and individuals. A great part of the northern deserts is as barren of
animal life as of vegetation, and the dense humid forests of the south
shelter surprisingly few species. There are no large mammals in all
this extensive region except the Cetacea and a species of the
_Phocidae_ of southern waters. Neither are there any dangerous species
of Carnivora, which are represented by the timid puma (_Felis
concolor_), three species of wildcats, three of the fox, two of
_Conepatus_, a weasel, sea-otter and six species of seal. The rodents
are the most numerously represented order, which includes the _coypu_
or nutria (_Myopotamus coypus_), the chinchilla (_Chinchilla
laniger_), the tuco-tuco (_Ctenomys brasiliensis_), a rabbit, and 12
species of mice--in all some 12 genera and 25 species. The coypu,
sometimes called the South American beaver, inhabits the river-banks,
and is highly prized for its fur. It is also found along the
river-courses of Argentina. The ruminants are represented by a few
species only--the guanaco (_Auchenia huanaco_), _vicuna_ (_A.
vicugna_), _huemul_ (_Cervus chilensis_), which appears on the Chilean
escutcheon, and the _pudu_ deer, a small and not very numerous
species. There are two species of the Edentata, _Dasypus_ and
_Pichiciego_, the latter very rare, and one of the opossums. European
animals, such as horses, cattle, sheep, swine and goats, have been
introduced into the country and do well. Sheep-raising has also been
inaugurated with some degree of success in the vicinity of the Straits
of Magellan. The avifauna, with the exception of waterfowl, is also
limited to comparatively few species. Birds of prey are represented by
the condor, vulture, two species of the carrion-hawk (_Polyborus_),
and owl. The Chilean slopes of the Andes appear to be a favourite
haunt of the condor, where neighbouring stock-raisers suffer severe
losses at times from its attacks. The _Insessores_ are represented by
a number of species. Parrots are found as far south as Tierra del
Fuego, where Darwin saw them feeding on seeds of the Winter's bark.
Humming-birds have a similar range on this coast, one species
(_Mellisuga Kingii_) being quite numerous as far south as Tierra del
Fuego. A characteristic genus is that of _Pteroptochus_, of which
there are three or four species each characterized by some conspicuous
peculiarity. These are _P. megapodius_, called _El Turco_ by the
natives, which is noticeable for its ungainly appearance and awkward
gait; the _P. albicollis_, which inhabits barren hillsides and is
called _tapacollo_ from the manner of carrying its tail turned far
forward over its back; the _P. rubecula_, of Chiloe, a small timid
denizen of the gloomy forest, called the _cheucau_ or _chuca_, whose
two or three notes are believed by the superstitious natives to be
auguries of impending success or disaster; and an allied species
(_Hylactes Tarnii_, King) called the _guid-guid_ or barking bird,
whose cry is a close imitation of the yelp of a small dog. The
southern coast and its inland waters are frequented by several species
of petrel, among which are the _Procellaria gigantea_, whose strength
and rapacity led the Spaniards to call it _quebranta huesos_
(breakbones), the _Puffinus cinereus_, which inhabits the inland
channels in large flocks, and an allied species (_Puffinuria
Berardii_) which inhabits the inland sounds and resembles the auk in
some particulars of habit and appearance. There are numerous species
in these sheltered channels, inlets and sounds of geese, ducks, swans,
cormorants, ibises, bitterns, red-beaks, curlew, snipe, plover and
moorhens. Conspicuous among these are the great white swan (_Cygnus
anatoides_), the black-necked swan (_Anser nigricollis_), the
antarctic goose (_Anas antarctica_) and the "race-horse" or "steamer
duck" (_Micropterus brachypterus_).
The marine fauna is less known than the others, but it is rich in
species and highly interesting in its varied forms and
characteristics. The northern coast has no sheltered waters of any
considerable extent, and the shore slopes abruptly to a great depth,
which gives it a marine life of no special importance. In the shoal
waters about Juan Fernandez are found a species of codfish (possibly
_Gadus macrocephalus_), differing in some particulars from the
Newfoundland cod, and a large crayfish, both of which are caught for
the Valparaiso market. The sheltered waters of the broken southern
coast, however, are rich in fish and molluscs, especially in mussels,
limpets and barnacles, which are the principal food resource of the
nomadic Indian tribes of those regions. A large species of barnacle,
_Balanus psittacus_, is found in great abundance from Concepcion to
Puerto Montt, and is not only eaten by the natives, by whom it is
called _pico_, but is also esteemed a great delicacy in the markets of
Valparaiso and Santiago. Oysters of excellent flavour are found in
the sheltered waters of Chiloe. The Cetacea, which frequent these
southern waters, are represented by four species--two dolphins and the
sperm and right whale--and the _Phocidae_ by six species, one of which
(_Phoca lupina_) differs but little from the common seal. Another
species (_Macrorhinus leoninus_), popularly known as the sea-elephant,
is provided with short tusks and a short trunk and sometimes grows to
a length of 20 ft. Still another species, the sea-lion (_Otaria
jubata_), furnishes the natives of Tierra del Fuego with an acceptable
article of food, but like the _Phoca lupina_ it is becoming scarce.
Of Reptilia Chile is singularly free, there being recorded only eleven
species--five saurians, four ophidians, one frog and one toad--but a
more thorough survey of the uninhabited territories of the south may
increase this list. There are no alligators in the streams, and the
tropical north has very few lizards. There are no poisonous snakes in
the country, and, in a region so filled with lakes and rivers as the
rainy south, only two species of batrachians. The insect life of these
strangely associated regions is likewise greatly restricted by adverse
climatic conditions, a considerable part of the northern desert being
absolutely barren of animal and vegetable life, while the climate of
Tierra del Fuego and the southern coast is highly unfavourable to
terrestrial animal life, for which reason comparatively few species
are to be found. Writing of a journey inland from Iquique, Charles
Darwin says (_Journal of Researches, &c._, p. 444): "Excepting the
_Vultur aura_, ... I saw neither bird, quadruped, reptile, nor
insect." Of his entomological collection in Tierra del Fuego, which
was not large, the majority were of Alpine species. Moreover, he did
not find a single species common to that island and Patagonia. These
conditions subsist with but few modifications, if any, from the
Straits northward to the 42nd parallel, the extreme humidity, abnormal
rainfall and dark skies being unfavourable to the development of
insect life, while the Andes interpose an impassable barrier to
migration from the countries of the eastern coast. The only venomous
species to be found in central Chile is that of a spider which
frequents the wheat fields in harvest time.
_Population._--The population of Chile is largely concentrated in the
twelve agricultural provinces between and including Coquimbo and
Concepcion, though the next six provinces to the south, of more recent
general settlement, have received some foreign immigrants, and are
rapidly growing. In the desert provinces the population is limited to
the mining communities, and to the ports and supply stations maintained
for their support and for the transport, smelting and export of their
produce. The province of Atacama has, in addition to its mining
population, a considerable number of agriculturists located in a few
irrigated river valleys, which class is largely increased in the
adjoining province of Coquimbo. The more northern provinces, however,
maintain their populations without the support of such small cultivated
areas. In the southern territories unfavourable conditions of a widely
different character prevail, and the population is restricted to a few
small settlements and some nomadic tribes of Indians. Here, however,
there are localities where settlements could be maintained by ordinary
means and the population could be greatly increased. Since the census of
1895 the population of Punta Arenas has been largely increased by the
discovery of gold in the vicinity. The twelve provinces first mentioned,
which include the celebrated "Vale of Chile," comprise only 17% of the
area of the republic, but the census of 1895 showed that 72% of the
total population was concentrated within their borders. The four desert
provinces north of Coquimbo had only 8% of the total, and the seven
provinces and one territory south of Concepcion had 20%. According to
the census of 1895 the total population was 2,712,145, to which the
census officials added 10% to cover omissions. This shows an increase
slightly over 7% for the preceding decennial period, the population
having been returned as 2,527,320 in 1885. The census returns of 1875
and 1866 gave respectively 2,068,447 and 2,084,943, showing an actual
decrease in population. During these years Chile held the anomalous
position of a country spending large sums annually to secure immigrants
while at the same time her own labouring classes were emigrating by
thousands to the neighbouring republics to improve their condition.
