of cool weather, but during the first fortnight in March, there were still 201 cases of which 77 resulted in death.

Postal Service. The number of post-offices in operation in 1887 was 481, dispatching during the year 37,308,210 items of mail-matter. The number of ordinary letters handled in the mails in 1886 was 14,299,883; registered letters, 125,902; sample packages, 39,639; judicial notifications, 15,392; Government messages, 703,255; and newspapers, 20,124,139; together, 35,308,210, dispatched in 1886. The receipts in 1887 were $483,439, nearly balancing the expenses. Postal money-orders were paid out in 1886 to the amount of $1,633,322. The Government paid subsidies to ocean steamers for carrying the correspondence in 1886 to the extent of $223,880.

Railroads.-The Chilian railroad system, on Dec. 31, 1887, consisted in in the first place of Government lines:

Santiago to Valparaiso....

Branch line, Las Vegas to Santa Rosa

Santiago to Maule and San Fernando to Palmilla,

Length in kilometres.

wagon-roads measuring 66,000 kilometres in length, and 2,000 ordinary roads of a total length of 40,000 kilometres. Seventy-eight water-courses are navigable a distance of over 4,800 kilometres.

Telegraphs.-The Government owns nearly all the telegraph lines in operation, there being 150 offices in 1886, increased to 170 in 1887. The length of line was 10,300 kilometres, and of wire 12,148, the entire cost of which has only been $844,325. There were sent 419,777 private telegrams in 1886, bringing $121,248, and 112,819 Government messages charged $80,476. Private lines exist between Santiago and Valparaiso, Arica and Tacna, Santa Rosa de Los Andes and the Argentine Republic, and a cable runs along the coast. Concessions have been granted to build additional private lines between Arica and Tacna, Serena and Coquimbo, Santiago and the Condes mines, and Concepcion and Talcalguano. Telephone lines are in operation at Santiago, Valparaiso, and in other cities.

Commerce. The foreign-trade movement in Chili has been as follows:

187

45

ITEMS.

75

Import Increase..

Chili produced in 1887 29,150 tons of fine copper, compared with 35,000 in 1886; the export during the first nine months of 1888 was 23,675 tons fine, against 22,990 during the corresponding period of the previous year.

The Chilian exportation of nitrate of soda has been as follows:

DESTINATION.

To Northern Europe

To the Mediterranean

To the United States on the Atlantic...

To the United States on the Pacific

Total.

1885. 1886. 1887.

Quintals. Quintals. Quintals. |8,554,687|7,950,452 13,851,720 41,930 163,092 237,575

827,296 1,436,189 1,582,026

77,712 255,505 229,946 |9,501,625|9,805,238 15,351,567

The American trade with Chili exhibits these figures:

FISCAL YEAR.

Imports from Chili into the United States.

Domestic exports from the United States to Chili.

$2.887,551

Other Means of Internal Transportation. In the cities of Santiago and Valparaiso there are comfortable tramway lines; in the former a distance of 60 kilometres, in the latter of 10. There are tramways, moreover, at Concepcion, Copiapó, Chillan, Limache, Rengo, Quillota, San Felipe, Santa Rosa, Serena, and Talca. There are besides in the country about 800

1883.

1884. 1885.. 1886. 1897.

1858.

$435,584

General Production.-The "Sinopsis Estadistica," Santiago, 1887, sums up the productive

activity of the republic in the following words: "Agriculture, in its main branches, produces annually, on the average, 7,000,000 hectolitres of wheat, 3,000,000 hectolitres of barley and other cereals, and a proportionate amount of vegetables and fruit peculiar to the temperate zone. In 1886 the country exported over 1,300,000 hectolitres of wheat in the grain and in the form of flour, and 266,300 litres of wines. Cattle production amounts to 500,000 head per annum, and that of sheep and goats to 2,000,000 on an average. The mineral branch turns out some 25,000 to 40,000 tons of copper, 160,000 kilogrammes of silver, 10,000,000 tons of coal, over 15,500,000 quintals of nitrate of soda, large amounts of manganese, and for the working of metals, etc., there are in operation foundries and machinery of the first class. Manufacturing furnishes an ample supply of ordinary commodities. There are a great many flour-mills and other factories. A large sugar-refinery is in operation at Viña del Mar, near Valparaiso, while at Santiago there is a wool-weaving establishment producing fine cloths, etc., and smaller ones are to be met with in the interior, as well as other industries. Exclusive privileges are granted to newly invented industries foreign to the country, and a good many such are in course of exploitation." Merchant Marine.-There were afloat under the Chilian flag on March 15, 1887. 37 steamers with a joint tonnage of 18,769; 7 ships with 7,866 tons; 91 barks with 45,989 tons; 5 brigs with 1,514 tons; 8 schooner-brigs with 2,295 tons; 12 schooners with 1,225 tons; and 19 sloops with 1,058; together, 179 vessels with 78,716 tons. Two new steamers and 16 sailing-vessels were registered during a twelvemonth, while 2 steamers and 10 sailing-vessels were either sold or wrecked. The maritime movement in 1886 was, vessels entered, 9,568, with a joint tonnage of 8,081,229, and 9,654 sailed, measuring jointly 8,368,887 tons, bringing 47,167 passengers and taking away 41,032, so that 6,135 remained in port.

