The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-10-12
or or me American worklngman would
oe " The same condition to-day as his

H. a. ~ sue same condition to-day as his
Z Mexican brother, IT
Form OF slavery.
The haelendns Tor plantatlons) are
owned by the very rich men and cover
an area OF from ten to one hundred
square miles. Farming and Rgrlcultu-
RAJ implements are very primitive. The
plow 10 a crooked stick or beam and
scratches the ground to depth OF three
OF iour inches. The .plow'Gis drawn
apy TWO oxen. and the harness Is q broad
slrap or rope passing over the forehead
Imsteau OF the shoulders OF the oxen.
4 r,lhhlinR Is done by poKing a hole into
the ground with q stick, dropping the
corn into II and the seed Ia covered by
inc poems In stepping from hole to hole.
N these immense tracts OF land the ma
lives or poems have lived for centuries,
anu are forced to buy all their necessl-
\ ues OF lie at the lincIcndados Gland
ao,Wners) truck store. On the hacienda
the peon gets from Is to 20 cents per day
tor, hls work and q hut TO live In, IL he
puilus u himself. The peon gets no
money except on feast days and for re-
llSious offerings. BY this system he is
always In debt to the haclendado This
form or slavery has been forbidden by
iaW Tor n number OF years. but two
tnlrds oil the poems do not knowrit, rs
they can neither read nor write and
their masters tnlSe good care not to teach
them this fact ~ 7 m -
s0rganized labor Is unknown here,
which Is considered :. great blessing,
y But that tcnurtry to-day that has the
pest system of trade organizations and
the greatest number Of union men per
capita OF Its population, Is the foremost
IN wealth, progression and the happi-
ness of Its people. fsI
me cry Is raised that there are no
B,lor houses In Mexico. but that Is no in
y ulsatlon Oh the absence OF poverty, as
sour committee can fully testify with
out rear OF contradiction, ms the voice of
the mendlcant supplicutlng aims rang
intous3 ears oil through the country.
In the cities OF Zacatecas and Gunna-
JUNO, with populations OF 1000 md TO-
WV respectively, we failed to get butter
and potatoes on the tables OF the best
hotes: On inquiry we were informed
z that II we paid 81 n pound for butter, It
would be purchased and kept for our
exclusive use. =
Your committee would caution Amerl-
can workingmeli against going TO Mex
+ lco without sufficient funds to bring
them back, or to have employment So
cured before going there, or theywill be
Obliged TO subslst on Cactus and the sap
OF the tequila plant while doing the
country. On asking an American who
was conducting a prosperous business
IN one OF the cities which your commit
tee visited, why 1t was that the foreign
sers all seemed to be making money, no
matter what business they were engage
ed In, he, with characteristic Yankee,
trankness, replied: THE laborer here Is
sEalitsrent from the labOrer In the states.
Here labor Is cheap and we have no
g brains to contend with"
The Contrast.
4 The mission intrusted to your commit
tce.ls a peculiar one We were sent to
study the social and financial conditions
! of, a far away people. We are plain
Z tollers. Injured to the hard knocks OF the
factory and workshop, and none are bet
ter qualified to feel and sympathize with
+ the workers of another country than
E men from our ranks. We did not so
loaded with credentials, to be entertain.
q ed by the people of better classes, or yet
J as scholars, to describe the monuments
OF historic Interest, or to have our po-
s etic fancies Inspired by the landscape
y and azure skies. or build up wasted en-
! ergies in the healthful air OF that south
Z err cline; but 10 so among the common
people. who are OF our own class, and
etudy. conditions from that standpoint
\ Hence this epistlc does not abound In
high sounding platitudes on the sub
lime and beautiful In that country, but
on facts that still exist and are ready TO
speak for themselves to those who will
so and seek as we have done; and should
2 they do so. they will feel as we do. that
the American workinSman Is a prince
compared to the workingman OF Mexico.
That in this country all stand equal In
social and political life, and In that po-
litical right they should exercise with
4 care the faithful discharge OF their du-
ties. unprecedented and unbiased, by sup
/ porting such principles as will do the
4 greatest good TO the greatest number. ir-
! respective OF party politics or the ma
chinery OF either party. who may man!p-
II ulate conditions and measures for po-
litical gain to the detrlment OF the whole
people.
P. J. MAS,
PATRICK ENRIGHT.
"a Committee