Writing in 1879, a correspondent of _The Times_[4] stated that this
emigration then averaged 8000 a year, and in bad times had reached as
many as 30,000 in one year. The condition of the Chilean labourer has
been much improved since then, however, and Chile no longer suffers so
serious a loss of population. In 1895, the foreigners included in the
Chilean population numbered 72,812, of which 42,105 were European,
29,687 American, and 1020 Asiatic, &c. According to nationality there
were 8269 Spanish, 7809 French, 7587 Italian, 7049 German, 6241 British,
1570 Swiss, 1490 Austro-Hungarian, 13,695 Peruvian, 7531 Argentine, 6654
Bolivian, 701 American (U.S.), 797 Chinese. According to residence,
1,471,792 were inhabitants of rural districts, and 1,240,353 of towns.
The registration of births, marriages and deaths is compulsory since the
1st of January 1885, but the provisions of the law are frequently
eluded. Notwithstanding the healthiness of the climate, the death-rate
is high, especially in the large cities. In Santiago and Valparaiso the
death-rate sometimes rises to 42 and 60 per 1000, and infant mortality
is very high, being 73% of the births in some of the provincial towns.
This unfavourable state of affairs is due to the poverty, ignorance and
insanitary habits of the lower classes. The government has made repeated
efforts to secure immigrants from Europe, but the lands set apart for
immigrant settlers are in the forested provinces south of the Bio-Bio,
where the labour and hardships involved in establishing a home are
great, and the protection of the law against bandits and criminal
assaults is weak. The Germans have indeed settled in many parts of these
southern provinces since 1845, and by keeping together have succeeded in
building up several important towns and a large number of prosperous
agricultural communities. One German authority (Hueber) estimates the
number of Germans in two of these provinces at 5000. The arrivals,
however, have been on the whole discouragingly small, the total for the
years 1901-1905 being only 14,000.
Although Chileans claim a comparatively small admixture with the native
races, it is estimated that the whites and creoles of white extraction
do not exceed 30 to 40% of the population, while the _mestizos_ form
fully 60%. This estimate is unquestionably conservative, for there has
been no large influx of European blood to counterbalance the race
mixtures of earlier times. The estimated number of Indians living within
the boundaries of Chile is about 50,000, which presumably includes the
nomadic tribes of the Fuegian archipelago, whose number probably does
not reach 5000. The semi-independent Araucanians, whose territory is
slowly being occupied by the whites, are concentrated in the eastern
forests of Bio-Bio, Malleco and Cautin, all that remains to them of the
Araucania which they so bravely and successfully defended for more than
three centuries. Their number does not much exceed 40,000, which is
being steadily reduced by drunkenness and epidemic diseases. A small
part of these Indians live in settled communities and include some very
successful stock-raisers, but the greater part live apart from
civilization. There are also some remnants of tribes in the province of
Chiloe, which inhabit the island of that name, the Chonos and Guaytecas
archipelagoes and the adjacent mainland, who have the reputation of
being good boatmen and fishermen; and there are remnants of a people
called Changos, on the desert coast, and traces of Calchaqui blood in
the neighbouring Andean foothills.
There is a wide difference in every respect between the upper or ruling
class and the common people. The former includes the landed proprietors,
professional men and a part of those engaged in commercial and
industrial pursuits. These educated classes form only a small minority
of the population. Many of them, especially the landed proprietors, are
descendants of the original Spanish settlers and are celebrated for
their politeness and hospitality. The political control of the republic
was secured to them by the constitution of 1833. The common people were
kept in ignorance and practically in a state of hopeless servitude. They
were allowed to occupy small leaseholds on the large estates on
condition of performing a certain amount of work for the landlord. Every
avenue toward the betterment of their condition was practically closed.
The condition of the itinerant labourers (_peons_) was still worse, the
wages paid them being hardly sufficient to keep them from starvation.
The Chilean _peon_, however, comes from a hardy stock, and has borne all
these hardships with a fortitude and patience which go far to
counterbalance his faults. Recent reforms in education, &c., together
with the growth of manufacturing industries, are slowly leading to
improvements in the material condition of the common people.
The political organization of the country has not been favourable to the
development of artistic or scientific tastes, though Chile has produced
political leaders, statesmen and polemical writers in abundance.
Historical literature has been enriched by the works of Diego Barros
Arana, Benjamin Vicuna Mackenna, Miguel Luis Amunategui, Carlos Walker
Martinez, and others. One of the earliest native histories of Chile was
that of Abbe J. Ignacio Molina, an English translation of which has long
been a recognized authority; it is full of errors, however, and should
be studied only in connexion with modern standard works. Among these
must be included Claude Gay's monumental work, _Historia General de
Chile_, and Sir C.R. Markham's admirable studies on special parts of the
subject. In science, nearly all the important work has been done by
foreigners, among whom are Charles Darwin, Claude Gay, Eduard Poeppig,
Rudolph A. Philippi and Hans Steffen, who deserves special mention for
his excellent geographical work in the southern Andes.
_Divisions and Towns._--Chile contains 23 provinces and one territory,
which are subdivided into 75 departments, 855 subdelegations and 3068
districts. The territory north of the Bio-Bio was originally divided
into 13 provinces, besides which the Spaniards held Chiloe, Juan
Fernandez and Valdivia, the latter being merely a military outpost.
During the years which have elapsed since the War of Independence the
territory south of the Bio-Bio has been effectively occupied and
divided into six provinces, Chiloe and the neighbouring islands and
mainland to the east became a province, and four provinces in the
northern deserts were acquired from Bolivia and Peru. In addition to
this, Chile claimed Patagonia and the adjacent islands, and has
finally secured not only the forested strip of territory west of the
Andes, but also a large piece of the Patagonian mainland, south of
lat. 52 deg. S., the larger part of Tierra del Fuego, and all the western
islands. This extensive region, comprising an area of 71,127 sq. m.,
has been provisionally organized as the territory of Magallanes. For a
list of provinces, their areas, reduced from official returns, their
populations, and the names and populations of their capitals, see the
bottom of this page.
