as provided in the constitution, article 65. Before a new election for the president could be held, in accordance with the requirements of the constitution, Sr. Albano died on Sept. 6 and was succeeded by Sr. Don Emiliano Figueroa, Minis- ter of Justice, who held office until Dec. 23, the date of the inauguration of Dr. Ramón Barros Luco, the new president elected Nov. 15. Dr. Luco had had a long career of public service starting as a Liberal deputy, and serving as Minister of Finance under President Federico Errazuriz and President Domingo Santa Maria, as Minister of the Interior and premier under Presidents Balmaceda and Jorje Montt, and later premier for several terms. His election, therefore, marked the triumph of the Liberal over the Conservative and Clerical party. In 1910 several other events of general significance oc- curred. One was the opening of railroad traffic through the Transandine tunnel, connecting Buenos Aires with Santiago and Valparaiso. The piercing of the tunnel occurred late in 1909 and the first trains were run through in 1910, thus completing a remarkable feat of railway engineering and realizing a dream of many decades. Another important event was the celebration of the centennial of Chilean independ- ence, lasting throughout the month of Sept. but concen- trating chiefly on the i8th, the centenary of the transference of governmental power from the Spanish governor to the locally elected junta. Aside from its effects in stimulating patriotism and national pride, the celebration was made the occasion for according special honours and attention to the Argentine nation and its representatives; this strengthened still further the rapprochement between the two nations which dated from the settlement of their long-standing boundary dispute in 1902. In 1911 the Chilean Government paid 2,275,375 bolivianos in settlement of the long-standing Alsop claim, in accordance with the award of King George V. of England. This marked the termination of a dispute which had for years been one cause of bad feeling between the Governments of Chile and of the United States. In 1913 there was completed and put into operation the railway between Arica, a seaport in the provinces secured by Chile from Peru in consequence of the war of the Pacific, and La Paz, the principal city of Bolivia. This line, which has a total length of 264 m., was built by the Government of Chile with the cooperation of Bolivia; until 1928 the control of the entire line was to remain with Chile, after which date Bolivia was to have control of the portion within her territories, under conditions stipulated in the treaty of 1905. The provisions of this treaty with reference to this railway and free access to the sea for Bolivia were among the factors that led to further attempts to settle the long-standing controversy between Chile and Peru with regard to the provinces of Tacna and Arica, especially in the years 1905 and 1908 (see Tacna-Arics). In 1913, the two coun- tries, unable to come to any agreement, decided to postpone the settlement of this question for another 20 years. It was, however, reopened, as will appear later.
At the outbreak of the World War a considerable section of opinion in Chile was inclined to be favourable to Germany. A number of factors contributed toward making this situation a natural one. The Chilean army had long been trained by Prussian officers and modeled on Prussian lines. German scholars held important positions in the institutions of higher learning in Chile, and many native teachers had completed their education in German universities. A considerable homogeneous and thrifty German population, moreover, was concentrated in the southern portion of the country and a well directed pro- paganda system kept the German point of view before the nation. The clergy, also, were in large part favourable to the cause of Germany against a nation like France which had in recent years adopted such a radical anti-clerical policy. Finally, there was the commercial factor, for in 1914 Germany headed the list of nations in the value of goods shipped to Chile and ranked third in the value of the Chilean goods imported. With this commerce, totalling in that year, in spite of the outbreak of the war, some $44,000,000, or considerably more than a fifth of the total foreign commerce of Chile, was combined a quasi-political propaganda which had not been matched in any way by the other European nations.
The sinking of the German cruiser " Dresden " by British warships in the territorial waters of Chile, which had to be admitted by the British Foreign Office to be irregular, caused a protest, but the incident was adroitly handled in London by the Chilean minister, Augustin Edwards, who, throughout the war, was a friend of the Allies. The reduction of the foreign commerce of Chile by the blockade caused serious economic disturbances almost at the very outset of the war, and especially in 1915. A gradual change in the popular attitude in Chile began to make itself felt, however, in the last two years of the war, although Chile, having virtually no ships engaged in European trade, did not come into immediate conflict with the German submarine policy as did some of the other Latin-American states. Officially Chile maintained a position of strict neutrality, though protesting emphatically against the announcement of German unrestricted submarine warfare, on Feb. 8 1917. Upon the declaration of war by the United States in April 1917, Chile again made a declaration of neutrality.
Meanwhile, in 1915 Sr. Juan Luis Sanfuentes, the candidate of the Liberal Democrats or new Balmacedists, succeeded to the office of president for a five-year term beginning Dec. 23. The political campaign was marked by great excitement and some disorder, including the assassination of one of the deputies. The victory in the election was due to a coalition of the Liberal Democrats with the Conservatives and Nationalists, as against a combination of Radicals, Liberals and Democrats.
The law for the conversion of the currency which was to have gone into effect in 1915 was again postponed for a period of two years. The financial and industrial situation of the country was extremely grave in 1915. Some relief was experienced from the sale of the battleships in construction in British yards which were requisitioned for war purposes by the British Government. The year 1916 saw improvement in the commercial situation as shown by an increase of about $25,000,000 in the value of im- ports and of nearly $68,000,000 in the value of exports, due chiefly to the allied demand for materials used in the manufac- ture of munitions. This was the highest figure ever reached up to that time in the export trade of Chile, but it was greatly ex- ceeded the next year and even more in 1918, when the total value of the exports was more than double the value reached in any year prior to 1916.
The year 1917 saw still further improvement in financial and business conditions, though the conversion law was again post- poned for a two-year period. The year was again marked by the instability of cabinets which has been so characteristic of the governmental history of Chile. An agreement was reached for the resumption of friendly relations with Peru which had been interrupted in 1910, as on other numerous occasions, over con- troversies growing out of the old-standing Tacna-Arica dispute. The year 1918 was marked by renewed difficulties with Peru in consequence of anti-Peruvian riots at Iquique and Anto- fagasta, culminating in the mutual withdrawal of consular agents from both countries. Cabinet resignations were again numerous, a coalition cabinet in April being organized under Arturo Alessandri who was elected two years later to the presi- dency of the republic. In 1919 the Tacna-Arica controversy again threatened to disrupt the peace of South America. The publication of the secret treaty of 1904 between Chile and Bolivia with reference to the disputed provinces and an outlet to the sea for Bolivia, combined with disturbances involving Peruvians in those areas, aroused animosities anew. In the same year Chile concluded a treaty with Great Britain providing for a permanent peace commission to settle such disputes .between the two countries as could not be adjusted through diplomatic channels.
Chile suffered severely from after-the-war readjustment, involving there, as in other countries, labour troubles and radical demonstrations. The year 1920 was marked by one of the most interesting and in some respects the most significant of all the presidential elections of Chile. The contest was be-
