PORTE R ’ S PROGRESS OF NATIONS CHIL E POR T ER ’ S PR O G R ESS O F N ATION S Q H I L EM AN ACC OUNT OF I TS W EALT H AN D P R OG R ES S P R E$ A T JU L I O E C N Q _ H I E ‘ ME R R ’ AN I AG O C F EDI TO R E L CU I O S T ( . ) WITH AN I NT R ODU CTI ON BY R BERT P P R TER O . O ’ A UTH OR OF T E T L ‘ TH E I TI O OF AP N T H EN R EP B I FUL L R ECO GN N A E C. U CS J , W IT H TW O MAPS LONDON G E R E R ED E D S LT D. O G O UT L G AN S ON , 1 9 12 OX FO R D P RI N TED B Y H O R ACE H ART AT TH E UNIVERS I T Y P RES S CON TE N TS BY OBE T P . PO TE I NTRODUCTION . R R R R THE AIMS OF THE AUTHOR THE CHILEAN THE STRANGER W ITHIN THE I M PRESSIONS OF CHILE NATIONAL FINANCE THE FUTURE OF CHILE CHILE : ITS WEALTH AND PROGRESS BY JULIO PERE$ CANTO CHAP . THE P O ESS OF HILE I . R GR C Y I I I I I . PH S CAL CHARACTER ST CS INER AL ESOU CES I I I . M R R IV . CLIMATE IVE S AND AKES V . R R L V VI . POLITICAL DI ISIONS I V Y VI I . D SCO ER AND CONQUEST VIII . THE POP ULATION I X I I . COLON AL PER OD THE X . REP U BLIC 6 CONTENTS THE CITIE S COLONI$ ATION AND I MM IGRATION MEANS OF COMMUN I CATION NAV IGATION TRADE AND COMMERCE MINING AND METALLURGY MANUFACTURI NG I NDUSTRIES I NDEX ‘ — To p o int ou t the p rog ress of the n ation n ot of this or tha t s t io n o its in ha bitan ts b ut the ro ress o the whole socia l s stem ec f , p g f y i n ll ts riou s de a rtments a n d a s a ectin a ll its v a riou s a i va p , ff g i nterests—is the ob ect ro osed while the mean s em lo ed or its j p p , p y f a ccom lishme nt will a s a r a s ossible be sou ht or in well p , f p , g f a uthentica ted acts a n d the conclu sion s which these su est will f , gg ’ b e supp orted by p rinciples the tru th of which ha s in gene ra l been ’ r mmon on sent ecogn ized by co c . From Th e P ro r ss f t he N atio n Geor e R ichardson ( g e o , by g P orter [ I 8 36 I NT R ODU CT I ON I THE AIMS OF THE AUTHOR THE immigrant from Great Brit ain whose first glimpses o f Chile Show him a warship named ’ O Higgins and a street called after Cochrane cannot but feel that the strangers among whom his lo t has been cast are prepared to accord him a genuine H e welcome . sets out upon his new career with the consciousness that men from his o wn distant islands have met with success and that their services have been honourably commemorated by those for whom they worked . And if he is undecided in what part o f the New World to make his home , he is inevitably drawn towards the people who are proud to style themselves ; the English of South America Among them , at 8 THE AIMS OF THE AUTHOR own any rate , he can acquire property and live his o f life with little sense expatriation . And the same applies to the citizen of the United States . It is with the obj ect o f supplying immigrants and investors with trustworthy information that Chile its Wealth and P Mrogress has been written . The r . author being Julio Perez Canto , chief editor of El M ercurio o f Santiago , no further evidence is required o f his competence fo r the task he has u i ndertaken , and a glance at his pages w ll testify To the lucidity , thoroughness , and impartiality with w hich he has carried it out . The last -mentioned quality calls fo r recognition in setting down his estimate o fMthe situation and of o f r the prospects his country . Perez Canto has o f issued a sober record facts . One sometimes hears the South American style referred to as extravagant and rhetorical here will be found nothing to support any such contention ; good ’ M W no r . ine needs bush , and Perez Canto is content for the most part to let his subj ect speak for itself . - Anglo Saxon readers , for whom this book is intended , will not find themselves , as might otherwise have o f been the case , repelled by an attitude mind into on r which they cannot enter the contra y , they will feel attracted to a country where their own methods o f expression are understood and ap p reciated . THE AIMS OF THE AUTHOR 9 ’ Mr . Perez Canto s work was written in Spanish , and the exact and conscientious translation is the work o f h as Mr . Edward Gill , whose rendering preserved the Spirit o f that language ; at times we seem t o recognize the sonorous quality of the original tongue . ’ o f In Mr . Perez Canto s account Chile there will descri be found , in the smallest possible compass , a p tion o f the physical characteristics of the country and of the industries which have been developed there . He has given those details which are indis for pensable the business man , but he has devoted little space to the political history o f Chile and t o her relations with the neighbouring republics . The explanation lies in this : the different nations among whom South America is now distributed have so much of their past in common that the o f The editor the South American Series , of which Wealth and P ro ress o Chile g f forms a part , decided to save repetition by recounting the general history o f the continent in a prefatory volume . This The Ten R e ublics W introduction , entitled p , deals ith Latin America from the standpoint adopted by the o f writers the separate histories ; and it contains , moreover , comparative data which should assist the investor to estimate the progress made by the different nations . Comparisons have been avoided by Mr . Perez Canto as a Chilean he has j udged it TO THE AIMS OF THE AUTHOR expedient to let others point the lessons of his ’ country s history , although no man is more sensible o f for wh o their importance . Indeed , a person con templates emigrating to a foreign land , or engaging f in trade there , it is not su ficient to know that its mountains are rich in copper , that its soil yields wheat in abundance , and that steamers compete for its coal . so It is well that this should be , but the demand for ’ copper may cease , large areas nearer the consumer s oil markets may be thrown open to wheat , fuel may and t hen o f be substituted for coal , the prosperity a country whose staple industries are thus threatened will depend o n the energy and adaptability o f its T o f people . o appraise its possession these qualities it is necessary to know how it has faced the trials of the past , and how it bears comparison with nations which have been confronted with similar problems . It is no more possible t o understand the aspirations o f Chile without some familiarity with the history o f South America than to ignore the influence of England in writing about the United States modern Chile is the child o f Spanish Chile . In his suggestive chapter o n the Progress of Chile Mr . Perez Canto has referred to the importanc e of the subj ects which the plan o f this volume has t o o f compelled him pass over . Some these have i The Ten R e u blics been dealt w th in p , and it is the ' THE AIMS OF THE AUTHOR I I aim o f the next few pages to bridge over the gaps between that general account o f South America and the description o f modern industrial Chile to which Mr . Perez Canto has been obliged to devote most o f his space . The geographical features o f Chile are fully for described in the first chapter , which calls no addition . Those , however , who are repelled by the scientific terms , without which no accurate record can be conveyed , may be interested to hear that in o f shape Chile is a long narrow trough , which the so uthern extremity might be found near New York if the northern could be placed in Queenstown . It would , however , be unwise to roll luggage down it A on from Ireland to merica , for the ridge the coast t o Side of the trough is too irregular afford protection .