+------------------+--------+-----------+-------------+-------------------+
| | | | | Population. |
| Provinces. | Area. |Population.| Capitals. +---------+---------+
| | | Census | | Census | Est. |
| | | 1895. | | 1895. | 1902. |
+------------------+--------+-----------+-------------+---------+---------+
|Tacna | 9,251 | 24,160 |Tacna | 9,418 | 11,504 |
|Tarapaca | 18,131 | 89,751 |Iquique | 33,031 | 42,788 |
|Antofagasta | 46,611 | 44,035 |Antofagasta | 13,530 | 16,084 |
|Atacama | 30,729 | 59,713 |Copiapo | 9,301 | 8,991 |
|Coquimbo | 13,461 | 160,898 |La Serena | 15,712 | 19,536 |
|Aconcagua | 5,487 | 113,165 |San Felipe | 11,313 | 11,660 |
|Valparaiso | 1,953 | 220,756 |Valparaiso | 122,447 | 142,282 |
|Santiago | 5,665 | 415,636 |Santiago | 256,403 | 332,059 |
|O'Higgins | 2,342 | 85,277 |Rancagua | 6,665 | 7,133 |
|Colchagua | 3,856 | 157,566 |San Fernando | 7,447 | 8,164 |
|Curico | 2,978 | 103,242 |Curico | 12,669 | 14,340 |
|Talca | 3,840 | 128,961 |Talca | 33,232 | 42,766 |
|Linares | 3,942 | 101,858 |Linares | 7,331 | 7,256 |
|Maule | 2,475 | 119,791 |Cauquenes | 8,574 | 9,895 |
|Nuble | 3,407 | 152,935 |Chillan | 28,738 | 36,382 |
|Concepcion | 3,252 | 188,190 |Concepcion | 39,837 | 49,351 |
|Arauco | 2,458 | 59,237 |Lebu | 2,784 | 3,178 |
|Bio-Bio | 5,246 | 88,749 |Los Angeles | 7,868 | 7,777 |
|Malleco | 2,973 | 98,032 |Angol | 7,056 | 7,638 |
|Cautin | 5,832 | 78,221 |Temuco | 7,078 | 9,699 |
|Valdivia | 8,649 | 60,687 |Valdivia | 8,060 | 9,704 |
|Llanquihue | 45,515 | 78,315 |Puerto Montt | 3,480 | 4,140 |
|Chiloe | 8,593 | 77,750 |Ancud | 3,182 | 3,787 |
|Magallanes (Ter.) | 71,127 | 5,170 |Punta Arenas | 3,227 | 8,327 |
| +--------+-----------+ | | |
|Total, official | 307,774| 2,712,145 | | | |
|Total according to| | | | | |
| Gotha computation| 293,062| | | | |
|With 10% added for| | | | | |
| omissions | | 2,983,359 | | | |
|Official estimate | | | | | |
| for 1902 | | 3,173,783 | | | |
+------------------+--------+-----------+-------------+---------+---------+
In addition to the provincial capitals there are few towns of
importance. Among these may be mentioned:--
+------------------+---------------------+
| | Population. |
| +----------+----------+
| | 1895. |Est. 1902.|
+------------------+----------+----------+
| Arica | 2,853 | 2,824 |
| Pisagua | 3,635 | 4,720 |
| Taltal | 5,834 | 6,574 |
| Tocopilla | 3,383 | 4,752 |
| Vallenar | 5,052 | 5,199 |
| Coquimbo | 7,322 | 8,165 |
| Ovalle | 5,565 | 5,772 |
| Los Andes (Santa | | |
| Rosa) | 5,504 | 6,854 |
| Quillota | 9,621 | 9,876 |
| Vina del Mar | 10,651 | ... |
| Melipilla | 4,286 | 5,023 |
| Rengo | 6,463 | 7,232 |
| Vichuquen | 826 | 3,714 |
| Molina | 3,609 | 3,222 |
| Parral | 8,586 | 10,219 |
| Constitucion | 6,400 | 6,453 |
| San Carlos | 7,051 | 6,579 |
| Coronel | 4,575 | 5,959 |
| Lota | 9,797 | ... |
| Talcahuano | 10,431 | 13,499 |
| El Tome | 3,977 | 6,189 |
| Arauco | 3,008 | 3,334 |
| Canete | 2,000 | 2,552 |
| Mulchen | 4,268 | 4,332 |
| Traiguen | 5,732 | 7,099 |
| Victoria | 6,989 | 10,002 |
| La Union | 2,830 | 3,908 |
| Osorno | 4,667 | 5,888 |
| Castro (Chiloe) | 1,035 | 2,166 |
+------------------+----------+----------+
The population is not concentrated in large cities, but is well
distributed through the cultivated parts of the country. The large
number of small towns, important as ports, market towns, or
manufacturing centres, is a natural result. Many of the foregoing
towns are only villages in size, but their importance is not to be
measured in this way. Arica is one of the oldest ports on the coast,
and has long been a favoured port for Bolivian trade because the
passes through the Cordilleras at that point are not so difficult.
Moreover, the railway from Arica to La Paz will still further add to
its importance, though it may not greatly increase its population.
Another illustration is that of Vichuquen, province of Curico,
situated on a tide-water lake on the coast, which is the centre of a
large salt-making industry. Still another instance is that of Castro,
the oldest settlement and former capital of Chiloe, which after a
century of decay is increasing again through the efforts to develop
the industries of that island.
_Communications._--Railway construction in Chile dates from 1850, when
work was begun on a short line between Copiapo and the port of
Caldera, in the Atacama desert region. Since then lines have been
built by private companies from the coast at several points to inland
mining centres. One of these, running from Antofagasta to the
Caracoles district, was afterwards extended to Oruro, Bolivia, and has
become a commercial route of international importance, with a total
length of 574 m., 224 of which are in Chile. It should be remembered
that many of these railway enterprises of the desert region originated
at a time when the territory belonged to Bolivia and Peru. The first
railway to be constructed in central Chile was the government line
from Valparaiso to Santiago, 115 m. in length, which was opened to
traffic in 1863. About the same time the government began the
construction of a longitudinal trunk line running southward from
Santiago midway between the Andes and the Coast range, and connecting
with all the provincial capitals and prominent ports. This is the only
railway "system" it is possible for Chile to have. The civil war of
1891 called attention to the need of a similar inland route through
the northern provinces. A branch of the Valparaiso and Santiago line
runs to Los Andes, and its extension across the Andes connects with
the Argentine lines from Buenos Aires to Mendoza and the Chilean
frontier--all sections together forming a transcontinental route about
850 m. in length. The Transandine section of this route crosses the
Cordillera through the Uspallata pass. A further Transandine scheme
provides for a line through the Pino Hachado pass (38 deg. 30' to 39 deg.
S.), and the Argentine Great Southern Company obtained a concession in
1909 to extend its Neuquen line to the frontier of Chile. The railways of
the republic had a total mileage at the end of 1906 of 2950 m., of
which 1495 m. were owned by the state, and 1455 m. belonged to private
companies. The private lines are located in the northern provinces and
are for the most part built and maintained for the transportation of
mining products and supplies.
In addition to her railway lines Chile has about 21,000 m. of public
roads of all descriptions, 135 m. of tramways, and 705 m. of navigable
river channels, besides a very considerable mileage of lake and coast
navigation. Telegraphic communication between all the important towns
of the republic, initiated in 1855 with a line between Santiago and
Valparaiso, is maintained by the state, which in 1903 owned 9306 m. of
line in a total of 11,080 m. Cable communication with Europe by way of
Buenos Aires was opened in 1875, and is now maintained by means of two
underground cables across the Andes, 32 m. in length. A West Coast
cable also connects with Europe and North American states by way of
Panama. There were 15,853 m. of telephone wires in the republic in
1906, all the principal cities having an admirable service. Modern
postal facilities date from 1853. The Chilean post-office is
administered by a director-general at Santiago, and has a high degree
of efficiency and liberality, compared with those of other South
American states. The postal rates are low, and newspapers and other
periodical publications circulate free, as a means of popular
instruction. The postal revenues for 1904 amounted to 2,775,730 pesos
and the expenditures to 2,407,753 pesos. Chile is a member of the
International Postal Union, and has arrangements with the principal
commercial nations for the exchange of postal money values.
The sea has been the only means of communication with distant parts of
the country, and must continue to be the chief transportation route.
