232 A HISTORY OF CHILE Cruz was defeated, and afterward, in a conference with Bulnes, he and his troops laid down their arms. The revolution was crushed, but in this factional strife more than four thousand men yielded up their lives. This formidable revolt shows well the strength and energy of the liberals at this time, and the government wisely granted a general amnesty to the defeated in- surgents. Under President Montt the country made considera- ble material advancement. In May, 1851, a new tariff had been adopted by which differential duties on goods were abolished. This measure gave great satisfaction to one class of the people, the consumers, if it did not tend to improve the revenues. The new civil code which Bello was to prepare was soon given to Chile; tribunals of commerce were organized; a discount and deposit bank was established at Valparaiso ; later, Jan- uary ist, 1856, a bank was founded to loan money on real estate. A law was passed, with the assent of the church, to convert church tithes into a tax; a law was also passed to reorganize municipal institutions. Money was now for the first time coined on the decimal plan, the Spanish S5'stem being discarded. A bill was introduced in 1854, to readmit the Jesuits, and Capuchines were invited to establish missions among the Araucanians. Treaties of commerce were concluded with France, with Sardinia, and with the United States, Great Britain and the Argentine Republic. Public libraries were established and schools multiplied. The tele- graph was introduced. A railway between Valparaiso and Santiago was projected, the government subscrib- ing $2,000,000 for the purpose; gas was introduced into the cities, the extensive coal mines of Lota and Coronel were opened, Puerto Montt was founded, and other colonies of Germans were induced to settle in
