Omaha daily bee., 1896-10-12
tapped at ite base FOR tho sap. from which
the native whisky ~ made
pEDNg as CARRIERS

Y ~.
the native whisky r. made.
PEONS AS CARRIERS.
Nearly an towns ana cities are from one
half 10 three miles away from the railroad
9b carry baFgaSc m Se" and Freight m from from the the depot 10
the town. Your committee saw carcador
puelic carrier. J9it'ng 9iong thie high,TIay Iy
with a hall dozen han1 satchels, another
with nm iron safe another with forty adobe
with two barrels Of fruit, one with crate
OF crOckcry or Of vegetables. another with
two tcn-gallon kegs or two stone jars OF
water ana four poems carrying a plano.
This wonderful power Of endurance and
strength of limb is mystery and proves
the carrying trade OF that country and
together, with the burro. are the rdilroads
The iai s work in Mexico runs from ten TO
fourteen nours. The bakers work twenty
hours and workmcu who take work to- thcir
homes work us many hours as they please.
The Mexican luborcr works easy compared
with the American laborCr, except the car
rier who bears enormous burdens on ms
back all day without manifcstng fatigue
The question OF shorter hours in Mexico Is
y long way Off FOR O. country In which labor
Is so cheap ana plentiful that 1t is offered
as an lnducemcnt to bring foreign capital
in ana It's toiiers VIII be compelled to
work as many hours as they are physically
able. And thanks to organized labor or
the American workinCman would bc in the
same condition today as his Mexican
brother.
Inc prevailing style or architecture IN the
cities of Mexico H. pf a Moorish Spanish
order, All of the buildings in the business
and residence portions of the cities have
inner courts, called patios, which give them
the form Of a hollow square The inner
and outer walls OF these courts and the
street sides of the building are handsomely
frescoed, while the galleries are lined with
proiusion of tropical and semi-tropiCal
flowers. and large palms are always to be
found in the center of these patuS. In the
interior arrangements Of the buildings the
q
rooms get their light from the door, In
which the upper half Is of glass. Shop
keepers live above or In the rear Of their
stores and those with palatlal residences in
the suburbs live i'm Paris most of the time.
But those whose incomes compel them TO
live in the second or inner patio exist in a
partial eclipse OF the light of day. The
fronts OF the buildings are fiat, seldom over
two stories high; some have small bllconies,
and all windows on the street floor are
heavily barred, where the young Cavalicro
may steal on tiptoe and breathe sweet
words of love to his best girl who is safely
immured behind those prisOn-like walls
and windows. to guard her against the con-
tamination of the outer world. The same
ness of the house fronts gives them
monotonous appearance, which tires the eye
In roaming tho cities. Most of the houses
are from 100 to 800 years old, except the
adobe houses and huts. From the poorly
lighted and poorly ventilated arrangement
Of the houses It would be Impossible for the
people to maintain good health were 1T
not for the pure light air that cnvclops
the table lands. All these buildings and
huts that we entered seemed TO be charged
with a peculiar odor: whether II was the
age Of the buildings the material they We're
built Of or the poor sanitary arrangements
we were unable to ascertain.
POLICE SYSTEM EFFECTIVE.
Mexico Is not primitive I'm everything.
be proitably adopted in this country. First
Of all. it's system of police and soldiers to
guard life and property which is certainly
perfect. excepting the pay. which t. only
is and 37!a cents per day, with uniform fur
nished In any city I'm the republic of Mex
leo a person is safer. either on the street or
Is in the city of Chicago at police headquar
ters in the middle of the day. House
an unknown quantity in Mexican cities.
But II one of these crimes is ever committed
the guilty party is Immediately apore-
hended, taken before an officer of the day,
whore he IS ordered shot on the spot. The
only crimes committed are petty thieving
and pick pockets. The gentry who ply
this vocation are rounded frequently. when
half of them are taken from the jail and,
under guard of a squad OF soldiers. sent to
"A ncighboring town-which the prisoners
never reach. The soldiers return In n few
hours, report that their prisoners attempted
TO escape. and were shot. This method Of
dispensing Justice acts as an object lesson
to the remaining prisoners and Is system
which has purified Mexico of crime and
criminals. The other piclSpockets may be
set free or ordered sent to another town at
n later day.
The libel and slander laws of Mexico are
very severe. If n person llbels or ISLANDERS
another either by mouth or pen on COM
guilty person is arrested and lodged in Jail
until he has proved the charge made by
mouth or pen.
All business in Mexico is transacted on a
strictly cash basis, no credits are given or
allowed TO any one or for any purpose what
ever, commercial paper and promises to pay
are unknown. and if "A merchant has a stock
of goods be II large or small every article
is paid for, consequently no business fail
ures have occurred in that country for
years
The compulsory school law works admir-
ably; 1t requires children between the ages
of and - years 10 attend the public
schools ten months of the year. Statistics
Of Mexico show that where ten years ago
% per cent of its people could not read or
write, now G6 per cent can.
Another admirable feature of Mexican
business life is that all places of business
are closed daily from l to o'clock at noon
to permit everybody to go home to dinner,
while stools and chairs are provided I'm all
stores for the use of both the clerks and the
customers, The worst feature of Mexican
business life Is that no fixed price Is put
on any article, but the merchant will tell
the truth as to the exact quality of the
goods to be purchased. If the buyer offers
one-half or one-third of the price originally
asked the article can generally be bought.
Wages are paid every Wednesday and
Saturday.
PARKS AND FREE CONCERTS
Every town or city in Mexico has from
one to n dozen public parks, which are kept
up by the government. In which semi and
ment bands. on Sunday mornings, in the
City of Mexico, military bands play I'm the
principal public park for three hours, com
mencng at 10 o'clock During the first hour
and a half the peon is privileged to prom
enade In the park and listen to the music,
after which time he Is ordered out by the
police to make room for the so-calod better
classes. who then appear on dress parade
until the close of the concert. At each en-
trance to the pTomenades police stand
guard to drive away the unfortunate native
should he hover too near. This manifcsta-
tion of social inequality your committee
considers wrong to those who are the real
wealth producers of the country, who cul-
tiVatc the soil, bring treasures from the
mines and carry loads as beasts of burden
and In consideration of this should be per
mitted to occupy higher plane in the social
arrangement of Mexico.
All mercantile business in Mexico Is taxed
6 to per cent of actual sales. set of
books must be kept of receipts and eXpendi-
lures, which are examined by the tax col
lector as often as that worthy comes
around who fixes the amount of taxes to
be paid and atiiNes revenue stamps for the
amount of taxes paid on the books.
Any advertisement or announcement I'm
stores windows, houses or public places
must have a 2-cent revenue tax stamp af-
! fixed to permit It's display. Even the gam
bling houses and lotteries are taxed one
third of their business.
Although but one-fourth Of the natives of
Mexico are married, no divorces or separa-
tions occur, They are n very anectionate