There are said to be 56 ports on the Chilean coast, of which only 12
are prominent in foreign trade. Many of the so-called ports are only
landing-places on an open coast, others are on shallow bays and
obstructed river-mouths, and some are little-known harbours among the
channels and islands of the south. The prosperity of Chile is
intimately connected with her ocean-going trade, and no elaborate
system of national railway lines and domestic manufactures can ever
change this relationship. These conditions should have developed a
large merchant marine, but the Chileans are not traders and are
sailors only in a military sense. In 1905 their ocean-going merchant
marine consisted of only 148 vessels, of which 54 were steamers of
42,873 tons net, and 94 were sailing vessels of 39,346 tons. Nineteen
of the 54 steamers belonged to a subsidized national line whose West
Coast service once extended to San Francisco, California, and a large
part of the others belongs to a Lota coal-mining and copper-smelting
company which employs them in carrying coal to the northern ports and
bringing back metallic ores for smelting. The navigable rivers and
inland lakes employ a number of small steamers. The foreign commerce
of the republic is carried chiefly by foreign vessels, and the
coasting trade is also open to them. Three or four foreign companies
maintain a regular steamship service to Valparaiso and other Chilean
ports. The shipping entries at all Chilean ports during the year 1904,
both national and foreign, numbered 11,756, aggregating 17,723,138
tons, and the clearances 11,689, aggregating 17,370,763 tons. Very
nearly one-half this tonnage was British, a little over 18% German,
and about 29% Chilean.
_Commerce._--In the aggregate, the commerce of Chile is large and
important; in proportion to population it is exceeded among South
American states only by Argentina, Uruguay and the Guianas. Unlike
those states, it depends in great part on mining and its allied
occupations. The values of imports and exports (including bullion,
specie and re-exports) in pesos of 18d. during the five years
1901-1905 were as follows:--
Imports. Exports.
Year. pesos. pesos.
1901 139,300,766 171,844,976
1902 132,428,204 185,879,965
1903 149,081,524 210,442,144
1904 164,874,928 232,493,598
1905 188,596,418 265,209,192
The principal imports comprise live animals, fish, coffee, mate (_Ilex
paraguayensis_), tea, sugar, wood and its manufactures, structural
iron and steel, hardware and machinery, railway and telegraph
supplies, lime and cement, glass and earthenware, cotton, woollen and
silk manufactures, coal, petroleum, paints, &c. Import duties are
imposed at the rates of 60, 35, 15, 5 and 25%, and certain classes of
merchandise are admitted free. The higher rates are designed chiefly
to protect national industries, while wines, liquors, cigars and
tobacco are admitted at the lowest rate. The 25% rate covers all
articles not mentioned in the schedules, which number 2260 items. The
duty free list includes raw cotton, certain descriptions of live
animals, agricultural machinery and implements, metal wire, fire
engines, structural iron and steel, and machinery in general. The
tariff is nominally _ad valorem_, but as the rates are imposed on
fixed official valuations it is essentially specific. The duties on
imports in 1905 amounted to 91,321,860 pesos, and in 1906 to
103,507,556 pesos. The principal exports are gold, silver, copper
(bars, regulus and ores), cobalt and its ores, lead and its ores,
vanadium ores, manganese, coal, nitrate of soda, borate of lime,
iodine, sulphur, wheat and guano. Nitrate of soda forms from 70 to 75%
of the exports, and the royalty received from it is the principal
source of national revenue, yielding about L4,000,000 per annum. In
1904 mineral products made up fully seven-eighths of the exports,
while agricultural and pastoral products did not quite reach
one-eighth.
_Agriculture._--According to the census returns about one-half the
population of Chile lives in rural districts, and is engaged nominally
in agricultural pursuits. What may be called central Chile is
singularly well adapted to agriculture. The northern part of this
region has a sub-tropical climate, light rainfall and a long, dry
summer, but with irrigation it produces a great variety of products.
Alfalfa, or lucerne (_Medicago sativa_), is grown extensively for
shipment to the mining towns of the desert provinces. There were no
less than 108,384 acres devoted to it in 1904, a considerable part of
which was in the irrigated river valleys of Coquimbo and Aconcagua.
Considerable attention is also given to fruit cultivation in these
subtropical provinces, where the orange, lemon, fig, melon, pineapple
and banana are produced with much success. Some districts, especially
in Coquimbo, have gained a high reputation for the excellence of their
preserved fruits. The vine is cultivated all the way from Atacama and
Coquimbo, where excellent raisins are produced, south to Concepcion,
where some of the best wines of Chile are manufactured. In 1904 there
were 93,370 acres devoted to grape production in this region, the
product for that year being 30,184,704 gallons of wine and 212,366
gallons of brandy. The universal beverage of the people--_chicha_--is
made from Indian corn. Although wheat is produced in the northern part
of this region, it is grown with greater success in the south, where
the rainfall is heavier and the average temperature is lower. There
were 1,044,025 acres devoted to this cereal in 1903, which produced
17,910,614 bushels, or an average of 17 bushels (of 60 lb) to the
acre. In 1904 the production was increased to 19,999,324 bushels, but
in 1905 it fell off to 15,771,477 bushels. At one time Chile supplied
Argentina and the entire West Coast as far north as California with
wheat, but Argentina and California have become wheat producers and
exporters, and Chile has been driven from all her old consuming
markets. Great Britain is now her best customer, and Brazil takes a
small quantity for milling mixtures. Chile has been badly handicapped
by her crude methods of cultivation, but these are passing away and
modern methods are taking their place. Formerly wheat was grown
chiefly in the region of long rainless summers, and the ripened grain
was thrown upon uncovered earth floors and threshed by horses driven
about over the straw, but this antiquated process was not suited to
the climate and enterprise of the more southern provinces, and the
modern threshing-machine has been introduced. Barley is largely
produced, chiefly for home consumption. Maize (Indian corn) is grown
in every part of Chile except the rainy south where the grain cannot
ripen, and is a principal article of food. The green maize furnishes
two popular national dishes, _choclos_ and _humitas_, which are eaten
by both rich and poor. Potatoes also are widely cultivated, but the
humid regions of the south, particularly from Valdivia to Chiloe,
produce the greatest quantity. The total annual production exceeds
three million bushels. The kidney bean (_Phaseolus vulgaris_) is
another staple product in every part of the country, and is perhaps
the most popular article of food among all classes of Chileans. Peas
are largely cultivated south of the Maule. Walnuts have become another
important product and are exported, the average annual produce being
48,000 to 50,000 bushels. The olive was introduced from Spain in
colonial times and is widely distributed through the north central
provinces, but its economic importance is not great. Of the European
fruits introduced into the southern provinces, the apple has been the
most successful. It grows with little care and yields even better than
in its original home. The peach, apricot, plum, quince and cherry are
also cultivated with success. Wild strawberries are found on both
sides of the Andes; the cultivated varieties are unsurpassed,
especially those of the province of Concepcion.
The pastoral industries of Chile have been developed chiefly for the
home market. The climate is admirably suited to cattle-raising, as the
winters are mild and pasture is to be found throughout the whole year,
but the proximity of the Argentine pampas is fatal to its profitable
development. The government has been trying to promote cattle-breeding
by levying duties (as high as 16 pesos a head) on cattle imported from
Argentina, but with no great success. The importation, which formerly
numbered about 140,000 per annum, still numbers not far from 100,000
head. There are some districts in central Chile where cattle-raising
is the principal occupation, but the long dry summers limit the
pasturage on the open plains and prevent the development which perhaps
would otherwise result. As in Argentina, beef is generally dried in
the sun to make _charqui_ (jerked beef), in which form it is exported
to the desert provinces. Horse and mule breeding are carried on to a
limited extent, and since the opening of the far South more attention
has been given to sheep. Goats and swine are raised in small numbers
on the large estates, but in Chiloe swine-raising is one of the chief
occupations of the people. Some attention has been given to the
production of butter and cheese, but the industry has attained no
great importance. A new industry which has made noteworthy progress,
however, is that of bee-keeping, which is greatly favoured by the mild
climate and the long season and abundance of flowers.
