Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1903-10-20
STRANGE CONTRAST.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN UPLAND AND
HOT LAND MExlCANs.

Why the characteristics of the Peo-
ple In the Two Sections of Mexico
Are So Unlike-ETects of Two Cen
turtles of Serfdom.
There is 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 q mile ana q
half higher than the coast lands, ana
between these there are to be found
all gradations of climate. This fact
lends much of the picturesque ana
strange to Mexico and gives 1t va
riety In all things possessed by few, II
any, countries in the world. or oil the
inhabitants of Mexico, the life OF the
people of the hot country is the most
interesting. This is, strange to say, due
to 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 toiled In
the mines, with a guard of soldiers set
over them: they built the pubic roads;
they worked the ranches, farms ana
haciendus for masters who gave them
scarcely more than the food they ate.
The great farms of the uplands have
ever required sure help, and so each
ranchman had his serfs. Many estates
| nossessed hundreds of them. Thus all
individuality was crushed cut OF the
lower class, and the terrible effect OF
this condition of things is still evident.
The people of the hot lands Jared bet
| ter, bec6use there 1t was much easier
| to make a living and much harder to
hold very large haciendas. 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
to hold In right Of Inheritance from
remote ancestors portions of land each
| In his own individual right. There,
too, the mayor of the village or town
holds office so long as lie pleases the
mass of the people. In the uplands
| it has been the custom Of the rich and
powerful to distribute offices Of all
| kinds as part Of their prerogative OF
| birth and wealth. The lower classes
of the uplands. although they now
| have the advantage Of fairly good
| public system of education and are be-
| coming gradually educated. are in the
main Il distinctively unambitiOus peo-
| pie. They were so long in semislavery
that they feel that the world of the
middle and upper class people Is be-
yond them. They have. therefore, no
interest in anything outside their cir
| Gle of friends and acquaiptances-that
Is. I'm political way. But not so in
many hot country villages and com
| mun:ties. There the Indian has ever
been more or less u factor in the life
Of the community in which he resided.
On the uplands 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 iallu Is dlIiiOSt pdi-
rem of vegetation. But in the hot coun-
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 peon, or laboring man, Is there
| more ambitious and better worker
than the peon Of the colder uplands.
This Is not natural and Is only eX-
| planned by the different conditions in
which they have passed the last 400
years. Scrfdom on the uplands eXtin-
guished 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 little Indian village
gathered together and entertaining one
another In front of some one Of the
houses or OH the public square, which
every Mexican town. however small,
possesses, with music, songs and occa-
sionally dancing.-ModerD Mexico.