5 2I
CHILI.
(Republica de Chile.)
Constitution and Government.
The republic of Chili threw off the allegiance to the Crown of Spain by the declaration of independence of September 18, 1810. The constitution, voted by the representatives of the nation in 1833, establishes three authorities in the State — the legislative, the execu- tive, and the judicial. The legislative power is vested in two assem- blies, called the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate is composed of twenty members, elected for the term of nine years ; while the Chamber of Deputies, chosen for a period of three years, consists of one representative for every 20,000 of the population. The executive is exercised by a president, elected for a term of five years.
President of the Republic. — Don Jose Joaquin Perez, born 1801 ; Secretary of Legation in France, 1829-31 ; Minister Plenipotentiary at Buenos Ayres, 1832 ; subsequently Councillor of State, Minister of Finance, of the Interior, of Foreign Affairs, President of the Chamber of Deputies, and President, of the Senate ; elected President of the Republic, September 7, 1861 ; re-elected July 24, 1866.
The president of the republic is chosen by indirect election. The people, in the first instance, nominate their delegates by ballot — to the number of 216 in the presidential election of 1866 — and the latter, in their turn, appoint the chief of the State. The votes are examined, and the declaration of the poll takes place at a meeting of the two Houses of Legislature.
The president is assisted in his executive functions by a Council of State, and a ministry, divided into four departments, namely, the Ministry of the Interior and of Foreign Affairs ; the Ministry of Finance ; the Ministry of Justice and of Ecclesiastical Affairs ; and the Ministry of War and Marine.
The Council of State, appointed by the president of the republic, consists of the ministers for the time being, two judges, one eccle- siastical dignitary, one general or admiral, and five other members.
Revenue, Army, and Population.
The public revenue of Chili averaged, in recent years, If million sterling, and the expenditure the same. The subjoined table ex- hibits the sources of actual revenue and the various branches of expenditure in the year 1867.
