The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-10-09


Are So UnIike-Enects of Two Gem
turtles of serfdom.
There IL no country In the world that
presents more strange contrasts OF
land and people, habits and customs
heat and cold, than Mexico. The table
lands OF the country are "A mile and
half higher than the coast lands, and
between these there are 10 be found
all gradatlons OF climate. This fact
lends much OF the picturesque and
strange TO Mexico and gives IL va
riety In all things possessed by few, IL
any, countries IN the world. OF all the
inhabitants Of Mexico, the life Of the
people OF the hot country IL the most
interesting. This h, strange 10 say, due
10 the fact that there the people have
ever possessed more OF freedom than In
the colder localities. For two centuries
or more the great mass OF people Of the
uplands were slaves. They toilcd In
the mines, with guard of soldiers set
over them; they built the public roads:
they worked the ranches farms ana
haciendas for masters who gave them
scarcely more than the food they ate.
The great farms Of the uplands have
ever required sure help, and 80 each
ranchman had his scrfs Many estates
possessed hundreds of them. Thus all
individuality was crushed out OF the
lower class, and the terrible effect OF
this condition of things Is still evident.
Tie people OF the hot lands fnrcd bet
ter because there 1t was much easier
to make living and much harder to
hold very large hacIcndas. For this
reason the characteristics OF the people
are quite distinct from those OF their
brethren Of the upland plateaus. In
the hot lands many Indians still claim
10 hold I'm right OF inheritance from
remote ancestors portions of land each
I'm his own individual right There,
too, the mayor Of the village or town
holds office so long as he plcascs the
mass Of the people. In the uplandS
II has been the custom OF the rich and
powerful 10 distribute offices OF all
kinds as part of their prcrOgatlve or
birth ana wealth. The lower classes
Of the uplands, although they now
have the advantage of n fairly good
public system of education and are be-
coming gradually educated, are In the
main distlnctivcly unambltiOus peo-
pie. They were so long in scmlslavcry
that they feel that the world OF the
middle and upper class people IL he
yond them. They have, therefore, no
I,.t, Ia, n fhsIF
Gle OF friends and acqualntanccs-that
is, I'm political way, But not 80 In
many hot country villages and com
munitics. There the Indian has ever
been more or less n factor In the life
of the community In which he resided.
ON the upands there are long
stretches OF more or less bare lands,
with mountains rising up boldly In the
background. In many parts during
the dry season the land Is almost bar
rem OF vegetation. But I'm the hot colln-
try grow tall and shady trees and
thick underground. Everything grows
almost without attention from the
hand OF man, and yet, strange to say,
! the pcon, or laboring man, is there
more ulnDlllOuS anu II b'lleI NoIh'T
than the pcon OF the colder upands,
This IL not natural and Is only cX-
| planned by the different conditions in
! which ~scy have passed the last 400
! years. Scrfdom on the uplands cXtin-
! gushed all ambition In the lower class.
The lower class of the hot country
people are fond Of social life, and al
most any night or early evening the
year throughout one may find groups
| OF people in n little Indian village
| gathered together aud entertaining one
another In front of some one of the
houses or on the public square, which
every Mexican town, however small,
! possesses with music, songs aud oCCa.
sionally dancing Modern Mexico.