48 



CHILI. 



Still further advantage, in tlie cheaper and more 

 certain supply of all articles necessary in the 

 mines : formerly, all those articles, such as steel, 

 iron, clothing, and food, were made to pass 

 through Coquimbo, under the mistaken idea of 

 benefitting that town. This abuse is now remov- 

 ed, and the ships destined to carry away the cop- 

 per, having unloaded their cargoes at Valparaiso, 

 proceed in ballast to the ports on the mining coast, 

 and carry with them, for a very small freight, 

 everything required by the miners ; so that the 

 heavy expence of land carriage is now saved. The 

 practical advantage, both public and private, pro- 

 duced by this change from restrictions, protec- 

 tions, and monopolies, has been immediate and 

 obvious ; and the instance is the more worthy of 

 remark, as it is seldom that a commercial ques- 

 tion in political economy is sufficiently disentang- 

 led from collateral difficulties, to admit the dis- 

 tinct exhibition of the theoretical principles by 

 which the operation is regulated. 



There are two principal persons concerned in 

 almost every mine, the Proprietor and the Habi- 

 litador. The first, who is also the actual miner, 



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