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CHILE.

(REPÚBLICA DE CHILE.)

Constitution and Government.

THE Republic of Chile threw off allegiance to the Crown of Spain by the declaration of independence of September 18, 1810, finally freeing itself from the yoke of Spain in 1818. The Constitution voted by the representatives of the nation in 1833, with a few subsequent amendments, establishes three powers in the State-the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. The legislative power is vested in the National Congress, consisting of two assemblies, called the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate is composed of members, elected for the term of six years, in the proportion of one Senator for every three Deputies; while the Chamber of Deputies, composed of members chosen for a period of three years, consists of one representative for every 30,000 of the population, or a fraction not less than 15,000; both bodies are chosen by the same electors-the Chamber directly by departments, and the Senate directly by provinces on the cumulative system of voting. Electors must be 21 years of age, and can read and write. In 1887 there were 134,119 registered electors or 1 to 18 of the population. In the election of deputies in March 1888, 89,977 citizens voted or 67 per cent. of those who had the right to vote. Deputies must have an income of 1007. a year, and Senators 4007. The executive is exercised by the President of the Republic elected for a term of five years, by indirect vote, the people nominating, by ballot, delegates who appoint the President. A retiring President is not re-eligible. In legislation the President has a modified veto; a bill returned to the chambers with the President's objections may, by a twothirds vote of the members present (a majority of the members being present), be sustained and become law. The day of a Presidential election is June 25 of the last of the five years of a Presidency, and the inauguration takes place on September 18 of the same year.

President of the Republic.-Señor Errazuriz, elected June 25, 1896.

The salary of the President is fixed at 18,000 pesos, with 12,000 pesos for expenses.

The President is assisted in his executive functions by a Council of State, and a Cabinet or Ministry, divided into seven departments, under six Ministers, viz. :-Of the Interior; of Foreign Affairs; of Worship and Colonisation; of Justice and Public Instruction; of Finance; of War and Marine; of Industry

and Public Works. The Council of State consists of five members nominated by the President, and six members chosen by the Congress.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

For the purposes of local government the Republic is divided into Provinces, presided over by Intendents; and the Provinces into Departments, with Gobernadores as chief officers. The Departments constitute one or more municipal districts each with a council or municipality of 9 members, inhabitants popularly elected for three years. The police of Santiago and of the capitals of departments is organised and regulated by the President of the Republic at the charge of the national treasury.

Area and Population.

The Republic is divided (according to rearrangement of 1887) into 23 provinces, subdivided into 74 departments and 1 territory. Departments and territories are subdivided into 865 sub-delegations and 3,068 districts.

In 1884 the province of Antofagasta was ceded to Chile by Bolivia, and those of Tarapacá and Tacna by Peru. The cession of Tacna was originally for ten years, at the end of which period a plébiscite of the province would decide to which country it should belong. Owing to troubles in Peru the decision was deferred; but a convention for the purpose of carrying out the plébiscite was signed at Santiago April 16, 1898. Boundary disputes with the Argentine Republic have been referred to the decision of the Government of Queen Victoria, who have agreed to arbitrate.

The following are the area and population of the provinces and territories, according to the censuses of November 26, 1885, and November 28, 1895, with the population of the provincial capitals, 1895:

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RELIGION-INSTRUCTION

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The Indians are estimated at about 50,000, and if 15 per cent. be added to the census population for probable omissions, the total population may be put at about 3,200,000.

In 1885 there were in Chile 1,263,645 males and 1,263,675 females At the census of 1885 the foreign population amounted to 87,077 persons, of whom 34,901 were Peruvians, 13,146 Bolivians, 9,835 Argentines, 6,808 German, 5,303 English, 4,198 French, 4,114 Italian, 2,508 Spanish, 1,275 Swiss, 1,164 Chinese, 924 Anglo-American, 674 Austrian, 434 Swedish and Norwegian, and the rest from other countries of Europe and of America.

The total urban population in 1895 was 1,240,353, and the rural 1,471,792. The estimated population at the end of 1897 was 3,049,352. The estimated population of Santiago (December, 1897) was 302,131; Valparaiso, 139,038; Conception, 49,607; Talca, 39,613.

The registration of births, marriages, and deaths in Chile began in 1885. The official figures are:

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Immigration is small, but is encouraged by the Government. The number of immigrants (agricultural and industrial) who, by the Colonisation Agency in Europe, entered Chili in 1895, was 1,402; in 1896, 2,102. The latter number included 261 British, 400 German, 402 French, 365 Spanish, 274 Italian, 179 Dutch, 106 Belgian. In 1897 the total number was 870. In 1898 the sum of 616,890 pesos was provided for colonisation purposes.

Religion.

