CHILE 463 CHILE Chamber of Deputies, chosen by popular vote, one for each 30,000 or major frac- tion thereof, and who serve three years, renewable by thirds every three years; and a Senate, members of which are chosen for nine years, one for each three deputies, by direct popular vote. For ad- ministrative purposes Chile is divided into 24 provinces and territories, and the provinces in turn into departments, sub-delegations, and districts. Each province is governed by an intendant (nominated by the president), who also acts as governor of the department in which the capital of the province is situ- ated. The departments are governed by governors, the minor divisions by sub- delegates and inspectors. The established religion of Chile is Roman Catholic, but the constitution guarantees freedom of worship. History. — The name of Chile is sup- posed to be derived from an ancient Pe- ruvian word signifying "snow." The N. portion, as far as the river Maule, formed part of the dominions of the Incas of Peru, and the S. was held by the valiant Araucanians. The first European to land in Chile was the Portuguese discoverer Magellan, at Chiloe, in 1520. After the conquest of Peru by Pizarro, an expedi- tion was made to Chile from that country overland, under the leadership of Diego de Almagro in 1535. This expedition penetrated as far as the Rio Clano, but returned unsuccessful. Another was sent under command of Pedro Valdivia in 1540, which succeeded in annexing the territory as far as the river Maipu. San- tiago, the capital, was founded by Val- divia in 1542. During the colonial period the governors of Chile were appointed by the King of Spain, but were subordinate to the viceroys of Peru. In 1810 a revolt against the Spanish power broke out, in which Don Bernardo O'Higgins, son of one of the last viceroys of Peru, but a native of Chile, played a conspicuous part, and finally became the first dictator of the new republic. The conflict between the Spanish troops and the Republican army continued until 1826, when peace was definitely settled and Chile left to govern itself. The first constitutional president was General Blanco Encalada. The government was unsettled till 1830. In 1833 the present constitution was adopted. Revolutions broke out in 1851 and 1859, but since then there has been no serious attempt to overturn the gov- ernment by force of arms. In 1864 Chile gave Peru very valuable support in her war with Spain. Valparaiso was bom- barded by the Spaniards in 1866. In 1879 Chile declared war against Bolivia on account of an alleged violation of treaty rights, and immediately after against Peru, with which Bolivia was al- lied. For a time the Peruvian fleet kept the Chileans in check, but in August, 1879, the Peruvian ironclad "Huascar" was captured by the Chilean men-of-war "Cochrane" and "Blanco Encalada," both armor-plated. After this event the suc- cess of the Chileans was uninterrupted. Peruvian towns were bombarded, and their other warships captured. Finally Lima was taken by storm on June 21, 1881. The Chileans occupied Lima and Callao until Oct. 30, 1885, when a treaty of peace was signed between Chile and Peru. Up to 1900 no treaty of peace had been signed by Chile and Bolivia; a treaty of indefinite truce having been agreed to in 1884. In 1885 Jose Manuel Balmaceda, representing the Liberal party, was elected president. He under- took sweeping reforms and thereby aroused the hostility of the Conservative party, who accused him of plotting to name his successor. The hostile factions organized a rebellion, and formed a junta, or provisional government, under whose management the forces of Balmaceda were repeatedly defeated. He was final- ly shut up in Santiago, seeking refuge in the house of the Argentine minister, where he committed suicide, Sept. 19, 1891. During these hostilities the United States minister, Patrick Egan, aroused the hostility of the revolutionists by ap- pearing to side with Balmaceda and to misrepresent the streng^th of the revolu- tion in his dispatches. He afforded an asylum also to fugitives of Balmaceda'a army. In a riot in Valparaiso some United States marines were set upon and wounded. Reparation was demanded and refused, and war between Chile and the United States seemed imminent. Two war vessels were sent to Chile to enforce the demands of the United States, when the new president, Montt, tendered an apology, and the Chilean government pro- vided compensation for the wounded men, which ended the incident peacefully. A dispute between Chile and Argentina at the beginning of the century that threatened a resort to arms concerned boundaries. It was happily adjusted, however, through the mediation of the United States ambassador in one instance and through the arbitration of the King of England in another. The success of this arrangement was the moving cause of a convention between the two govern- ments, concluded May 28, 1902, by which they agreed to settle all questions in a friendly manner and renounced the ac- quisition of war vessels that they then had under construction, as well as agree- ing to reduce the streng^th of their re-
