Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/737

 CHILE

661

CHILE

number of Patagonian aborigines is inconsiderable, and Tierra del Fuego has about 1000 inhabitants.

Government.— The form of government is republi- can. The legislative power is vested in Congress, consisting of the Senate and the Chamber of Depu- ties. The latter are elected directly in the provinces, for a term of three years, one deputy for every 30,000 inhabitants or fraction thereof, not less than 15,000. Senators also arc elected directly by the people, one senator for three deputies, or one senator for two deputies, two if the number of inhabitants does not permit three for the province. The senators' term of office is six years, at the end of which they may be re-elected. Tin- president, who is the chief execu-

Spanish is the national language, but lorcigners enjoy all reasonable liberties. In 1850 the establishment of a specifically German colony was begun at Val- divia, and the development of that province is largely due to German settlers. German immigrants arc numerous throughout Chile, and their business stand- ing is quite high. The English also have a good share in larger mining operations and they control to some extent the Chilian lines of steamers on the Pacific. There are private institutes of education founded and supported exclusively by foreigners. The Chilian army and navy are the best in South America. The army has, since the war with Bolivia and Peru, been specially trained by officers obtained

tive, is chosen by indirect suffrage, that is, by electors by the people. For judicial purposes the ter- ritory is divided into six sections, at the head of each of which is a Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court at the capital, Santiago, and has the superin-

iii of all inferior courts. In addi-

the provincial appellate tribunals, there are. in apei i'l judges of criminal and ercial affairs. Chile consists ol twenty-three provinces and the Territory of Magallanes. Each province is subdivided into departments, each de- partment into subdelegations, which in turn composed of districts. \t the head of each province Btands an intendant, who is directly dependent on the president; the departments have their governors, under whom are the subdelegates, who control the inspectors of each district. The municipal govern- ments of the provincial capi ided over by t he intendants, those ol subdeleg itioru by the subdele- gate. AM citizens are equal before the law and eligi- ble to public offices, except in special cases. deuce at all points, association, and education are

free, as also the pros. The courts decide all eases

of abuse of the liberty of the press. The great ma jority of the population being of Spanish descent,

from Germany. The number of the regular troop, is fixed annually by Congress.

The metric system obtains in the republic. There

are three gold coins: t he condor (20 Chilian pesos, a

peso is equivalent to 36j cents); the dobl6n (10 pesos), and the escudo (5 pesos); but paper monej and si her are the usual currency. The smallest

(one and two cents or centavos) contain 95 per cent

ol copper and .". per cent of nickel. Imports rose.

iron, 1885 to 1905 inclusive, from 14,000,000 to over

188,000,000 Chilian pesos; exports during the same period, from 51,000,000 to 265,000,000 pesos. The

nitrate exports in 1903 alone amounted to I 10,000,-

000 The exports are chiefly to England and Ger- many. The chief commercial port i- Valparaiso, established 1543; it now has a population of 150,000. In l!M).i. there were 11,080 miles of telegraph lines in

operation and in 1906, 2,875 miles of railroads On

1 January, 1904, the foreign national debt of Chile amounted to 16,449,960 pound- sterling, and the home debt to 103,815,821 I Sixty mill- ions of the latter were represented by paper money in circulation.

Education. -The cost of supporting public educa- tion is paid by the government which, in 1903, spent