_Manufactures._--The manufacturing interests of Chile have become
influential enough to force a high tariff policy upon the country.
They have been restricted principally to articles of necessity--food
preparations, beverages, textiles and wearing apparel, leather and
leatherwork, woodwork, pottery, chemicals, ironware, &c. In earlier
days, when Chile had less competition in the production of wheat,
flour mills were to be found everywhere in the wheat-producing
provinces, and flour was one of the leading exports. Concepcion,
Talca, and other provincial capitals developed important milling
industries, which were extended to all the chief towns of the newer
provinces south of the Bio-Bio. There are over 500 large flour mills
in Chile, the greater part of which are equipped with modern
roller-process machinery. The development of the coal deposits in the
provinces of Concepcion and Arauco has made possible other industries
besides those of smelting mineral ores, and numerous small
manufacturing establishments have resulted, especially in Santiago,
Valparaiso, Copiapo and other places where no permanent water power
exists. Tanning leather is an important industry, especially in the
south, some of the Chilean trees, notably the _algarrobilla_
(_Balsamocarpon brevifolium_) and _lingue_ (_Persea lingue_) being
rich in tannin. To provide a market for the leather produced,
factories have been established for the manufacture of boots and
shoes, harness and saddles, and under the protection of a high tariff
are doing well. Brewing and distilling have made noteworthy progress,
the domestic consumption of their products being very large. The
breweries are generally worked by Germans and are situated chiefly in
the south, though there are large establishments in Santiago and
Valparaiso. Small quantities of their products are exported. Furniture
and carriage factories, cooperages, and other manufactories of wood
are numerous and generally prosperous. There are likewise a large
number of factories for canning and preserving fruits and vegetables.
Foundries and machine shops have been established, especially for the
manufacture of railway material. The sugar beet has been added to the
productions of Chile, and with it the manufacture on a small scale of
beet sugar. There is one large refinery at Vina del Mar, however,
which imports raw cane sugar from Peru for refining. The manufacture
of textiles is carried on at Santiago and El Tome, and numerous small
factories are devoted to clothing of various descriptions. The great
mining industries have led to a noteworthy development in the
production of chemicals, and a considerable number of factories are
engaged in the production of pharmaceutical preparations, perfumeries,
soaps, candles, &c.
_Mining_.--The most important of all the national industries, however,
is that of mining. In 1903 there were 11,746 registered mines, on
which mining dues were paid, the aggregate produce being valued at
178,768,170 pesos. These mines gave employment to 46,592 labourers, of
whom 24,445 were employed by the nitrate companies, 13,710 in various
metalliferous mines, 6437 in coal mines, and 2000 in other mines. Gold
is found in nearly all the provinces from Antofagasta to Concepcion,
and in Llanquihue, Chiloe and Magallanes territory, but the output is
not large. There are a great many placer washings, among which are
some extensive deposits near the Straits of Magellan. Silver is found
principally on the elevated slopes and plateaus of the Andes in the
desert provinces of the north. The second most important mining
industry in Chile, however, is that of copper, which is found in the
provinces of Antofagasta, Atacama, Coquimbo, Aconcagua, Valparaiso,
Santiago, O'Higgins, Colchagua, Curico and Talca, but the richest
deposits are in the three desert provinces. Chile was once the largest
producer of copper in the world, her production in 1860-1864 being
rated at 60 to 67% of the total. Low prices afterwards caused a large
shrinkage in the output, but she is still classed among the principal
producers. Iron mining has never been developed in Chile, although
extensive deposits are said to exist. Manganese ores are mined in
Atacama and Coquimbo, and their export is large. The other metals
reported in the official returns are lead, cobalt and vanadium, of
which only small quantities are produced. Bolivian tin is exported
from Chilean ports. Among the non-metallic minerals are nitrate of
soda, borate of lime, coal, salt and sulphur, together with various
products derived from these minerals, such as iodine, sulphuric acid,
&c. Guano is classed among the mineral products and still figures as
an export, though the richest Chilean deposits were exhausted long
before the war with Peru. Of non-metallic products nitrate of soda is
by far the most important. Extensive deposits of the salt (called
_caliche_ in its crude, impure state) in the provinces of Tacna,
Tarapaca, Antofagasta and Atacama owe their existence to the rainless
character of the climate. Those of the first-named province have been
discovered since the war between Chile and Peru, and have greatly
extended the prospective life of the industry. The nitrate fields,
which lie between 50 and 100 m. from the coast and at elevations
exceeding 2000 ft. above sea-level, have been officially estimated at
89,177 hectares (344 sq. m.) and to contain 2316 millions of metric
quintals (254,760,000 short tons). The first export of nitrates was in
1830, and in 1884 it reached an aggregate of 550,000 tons, and in 1905
of 1,603,140 tons. The latter figure is apparently about the
production agreed upon between the Chilean government and the nitrate
companies to prevent overproduction and a resulting decline in price.
Nearly all the _oficinas_, or working plants, are owned and operated
by British companies, and the railways of this desolate region are
generally owned by the same companies and form a part of the working
plant. Borate of lime also furnishes another important export, though
a less valuable one than nitrate of soda. Extensive deposits of borax
and common salt have been found in the same region, which with several
other products of these saline deposits, such as iodine, add
considerably to its exports. The coal deposits of Chile are found
chiefly in the provinces of Concepcion and Arauco, the principal mines
being on the coast of the Bay of Arauco at Coronel and Lota. Coal is
found also in Valdivia, on the island of Chiloe, and in the vicinity
of Punta Arenas on the Straits of Magellan. Sulphur is found in the
volcanic regions of the north, but the principal mines are in the
provinces of Talca.
The relative magnitude and value of these mineral products may be seen
in the following abstract from the official returns of 1903:--
+-----------------------+---------------+------------+-------------+
| | Unit. | Quantity. | Value pesos |
| | | | (of 18d.). |
+-----------------------+---------------+------------+-------------+
| Gold | grammes | 1,424,625 | 1,745,115 |
| Silver | " | 39,012,382 | 1,284,308 |
| Copper | kilogrs. | 29,923,132 | 21,438,397 |
| Lead | " | 70,984 | 9,097 |
| Cobalt ore | " | 284,990 | 99,695 |
| Lead and Vanadium ores| " | 2,000 | |
| Manganese ore | " | 17,110,000 | 682,400 |
| Coal | tons | 827,112 | 8,250,720 |
| Nitrates |metric quintals| 14,449,200 | 140,102,012 |
| Iodine | kilogrs. | 157,444 | 1,687,327 |
| Borates | " | 16,878,913 | 2,363,048 |
| Salt |metric quintals| 162,635 | 324,270 |
| Sulphur | kilogrs. | 3,440,642 | 337,515 |
| Sulphuric acid | " | 1,600,000 | 176,000 |
| Guano |metric quintals| 111,335 | 267,466 |
| Various | kilogrs. | 200 | 800 |
+-----------------------+---------------+------------+-------------+
_Government._--Chile is a centralized republic, whose government is
administered under the provisions of the constitution of 1833 and the
amendments of the 9th of August 1888, the 11th of August 1890, the 20th
of August 1890, the 22nd of December 1891, and the 7th of July 1892.
