Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1896-10-17

tho balance of his clothes would MAKE
crazv Quilt turn green with envy, OWNS
n jts variety Of colors and assortment Oh
matches. making it hard problem 10
solve as to which is the original gar
ment 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 10
the foot with straps. These sandals cost
from 70 to 20 cents per pair. The average
cost of the necessities of life OF FAMILY
Of five IS % cents, and clothing for the
same cost $40 per year
..ThA DAVIS work in Mexico runs from
10 ia IA hours; the bakers work 20 hours,
and workmen who take work to thcr
homes work as many hours as they
nlease. The Mexican laborer's work IS
easv as compared with the American la
borer except these carriers, who bear
enormous burdens on their backs all day
without manifesting fatigue. The Ques-
tion of shorter hours in Mexico is long
vavs off. for a country in which labor is
so cheap and plentiful that it is offered as
an inducement to bring foreign capital in,
and its toilers will be compelled to WORK
as many hours as they are physically
able; and, thanks to organized labor, or
the American worllingman would be in
the same condition today as his Mexican
brother.
1.-THE haciendas Cor pIantauons) are
owned by the rich and cover an area of
from 10 to 100 square miles. Farming ana
AGRICULTURAL implements are primitive.
The plow is a crooked stick or beam and
scratches the ground to depth of three
or four inches. This plow' is drawn by
two oxen. and the harness is broad
strap or rope passing over the forehead
instead Of the shoulders OF the oxen.
Planting is done by poking hole into
the grund with a stick, dropping the corn
into it,and the seed is covered by the Deon
in stepping from hole to hole. On these
immense tracts Of lands the natives, or
poems. have lived for centuries, and are
forced to buy all their necessities of life
Of the haclendados Oand owners). Al
the hacienda he gets from is to 50 cents a
day for his work and a hut to live H. if
he builds it himself. The peon gets 10
money except on feast days and for re
ugIous offerings BY this system he is
always in debt to the haciendados. Ta-s
form of slavery has been forbidden ty
law for a number of years, but two
.
they can neither read nor write, and their
masters take good care not to teach .1em
this fact.
"Organi2ed labor is unknown here.
which is considered a great blessing But
the country today that has the best sys-
tenn Of trade organization and the greater
number Of union men per capita Of its
is the foremost in wealth, pro-
Of g.
The cry is raised that there are no poor
in Mexico, but that is no Indication of the
absence of poverty, as your committee
can fully testify without fear of contra
diction as the voice of the mendicant
supplicating almost rang in our ears all
through the country. In the cities of "a
catecas and Guanajuato, with popu'a-
ton Of 10000 and 0,000 respectively, we
failed to get butter and potatoes on the
tables of the best hotels. On inquiry we
We're informed that if We paid 81 pound
for butter, it would be purchased and
kept for our exclusive use.
"Your commission would caution Amer
lean workmen against going to Mexico
without sufficient funds 10 bring them
back, or to have employment secured be
fore going there, or they will be obliged
to subsist on cactus and the sap Of the
taquila plant while doing the country. On
asking an American who was conducting
a prosperous business in one Of the cities
which your commission visited why il
was that the foreigners all seemed TO be
making money, no matter what business
they were engaged in, he, with charac
teristic Yankee frankness, replied: The
laborer here is different from the laborer
from the states. Here labor is cheap,
and we have no brains to contend with.
THE mission intrusted to your com
mission is peculiar one. We were sent
to study the social and financial condi-