The Roman Catholic religion is maintained by the State, but according to the Constitution all religions are respected and protected. There is one archbishop and three bishops. For 1898 the amount of subsidies to the clergy and for building and other purposes was 578,888 pesos. Civil marriage is the only form acknowledged by law.

Instruction.

Education is gratuitous and at the cost of the State, but is not compulsory. It is divided into superior or professional, medium or secondary, and primary or elementary instruction. Professional and secondary instruction is provided in the University and the National Institute of Santiago, and in the lyceums and colleges established in the capitals of provinces, and in some departments. In the University the branches included are law, physical and mathematical sciences, medicine, and fine arts. The number of students inscribed for the study of these branches in 1897 was 774. The number of students at the National Institute in 1897 was 1,278. There are 2 lyceums for girls in Santiago maintained by Government. There are, besides, provincial colleges, normal, agricultural, and other special schools. At the seats of the bishops there are seminaries under ecclesiastics where instruction is given similar to that in the Government colleges. There were in 1897, 1,321 public primary schools, with 109,058 pupils, and an average attendance of 65,507, and 2,268 teachers. There were also 411 private schools, with an attendance of 18,052. The National Library contains over 86,000 volumes of printed

books, and 24,048 manuscripts.

Other educational institutions are the Paedagogic Institute, the National Conservatory of Music, the National Observatory, School of Arts and Trades, Institute for Deaf Mutes, and public museums. In 1897 the cost of higher instruction to the State was 2,000,000 pesos; the cost of maintaining the elementary schools was 1,920, 200 pesos; and the total cost of instruction supplied by the State, including buildings, pensions, books, &c., in 1897, was 5,633,021 pesos.

Justice and Crime.

There are, in addition to a High Court of Justice in the capital, six Courts of Appeal, Courts of First Instance in the departmental capitals, and subordinate courts in the districts. The total number of offenders sent to prison in 1896 was 33,338. Of this total, 13,998 were imprisoned from 1 to 60 days; more serious offenders were 10,474, guilty of offences against property; 5,419 guilty of offences against persons; and 5,363 of offences against

order.

Finance.

The public revenue is mainly derived from customs duties, while the chief branches of expenditure are for the national debt and public works and salaries.

According to official statement, the ordinary income and expenditure of Chile have been :—

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For 1898 the expenditure was estimated at 79,931,452 pesos.

The estimated revenue and expenditure for 1899 were:

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On December 31, 1897, the public debt of Chile was :

External

17,734,9707.
26,744,263 pesos

Internal (including municipal) The interest on the external debt is at 4, 5, and a small portion at 6 per cent., and the total charge amounts to about 965,6807. (12,875,733 pesos).

In 1897 the State property consisted of lands valued at 114,062,702 pesos; nitrate fields estimated at 150,000,000 pesos; guano deposits estimated at 2,500,000 pesos; railways (including rolling stock), 102,158,258 pesos; telegraph lines, 1,500,000 pesos; moveable property, 1,069,298 pesos; total, 371,290,258 pesos.

The following statement shows approximately, according to data collected by the Statistical Bureau in the three years 1893-96, the value of the real property in Chile owned by corporations and private persons :—

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If to the value of private properties be added the sum of 50,000,000 pesos, the estimated aggregate value of properties under 2,000 pesos, the value in private ownership amounts to 1,436,125,688 pesos. Of this about 200,236,400 pesos (or one-seventh) is mortgaged, viz.: 160,236,400 pesos to land banks and about 40,000,000 pesos to private persons.

Defence.

By the law of November 24, 1897, the strength of the army must not exceed 9,000 men, distributed between 10 regiments of infantry, 8 of cavalry, 5 of artillery, a corps of engineers, and 2 corps of invalides. There are 4 generals of division, 6 of brigade, 18 colonels, 40 lieut.-colonels, and 555 inferior officers. The army is provided with Mauser and Mannlicher rifles. Besides the regular army there is a National Guard, composed of citizens. This force has (1896) been reorganised, and every Chilian from 20 to 40 years of age is obliged to serve. It consists of three parts: the active, into which citizens enter on the completion of their twentieth year; the passive, to which citizens pass on the completion of their twenty-first year after having performed the services required in the active guard; the sedentary, composed of those who, having completed their thirtieth year, have passed from the passive guard. In the year 1898 the numbers enrolled were: active, 16,309; passive, 7,301; sedentary, 5,672; total, 29,282. In the three years 1896-98 the total numbers enrolled were 512,700.

The Chilian fleet consists of 5 armourclads, including the old Huascar, 2 second-class and 3 third-class cruisers, 11 gun-vessels and gunboats, 4 destroyers, launched at Birkenhead in 1896, and all of more than 30 knots, and 15 first-class and 4 second-class torpedo boats. The following are the principal vessels. Abrev. c,b., central battery; b,, barbette; a,c,, armoured

cruiser; cr. cruiser,

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