Education. The Chilian university at Santiago is called the "Instituto Nacional." In 1886 422 students attended the lectures on law and political science; 290 on medical science; 122 on pharmacy; 30 on physics and mathematics; and 104 cultivated the fine arts--i.e., drawing, painting, sculpture, and architecture; total number of students, 968. Four hundred and five diplomas were granted. The lyceums in the provinces, of which there are twenty-two, were attended by 3,892 pupils in the same year, so that altogether 4,860 youths were receiving a higher degree of education, and for 1888 Congress set aside a subsidy of $829,694 for the same purpose. The free schools numbered 862, with 78,810 pupils, the average attendance being 47,780; there are besides normal schools; and for all public schools Congress voted a subsidy of $1,406,000 for 1888; adding thereto salaries of professors, teachers, pensions, and money spent on new school-buildings and

libraries, Chili spent in a single year on education $4,957,437.

Newspapers. The number of periodical publications throughout the country in 1888 was 130; 30 in Santiago, 15 in Valparaiso, 5 in Iquique, 4 each in Concepcion, Copiapó, Curicó, Serena, and Talca, 3 each in Ancud, Angeles, Cauquenes, Chillan, San Carlos, San Felipe, Vallenar, and Freirina, and 2 each in Ligua, Melipilla, Osorno, Pisagua, Quillota, Quirihue, Rancagua, and San Fernando-one in nearly every chief town of a department. CHINA, an empire in eastern Asia. The Tsait'ien or Emperor, Hwangti, born in 1871, succeeded to the throne by proclamation, Jan. 22, 1875, on the death of the Emperor T'ungchi. He is the ninth Emperor of China of the Tartar dynasty of Ts'ing. During his infancy the affairs of the Government were directed by the Empress Dowager, widow of the Emperor Hienfung, in concert with Prince Ch'un, father of the present Emperor. On becoming of age, Feb. 7, 1887, the young Emperor assumed the government of his dominions though the Empress Regent still exercised the royal prerogative to a certain extent till July, 1888, when she retired from active state duties. The administration of the Government is under the direction of the Neiko or ministers of state, four in number, two Tartars and two Chinese, with two assistants from the Han-lin or Great College. Seven boards assist the ministers in the administration of the empire. In addition, there is a board of public censors, independent of the Government, consisting of from 40 to 50 members, under two presidents, one of Tartar and the other of Chinese birth. Any member of this board is privileged to present remonstrances to the Emperor, and one censor must be present at the meetings of any of the Government boards.

Area and Population.-The total area of China and its dependencies is 4.179.559 square miles, with a population of 404,180,000, not including Corea. In the latter part of 1886 there were 7,695 foreigners resident in the open ports, of whom 3,438 were British, 777 Japanese, 741 Americans, 629 Germans, 471 Frenchmen, and 319 Spaniards. More than half of the foreigners reside in Shanghai.

Finances. As the receipts of the Government from internal sources are not made public, the amount of revenue can only be estimated. The ordinary revenue was estimated in 1886 at 66,400,000 haik wan taels, or about $$0,344,000, derived from the following sources: Land-tax, payable in money, 20,000,000 taels; rice tribute, 2,800,000 taels; salt-taxes, 9,600,000 taels; maritime customs, 15,000,000 taels; native customs, maritime and inland, and inland levy on foreign opium, 6,000,000 taels; transit levy on miscellaneous goods and opium, foreign and native, 11,000,000 taels; licenses, 2,000,000 taels. The receipts from foreign customs amounted in 1886 to 15,144,678 taels. The customs duties fall more upon exports than im

ports. The main expenditure is for the maintenance of the army, which is estimated to cost 60,000,000 taels per annum. The total external debt was estimated at $25,000,000 in 1887. A preliminary agreement was made with an American syndicate, contracting for the minting of money, and granting concessions for banking, negotiating loans, building and operating railroads, and opening and working mines. Revelations regarding the character of the intermediary, a Polish adventurer, and the opposition of British and German rivals of the concessionaires, led the Tsungli-Yamen to reject the arrangement. The Chinese Government subsequently obtained from an English manufacturer the machinery and dies for coining new copper cash, which will be composed of less brittle metal than those now in circulation, and also silver taels or dollars, and 50, 20, and 10 cent pieces.

