The herald., 1896-10-12
THE NON.PART|SAN REPORT
Of Labor Observers Sent to
Mexico
COMPARISONS IMPOSSIBLE
Because a Very Different Standard Of
Living Obtains
Mexican Poems Draw Small Pay-The
American Mechanics in the Same
Country Receive High Wages
Associated Press Special Wire

Associated Press Special Wire
; CHICAGO, Oct. 1.-THE committee
Of the Trade and Labor Assembly sent
to Mexico by that organization to in
vestigate the condition Of the laboring
classes Of that country has returned 10
Chicago and submitted it's report at the
meeting this afternoon. The report was
adopted by almost an unanimous vote,
only two members speaking in opposi-
tion to it.
The delegates claimed in submitting
their report that they carried out their
mission in an unbiased and non-parti-
san manner and they simply pictured
the low state Of the working classes as
| it is. without reference to political
| questions. There were many eJacula-
tions of establishment at the pitiable
| pictures presented, and the motion 10
adopt the report called forth but little
| debate.
The first stop made by your commit
tee was at El Paso, Texas, where we
investigated the wages paid and the
| conditions of American laborers. From
| that point we crossed to the city or
Juarez, but two miles from Ell Paso.
At this place complete change met
| the eye-everything assuming Mexi-
can air-and we realized that the time
had arrived when the real duties of our
mission began. We took observations
OF the people as to their appearance,
| mode of living, social conditions, wages
paid and prices of commodities, and
| were surprised at the contrast as COM
pared with conditions we left at FL
Paso.
The two peoples, as to their habits.
| tastes customs and mode Of life are
such that a comparison is unnatural.
Life is regarded from very different
standpoints, as they live under different
conditions, inasmuch as the Mexican Ia
borer is apparently contented with the
four bare walls of his ten-foot square
adobe hut, with nothing inside but the
ground to sleep on, shawl or blanket
to cover or wrap himself up in, q dish Of
tortillas (corn pancakes) and frijoles
(beans) for his frugal meal, and in a
large number Of cases a little pig, a
| dog and a chicken or two of the game
cock order sharing his scant quarters,
while the American laborer across the
line has all the comforts of home and
many of the luxuries OF life.
Wages in Mexico except the skilled
and steady mechanics, always foreign
erS. are very low. On railroads, engi-
neers (American) on passenger trains
receive $40 per month, while the fire.
men (Mexica1s) receive $1.S5 per day;
freight engineers (American) $3.50 per
month, firemen (Mexican) $150 to 81
| pei ueiS pdsScuSeT COHUuCtOrS (Anlerl-
| CAM S16O per month, brakemen Mex
ican) $15O per day; freight conductors
(American) $500 per month, brakemen
(Mexican) s57 to $63 per month"; Pull
man conductors $50 per month (Amer-
lean money! with S. per month extra
national soldiers Irregular army of
Mexico. called rurales, and who are all
ex-bandits, receive 81 per day.
IN broom factory near the depot at
J1menez, the men are paid so cents wo-
men and children 25 to 371b cents per day.
In the cotton mills, seed oil mills and
soap factories at Torreon, men are paid
4'l2 to 90 cents, women and children rs
cents per day.
A carcador (public carrier) has rate
of 121s cents per hour. but you can hire
him for from rs to 371s cents per day.
At Leon. where nearly all the leather
goods in Mexico are manufactured the
peon gets his leather cut for shoes, or
other goods to be made by him, and
takes the material to his hut, where the
whoie FAMILY assists him, the same as
in the sweatshop of Chicago. For MAX
ing shoes he receives 81 and upward per
| dozen pairs, on the other goods he re-
3l1a to so cents per day for his labors,
| working as long as light lasts, averag-
ing twelve to fourteen hours per day
| Common laborerS can be hired for Is to
90 cents per day. House servants, male
! or female, receive So to S. per month and
| boad themselves. In or near cities poems
live in adobe houses and pay a rental of
81 year for the ground that the house
stands on. When leaving this for an
other location all the improvements the
! peon has made go to the landlord or
owner of the land, who pay no taxes
whatever on the land.
The chief article of dress of the Mexi-
can peon is his sombrero, often costing
as much as $35 (Which is bought on the
installment plan) while the balance of
his clothing would make a crazy-quilt
turn green with envy, owing to it's
variety of colors and assortment of
patches, making it a hard problem to
solve as to which is the original garment
and which the patch No stockings are
worn by either sex and only about one
third wear sandals. which are made from
a piece OF sole leather and tied to the
foot with straps. These sandals cost
from IL to 20 cents per pair. The average
cost of the necessities of life for a peon
family Of five is 25 cents day, and cloth
ing for the same costs $40 per year. The
days work in Mexico runs from ten to
fourteen hours. Bakers work twerSy
and workmen who take work to their
homes work as many hours as they
please. The Mexican laborer works easy
as compared with the American laborer,
except the carriers, who bear enormous
burdens on their backs all day without
manifesting fatigue. The question of
4 SIOTleT III MtflCO is d lOHS way
Off for it is country in which labor is
so cheap and plentiful that it is offered
as an inducement to bring foreign capi-
tai in, and its toilers will be compelled
to work as many hours as they are ply
scally able and. thanks to organized
labor, or the American workingman
would be in the same condition today as
his Mexican brother.
The haciendas Cor plantations) are
owned by the very rich and cover an
area of from ten to one hundred square
miles. Farming and agricultural i'm
plements are very primitive. The plow
is crooked stick or beam and scratches
| the ground to depth of three or four
| inches.
The ''plow'' is drawn by two oxen and
| the harness is a broad strap or rope
passing over the forehead instead of the
shoulders of the oxen. Planting is done
| by poking hole into the ground with
stick, dropping the corn into it and the
seed is covered by the peon in stepping
from hole to hole. On these immense