The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-12

/ or
| advanced means of Frightening his existence.
| but retains all the primitive characteristics
OF centuries ago, when Cortez first invaded
that country. ~ So
prices paid for labor In Mexiso. looking at
| that fact from a humanitarian standpoint
and that the laborer was worthy of his hire.
was shocked, to say the least But later
when we saw that although 1t took bnt ID III.
70 cents per day to keep peon family of five
and all members worhfd Jand that to pay
MIN more was his runation we were some
what relieved. If poems wages are raised
he will only work until he earns a certain
amount and then quit and not do another
stroke while he has Gent of money Con.
ssequently they are totally runreliohla ana
dear workmen This condition was hrouSb
ABOUT by the inattenticn and lack of inter
ndo 1l,nIiieseee IN tnem as workers by their
nations of our advanced Civilization Mexico
mas been marking time while other nationS
nave been marching on ~
A mans chief article of dress ;s "a, -
prero, often costing much as s35 frubich 10
pought on the installment planI while III
o oniance OF MS clothing would make a crazy
quit turn green with envy owing to IT,
variety OF colors and assortment Of matches
| making 1t hard problem to solve as ~
W wniGn Is the original garment and which the
pdtcn. NO stockings are worn by either cav
and only about one-third wear sandals which
are made from piece of sole leather and
tied to the foot with straps. These sandals
cost from IL to 20 cents per pair The aver
! age cost Of the necessities of life for naon
family of five is rs cents per day and clothing
for the same costs about $40 per year.
street cars in Mexico are as good as can ha
expected, consisting principally of the small
cars formerly In use in American cities These
cars are drawn by one or two mules in level
country and by three or four mules in a Xiv
country. The fare is 6. 8, IL and Is cents for
frst-class passage. and two-thirds Of thai
amount for second class. After Z D. m. the
I I Is doubled. All cars run on the side of
the street. up one street and back on an
other. va M
Land in Mexico is not taxed and man can
pre-empt as much land as he can hire poems
to keep other squatters off Of II is not even
necessary for him to till or work any part of
the land, but II 1t is intended to use any
land for agriculture, mining or manufactur-
] ing purposes the government will grant con-
cessions to the owner in the shape of admit
ting machinery or agricultural implements
free of duty for number Of years.
The cactus, which grows in abundance Is
used by the poems in many ways. The broad
leaves are dried, ground into -four between
Two stones and sort OF pancake made. The
fruit called tunas, which resembles a russell
apple, is sweet and cooling to the taste For
| fodder for the burro the cactus Is dried in
the sun, after having the thorns burned off
/ the hut.
| The tequila, which resembles the century
plant, and grows wild in abundance, is tapped
at It's base for the sap, from which the native
whisky Is made.
Nearly all towns and cities are from one
half to three miles away from the railroad
stations. In order that the peon has work to
carry baggage and freight from the depot to
the town. Your committee saw a carcador
public carrier) trotting along the highway
with large trunk on his back, another with
| half-dozen hand satchels, another with an
iron safe. another with forty adobe bricks.
another with two bales OF hay, one with
two barrels OF fruit, ono with crate of
crockery or Of vegetables, another with two
ten gallon kegs or two stone jars of water
and four poems carrying piano. This won
derIul power OF endurance, and strength of
10 Nvrcrt1 a
veritable beast Of burden in the carrying
trade OF that country, and, together with the
Durro. are the railroads, only competitors.
The days work In Mexico runs from ten to
fourteen hours. The bakers work twenty
hours and workmen who, take work to their
homes work as many hours as they please.
a Inc M tha laborer works easy compared
with the American laborer, II except the car
rler, who bears enormous burdens on his
back all day without manifesting fatigue.
me question OF shorter hours in Mexico is a
long ways on for country in which labor
is SO cheap and plentiful that it Is offered as
an lnoucement to bring foreign capital in
ana us toilers will be compelled to work as
many hours as they are physically able, and
thanks to organized lager. or the American
mo9rkihgnan would be in the same condition
today as his Mexican brother
Mexico is not primitive in everything. Manv
OF It's present laws and customs could be
probably adopted in this country. First of
al, It's system OF police and soldiers to guard
life and property. which is certainly perfect
excepting the pay, which is only Is and 371h
cents per day, with uniform furnished In
any city IN the republic of Mexico person
is SAFER, either on the street or indoors by
night or by day than person is in the city
OF Chicago at police headquarters in the mid
ole OF the day. HOUSEKEEPING, robberies,
hold-ups or murders are an unknown GUAM.
tity in Mexican cities. But II one of these
crimes Is ever committed the guilty party is
Immediately apprehended, taken before an
ofhcer of the day, where he Is ordered shot
on the spot. The only crimes committed are
petty thieving and picking pockets. The
gentry who ply this vocation are rounded fire.
quently, when half Of them are taken from
the jail, and, under guard of squad Of SOL
diers, sent to a neighboring town-|hich the
prisoners never reach. The soldiers return
in few hours, report that their prisoners
attempted to escape and were shot The
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 pickpockets may
be set free or ordered sent to another town
at later day.
The libel and Islander laws Of Mexico are
very severe. If a person 1ibels or ISLANDERS
another, either by mouth OF pen, on com
plant being made to any policeman the guilty
person is arrested and lodged In Jail until he
has proved the charge made by mouth or pen.
Ali 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 IL a merchant has a stock
Of goods, be 1t large or small. every article
is paid for. consequently no business failures
have occurred in that country for years
Another admirable feature of Mexican busi-
ness life is that all places of business are
closed daily from l to 3 O'Clock p. m. to per-
NIT everybody to go home TO dinner while
stools and chairs provided in all stores
for the of both the clerks and the Gus
toners. The worst feature OF Mexican busi-
ness 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 II the buyer offers one-half or
one-third of the price originally asked the
article can generally be bought.
All mercantile business. in. Mexico is taxed
6 to per cent of actual sales, A set OF books
must be kept Of receipts and expenditures,
which are examined by the tax collector as
often as that worthy COMES around. who fixes
the amount of taxes to be paid and afi1xes
revenue stamps for the amount of taxes paid
on the books.
Any advertisement or announcement in
stores windows, houses or public places
must have 2-cent revenue tax stamp affixed
to permit It's display. Even the gambling
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 very aee dagna
are polite almost to a fault. In their domes-
tic relations they are happy-no family jars.
no family skeletons. This felicity takes the
place of the green-eyed monster that has
wrecked many homes Of the so-called better
classes in America Aged couples manifest
much affection for each other. 1t is common
joined and acting with the simplicity Of lit
tie children. Your committee was told that
the reason the natives do not go through
the marriage ceremony was that it cost too
much; still, the civil fee for the poorer class
is but s1.75 for the judge and registration fee,
while for the better class 1t costs from SO to
| $40. The church fee is much higher. The
church does not recognize civil marriage
and the state does not recognize church
marriage. On inquiring what was necessary
for peon to take unto himself wife and
70 hons o1xc yrQra fn1d v1ta
Of hida1go a bunch of chilli peppers and an
| almuda Of maize ltwenty-four pounds Of