756

THE CONGRESS OE WOMEN.

a scarcity of fuel, as the early Spanish settlers cut away the timber, and tree planting- has not become a universal custom with their descendants. Coal is found, but it is expensive; hence the people accustom themselves to do without fire save for cooking purposes. The result is great mortality among children and anaemia among women who rarely live to an advanced age. Men wear their overcoats in and out of doors, rub their fingers to excite warmth, and imbibe wine and strong drink, not only to relieve the biting cold of winter, but also the oppressive heat of summer. Servants move about with shawls on their heads and cover their mouths to retain the heat from exha­lation. It is a pitiful sight to see the poor and thinly clad sitting outside of their miserable adobe huts when the weather is fine to enjoy the warmth of the sun. The stores are never heated, and the fruit and flower venders may be seen the whole year round in the open air. This remarkable country, with more attention to the amenities of life, would be a delightful abiding place. It is free from thunderstorms, cyclones and blizzards, and there is no snow except in the mountains. The people are occa­sionally shaken by an earthquake which at the time is very terrifying, to which I can bear testimony by personal experience. The name Valparaiso means “Vale of Para­dise,” which is significant of the climate. There are three distinct grades of society in Spanish America, the rich, the middle class and the very poor. The rich are the aristocracy, or nobility, as they style themselves. They are very exclusive, and only admit people of their own rank to intimacy. Their revenues are obtained from mines and haciendas, which are worked by the peons, a mixture of Spanish and Indian.

The rich lead lives of idleness, the men are fond of gain and gambling, and the women of dress and gossiping. The sons of rich men are often educated abroad, and the daughters acquire a few superficial accomplishments and a smattering of lan­guages, either in the convents or from foreign governesses. They have the Spanish style of beauty, and are very devout about attending mass every morning, wearing a black dress and the Spanish mantilla, as bonnets are forbidden in the churches of Chili. In the afternoon they may be seen riding or walking, with uncovered heads. It is a disgrace for a lady to nurse or attend to her children. These (maternal) functions are delegated to servants who are ignorant, and most of them examples of total depravity, as they are supposed to break every commandment in the decalogue. Women do not command respect, but simply admiration in proportion to their beauty,, courtesy and gallantry on the part of the men being, like veneering, but on the surface. Young women dare not venture on the street in daytime without an escort or chap­eron. Schoolgirls are not allowed to go and come from school, no matter how short the distance, without a servant at their heels, or a protecting guardian beside them. In Chili a woman is an infant, under the law, until she reaches the age of twenty-five years. To marry under that age without the consent of parents or guardian, would be illegal. If, by any stretch of the imagination, we could fancy these women organizing a literary club after the manner of our women, from the largest cities to the smallest villages, they would be the butt of ridicule in the newspapers and clubs, or thought fit subjects for a lunatic asylum. The women of the United States are regarded by our Spanish-American neighbors as very despotic, and are rarely selected by them as wives.

Schools are greatly needed in these countries to elevate the women as well as the masses. Missionary schools are doing much good, but in many ways they are handi­capped and fail to reach the large majority, who need to learn that labor is honorable and that idleness is vice. President Balmaceda understood the wants of the people. He was a progressive and broad-minded man. He built fine public schools to educate the common people, and did much to improve the country, but his efforts did not suit the conservative element, and he was falsely accused of squandering the public money, which finally precipitated the late war in Chili, with which you are all familiar. These schools now stand for his monuments, and the time will come when his memory will be respected The people are patriotic, in their way; they are great hero-worshipers, and love to honor their distinguished men, when dead, by erecting statues to their memory in the public squares and other places of public resort.