Part 14

Savage dogs are the best protection to country property. Many bandits who have no fear of armed resistance will not venture into an enclosure guarded by fierce dogs. It is the purpose of the robbers to always surprise their victims in an assault, or to gain admission to a house by stealth, and the barking of dogs frustrates their plans.

A curious custom among Chilean bandits, who operate in bands, is the taking with them on their thieving raids what is known as a “loro” (parrot). This individual is usually selected for his cowardly or cautious traits, rather than because of his bravery. When a robbery is planned the loro is placed on guard to keep watch and give the alarm, in the event of danger or discovery. Fearful of being caught, he is keenly alert and quick to sound a warning if anything suspicious is observed.

Bandits are seldom known by their real names, and some of the cognomens applied to them are as characteristic of the individual as they are curious. One who is a clever talker is called a “Pico de Oro” (golden beak); “cojo” (lame); “Tenorio” (ladies’ man); “El Tuerto” (squint eye), etc.

As previously stated there are few great commercial robberies, embezzlements or forgeries in Chile. This may be due to the fact that escape is difficult. The Cordilleras forming a natural barrier on one side and the ocean upon the other, it is only necessary to guard the mountain passes and watch the departure of ships to prevent persons from leaving the country. Men connected with commercial interests, which give them the opportunity to steal or embezzle large sums of money are, as a rule, unfamiliar with the mountainous country or the ways of bandits, and are therefore unable to escape by going to the interior.

There is another class of bandits or brigands who are more clever, daring and desperate than those already described. They follow the more well-defined roads of travel, are well dressed, mounted on good horses, intelligent and generally present a very genteel appearance. They usually hunt in bands, covering a wide range of territory, know all the people living within the country covered by their depredations, and are familiar with every road and by-way. They always have knowledge through their accomplices of strangers traveling through the country, or of servants sent upon important missions. They roam about the mountainous regions, or in close proximity to the Cordillera ranges, where escape is easy, in case of pursuit. Some of these highwaymen are notorious for the desperate deeds committed.

The common weapon of the Chilean bandit, like his methods, is peculiar to the country. During the revolution in 1891, nearly every Chileno was engaged in the war, upon one side or the other. After peace was restored, the arms were retained by the individuals, and practically every man in the country possessed a rifle. These weapons were too large and cumbersome for the bandits, so they cut off a portion of the barrel, to render them more convenient, and so they could be more easily concealed under their ponchos. These guns are called “rifles recortado” (re-cut rifles).

The fact that crime is common leads naturally to the question of law and its enforcement. Why are there not laws for the punishment of crime? There are. And why are they not enforced? That is another question, and one involving various phases of life in the Republic. A large per cent. of the people are honest, observing and obeying the law, and would be glad to see it universally enforced. The lawless element aid and protect each other, and even the more honest of the poor people look upon a notorious criminal as a hero, rather than a disgraced member of society, whose companionship is to be avoided. These people if called upon to testify in court against a man whom they know to be guilty of numerous crimes, will give evidence as to his good character. Another thing that operates in favor of the criminal is the fact that the law requires two disinterested eye-witnesses to establish the guilt of any person accused of crime.

If a person catches a man in the act of robbing his house or his property and takes the thief into custody, his evidence will not be sufficient to convict the robber. He must have two witnesses who saw the thief in the act. The evidence of members of his family, or of servants employed by him will not be admitted. The burden of proof rests with the prosecutor, and not with the accused. The slow operation of the law is also responsible for a lack of the enforcement of statutory provisions. There are so many delays and difficulties incident to securing the conviction of a criminal, that honest people frequently refuse to follow to a conclusion cases in which they are personally interested.

When convicted and sent to prison, the fact has no detrimental effect upon the social standing of the convict in the community in which he lives. Like a horse that has made a record upon the turf, his performances furnish a fruitful topic of conversation to his friends, the details of which are discussed with animated interest. When released from prison, and he returns home, which is invariably the case, the convict becomes the hero of the community. There is no shame or disgrace connected with his imprisonment. The question of treatment, the quality and quantity of beans served in the prison fare, are discussed as if they were common phases of everyday life.

If a thief is killed and his friends and accomplices secure possession of the body, which they invariably try to do, the skin is cut from the face of the corpse, and all clothing removed from the body. These precautions are taken for the purpose of preventing identification.

