Quest for control of Bolivian nitrate Peruvian nitrate monopoly

the compañía de salitres y ferrocarriles de antofagasta (csfa) chilean company, based in valparaiso; 29% minority share held british anthony gibbs , sons. 1860s company had exploited nitrate fields in antofagasta, tax exemption license of bolivian government. beyond that, article iv of boundary treaty between chile , bolivia of 1874 explicitly ruled out new or higher taxes upon chilean companies or persons working in antofagasta. csfa competitor of peruvian saltpeter in international markets, , urgent necessity maintain prices of saltpeter , guano brought peruvian government intervene actively in bolivian saltpeter policy.

on february 6, 1873, few days after signing of ley del estanco, peruvian senate approved secret treaty of alliance between peru , bolivia; parliamentary proceedings have disappeared since then. peruvian historian jorge basadre asserts 2 projects unrelated each other, hugo pereira plascencia has contributed several items of evidences contrary: in 1873 italian author pietro perolari–malmignati cited peruvian interest in defending saltpeter monopoly against chilean production in bolivia main cause of secret treaty, , said peruvian foreign minister, josé de la riva-agüero informed chilean minister in lima, joaquín godoy, negotiations bolivia expand estanco in bolivia.

in 1876 peruvian government bought saltpeter licenses el toco fields in bolivia through intermediary, henry meiggs, builder of peruvian railroads, involvement of anthony gibbs , sons, company owe bolivia licenses. picturesque agreement, crozier called it, property have long standing consequences; called caso squire in chilean courts after war.

in 1876 president pardo urged gibbs ensure success of monopoly limiting production of csfa, , in 1878, anthony gibbs , sons warned management board of csfa trouble neighbouring government [sic] if insisted on swamping market nitrate.

bolivian historian querejazu cited george hicks, manager of chilean csfa, knew highest bidder confiscated property of csfa on 14 february 1879 peruvian consul in antofagasta.

the anthony gibbs , sons, represented in south america (williams or) guillermo gibbs & cia. of valparaiso, had more important investments in peru in chile. in peru, house of gibbs owned of 58% of compañía de salitres de tarapacá ( tarapaca nitrate company ) , had been guano consignee of government in europe.

the bolivian ten cents tax

on 14 february 1878, bolivian senate enacted new tax of 7 shillings per metric tonne on export of nitrate. csfa refused pay new tax because of article 4 of border treaty , license. in february 1879, bolivian government retired license of exploitation , confiscated property of company.

on 14 february 1879, chilean troops occupied port of antofagasta, populated majority of chileans. bolivia declared war on chile on 1 march 1879. peru, allied bolivia under secret treaty, pretended mediate, chilean government asked peru declare neutrality, peru tried delay negotiations. chile declared war on peru , bolivia on 5 april.

ronald bruce st john put in following words:

although persuasive evidence linking peru either ten centavos tax or bolivia s decision confiscate chilean holdings in antofagasta never surfaced, must recognized peruvian interests had deep-seated economical , political reasons going war.




^ cite error: named reference crozier 1997 invoked never defined (see page).
^ basadre 1964, p. 2278
^ hugo pereira plascencia, la política salitrera del presidente manuel pardo
^ manuel ravest mora, la casa gibbs y el monopolio salitrero peruano, 1876-1878, historia n°41, vol. i, enero-junio 2008: 63-77, issn 0073-2435
^ querejazu 1979, p. 211
^ cite error: named reference greenhill invoked never defined (see page).
^ sicotte, richard; vizcarra, catalina; wandschneider, kirsten (2009). fiscal impact of war of pacific. springer verlag. p. 101. 
^ st john 1992, p. 105

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