Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-04-16
BABAHOYO.

making our way along a narrow canal o
green and then shooting out into q great
green walled chamber of water, the tree.
about which are loaded down with orchids,
each of which in New York would bring
sum equal to the wages of the average
workingman. Insects are plenty. bugs and
ants Of every description fall upon us as We
feat onward, and Mr.. Klein tells me how
great snake once dropped down into hi:
beat from the branches above. The trees
are all strange and tropical. There arc
rubber trees, trees loaded with alligator
Pe ars and here and there a great palm ha.
hoisted its green head above the others
Outside Of the insects and birds the silence
is almost oppressive. The soft air is heav.
with peace and rest and the ripple Of the
water as our long canoe works it's way on
ward seems to invite us to sleep. Now e
canoe with family of Indians passes US
and again great cargo boat loaded with
cocoa is showed along on its way to the
markets.
MflliOnnire's Plantation.
Nearly all the land above which we have
been travelling belongs to the millionaire
planter whom We are to visit. When we
get out of the forest We come directly into
the grazing lands of his plantation. The
grass Is now under water. and his herds
have been taken to the high lands on the
edge of the Andes. We are in wide waste
of waters. above which here and there the
tops of the wire fences are to be SEEM
We sail right over these fences, now and
then passing ter ant houses Of bamboo
matched with palm leaves. The houses
are like these of Babahoyo, built high upon
piles. Under each just over the water there
is platform on which the chickens and
pigs Of the owner live within six inches
of drowning. AS we near the great white
house OF the planter we see more and moro
of these houses. We pass a butcher sho,
esting on the water where are killed the
animals which furnish the meat for the
planter. and go by a great barn which i:
also on piles surrounded by water. We saI
over the front gate and land amid a LOT
Of long steel cocoa boats on the second
floor of the house, which is a great three
story building rCofed with red tiles. Here
we are met by the owner. and are made t.
feel at home. He orders a breakfast to b,
prepared for us and puts wine and cognao
before us. His two pretty daughters are
now called In to entertain us, and together
We all drink to the better relations Of our
continents and our countries. Later on
the old man serbs an Indian servant out
to climb one Of his cocoanut trees to give
us drink of cocoanut milk. and thei
directs his men to guide us in canoes to the
cocoa orchard ard to other parts Of his es-
tate.
Labor and Wages in Ecuador.
1 talk with him as to the profits of farm
ing. He says he keeps no accounts, bu
that he leaves all to his foreman and over.
seers, and that all that Is over above tn.
expenses is profit. this year he will harves
100000 pounds of cocoa, which at 10 cents
profit q pound will net him $4,000 from
this source alone.
He tells me he loses a great deal every
year because he cannot get laborers to
work for him. and still l am told the men
on his plantation owe him $26O 600 in silver
This Is to O certain extent his labor capital
for the money must be worked out and
portion OF it Is taken every day from the
wages OF his debt slaves 1t Is said that
slavery no longer exists in Ecuador II
may not exist as 1t did in the days OF
PiZarro, when the Indians were branded,
whipped and killed at the will of their
owners, but it is really in force through
the debt laws and the habits of the poems
or laboring classes which cause them to
keep in debt to their masters. The wages
are so low that once in debt 1t is almost
impossible to get out. Here. near the
coast poems get about So a month, but in
the interior they do not receive over hall
this, and one-tenth of their earnings goes
to the church. The planters give their
laborers twelve ounces of meat, fourteen
ounces of rice or beans, a little lard or sal,
q day. Each also gets hat, three coarse
cotton shirts and three pairs of cotton pam
falcons a year, and house. such as have
described above. Their hours of work arr
from sunrise until sunset and IL q man
women and children must work as well az
the men, and IL a man runs away he l.
straightway put in prison for debt and
stays there until some other planter Is
willing to pay him out and take him into
his service. Even should a man get out O..
debt, the conditions are such that he /.
soon in again. II there Is a death in his
family he has to borrow money to bury his
dead. If he would be married, the priests
will charge him 80 for performing the
ceremony, and IL he wants n hog or a
donkey 1t Is only by going into debt that
he can get them. As to marriage, he usual
ly prefers to live without the ceremony te
paying the marriage fees, and today it Il
said. on this account IS per cent of Tho
births in Ecuador are illegitimate. Wager
in Guayaquil and along the coast are mucl
higher than in the interior. In the citie
common workmep get 70 cents q day; car
penters from $3.50 to e: masons, painters
and blacksmiths about the same, and men
servants employed by the month, from SO to
SO, with board Women receive from g to
$40. with board. Tailors and shoemakers re-
ceive from 50 to $12 per week. and printers,
bakers and BARRIERS the same. Living II In
some respects very cheap, bat e. regards