The Army. The army consists in time of peace of about 250,000 men, and this number can be increased to about 850,000 in time of war. Most of the troops are armed with either Mauser or Remington rifles, and the Government possesses a good supply of Krupp 8-centimetre field-cannon. Large quantities of foreignmade arms have been purchased, and the arsenals of China, under foreign supervision, are beginning to turn out both arms and ammunition. Besides the Chinese and Manchu militias, each province possesses a regular army of enlisted troops under the command of its viceroy. The army of Pechili, which served as a model for the rest, has been instructed by European officers, and is well armed and uniformed. Fears of Russian aggression in the west and on the side of Corea have led to the reorganization of the army of Manchuria. There are 30,000 troops constantly under arms, including 15,000 from the Pechili army, which form a nucleus. The total military strength of the three districts into which Manchuria is divided is from 250,000 to 300,000 men. There are breech-loading rifles provided for about one third of them, while the others are armed in part with muskets. The cavalry carry Winchester or Remington repeating-rifles. The Russian Ussuri frontier is fortified, and the towns of Kirin and Ningati are girdled with forts, some of which are strengthened by steel plates. There is a line of telegraph from Pekin to Aigun on the Amoor river. The administration of the Ili territory was reorganized in June, 1888. The soldiers receive good pay and food unless they are defrauded by their officers. The garrison at Umritsi, which had not been paid for six months, formed a plot in June to murder Liu Tsin Tan, their commanderin-chief and the governor of the new dominion. They laid a mine of powder under his residence, but the plot was divulged just before the time for its execution, and the chief conspirators, numbering thirty men and officers, were cruelly put to death. The Central Government seeks to make the military organization a means of

settling the thinly peopled expanse of Manchuria and Mongolia, and apportions lands among the soldiers. This policy is followed not only for the purpose of raising a more effectual bulwark against Russian encroachments, but also to relieve the congested parts of China, and create a field for colonization where the Chinese emigrants will escape the hostile edicts and oppressive regulations that are driving them back from foreign shores. The Bannermen, or Manchu soldiery, number 90,000 or 100,000 at Pekin, where they form an imperial guard to protect the dynasty against external or internal foes, while 20,000 more are distributed among the chief cities of China. They are not pure Tartars, because there are not more than 1,000,000 people of unmixed Manchu blood among the 23,000,000 now inhabiting Manchuria, where a reserve army of 183,000 Bannermen is kept up.

The Navy. The iron-clad navy in 1887 consisted of two powerful armored ships, built in Germany, of 7,335 tons displacement, 6,000 horse-power, and a speed of 14 knots. Each is protected by 14-inch armor, and carries four 12-inch Krupp breech-loading guns in two barbette towers, en échelon, protected by 12-inch armor; one armored cruiser, built in Germany, of 2,300 tons displacement, carrying two 8-inch Krupp guns, en barbette, protected by 10-inch armor, and one 6-inch Krupp; two unarmored steel cruisers, of 2,200 tons displacement, carrying two 8-inch Armstrong guns, besides 40pounders and machine-guns; two unarmored steel cruisers, of 1,400 tons displacement, each carrying two 25-ton Armstrong guns and four 40-pounders; twelve gunboats, each mounting a single heavy gun; two strongly armed corvettes, built at Stettin; and two fast armored cruisers, built in 1887 by Sir William Armstrong. The squadrons of Foochow, Shanghai, and Canton include between forty and fifty unarmored cruisers, corvettes, sloops, and gunboats. One cruiser of 2,150 tons displacement and 2,400 horse-power has been built in China, and others are in course of construction. There are also several swift torpedo-boats.

