this monument under the 

 title ARGENTINA.) 



In 1865 Chile and Peru were forced into a 

 war with Spain; but through the intervention 

 of the United States hostilities were ended in 

 1869, and peace was established in 1879. Then 

 war commenced with Bolivia and Peru, and in 

 that conflict the Chileans showed the excellence 

 of their navy, which they have kept at a high 

 standard ever since. In that war Chile added 

 to its possessions the territories of Antofagasta 

 and Tarapaca. 



From 1833 to 1873 there were but four Presi- 

 dents of Chile, and each served for two terms, 

 or ten years. In 1873 the constitution was 

 liberalized by amendments. In 1891 President 

 Balmaceda opposed the Congress of the nation, 

 was defeated in arms and committed suicide. 

 In the same year there was a serious conflict 

 at Valparaiso between some United States 

 sailors and a crowd of Chileans; there was also 

 a controversy between the governments of the 

 two nations as to certain acts of the Chilean 

 warship Itata. Both matters were adjusted 

 diplomatically, and a spirit of friendship be- 

 tween the two republics has steadily grown 

 with increasing intimacy of relations between 

 them. Chile is one of the "A B C" powers 

 (Argentina, Brazil and Chile) which offered to 

 mediate in 1915 between Mexico and the 

 United States. H.M.S. 



Other Items of Interest. Chile has the 

 southernmost city in the world Punta Arenas. 



Chile is not made up of states, as is the 

 United States, Argentina or Brazil, but is a 

 single state under a single government. For 

 governmental purposes it is divided into prov- 

 inces. 



At least one-fourth of the territory of Chile 

 is composed of islands. One of these, Easter 

 Island, is more than two thousand miles from 

 Chile, almost in the center of the Pacific Ocean. 



In the southernmost part of Chile is found 

 the remnant of a primitive race, the Yaghans. 



