Omaha daily bee., 1898-05-29

Greater New York. OF these 81 per cent are
mixed races, coming from the union of the
Indians and the negro ex-slaves and of the
Spaniards and Indians. Not one man in five
is pure white, and of these whites there have
always been a select few who have practi-
cally owned the country.
The story of Peru and its Spanish owners
shows how poorly the Spaniards are fitted
to govern a people or build up a nation. The
story of Cuba is not a new one. When
Pizarro came here and conquered the Incas
he found a high state of civilization. Peru
was then supporting a population of from
ten to twenty millions. The Andes we're oul-
tivated TO their tops, and what is now
largely desert was by a system of fine acque-
ducts and canals rich farms. The masses
of the people then as now worked for their
rulers, but the laws were such that every
one was we'll fed and housed, and by a sys-
TEN of public granaries there was no want.
There was plenty of gold and silver, but
neither metal was used for money. They
were hard working and peaceful when the
Spaniards invaded them and took away the
richest booty that one nation ever got by OPP
pressing another. From one Inca temple
Pizarro took AZ, 900 pounds Of gold and
so, 900 pounds of silver. The silver nails
in one temple weighed %, $50 ounces. You
remember the room half full of gold which
the Inca king gathered for him as a ran
som. They collected vast quantities OF the
precious metals from the cities, temples
and palaces in other parts of the country
ard made Spain rich for a century or more
They enslaved the people and made them
work for them, and later on brought Afri-
rcans and other slaves in to aid them in the
-. -l tI.A;r rlantatinna Tbnrv hnE
here the richest silver mines known, when
silver was at a par with gold, and for centu-
ries fairly rolled in wealth. In addition 10
this they had the vast labor capital of tho
Indians.
The civilized Indians of Peru are not
accumulators. They do not care for more
than the day, and they are willing to work
hard for just enough to support themselves
and their families. These people, even
after slavery was abolished, continued tC
labor for the whites. They are a very good
class of workmen, and had they beer
handled by the English. or any other Anglo
SaXen combination, Peru would still be th'
wealthiest country OF this hemisphere. I'm
der the Spaniards the area OF cultivated
land became steadily less, the population
fell off, and there is not one-third al
many people here NOW as when Pizarrt
| MI iii lOduot hot f'c1Nf
inventions, are not as good as they were II
the days of Incas, and the condition o
the common people as very much worse.
How Chile Looted Peru.
Still the SpanishIP eruvians up until tn
war with Chile remained rich. The silve
mines of Cerro del Pasco turned out vas
sums and the government revenues were S
large that there was good picking for ever,
one with any kind Of a pull. One OF tn
yiceroys of the eleventh century rode iron
his palace to the cathedral in Lima owe
a path paved with ingots OF solid silver
His horse was shod with shoes of solid gol
and every hair of the horses name an
tail was strung with pearls. Later on, I
the wealth of the mines was added that c
the guano, and Peru got hundreds of mi
lions of dollars out of her manure pile
D This source of wealth was being worke
9 when the great nitrate fields were dis
9 covered and In 1878 Peru exported ST. 800
] coo worth of nitrate, which in the the
e value of silver was worth nearly twice 9
I much as all her exports in 1896. The tot
o exports that year were SAT, 600, 600 and II
4 government receipts from guano and nitraI
e and other sources were more than 81, 600
u 600. Then the Chileans, who were poo
d cast their c~ovetous eyes upon these richie
t They trumped up an excuse for war abo'
their boundary lines and invaded the coul