It was once a common custom, and still prevails to some extent in the rural provinces, to liquidate the crime of a wound or even murder by cash payment. It is claimed that the law is slow of execution, expensive and unsatisfactory, giving nothing to the victim or his family. If a poor man is killed, the assassin or his representatives will settle the affair for a few dollars, sometimes not more than five or ten dollars. If a man of means and social standing in the community meets a violent death, the price is from twenty-five to fifty pesos. These liquidations in former times were not private. Public interest was often aroused and the neighbors entered into the negotiations to see that a fair price was paid. If a person was stabbed a few times it was not considered of sufficient importance to require a money payment; a few drinks canceled the account for damages.

So notorious has become the commission of crime, in recent years, that _El Mercurio_, the most widely circulated and influential paper in the country devoted much space to the subject a few years ago. The following is an extract and translation from an article appearing in that journal in February, 1903:

“The alarm produced in all classes of society due to the extraordinary development which is taking place in the criminality in Chile, especially in the capital, has induced us to open an investigation as to the causes of such a deplorable social condition. A study of the causes which have tended to foster such a great increase in the number of criminal acts is undoubtedly due to the complete disorganization of public affairs in this country, and should serve to call seriously the attention of the government to the imperious necessity of attempting some course of action which would tend to remedy in part, at least, the disastrous condition of the nation at large. The enormous development of criminality in this country is not only the manifestation of a very grave social condition, nor is it only the symptom of a social dissolution in its worst form, but it is the visible cause of the discredit which our country is suffering among foreign nations.

“The European press avails itself of all data relative to the number of terrible crimes committed in Chile, and also of their sanguinary and atrocious character, and denounces them to their fellow citizens as proof of the insecurity of life and property in this country.”

_El Mercurio_, in its endeavor to ascertain the reason for the extraordinary criminal condition of the country, interviewed Mr. Luis Urzua Gana, public prosecutor for the department of Santiago, who made the following statement:

“I believe that the first and foremost cause of the existing criminal condition is due to the fact that a large proportion of the crimes remain unpunished. I believe that eighty per cent. of the offenses committed are not punished, and that a large proportion of them are not even denounced. As the greater the probability that a crime will not be punished, so law and justice lose their deterrent effect.

“Another cause of criminality is the large number of vagrant children, either in complete idleness or in some kind of work which enables them to gain in a few hours enough money for their food and vices. Boys of twelve years of age and even under, exhibit in this country, the same moral monstrosities as do men old in sin and crime. Among them, gambling has reached a surprising development, and there seems to be no form of immorality which has not its adepts among them. And worse still there are people who foster their vicious practices and make a business out of their degradation.”

Soon after his election in 1901 President Riesco secured the passage of a bill in the national congress providing for the establishment and maintenance of a specially selected and well equipped cavalry regiment, to be used in suppressing lawlessness. This troop is subject to service in any part of the Republic where the protection of life and property is required. The usefulness and effectiveness of this kind of service is due to the fact that a better class of men is selected, than is found in the municipal and provincial police. It is too small in numbers, however, to properly guard and protect any considerable portion of the mountainous country constituting the territory of Chile.

RAILWAYS

The primordial need of every country is good roads and ample transportation facilities. This is more especially true of Chile, than of most countries, because the long strip of territory between the Andean range of mountains and the Pacific is characterized by narrowness and length, a configuration which is peculiarly lacking in continuity between productive centers. The nitrate fields and other rich mineral producing sections of the north are, by nature, completely isolated from the agricultural districts of the central valley, where the principal cities and towns are situated, and also from the timber zone and grazing lands of the far south.

During the first half century of the Republic’s existence little progress was made along the line of industrial development because of a lack of railway communication. The first link in the chain of Chile’s present, extensive railway systems, a line extending from the port of Caldera to Copiapo, a distance of fifty miles, was built in 1851. Later other roads were constructed, chief among which was the line extending from Valparaiso to Santiago, and from the capital south through the central valley, the great agricultural district of the country, into the coal producing and timber regions, connecting them with the seaports and commercial centers. This section of the State railways, which for many years had its terminus at Concepcion, was in recent years extended to Valdivia, an important industrial and commercial center, and in 1912 was completed as far as Port Montt. Since the building of the first line, little more than half a century ago, the railway system of Chile has grown until it now comprises over four thousand miles of fairly well equipped roads, the ramifications of which reach into every part of the country, with the exception of the territory constituting the southern limits of the Republic, including Patagonia. A little more than one-half of the railway mileage is government ownership, the other portion being owned by individuals and corporations.

TRANSANDINE RAILWAY.

