Arizona weekly citizen., 1891-11-28
SYRAN CHATTELa
Oriental Serfs Tho are Really IN Bond
age to Padrones IN This Country.

age to Padrone5 IN This Country.
The Syrian men, women and children
who patrolthe public thoroughfares Of
this city laden with religious emblems
and triniIets of semi barharous design
are, with few exceptions, the victims OF s.
social condition which can be hardly de-
fined from slavery.
They are the human chattels of class
of importers of foreign birth who have
their agents and established headquar-
tiers In every city of prominence on the
Pacific coast as well as in eastern GEN.
ters.
These human chattels, who claim TO
be Turks to advance the novelty of their
personality in the eyes of the purchasing
public, are the scum of Syria, Armenia,
Greece and Italy.
There are several thousand of these
serfs employed by their money making
fellow cOuntrymen in the United States
hundreds are annually added to the
number already employed. Ignorant of
their legal rights and but poorly versed
in the language of the country they
receiving only their food, lodging and
bcanty clothing.
These serfs sell themselves to their
masters. hoping that in a new country
they will better their condition and bs
At least relieved of the pangs of hunger
which beset them in their native lands
Pledged to work either for life or for
gears for those who provide them with
transportation 10 the new land of prom
Use, they are sent On their arrival in the
United States TO the cities where their
tabors viii prove the most remunerative
They have lately encrCached upon
what to them is a virgin feld-the Pa,
:iic coast-and numbers are frequently
being sent hither TO thoroughly cover
every profitable point.
There have been as many as forty OF
fifty Of these human chattels-men,
women and youths-engaged in making
street sales in this city, but they have
decreased until only twelve or fifteen
cover the trade 81 San Francisco. Seattle,
Tacoma and Washington generally in
clude fifteen or twenty in their bounda-
ries. Los Angeles is favored with the
presence Of ten or twelve, while Oregon
which, according TO their statements
is proving to lie the mora vssnunerative
felI-;las from thirty 10 Wy of these
serfs catering 10 the dsSyands of their
peculiar lire Of irade The E5ate Of Ne
Vada harbors ten or fifteen, while the
progress Of Utah is marked by having
iwenty or thirty.
Their residence at any place is not
permanent, hut, like the nomadic Arab
Of the desert. these slaves silently fold
their tents and steal away at the will of
their masters, " iiich varies With the va
riatiOnS OF the trade ODo Of the places
ia this city where uo;naIic scrfs receive
t1@ir supplies and rrnder their accounts
is in -iinEa street. II is a supply depot,
anl is conducted riiiier tie name of
Joseph ;9haTa.! Z, Co There. In a room
crowded with :jiyri2ns % b3:h sexes, of
FL sizc7 and ;:.;ca, is a large stock of
.y-;n'Eet.' ana religions articles stored IL
;l;.stebo"rl boxes {: various sizes dis,
PLAYED ga shelves winch run about the
.,o:n.
THIS GTa,ic.-u contains two beds and
: loJagS, al, t.!e i-ci; OF ether furnish
ings j. I-;I.,c compulsory by the space
;aien rp TX IL. ili:nruse stock which is
t.uied o. - - oJll l'y the ;: - It peddlers
III this city aud uei=lboriry towns. 10
5eij!l SEa. himself is bronzed and
br;tvny - N, iauci. past the years OF
middle life. - is the p;;drone who direct
the action ard iabors Of the dozen OF
composite u.iIiona,itit-. Of both sexes and
various ages who wecc gathered in tbs
room. Ee was rather reticent when
questioned by a reporter, and while
claiming to be unacQuainted with Others
engaged in the same line OF business nc
displayed a knowledge regarding the 10
cation Of branch agencies and number
Of his countrymen and women engaged
in the trade that was remarkable. Some
of the supply depots in this city remit
regularly from s., 600 to 81 900 a week to
the east aud Europe as payments for
shipments and invoices of goods.-San
francisco Chronicle