Building on the notion that economic ideas matter when they generate critiques, we study nineteenth century public debates on pauperism in Chile focusing on the role played by contemporary national economists. When analyzing the economic debates on the cuestion social in the country, we consider the country's reception of Malthusianism. Our analysis is based on the legacy of French economic liberalism. We focus on the work of the Chilean successors of Jean Gustave Courcelle-Seneuil: Zorobabel Rodriguez, Manuel Miquel, Miguel Cruchaga, and Marcial Gonzalez. We find that the opposition economists faced in Chile was related to their diagnoses of this problem, as well as to their laissez faire policy proposals.