According to this constitution the sovereignty resides in the nation,
but suffrage is restricted to married citizens over twenty-one and
unmarried citizens over twenty-five years of age, not in domestic
service, who can read and write, and who are the owners of real estate,
or who have capital invested in business or industry, or who receive
salaries or incomes proportionate in value to such real estate as
investment; and as 75% of the population is classed as illiterate, and a
great majority of the labouring classes is landless, badly paid, and
miserably poor, it is apparent that political sovereignty in Chile is
the well-guarded possession of a small minority. The dominant element in
this minority is the rich landholding interest, and the constitution and
the laws of the first half-century were framed for the special
protection of that interest.
The supreme powers of government are vested in three distinct
branches--legislative, executive and judicial. The legislative power is
exercised by a national congress, which consists of two chambers---a
senate of 32 members, and a chamber of deputies of 94 members. The
membership of the lower house is in the proportion of one deputy for
each 30,000 of the departmental population, and each fraction over
15,000; and the senate is entitled to one-third the membership of the
chamber. The senators are elected by provinces and by a direct
cumulative vote, and hold office for six years, one-half of the senate
being renewed every three years. The deputies are elected by departments
and by a direct cumulative vote, and hold office for three years. Both
senators and deputies must have reached the age of thirty-six, must have
a specified income, and are required to serve without salary. A
permanent committee of 14 members represents the two chambers during the
congressional recess and exercises certain supervisory and advisory
powers in the administration of public affairs. Congress convenes each
year on the 1st of June and sits until the 1st of September, but the
president may prorogue an ordinary session for a period of 50 days, and
with the consent of the council of state may convene it in extraordinary
session. Congress has the privilege of giving or withholding its
confidence in the acts of the government.
The executive is a president who is elected for a term of five years and
is ineligible for the next succeeding term. He is chosen by electors,
who are elected by departments in the manner prescribed for deputies and
in the proportion of three electors for each deputy. These elections are
held on the 25th of June in the last year of a presidential term, the
electors cast their votes on the 25th of July, and the counting takes
place in a joint session of the two chambers of congress on the 30th of
August, congress in joint session having the power to complete the
election when no candidate has been duly chosen by the electors. The
formal installation of the president takes place on the 18th of
September, the anniversary of the declaration of national independence.
In addition to the prerogatives commonly invested in his office, the
president is authorized to supervise the judiciary, to nominate
candidates for the higher ecclesiastical offices, to intervene in the
enforcement of ecclesiastical decrees, papal bulls, &c., to exercise
supervisory police powers, and to appoint the intendants of provinces
and the governors of departments, who in turn appoint the sub-delegates
and inspectors of subordinate political divisions. The president, who is
paid L2250 per annum, must be native-born, not less than thirty years of
age, and eligible for election to the lower house. He is assisted and
advised by a cabinet of six ministers whose departments are: interior,
foreign affairs, worship and colonization, justice and public
instruction, war and marine, finance, industry and public works. In case
of a vacancy in the presidential office, the minister of interior
becomes the "vice-president of the republic" and discharges the duties
of the executive office until a successor can be legally elected. A
council of state of 12 members, consisting of the president, 6 members
appointed by congress and 5 by the president, has advisory functions,
and its approval is required in many executive acts and appointments.
The provinces are administered by _intendentes_, and the departments by
_gobernadores_, both appointees of the national executive. The
sub-delegacies are governed by _sub-delegados_ appointed by the
governors, and the districts by _inspectores_ appointed by the
sub-delegates. Directly and indirectly; therefore, the administration of
all these political divisions is in the hands of the president, who, in
like manner, makes and controls the appointments of all judicial
functionaries, subject, however, to receiving recommendations of
candidates from the courts and to submitting appointments to the
approval of the council of state. This gives the national executive
absolute control of all administrative matters in every part of the
republic. The police force also is a national organization under the
immediate control of the minister of interior, and the public prosecutor
in every department is a representative of the national government.
There is no legislative body in any of these political divisions, nor
any administrative official directly representing the people, with this
exception: under the law of the 22nd of December 1891, municipalities,
or communes, are created and invested with certain specified powers of
local government affecting local police services, sanitation, local
improvements, primary instruction, industrial and business regulations,
&c.; they are authorized to borrow money for sanitary improvements,
road-making, education, &c., and to impose certain specified taxes for
their support; these municipalities elect their own _alcaldes_, or
mayors, and municipal councils, the latter having legislative powers
within the limits of the law mentioned.
_Justice._--The judicial power consists of a Supreme Court of Justice
of seven members located in the national capital, which exercises
supervisory and disciplinary authority over all the law courts of the
republic; six courts of appeal, in Tacna, Serena, Valparaiso,
Santiago, Talca and Concepcion; tribunals of first instance in the
department capitals; and minor courts, or justices of the peace, in
the sub-delegacies and districts. The jury system does not exist in
Chile, and juries are unknown except in cases where the freedom of the
press has been abused. All trials, therefore, are heard by one or more
judges, and appeals may be taken from a lower to a higher court. The
government is represented in each department by a public prosecutor.
The police officials, who are under the direct control of the
minister of interior, also exercise some degree of judicial authority.
This force is essentially military in its organization, and consisted
in 1901 of 500 officers, 934 non-commissioned officers and 5400 police
soldiers. Small forces of local policemen are supported by various
municipalities. The judges of the higher courts are appointed by the
national executive, and those of the minor tribunals by the federal
official governing the political division in which they are located.
_Army_.--For military purposes the republic is divided into five
districts, the northern desert provinces forming the first, the
central provinces as far south as the Bio-Bio the second and third,
and the southern provinces and territory the fourth and fifth. Large
sums of money have been expended in arms, equipment, guns and
fortifications. The army is organized on the German model and has been
trained by European officers who have been employed both for the
school and regiment. Though the president and minister of war are the
nominal heads of the army, its immediate direction is concentrated in
a general staff comprising six service departments, at the head of
which is a chief of staff. After the triumph of the revolutionists in
the civil war of 1891, the army was reorganized under the direction of
Colonel Emil Koerner, an accomplished German officer, who subsequently
served as chief of the general staff. In 1904 the permanent force
consisted of 12 battalions of infantry, 6 regiments of cavalry, 4
regiments of mountain artillery, 1 regiment of horse artillery, 2
regiments of coast artillery, and 5 companies of
engineers--aggregating 915 officers and 4757 men. To this nucleus were
added 6160 recruits, the contingent for that year of young men
twenty-one years of age compelled to serve with the colours. Under the
law of the 5th of September 1900, military service is obligatory for
all citizens between eighteen and forty-five years, all young men of
twenty-one years being required to serve a certain period with the
regular force. After this period they are transferred to the 1st
reserve for 9 years, and then to the 2nd reserve. The military rifle
adopted for all three branches of the service is the Mauser, 1895
model, of 7 mm. calibre, and the batteries are provided with Krupp
guns of 7 and 7.5 cm. calibre. Military instruction is given in a
well-organized military school at Santiago, a war academy and a school
of military engineering.
_Navy_.--The Chilean navy is essentially British in organization and
methods, and all its best fighting ships were built in British yards.
In 1906 the effective fighting force consisted of 1 battle ship, 2
belted cruisers, 4 protected cruisers, 3 torpedo gunboats, 6
destroyers and 8 modern torpedo boats. In addition to these there are
several inferior armed vessels of various kinds which bring the total
up to 40, not including transports and other auxiliaries. The
administration of the navy, under the president and minister of war
and marine, is confided to a general naval staff, called the
"Direccion jeneral de la Armada," with headquarters at Valparaiso. Its
duties also include the military protection of the ports, the
hydrographic survey of the coast, and the lighthouse service. The
_personnel_ comprises about 465 officers, including those of the
staff, and 4000 petty officers and men. There is a military port at
Talcahuano, in Concepcion Bay, strongly fortified, and provided with
arsenal and repair shops, a large dry dock and a patent slip. The
naval school, which occupies one of the noteworthy edifices of
Valparaiso, is attended by 90 cadets and is noted for the thoroughness
of its instruction.