Commerce. The total value of imports amounted in 1886 to 87,479,323 haik wan taels, or $105,849,980, and the total exports during the same year to 77,206,568 haikwan taels, equal to $93,419,947. The chief imports and exports, and their values for 1886, are as follow:

Junks are dragged by men up-stream along the bank, and descend by shooting the rapids. An Englishman named Archibald Little formed a company and built a steamer of special design. When he was ready to make the experimental trip, he applied for permission through the British minister. The Imperial Government advised with the chief provincial officials, who raised objections, both real and fanciful, and pleaded at least for delay, which was granted. Aside from the danger of collision with junks when the steamer is working its way up the swift current, there was a probability that the boating population of Chung-King would attack the steamer and crew in order to discourage the competition of a line of steamboats. Trade Regulations.-The English Government in the late opium convention obtained the consent of the Government of Pekin to a provision admitting opium free to all parts of the empire without its being subjected to transit dues on the payment of 80 taels a chest at the port of entry in addition to the customs duty. This drug is now the only commodity that circulates throughout China free from the likin taxes that are levied by the local authorities on goods passing by road, river, or canal through their several jurisdictions. The likin was originally a war tax imposed by the provinces to raise means for the purpose of suppressing the Taiping rebellion. The stations are so near together that the price of goods carried far into the interior is many times enhanced, and transportation is delayed to a corresponding extent. Native traders, who compound the taxes with corrupt officials, have an advantage over foreigners. A clause in the opium convention provides for the commutation of the likin tax by the payment to the imperial revenue officers of a tax equal to half of the duty. This secures a transit pass that carries goods through all the likin barriers to the place of destination. The British merchants, on securing this concession, were confident of being able to compete successfully with the French in the provinces of Yunnan, Quangsi, and Quangtung. According to the report of the British consul at Pakhoi, however, it has proved illusive as a means of stimulating trade, because, when the goods reach the declared market they are subjected there to a tax approximating the sum of the likin taxes they would otherwise have to pay. The Provincial Government at Canton argues that there are no treaty restrictions against taxing Chinese and property in their possession. The principle here involved was a subject of discussion in connection with the trade of the treaty ports, until it was settled by the Chefoo Convention that the local authorities have a right to impose likin in the open ports outside the limits of the foreign settlements.

The Chinese Government has decided to introduce the system of bonded warehouses. A beginning was made in Shanghai on Jan. 1, 1888. The privilege of warehousing bonded

goods was restricted to the China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company, a corporation composed entirely of mandarins and other Chinese. The British merchants of Shanghai raised an outcry against this arrangement, and blamed their Government for not interfering to obtain for them a share in the privilege. They charged the German minister, Herr von Brandt, with bringing about the monopoly for the purpose of injuring them, and declared that the warehouses having the right of storing goods in bond would gain all other business, and that the rows of warehouses and miles of wharves that they had constructed would be deserted. Herr von Brandt explained that the Chinese Government wished to test the system before establishing it permanently, and therefore restricted it to the wharves of the native company, and would not listen to a proposition to admit all warehouses that offered sufficient guarantees.

The Condition of Chinese Abroad.-In August, 1886, three high officials were sent abroad as an imperial commission to inquire into the treatment and condition of Chinese emigrants in foreign countries. They first visited Manila, in the Philippine Islands, where the Chinese complained bitterly of the wrongs they received at the hands of the Spaniards, and begged for the appointment of consular agents to protect them. Although they are plundered with impunity by lawless individuals and subjected to extortionate taxes by the authorities, yet their community of 50,000 souls is thriving. At Singapore the Chinese number 150,000, and are the richest of all the inhabitants, owning four fifths of the land and much commercial capital. The British Government has recently consented to the appointment of a Chinese consul, but he has no jurisdiction over the laborers passing through the port in great numbers. These are looked after by a British registrar-general, who does not prevent the perpetration of gross frauds by the labor companies. In Malacca and Penang they found the Chinese prosperous in business. There are 100,000 Chinamen in Perak and Selangore, mostly engaged in mining tin, several of whom are millionaires. The 30,000 Chinese residents in Rangoon are many of them merchants dealing in rice and in precious stones. In Sumatra there are large numbers of Chinese laborers employed on the tobacco plantations. Those who are saving do well, but the majority are addicted to gambling, and in this they are encouraged by the overseers, who keep those who fall in debt at work beyond the legal term, because they are ignorant of their right to return home at the end of three years. The Dutch authorities promised to have this righted. In Batavia the Chinese are heavily taxed, and gambling is common. In other Dutch colonies, containing more than 200,000 Chinese immigrants, they are treated "most outrageously " by the authorities. In Australia, the Chinese, who, on landing, are subjected to a tax of from