Antofagasta is one of the departments of Chile richest in mineral wealth. Alum, salt, sulphur, nitrates, aluminum, borax, carbonate of lime, chloride of sodium, cobalt, carbonate of soda, nickel and potassium are found in various parts of the district. One of the largest known deposits of low-grade copper is at Chuquicamata and is being worked by the Chile Exploration Company. Other extensive deposits exist at Caspana, Cerro Gordo, Conchi, Chacaya, Chug-Chug, Desesperado, El Cobre, Huacazul, Huanta-Jayita, Lagarto, Lomas Bayas, Mantos Blancos, Moctezuma, Naguayan, Nuevo Tamayo, San Lorenzo and a score of other places, some of which yield high-grade ores. There were copper smelters at Colama, Chuquicamata, Gatico, Antofagasta and sev eral other places; and additional smelters were being projected in 1917. Iron, in various com binations, exists through the province; and blue vitrol, gypsum, tripoli and zinc among its unexploited wealth. The gypsum covers the desert plains over large areas.
Manufactures.— The more important indus tries of Chile, after the chemical and metallur gical, are those concerned with the manufac ture or preparation of food substances, bever ages, textiles, clothing, leather, woodworking (including furniture and carriage building) and pottery. In 1917 there were over 6,200 fac tories, employing 80,697 operatives, of whom 27,138 were women and 6,443 children.
Six Chilean concerns make china and glass ware and the Fabrica de Vidriosi (Window glass Factory) and the aSociedad Nacional de VidriosA (National Window-glass Company), both in Santiago, employ over 2,000 workmen. The latter has a capacity of over 25,000 pounds of glass a day. The manufacture of plate glass was begun in 1917. Beer and wine bottles, demijohns and other heavy utility glassware are made by the eSociedad Fabrica Nacional de Vidrios,)) which has a capacity of 36,000,000 bottles, which was (1917) sufficient to supply the entire demand of the country. Several packing-houses had begun to carry on a profit able business in Chile in 1916, and in 1917 *La Compania Frigorifica de Puerto Natales,' with a capital of f100,000, and a capacity of 500,000 sheep a year, was under construction at Ultima Esperanza, in Magallanes Territory. All the refrigerator plants were paying divi dends of about 100 per cent a year, so great was the rush of business caused by the European War. The annual consumption of paper and paper products in Chile was, in 1917, a little less than $4,000,000, of which over $3,000,000 was imported. The local product consisted principally of colored poster, cover paper, wrap ping paper and cardboard.
There are more than 100 factories in Chile manufacturing ready-made clothing, underwear, shirts and waterproofs. A very large part of the output of these factories is sold in the local market as imported goods. The knitting indus try developed greatly between 1900 and 1917. On the latter date there were 17 factories in Santiago alone. One cordage factory, (La
Sociedad Industrial de las Andes', employed 350 hands in 1917 and was unable to supply the local demand. It was making an extensive propaganda to encourage the growth of hemp in Chile. The Santiago Lumber and Ship Company manufactures half the packing boxes in Chile and has a large output of shingles (1917). The European War called into being several furniture factories in Chile, and numer ous establishments for the manufacture of food stuffs. Forty of these were represented at the Chilean Industrial Exposition opened at Santiago in September 1916; yet these were a small part of the food producing fac tories of the country.' More than 150 factories are engaged in the making of alcohol, liquors, beers and other drinks; and about 40 in the manufacture of mineral waters. In 1915 there were 139 establishments in Chile turning out paper and paper products. Of these 99 also did a general printing and binding business and 12 conducted lithographing establishments. The cost of the maintenance of these factories was, in 1916, over $6,000,000. More than 90 per cent of the machinery used in the paper business in Chile is European.
The total number of factory employees is distributed as follows: Breweries, 4,225; glass and pottery,. 1,053; food products, 12,068; gas and electricity, 1,208; shipyards, 1,034; cloth ing, 14,016; furniture and wood products, 12, 393; building supplies, 1,365; textiles, 2,568; metal products, 6,880; paper and printing 4,731 • leather and furs, 12,279; drugs and chemicals, 2,871; tobacco products, 1,735; carriages and other vehicles, 1,530; miscella neous, 731; total, 80,697.
Tariffs.— Imports, being to specific duty or charges by weight (instead of ad valo rem duty, as in the United States), may be dutiable on net weight, gross weight, weight including packing or weight including con tainers. No brief statement can summarize the various regulations prescribing the imposts on all classes of goods except those which, from •motives of public policy, are admitted duty-free; but it is important to note that the application of a specific tariff results in the payment of identical duties on articles having the same name and general description, even though there may be a' wide range of quality. To make this quite clear and to emphasize the difference between the Chilean practice in this respect and the practice in the United States, a concrete instance may cited, as follows: Suppose two different one worth $1,000 and the other $2,000, were imported into the United States. The duty, if calculated on an ad valorem basis of 40 per cent, would be re spectively $400 for the first and $800 for the second. But if these articles should be im ported into Chile, the duty would be assessed regardless of the difference in quality. The effect is to encourage the importation of costly articles. Consult Filsinger, E. B., 'Export ing to Latin New York and London 1916.