The first step in the progressive policy of railway building in which Chile has been engaged in recent years, was the construction of the Transandine Railway via Uspillata Pass. This important line, connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific, and giving to the Republic rail connections with countries to the east of the Andean range, brought the importance of better interior transportation facilities more closely to the minds of the people, and the result has been a period of railway building surpassing the expectation of the most radical advocates of an aggressive industrial policy.

The history of the Transandine Railway will probably never be written, unless it be given to the world by the Clark Brothers, who conceived the idea, and labored for more than a quarter of a century to enlist the assistance of the Chilean government in a plan to build the road. Every succeeding administration, during the period in which the Clarks were working on the scheme, was apparently favorable to the plan. The rejection of proposals and the failure always to vote aid or subsidy, however, was evidence of the fact that there was always secret opposition.

During much of the time while the Transandine scheme was under consideration, a war cloud, arising from a disputed boundary question between Chile and the Argentine, loomed large and ominous over the Cordillera, creating a feeling in the minds of the Chilenos that Argentina was quite near enough, without an additional connecting link in the way of a railroad across the Andes.

In 1901 the Transandine Railway, including the portion already in operation, from Los Andes to Salto del Soldado, passed into the hands of W. R. Grace & Company. Then John Eyre, manager for Grace & Company in Chile, took up the work of promoting the undertaking. With indomitable courage, tireless energy, and full confidence in ultimate success, he started in to enlist government aid in building the road.

In February, 1903, Congress passed a law authorizing the President to advertise for a term of one year, from the first of May, 1903, for sealed proposals for the construction of the Transandine Railway. The law also provided for a government guarantee of five per cent. annually on a capital not to exceed $7,250,000. Grace & Company were the only bidders. The proposal was for $6,500,000, being $750,000 below the maximum sum on which the government guaranteed five per cent. interest. A special commission was appointed to examine the proposal, and on June 7, 1904, the tender was accepted by the government, thus insuring to Chile railway communication with countries beyond the mountain barrier that had so long restricted commerce and the development of her natural resources.

On November 27, 1909, five and a half years after the contract was approved by the Chilean Government, the last section of rock in the tunnel, separating the two gangs of workmen operating from different sides, was removed, and a line of communication which had been the dream of years was established; a line that has had a marked effect, not only upon the two republics which it directly connects, but upon the world. On May 25, 1910, the first train was run through the tunnel and an all-rail route opened between Valparaiso and Buenos Aires, a distance of 888 miles,--the first railroad across the South American continent. Thus after thirty-seven years of work and planning, vicissitudes and discouragements, the hopes of the promoters of this great enterprise were realized and the Transandine Railway an accomplished fact. The date will remain a memorable one in the history of Chile, as it occurred in the year of the one hundredth anniversary of the Independence of the Republic.

The Chilean terminus of the tunnel, which is 10,385 feet long, is at El Portillo, at an altitude of 10,450 feet above sea level, and on the Argentine side at Las Cuevas. On the Chilean side the road ascends the mountains 7,615 feet within a distance of 46 miles, between Los Andes and the summit, an average of 166 feet to the mile. Directly over the tunnel, on the Uspillata pass, at an altitude of 13,000 feet stands the “Christ of the Andes,” a statue erected in 1904, as a symbol of perpetual peace between the two republics. It was cast in bronze from cannons contributed by both nations. It stands upon the international boundary line established by a commission appointed by King Edward, after war between Chile and the Argentine had been imminent for years. The figure representing Christ is twenty-six feet high, and placed upon a colossal column it makes an imposing and impressive monument. In one hand is held a cross, while the other is extended in a blessing of peace. The inscription on one of the tablets is: “Sooner shall these mountains crumble into dust than the people of Argentina and Chile break the peace to which they have pledged themselves at the feet of Christ the Redeemer.”

The Transandine line in Chile is made up of two systems with different gauges of track. From Valparaiso to Los Andes the route is over the State railways, which is of standard gauge; from Los Andes to the Argentine frontier, including the tunnel, a distance of 50 miles, the road is narrow gauge, 39 inches, a portion of it rack and pinion system.

This route shortens the distance to Buenos Aires, and consequently between Europe and Chile, by about twelve days, as formerly, during a considerable portion of the year traffic from the Atlantic and the east coast was by way of the Straits of Magellan.

ARICA, LA PAZ RAILWAY.

