The nitrate industry has very naturally overshadowed all other mining enterprises in Chile, and especially in the northern section. And yet there are many more mining industries even in that part of the republic. The Spaniards cared for nothing but gold and silver and set thousands of Indians at work in the mines at Tucapel, Valdivia, and Quillota. The Malga Malga mines, near the latter town, and the Madre de Dios (mother of God) mines, near Mariguina, were the best producers of the yellow metal. The district around Taltal also produced gold and silver. By the primitive processes of the Spaniards only a portion of the ore was extracted. The refuse has since been refined, and even houses have been torn down that had been constructed of the by-products of the old amalgamation process. Some of this refuse contained as much as sixty ounces of pure silver to the ton. The total production of silver and gold to-day is not great when compared with the other gold-producing nations. Among the best mines now being worked are the Caracoles silver mines, which are inland from Antofagasta a little over one hundred miles, and the Inca Caracoles mines, which are fifty miles further inland. The total output of these mines during the years they have been worked reaches big figures, but the balmiest days have passed. Some of the workings have reached a depth of twenty-five hundred feet. The ores are generally chlorides or iodides, with mixtures of sulphides, but pockets of almost pure silver are occasionally found.
Copper production is next in value after nitrate. There are smelting plants at Caldera, Cerro Blanco, Jarilla, Antofagasta, and other places. Central Chile is the copper country, although Lota is one of the greatest producers. The surface oftentimes shows the green outcroppings of the copper deposits. The superior attraction of the nitrate fields has at times caused a scarcity of labour there so that the development has been greatly hampered. Nevertheless the copper industry has been a fairly profitable and steady one. The annual output ranges from thirty-five thousand to forty thousand tons, but it is doubtless capable of considerable further development, with the aid of more modern methods and the installation of the latest machinery.
Iron ore has been found in only small quantities. Chile has the best coal mines in South America, which, in 1909, produced a little less than a million tons, not quite half of the consumption. Coal was first discovered at Lota more than a century ago, but the deposits were not worked until a half-century later. The only mines now being worked are in the provinces of Concepción and Arauco. As small veins have been found at Punta Arenas, it may be that the seams of coal run all the way between those points. It is rather an inferior quality of bituminous coal. More than a million tons are imported yearly, of which a little more than one-half comes from England and the balance from Australia. The shipping rate is very low as the boats come after cargoes of nitrate and will carry coal at a very cheap rate rather than be obliged to make the long outward journey in ballast.
CHAPTER IX
THE PEOPLE
The people of Chile are descendants of Spaniards and native races. About one-third of the entire population are pure white. The Spaniards who came here were Basques and Aragonese—a hardy and industrious people who made thrifty farmers and merchants. They are among the best class of Spaniards, for they are much more energetic and have less of the Moorish admixture than those from Southern Spain. These people were not a mere army of occupation, but they set about developing the real resources of the country. The native element too were probably the hardiest of any of the native races of South America. Notwithstanding the difference in numbers, the Creoles, the name given to the descendants of Spanish immigrants, rule the country absolutely and own the most of the property. In few countries have the landed aristocracy exercised such absolute power as in this narrow and elongated republic. The half-breeds form the labouring class of Chile, and one will find those two classes all over the republic, with the lines between the two strongly marked. There is no clearly defined, well-developed middle class.
The Chileans delight to call themselves the “English of the Pacific,” or the “Yankees of South America.” In neither case is the comparison a perfect one, although they are probably the hardest working race on that continent. The Chileno is very proud of the progress that his country has made, and this pride sometimes carries him to peculiar extremes. It at least causes the average Chileno to become more or less of a braggart. He is inclined to take all the credit for this advancement to himself, when, in fact, much of it has been due to the English and German elements in the country. His ideals of life, however, are not German or English, but rather French, with its love of polished surface and general dislike for disagreeable truths. Peru has retained more of the old culture and grace of the Spanish cavalier than Chile, but the latter is far more robust. The climate of Chile is remarkably healthful, and it has produced a vigorous race. This is a general truth, whether applied to the race amalgamated with the virile Araucanian of the south, or to the mixture with the more delicate and refined descendant of the Inca at the north. The ordinary roto is tough and wiry, and capable of prolonged fatigue on the poorest and simplest of food.
The creoles have inherited all the traditions of the original conquistadores—love, sentiment and passion, and the habit of intrigue. It is not uncommon to see in a family the natural children of one or the other parent, generally of the father, living side by side with the legitimate children. The percentage of illegitimacy is very large, as shown by the government statistics, for they do not attempt to cover up this flagrant fault. The café and club life of the cities appeals to the Chileans, and they have acquired a love of alcoholic stimulants. The light wines, with which most of the people of Spanish blood are content, do not satisfy, but they must have the stronger alcoholic beverages. As a result there is much drunkenness in Chile, more than in the neighbouring republics. It is an unfortunate fact, but true, as all who have made a study of the subject agree. The first establishment in a new community is generally a factory for the production of aguardiente, brandy made from sugar cane, wheat or some vegetable. Some of it is as bad and ruinous to the health as it is cheap.
Chile has perhaps suffered in recent years from too great prosperity. Like the child born with a silver spoon in its mouth, this country found itself with seemingly inexhaustible treasure within its borders. Its training under the autocracy of Spain was not a good education in representative and democratic government. Then came the wealth of the nitrate fields, after a successful war with Peru. The government coffers were filled to overflowing with practically no effort on the part of the government, and little tax contributed by the average citizens. As a result, the habit of office holding and the desire for sinecures have been a bad thing for the country. The enormous revenue has been used up, and there is little to show for much of it. In public offices the officials are oftentimes almost tumbling over each other, and everything is checked and counter checked over and over again. Positions are created and no equipment for carrying out the work provided. So long as the government does not complain the appointee does not, and many salaries of that kind are paid year after year for services unrendered. I verily believe that the official work of the government could be carried on with less than one-half the force employed. But the members of Congress have friends, or sons of friends, who must be provided for, and the government revenues are thus subject to a constant drain.