THE NITRATE FIELDS OF CHILE 229 



been done, and imich more is now being undertaken, to improve port 

 facilities, especially at Valparaiso; and much of the money has been 

 used in building up an army and navy to insure Chilean leadership 

 and prestige among the West Coast countries. It is estimated that in 

 the thirty years following 1880 the total revenue from nitrate duties 

 has been more than $300,000,000 (United States gold), while with 

 the present rate of production and the same tax continued, the next 

 twenty-five years will give Chile nearly $750,000,000 (United States 

 gold) more. 



One check on overproduction may be exerted through a law pro- 

 viding that government nitrate lands are open to exploitation only after 

 such lands have been disposed of at public auction. But, at the same 

 time, this law has tended to check individual effort in exploring thor- 

 oughly the limits of the nitrate deposits. Another check on overpro- 

 duction has been the "nitrate trust," or Combinacion Salitrera, an agree- 

 ment, entered into in 1901 by the larger companies, concerning the 

 limitation of annual output and its allotment among the different 

 oficinas. For a number of years prior to 1909 the trust worked well, 

 but since then, despite all efforts to keep them in line, a good many 

 companies have limited their output only by the maximum capacity of 

 their oficinas. As an official of one of the largest Chilean companies 

 aptly said : " There is no need for agreements when the demand is so 

 heavy and the prices so good. If the price goes down — well, perhaps 

 agreements can be revived then." 



The nitrate business is so vital to the northern provinces of Chile, 

 and even to the whole country as it is now organized, that the future 

 of the industry has been a question of much concern. Some believe 

 that the opening of the Panama Canal, with the resulting shortening 

 of voyages from Iquique and Antofagasta to the United States, United 

 Kingdom and Germany, will stimulate the commerce in nitrate very 

 materially, for those three countries now take about 80 per cent, of the 

 exports. Optimistic prophets, noting also the increasing popularity of 

 nitrates, forecast a new era of greater prosperity than ever before. The 

 more pessimistic, on the contrary, foresee the speedy exhaustion of the 

 nitrate supplies and a crisis for Chile unless adequate preparation is 

 made for the inevitable readjustment. 



Most estimates of the available supplies of nitrate range between 

 about 70,000,000 and 100,000,000 tons, which at the present rate of 

 production would insure the life of the industry for thirty-five to forty 

 years. Some estimates, however, place the amount as high as 200,000,- 

 000 tons. The totals given are about equally divided between Tarapaca 

 and Tacna on the one hand, and Antofagasta and Atacama on the other. 

 Private lands, however, are estimated as covering more than half the 

 total, though it must be remembered that the state lands are less well 