_Education_.--Under the old conservative regime very little was done
for the public school outside the larger towns. As a large proportion
of the labouring classes lived in the small towns and rural
communities, they received comparatively little attention. The
increasing influence of more liberal ideas greatly improved the
situation with reference to popular education, and the government now
makes vigorous efforts to bring its public school system within the
reach of all. The constitution provides that free instruction must be
provided for the people. School attendance is not compulsory, however,
and the gain upon illiteracy (75%) appears to be very slow. The
government also gives primary instruction to recruits when serving
with the colours, which, with the increasing employment of the people
in the towns, helps to stimulate a desire for education among the
lower classes. Education in Chile is very largely under the control of
the national government, the minister of justice and public
instruction being charged with the direction of all public schools
from the university down to the smallest and most remote primary
school. The system includes the University of Chile and National
Institute at Santiago, lyceums or high schools in all the provincial
capitals and larger towns, normal schools at central points for the
training of public school teachers, professional and industrial
schools, military schools and primary schools. Instruction in all
these is free, and under certain conditions text-books are supplied.
In the normal schools, where the pupils are trained to enter the
public service as primary teachers, not only is the tuition free, but
also books, board, lodging and everything needed in their school work.
The national university at Santiago comprises faculties of theology,
law and political science, medicine and pharmacy, natural sciences and
mathematics, and philosophy. The range of studies is wide, and the
attendance large. The National Institute at Santiago is the principal
high school of the secondary grade in Chile. There were 30 of these
high schools for males and 12 for females in 1903, with an aggregate
of 11,504 matriculated students. The normal schools for males are
located at Santiago, Chillan and Valdivia; and for females at La
Serena, Santiago and Concepcion. The mining schools at Copiapo, La
Serena and Santiago had an aggregate attendance of 180 students in
1903, and the commercial schools at Iquique and Santiago an attendance
of 214. The more important agricultural schools are located at
Santiago, Chillan, Concepcion and Ancud, the Quinta Normal de
Agricultura in the national capital having a large attendance. The
School of Mechanic Arts and Trades (_Escuela de Artes y Oficios_) of
Santiago has a high reputation for the practical character of its
instruction, in which it is admirably seconded by a normal handicraft
school (Sloeyd system) and a night school of industrial drawing in the
same city, and professional schools for girls in Santiago and
Valparaiso, where the pupils are taught millinery, dress-making,
knitting, embroidery and fancy needlework. The government also
maintains schools for the blind and for the deaf and dumb. The public
primary schools numbered 1961 in 1903, with 3608 teachers, 166,928
pupils enrolled, and an average attendance of 108,582. The cost of
maintaining these schools was 4,146,574 pesos, or an average of
L2:17:3 per pupil in attendance. In addition to the public schools
there are a Roman Catholic university at Santiago, which includes law
and civil engineering among its regular courses of study; numerous
private schools and seminaries of the secondary grade, with a total of
11,184 students of both sexes in 1903; and 506 private primary
schools, with an attendance of 29,684. The private schools usually
conform to the official requirements in regard to studies and
examinations, which facilitates subsequent admission to the university
and the obtainment of degrees; probably they do better work than the
public schools, especially in the German settlements of the southern
provinces. A Consejo de Instruccion Publica (council of public
instruction) of 14 members exercises a general supervision over the
higher and secondary schools. There are schools of music and fine arts
in Santiago. The national library at Santiago, with 116,300 volumes in
1906, and the national observatory, are both efficiently administered.
At the beginning of the 20th century there were 41 public libraries in
the republic, including public school collections, with an aggregate
of 240,000 volumes.
_Charities._--According to the returns of 1903 there were 88 hospitals
in the republic, which reported 79,051 admissions during the year, and
had 6215 patients under treatment at its close; 628,536 patients
received gratuitous medical assistance at the public dispensaries
during the year; there were 24 foundling hospitals with 5570 children;
and there were 3092 persons in the various _hospicios_ or asylums, and
1478 in the imbecile asylums.
_Religion._--The Roman Catholic religion is declared by the
constitution to be the religion of the state, and the inaugural oath
of the president pledges him to protect it. A considerable part of its
income is derived from a subsidy included in the annual budget, which
makes it a charge upon the national treasury like any other public
service. The secular supervision of this service is entrusted to a
member of the president's cabinet, known as the minister of worship
and colonization. The executive and legislative powers intervene in
the appointments to the higher offices of the Church. The greater part
of the population remains loyal to the established faith. The law of
1865 gives the privilege of religious worship to other faiths, and the
laws of 1883 made civil marriage and the civil registry of births,
deaths and marriages obligatory, and secularized the cemeteries. Under
the reform of 1865 full religious freedom is practically accorded, and
it is provided that the services of religious organizations other than
the Roman Catholic may be held in private residences or in edifices
owned by private individuals or corporations. Of the 72,812 foreigners
residing in Chile in 1895, about 16,000 were described as Protestants.
Notwithstanding the opposition of some political elements to the
Church, the Chileans themselves may all be classed as Roman Catholics.
The ecclesiastical organization includes one archbishop, who resides
at Santiago, three bishops residing at La Serena, Concepcion and
Ancud, and two vicars residing in Antofagasta and Tarapaca. These
benefices are filled by appointments from lists of three prepared by
the council of state and sent to Rome by the president, and in the
case of an archbishop or bishop the appointment must also receive the
approval of the Senate. The Chilean clergy are drawn very largely from
the higher classes, and their social standing is much better than in
many South American states. The Church also possesses much property of
its own, and is therefore able to maintain itself on a comparatively
small subsidy from the public treasury, which was 985,910 pesos
(L73,943) in 1902. The Church maintains seminaries in all cathedral
towns, and these also receive a subsidy from the government.
_Finance._--For a long time Chile was considered one of the poorest
states of Spanish America, but the acquisition of the rich
mineral-producing provinces of the north, together with the
development of new silver and copper mines in Atacama and Coquimbo,
largely increased her revenues and enabled her to develop other
important resources. During the decade 1831-1840 the annual revenues
averaged about 2,100,000 pesos (of 48d.), which in the decade
1861-1870 had increased to an average of only 8,200,000 pesos--and
this during a period of considerable agricultural activity on account
of wheat exports to California and Australia. After 1870 the revenues
increased more rapidly owing to the development of new mining
industries, the receipts in 1879 amounting to 15,300,000 pesos, and in
1882 to 28,900,000 pesos. The revenues from the captured Peruvian
nitrate fields then became an important part of the national income,
which ten years later (1902) reached an aggregate of 138,507,178 pesos
(of i8d.), of which 105,072,832 pesos were in gold. In 1906 the
receipts from all sources were estimated at 149,100,000 pesos, of
which 62,200,000 pesos gold were credited to the tax on nitrate,
39,800,000 pesos gold to import duties, and 23,500,000 pesos currency
to railway receipts. During these years of fiscal prosperity the
country suffered much from financial crises caused by industrial
stagnation, an excessive and depreciated paper currency and political
disorder. To ensure an income that would meet its foreign engagements,
the government collected the nitrate and iodine taxes and import
duties in gold. As a considerable part of the expenditures were in
gold, the practice was adopted of keeping the gold and currency
accounts separate. In 1895 a conversion law was passed in which the
sterling value of the peso was reduced to 18d., at which rate the
outstanding paper should be redeemed. A conversion fund was also
created, and, although the government afterwards authorized two more
large issues, the beneficial effects of this law were so pronounced
that the customs regulations were modified in 1907 to permit the
payment of import duties in paper. The national revenue is derived
chiefly from the nitrate taxes, customs duties, alcohol tax, and from
railway, postal and telegraph receipts. There is no land tax, and
licence or business taxes are levied by the municipalities for local
purposes. The national expenditures are chiefly for the interest and
amortization charges on the public debt, official salaries, military
expenses in connexion with the army and navy, public works (including
railway construction, port improvements, water and sewage works), the
administration of the state railways, telegraph lines and post office,
church subsidies, public instruction and foreign representation.
