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 THE PERUVIAN WAR 325 been maintained, and guano bondholders had no cause to complain of Chile's engagements. On July 23d, 1881, Chile obtained two hundred and fifteen thousand seven hundred and twenty-five square kilometres of land in the south by treaty with the Ar- gentine Republic. This matter had been long pending and had several times nearly caused a rupture of the friendly relations existing between those republics. Chile claimed to Cape Horn ; the Argentines disputed this and claimed the whole of Patagonia. Perhaps the Argentines were right, but they had acquiesced in Chile's possession of the territory and claim to it for many years, and were not, therefore, now in a position consistently to oppose it. The dissensions which had preceded Santa Maria's nomination and election to the presidency did not greatly abate after his inauguration. One of the re- forms the liberals brought forward was that of sepa- rating the church from the state. We have seen how bitterly the clerical party opposed the passing of a law in President Errazuriz's time, imposing penalties on priests who incited to disobedience of the laws. It is not, therefore, surprising that they should bring every influence to bear against separation. In 1884, the ques- tion was mooted in congress and gave rise to fiery de- bates. The government and a large majority of the house Avere in favor of a gradual separation ; the radi- cal group urged the expediency of bringing about the separation by a single stroke. The discussions in ec- clesiastical and political circles grew warm, and con- tinued unabated through Santa Maria's administration. As we have seen, the death of Archbishop Valdivieso in 1878, had left a vacancy which the government de- sired to fill and, therefore, designated for the place the prebendary. Don Francisco de Paula Taforo. This