Another important division of the State railways is the line extending from Arica to La Paz. This road, constructed in accordance with stipulations in the treaty celebrated between Chile and Bolivia, October 1904, was built at the expense of the Chilean government at a cost of $11,900,000 U. S. currency. The treaty agreement providing for this road caused a vigorous protest from the Peruvian government, as the route lies through the province of Arica which, previous to the war of 1879, was Peruvian territory, and which is still involved in the Tacna and Arica question. The contract for the construction was awarded on March 4, 1906, and the road was completed in 1912.

The engineering difficulties encountered were numerous and complicated, the gradient in some places being exceedingly steep. At one point the line rises 3,610 feet, within a distance of 25 miles. The total length of the line is 267 miles of which 28 miles is of the Abt rack system on a six per cent. maximum grade, which constitutes the longest continuous stretch of rack system railway in the world. The highest altitude reached is 13,986 feet, at a distance of 112 miles from Arica and 155 from La Paz.

The road passes through an undeveloped country that is rich in mineral resources, and furnishes direct communication between Chilean ports on the Pacific and the capital of Bolivia. This line, connecting the two republics, and supplemented as it is with numerous branch roads leading into the various mining districts, forms a railway system that has contributed materially to the development of the territory through which it passes.

Under treaty agreement it is to be operated by Chile for a period of fifteen years, after which time the section in Bolivia becomes the property of the Bolivian government.

LONGITUDINAL RAILWAY.

The most important division of the government railway system in Chile, however, because of its relation to the industrial and commercial interests of the country, is the longitudinal line extending from Tacna to Port Montt, a distance of over two thousand miles, and constituting the great central artery of communication, uniting the mineral zones of the north with the agricultural regions of the central valley and the timber sections of the south. This road has as feeders over thirty transverse lines of varying length connecting the productive centers of the Republic with all the principal seaports of the coast. Notwithstanding the fact that transport is maintained by sea along the entire length of the territory constituting the Republic, a north and south railway was felt to be a necessity. In addition to commercial needs there are strategic reasons for a longitudinal line: to facilitate the transportation of troops and armament from one end of the Republic to the other in case of war.

As far back as Balmaceda’s time the building of this road figured among the government’s projects, and in succeeding administrations plans were made for the execution of the work. It was President Don Pedro Montt, however, who took up the task of carrying out the idea and, with characteristic perseverance, succeeded in getting the National Congress to pass a law in 1908, authorizing him to call for public tenders for contracts for the construction of the Longitudinal Railway. In 1909 contracts were let for the building of over eight hundred miles of the road at a total cost of $35,000,000.

The completion of this longitudinal line leaves only the territory lying south of latitude 42 degrees, and forming the greater part of what is known as Chilean Patagonia without a railway.

The service on the railways in Chile is, as a rule, unsatisfactory, and on some of the lines it may be designated as bad. This is due to the fact that the management of the government roads is influenced by politics. The compensation of government railway employés is very low, and payment of salaries not infrequently long delayed and somewhat uncertain. The tenure of service depends upon political influence, and there is little in the system to encourage honest industry. Employés feel no personal responsibility and to cheat the government, particularly in the failure to render good service, is a common practice that is not considered a crime.

First class fares correspond to those prevailing in the United States, but second and third-class fares and freight rates are very low. The express trains from Valparaiso to Santiago, and from the capital south to Concepcion carry American chair cars in the day, and on the southern section, Pullman cars on the night trains.

The lack of facilities for carrying freight, the unsatisfactory service in cargo trains, and the slow method of unloading and loading cars, is a serious handicap to business depending upon the prompt delivery of merchandise and material. The freight service on the government roads is generally bad. The yard and track facilities in all the important commercial centers are wholly inadequate to the requirements. It is frequently impossible to secure cars, and when once the freight is loaded and accepted by the railway, there is much uncertainty as to when it will be forwarded to its destination. If the freight consists of perishable goods the chances are that it will be seriously damaged or entirely destroyed before delivery. In either event there is no recourse in law for damages.

In 1904 there was a great shortage of freight cars in Valparaiso. Merchants and manufacturers were demanding cars in which to ship cargo long overdue in delivery. When the manager of the State railways was appealed to for relief, he stated that all freight cars on that section of the road had been ordered to Santiago where a census of the rolling stock was being taken. Complaint against abuses in the service is useless.

One redeeming feature of the railway service in Chile, is the cheap passenger fares for the poor people, who are ill able to pay high rates, and who do not expect much in return for their money. Time is no object to them, and if trains run slowly and not up to schedule, there is no complaint.

ELECTRIC ROADS.