THE CHILIAN DOLLAR.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 141, 13 June 1912, Page 8

THE CHILIAN DOLLAR.

AN UNCERTAIN QUANTITY. EXPERIENCES OF AN' AUCKLAM. ElWriting to a relative in Auckland from Santiago (Chili), under date of April last, an ex-Aucklander thus shrewdly criticises Chilian financial methods:— '"The worst thing about this place is the uncertainty of their paper dollar, the present value of which is 10 9-32 d. Last week it was down to lOd, or 24 dollars to the £, and I have seen it (in 190S) dowu to 7Jd, or 31 odd dollars to the £. Within a few months a capitalist could have made 10 dollars on every pound, or 33 per cent on his capital. 'A good wheat harvest may send exchange up three or four dollars in the £; good prices for copper or nitrate will have the same effect; but rumours of war, either here in South America or in Europe, aud the fall of the ruling political party (which often occurs three or four times during a session of six months), will have a counter effect and send exchange down Id per dollar, like it did last October from IOJd to 9_d per dollar. If one had good luck millions might be made out of the sudden rise aud fall of 1 tbe Chilian exchange. The face value of ! our dollar, or peso as it is called, is lSd guaranteed by the Government, but it will be a miracle if it ever reaches that point j again. "The gold dollar is worth lOd, actual lvalue in the gold it contains, and, there- | fore, every imported article is sold at gold prices. For instance, Scotch oatmeal is sold at 30 cents gold a lb, and at I to-days exchange, say 10} d, the premium is 177 per cent, equal to .3 cents (paper .dollar) a lb wholesale. Fancy it being Isold at one dollar per lb retail, or IOJd, I just now —an injustice to any decent Scotchman to hare to pay so high for his | porridge. I "Twelve per cent is the usual interest charged here on loan on first mortgage, and IS per cent on second, with interest generally paid every three months, in advance. Two, three, and four per cent I per month is often paid, and cheerfully, by the borrower. The bank rate is 10 per cent, plus 1 per cent commission, and they give <5 per cent, on fixed deposit for six | months. Several of the banks pay 3 per 'cent on current account for deposits. "'Small-pox is very prevalent, and I typhoid and dozens of other loathe-some ! diseases are in every quarter of the town. Fortunately we live in the healthiest part, I and grow all our own vegetables and ! fruit, which arc the chief sources of infection. I "Tierra del' Fuego is the best place in 'Chili to make money in—at sheep grazing; but the climate is fearfully windy, and most, of the island is held under concession by one company, which has £200,000 ready as palm oil to get the concession again and pay 1,000.000d0l rent per annum for 21 years. For the last 21 years it has bad the land free of rent arid taxes. This company has 1.100.000 sheep. The head manager, a New Zealander. gets over £5000 a year. "At the general election recently held heTe two candidates each paid up to riOOdo! 1 per vote in the same district, aud between them the election cost 600.000d0l —and yet only one of them was elected. The. question is. how is the. victorious one going to recover his ..OO.OOOdoI election expenses? Xo honorariums art paid to members of either the upper or lower houses. The electoral rolls have not been revised since IR9O. and. strangely enough, many people who have been dead 20 years recorded their votes at. this election, and have been doing .o at every election."