The ordinary and extraordinary receipts and expenditures for the five
years 1899-1903, in gold and currency, in pesos of 18d., were as
follows:--
+------+--------------------------+-----------------------------+
| | Receipts, pesos. | Expenditures, pesos. |
| +-------------+------------+--------------+--------------+
| | Gold. | Paper. | Gold. | Paper. |
+------+-------------+------------+--------------+--------------+
| 1899 | 83,051,604 | 45,239.970 | 31,732,797 | 76,749,793 |
| 1900 | 89,869,178 | 46,515,102 | 30,564,821 | 82,143,742 |
| 1901 | 74,665,061 | 35,394,434 | 39,808,517 | 91,087,171 |
| 1902 | 105,072,832 | 33,434,346 | 45,093,278[5]| 89,170,087[5]|
| 1903 | 108,503,565 | 32,490,145 | 12,508,075 | 84,721,437 |
+------+-------------+------------+--------------+--------------+
For 1906 the expenditures were fixed at 149,000,000 pesos, and the
revenues were estimated to produce 149,100,000 pesos, which included
62,200,000 pesos gold from nitrate taxes, 39,800,000 pesos gold and
200,000 pesos paper from import duties, 23,500,000 pesos paper from
the state railways, 2,500,000 pesos paper from postal and telegraph
receipts, and 15,000,000 pesos gold from loans. How the revenues are
expended is shown in the estimates for 1907, in which the total
expenditures were estimated at 134,830,532 pesos paper and 58,796,780
pesos gold, the principal appropriations being 16,192,780 pesos paper
and 99,733 gold for the war department, 10,460.781 paper and 6,315,731
gold for the marine department, 40,934,273 paper and 16,984,671 gold
for railways, and 6,324,817 paper for public works. In addition to
these the budget of 1906 provided for gold expenditures in 1907 of
7,000,000 pesos on sanitary works and 8,000,000 pesos on the Arica-La
Paz railway. The custom of dividing receipts and expenditures into
ordinary and extraordinary, of treating the receipts from loans as
revenue, of adding six months to the fiscal year for closing up
accounts, and of dividing receipts and expenditures into separate gold
and currency accounts, leads to much confusion and complication in the
returns, and is the cause of unavoidable discrepancies and
contradictions.
In May 1906 the external debt of the republic aggregated L21,700,000,
including the loans of 1905 and 1906, amounting to L5,700.000, for
sanitary works and railway construction. At the same time the internal
debt was 107,000,000 pesos (L8,025,000), which increases the funded
indebtedness to L29,725,000. Like Brazil, Chile has been careful to
preserve her foreign credit, and though an average indebtedness of
about L10 per capita may seem large for a nation with so much absolute
poverty among its people, the government is finding no difficulty in
negotiating new loans, the mineral resources of the country and the
conservative instincts of the people being considered satisfactory
guarantees. According to official returns, the real-estate valuations
in 1903-1904 aggregated 1,777,217,704 pesos, of which 1,020,609,215
pesos were in urban and 754,608,489 pesos in rural property. Of the
total returned, 1,775,217,704 is described as taxable, and 262,626,576
pesos as non-taxable. The large and steadily increasing receipts from
import duties, amounting to 91,321,860 pesos in 1905, and 103,507,556
pesos in 1906, appears to indicate an encouraging state of prosperity
in the country, although an average of 341/2 pesos a year (nearly L2 :
12s.), in addition to the increased prices paid for home manufactures,
seems to be a very heavy indirect tax upon so poor a people.
_Currency._--The monetary circulation in Chile consists almost wholly
of paper currency, nominally based on a gold standard of 18d. per
peso. The conversion law of 1895 made the currency convertible at this
rate, although the gold peso was rated at 48d. previous to that date;
but the financial crisis of 1898 caused the suspension of specie
payments, and a forced issue of additional paper led to a further
postponement of conversion and the prompt withdrawal of specie from
circulation. The paper circulation consists of national and bank
issues. The former owes its existence very largely to the war with
Peru, the civil war of 1891, and the financial troubles of 1898. On
the 1st of January 1890 the national issues stood at 22,487,916 pesos,
and the bank issues at 16,679,790 pesos, making a total of 39,167,706
pesos currency in circulation. This total was largely increased by
President Balmaceda in 1891. On the 31st of July 1898 the conversion
of paper notes, under the law of 1st June 1895, was suspended, and the
government issued 27,989,929 pesos to the banks of issue, which was
described as a loan at 2%, and raised their outstanding circulation to
40,723,089 pesos, and at the same time issued on its own account
17,693,890 pesos and assumed responsibility for 1,193,641 pesos which
had been illegally put into circulation before 1896. This gave an
aggregate registered circulation of 86,045,166 pesos in 1898. In 1904
another issue of 30,000,000 pesos was authorized and the date of
conversion was still further postponed, and in 1907 a more general act
provided that the maximum paper circulation should not exceed
150,000,000 pesos of the value of 18d. per peso, and that new issues
should be made only through the issue department and against deposits
of gold, which deposits would be returned to depositors on the
presentation of the currency issued. The redemption of this issue was
guaranteed by a conversion fund of 100,000,000 pesos, and by an
authorization to issue a loan of 50,000,000 pesos to redeem the
balance, if necessary. The conversion fund under the act of 1895 stood
at 77,282,257 pesos (L5,796,170) on the 31st of May 1907. There are 23
joint-stock banks of issue, with an aggregate registered capital of
40,689,665 pesos (L3,051,724). Their circulating notes are secured by
deposits in the national treasury of gold, government notes and other
approved securities. There is no state bank, though the Bank of Chile,
with its numerous agencies and its paid-up capital of 20,000,000
pesos, may be said to fill the place of such an institution. Besides
these, there are four non-issue banks, two foreign banks and their
agencies, and three mortgage banks, with agencies at the important
provincial centres, which loan money on real-estate security and issue
interest bearing hypothecary notes to bearer. There are 8 savings
banks in the republic, whose aggregate deposits on the 31st of
December 1906 were 14,799,728 pesos.
The monetary unit, the gold peso, does not form a part of the actual
coinage. The gold coins authorized by this law are the _condor_ of 20
pesos, the _medio condor_, or _doblon_, of 10 pesos, and the _escudo_
of 5 pesos. The silver coins are the _peso_ of 100 centavos and its
fractional parts of 20, 10 and 5 centavos. The bronze coins are of 21/2,
2, 1, and 1/2 centavos.
The metric system of weights and measures is the legal standard in
Chile, but the old Spanish standards are still widely used, especially
in handling mining and farm produce. Nitrate of soda is estimated in
Chilean quintals (101.41 lb) in the field, and metric quintals (220.46
lb) at the port of shipment. In silver and copper mining the _marc_ (8
oz.) is commonly used in describing the richness of the ores. Farm
produce is generally sold by the _arroba_ or _fanega_; the _vara_ is
used in lineal measurement, and the _cuadra_ is used by country people
in land measurement. (A. J. L.)