98 



CHILI. 



mated at $19,440,000, including $3,000,000 of 

 the last dividend of the 1873 loan) amounted 

 to $25,782,961, as follows : 



Ordinary receipts $16,350,119 



Eeceipts extraordinary 7,081,381 



Balance from 1874 2,351,461 



Total $25,782,961 



The expenditure for 1875 was : 



Ordinary $17,107,912 



Expenditure extraordinary 8,625,68025,783,592 



The annexed tahle exhibits the total value of 

 the foreign commerce of Chili in 1873, 1874, 

 1875, and 1876 : 



Surplus. 



In the budgets for 1876 and 1877 the rev- 

 enue was estimated at $24,561,670* and $16,- 

 805,831, respectively; and the expenditure at 

 $24,622,966 and $16,892,810, respectively. 



From the report of the Minister of Finance 

 for 1876, it would appear that there was, on 

 December 31st of that year, a deficit of $634,- 

 393.61. The revenuet for 1877 was estimated 

 at $17,506,000, including a loan of $2,000,000 ; 

 while the expenditure for the same period was 

 computed at $18,040,808, showing an antici- 

 pated deficit of $534,800. Should this last 

 eventuate, the deficits for 1876 and 1877 would 

 reach $1,169,193.61. 



The foreign debt, on January 1, 1876, was set 

 down at $40,168,000, comprising seven loans, 

 with interest ranging from 3 to 7 per cent. J ; 

 and the home debt at $10,509,600, in seven 

 loans, with interest varying from 3 to 8 per 

 cent. The railway branch of the debt amount- 

 ed, in June, 1876, to $35,000,000. 



The custom-house returns for April, 1877, 

 gave the receipts for that month at Valparaiso 

 at $432,235.10, against $784,004.12 for the cor- 

 responding month in 1876. The receipts for 

 May amounted to $467,299.47. 



A decree bad been issued, calling for ten- 

 ders for an internal loan of $3,000,000, to 

 pay off the floating debt created by the law of 

 August 18, 1876. The bonds were to bear 

 date of March 1, 1877, with interest at 8 per 

 cent, per annum, payable half-yearly, and were 

 to be of the denomination of $100, $500, and 

 $1,000, half payable on September 1st, and half 

 on November 15th. Treasury bonds emitted 

 in accordance with the before-mentioned law 

 would be accepted in payment ; no offers would 

 be considered that were under 8 per cent. 



Chili, in common with most of the South 

 American countries, and chiefly with the Ar- 

 gentine Republic, showed a considerable depres- 

 sion in its foreign commerce in 1 874, as com- 

 pared with 1873 ; and the falling off, though in 

 a somewhat lesser degree, was still apparent 

 in 1875. The year 1876 was marked by a de- 

 cided improvement. The imports, in the mean 

 time, varied but little from their usual average, 

 and that little with a tendency to increase. 



* Including a foreign loan of $4,742,564, and a home loan of 

 $3,050,045. 



f For -table showing the growth of the national revenue 

 from 1831 to 1875 inclusive, see ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 

 1876 p. 104. 



I According to the Finance Minister's report, already re- 

 ferred to, this debt stood at $38,809,000, on December 31, 

 1876. 



About two-thirds of the Chilian exports are 

 to England, and almost one-half of the entire 

 foreign trade of the Republic is with Great Brit- 

 ain. The total value of the annual trade with 

 France is, in the mean, about $10,000,000; 

 that with Peru, about $8,000,000 ; that with 

 Bolivia and Germany, about $5,000,000 ; and 

 that with the United States, though it has three 

 times in 20 years exceeded $5,000,000, and 

 once exceeded $6,000,000, has not averaged 

 quite $3,700,000 during that period. This is 

 mainly to be accounted for by similarity of 

 staple exports breadstuff's, cattle, bullion. 



The following table shows the total value 

 of the Chilian exports to, and imports from, the 

 United States for each of the 20 years therein 

 expressed : 



There were, in 1876, some 940 miles of rail- 

 way in actual traffic, and 2,650 miles of tele- 

 graph lines. 



From the report of the Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs, it would appear that a postal treaty 

 will probably be established between Chili and 

 Great Britain. The latter country has sug- 

 gested that, instead of entering into a separate 

 treaty, Chili should join the general postal 

 union signed at Berne, but defer doing so till 

 July 1, 1878; since then, England being free 

 from the contract now existing with the Pa- 

 cific Steam Navigation Company, she would 

 make an agreement with Chili on the follow- 

 ing basis: 1. The English Post-Office to de- 

 fray the cost of carrying the mails of that 



* In these are included the domestic and foreign merchan 

 dise shipped from the United States to Chili. 



