The system of local government is uniform in Chile, and is characterized by the concentra tion of authority in the President of the repub lic and his aeents. For administrative pur poses, the military Is divided into 23 provinces, which a re subdivided into 7-1 departments. St15 subdeleg.n I ions. and 300S distriets. At the head of each dist Het is an inspector: the inspectors are responsible to I he subdelegates, the sub. delegates to the governors of the departments. and these to the intendentes of the provinces. The governors and intendcntes are appointed and controlled by the President. The departments cOlrst it 11 te one or more municipal districts, whose affairs are administered by a council of six alder men and three alca1acs, presided over by the in tendentes. governors, or subdelegates, who pos sess a veto power. No one may be a member of the council who is connected with the State either as or as a contractor for the performance of some public service. The au thority of the municipality extends over the matters of police tin the capitals of the de partments the police are under the onitrol of the President), sanitation. primary instruction, aml the regulation of agriculture. industry, and commerce. The expenses of giwernment are met Tartly by direct and indirect taxation and part ly by subsidii-s from the general Government. The council is responsible to the popular Assem bly, composed of all registered electors, whose sanction is required in such important matters as the negotiation of municipal loans, the incep tion of important public works, or the alienation of the public domains. The popular Assembly, too, votes the annual budget and audits the municipal accounts as submitted by the alcaldes.
Justice is administered in the first instance by district judges in petty or civil disputes and misdemeanors, and by justices of subdelegation in more important civil suits and minor crim inal offenses. Cases of greater consequence are tried. in the first instance, before the judges of letters, of whom there is one at least in every department. Appeals from their decisions lie to the courts of appeal. six in number, located permanently in the chief cities, and exercising jurisdiction over groups of provinces. The tri bunal of last resort is the High Court at San tiago.
Public instruction, though gra tuitously provided by the State, is still in an unsatisfactory condition. Some advance has been made in recent years through the efforts of the progressive element among the people. A large number of teachers have been brought over from Germany, and not a little has been done toward reorganizing the educational system on the most modern principles of pedagogy and school administration. Primary instruction is provided in elementary and graded schools, con trolled by district visitors and inspectors. In 1900 there were 1547 public primary schools, with 114.410 pupils and 2692 teachers. Second
ary instruction is afforded by the Institute Nacional; also by the l•cr•es, of which there is one in every provincial capital and in the chief towns of the principal departments: in 1899 the number of students in the secondary schools was 727S. The State University at Santiago gives courses in law and political science, medicine and pharmacy. the physical and mathematical sei ulleeS, and fine arts. There are. besides, schools of agriculture and mining and other technical in stitutions, a pedagogical institute, normal schools, an academy of painting and sculpture. a con servatory of music and oratory. and military and naval academies. In every bishopric there is a seminary for the training of the Catholic clergy. 'Every year the State sends to Europe, to be edu cated at the national expense. such students as may have distinguished themselves in the institu tions of higher learning at home. Upon their re turn they are required to render some service to the State for a certain period, in whatever calling they may have chosen. The number of students in private institutions of different grades was 56,599 in 1900.
Port•LA•ioN. The population of Chile, accord ing to the census of 1883, was 2.527,320; but these figures are regarded as too high. In 1895 the population was 2,712,145, and at the end of 1900 it was estimated at about 3,100,000, or about 10.7 per square mile. a ratio three times as great as that of Argentina, and two and ont-half times as great, as that of Brazil. The number of foreigners in 1895 was 72.812, as against 65,000 in 1885, and ineluded 8296 Spaniards, 7809 Frenchmen, 71)49 Germans, 7586 Italians, 6241 Englishmen and natives of ten more European countries, 13.695 Peruvians. 6654 Bolivians, and only 701 persons from the United States. About one-fourth of the native population is of pure Spanish origin, while the remainder are either mixed or of pure Indian origin.
at T O IO25, the energetic efforts of the Chilean Government, has been rather light, and attended with little success. one of the most promising colonial ventures is the German colony of Valdivia. Its success. however, has been due to theexceptional character of the colonists, as well as to the conditions ender which they came. When the Chilean Govern ment, encouraged by the example of the Valdivia colony, began to encourage colonization on a larger scale. by means of foreign agencies and free passage to the country, the immigrant popu lation became less desirable in character, and only a small became permanent set tlers. Still the foreign population has played not a little part in the development of the country. Throughout Chile, nevertheless, the natural increase of population is small, owing to the utter disregard for life among the natives, and to the high rate of infant mortality, amount ing to about 59 per cent. among children below the age of 7.