The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-08-28

e nor altogether true, bfl1 Il ccald he
sad equally sru.nfusly Ct the Indian who
has no warts X be gets enough 70 eat.
and some sort Of covering WIEN II IS cod
The Mexieang are az advance. OF course.
UPON an Indian. ard they may be happier
as a people because their wants are 50
modest ard so easily Sstisfses. but the
eEs staoa fer US to cons.@er vas then and
Is nov. rot what would be bess for Mexi-
cars. but what would be best for An3s-i-
cars In the conditions with which they
are confroated. \ recent visitor 10 Mex
leo who evidently has 10 political object
81 view. has written what seems 70 be
fairly truthful account OF his trip through
Mexico. and Il may be summarized In ore
short diaIogae which he reports. Every
day is Sunday here" said newly arrived
American woman. to which another re-
piled. And every day Is a day OF rest"
That may be a very good place for an
American 70 take his vacation. but he
could not stand IL as steady thing
Nor could he live in such an atmosphere
Of utter indifference. He says that in
work hard In their way. sleep like tops,
eat their msals with wonderful relish,
who are convinced that England is just
a few miles OF Vera Cruz. and who know
nothing OF the outside world. These good
people you meet on the country roads
trotting along in their sandals. carrying
big loads. resting at noon by the way
side. happy and jovial minded over fru-
gal lunch. peacefully smoking bit be-
fore they again take up their burden,
their life q pleasant, tranquil jog. He
adds that II is true these people are not
consumers: they are not good people for
the political economists to write treatises
upon: they DO not help I'LL up columns
of statistics, and they are not all modern,
but when they go something Of divine
content will have left the earth.
This IL the sort of picture OF perfect
happiness and prosperity drawn by the
free silverite, but. alas. 1t is not true TO
life This may be how they appear to
the casual gazer. but to one who lives
among them they present different as
pect There is no doubt they are hap
Ply people. but their happiness is very
much like that of the well-fed cow. There
is no more perfect picture of contentment
than a cow medltatively chewing the eud
In the midst OF plentiful field OF clover.
The Mexicans. as a people, are lazy un-
ambitious, nerveless race. With their tenn
permanent and their habits of thought they
.y,~ ttrn
Where mans wants are few labor Is
always cheap. The more a man wants
the more ne asks for his labor. and II he
accepts less than he asks. 1t is only be-
cause Of the competitor who also has his
wants. and is willing TO enter into that
composition for the sake of gratifying
them
To a people who. as this writer
SAYS, can exist on u cents a day, and in
times Of short crops on half that amount.
and still joke what does it matter wheth-
err silver or gold is the standard? Prob
ably the climate has something to do
with II. and the rest and contrast made
the writer pleased with all he saw. He
might ride through a New England rural
district and describe the well kept farms,
the trim hedges. the modest cottage, the
large barn, the lowing cattle, and imagine
a happy and contented people. 1t would
not be until he got to the county seat
and examined the record Of mortgages
and the delinquent tax rolls that he would
know frugality did not always mean con-
tentment. To the Mexicans large crops
or small crops make no difference, be-
cause they do not care for comfortable
farm houses and expensive cattle and ag-
ricultural machinery. If an American
farmer or an American laborer would be
content 10 live in an adobe hut, and TO
spend as little for food as the Mexicans.
they would soon be we'll off here, but in
Mexico, even with the most rigid econo-
my, they never could be.