Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1886-08-28
MEXICO.
APEN PICTURE or THE PEoN.
A Dark Past, ForblddIng Present and a
Shadowy Future.
Columbia Herald.
GUADALUPE Y CAIvo, MEXICO,

| July7 1886.
have been asked numbers OF time
to tell what kind of people the Mexi
cans are. The following description O
the Mexican Peon, or laboring man, b,
Judge f., gives him in his entirety.
will simply say that the peon is not
"pusson" yet and has never felt tn
blighting influence OF that education
which destroys the common mind"
The Judge says, "If you are not par
ticular about your acquaintance / will
introduce you to the Mexican peon
In the whole animal economy he stands
like Adams recollection before tn,
fall, alone lie and his ancestors arr
alike and his remotest descendants viii
probably remain the same, unchanged
In statue, medium size; thin, angular
and tough. In color, for the most part
brown or dark, indicating the admix
ture of Indian blood. But this Is no
looked upon with any disfavor mas
much as scme Of the most distinguish
ed Mexicans have had this lineage. Ju
arez, one of the late presidents of tht
Republic and who did SO much in the
way of reform, is said to have been d
full-blooded Indian. The peon is a ser
vant and has labored under taskmasters
for generations. Heretofore, when in
debt, he became slave to his creditor
and was doomed TO vassalage until the
debt was paid. But this was SO manag-
ed by the creditor, by the sale of sup
plies at the most extortionate rates and
other means, that, like a drowning
chicken, the more he, struggled the
deeper he sank. Happily under the
last constitution Of the Republic peon-
age for debt is forever abolished,
While that is so in theory in fact the
reverse is true and practically in many
portions oil the land this serfdom still
prevails. These fellows have not yet
heard OF the change in the constitution,
in fact, do not know that there is such
an instrument extant. Few can read
and fewer can write, and thus, immers-
ed in the businesses OF ignorance, they
toll on in their way from year to year
and from generation to generation.
Like the mountain "burro" they too
are literally beasts Of burden, and, like
the same animal, they do only that
which they cannot possibly avoid.
They had rather shirk on'a credit than
do the SAME kind and amount OF work
for cash at a higher price. 1t is their
nature and education. Stealing with
them is fine art-long practice has
made them perfect II not considered
here, asin olden times, among some OF
the Greeian States,a virtue, it is not
looked upon as crime.
Metals in inines.they do not regard
as belonging to proprletors but that the
ssearth and the fullness thereof is the
Lords" and, as His children, they
will, when occasion fayors, help them
selves. Ingenius are the expedients to
which they resort in stealing ores.
With practiced eyes rich metal they
readily discern and then to see is to de-
sire and to desire is to steal. Some
times they will conceal the fine speci-
mems in their hair, in portions of their
clothing, between the soles Of their feet,
and their sandals, and at times, in such
parts OF their body as, when dislodged,
produces fatal consequences. When a
mlne is in bonanza they are subjected
to the severest espionage and thorough
ly searched upon leaving the same.
The sense OF humiliation is gone if it
ever existed. His ideas are few and
these he conveys IN hybriel idiom
certainly unknown to the Spanish
Academy. His dress, winter and sum-
mer, is the same. He wears white cot
ton pants with the legs about twelve in
ches wide, a thin calico shirt, some sole
leather on the bottom OF his feet, tied
on with leather strings, and, to COM
plete his toilet, his wide-brimmed hat,
with as many adornments as can be
weighted upon it. His ambition is a
fine, snowy hat. They may be seen
sometimes with head gear worth TWEEN
ty-hve dollars and foot gear worth
twenty-five cents. One thing is yet
lacking to make up the perfect man
and that is his everlasting "scrape" or
blanket, which goes when he goes and
stops when he stops. This is his bed
and from it he never separates, neither
by day or by night. When he goes to
bed he takes his bed with him and
when he goes to work he does the same
But there is one article of clothing
which, SO far, / have failed to mention
1t is called "cotense." 1t is piece
of white cotton cloth about two and
one half feet square. 1t is perfect re-
semblance of q baby's diaper and i:
continually suggestive of sights and
scenes of the ''long ago." They weal
them too in such manner, when fold
ed around the lower part of their bod
les, as to remind one of the tail of the
retreating tadpole. The foregoing arti
cles comprise his outfit and how attract
lively presentable the reader must nov
Judge for himself. His wardrobe rec
ognizes no undergarment. He is |
man of family too, in fact, though no
exactly a Mormon in faith, yet in prac
tice his qualifications are so numerou
as to fit him for an eldership in tina
church. He cares to make just enough
money TO keep him from starving-n'
more. He, in effect, says: /: Who ha
promised us tomorrow And if n,
one then let each day provide for itsel
'for sufficient unto the day is the evi
thereof" His children are as scantil!
attired as himself if not more so ant
tie pinched faces OF them and thei