Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-07-26


III A Nl incorrigible laziness than in
10 IL III Hawaii and more general
EkMEANl prosperity than in any other
country outside of Canada
and the United states. Like the INES
of the field, the Burmese are arrayed Ill
glory all their own, and seemingly
with little more fort than is expended
by the lilies, especially II one leaves
the women out of the discussion. IL all
the tribes that inhabit this country,
from it's highest hills to its hattest
coasts. should amalgamate into ma
| ton and write national song, the re-
frain would doubtless be: Let the
Women, Do the ork." But from this 1t
should not be inferred that the women
of Burma are dull-eyed, hard-drlVen
beasts of burden. Upon the contrary
they are birds of iridescent plumaso
with prismatic views or me
coouettes in girlhood and by no means
frumps in middle life.
one reason for the racial disregard
for work is that in a considerable part
Of Burma. Providence has showered the
Gift of a plentiful harvest at the cost OF
a minimum of labor. Another and by no
means negligible, reason Is that the
| burmese are unconscious followers OF
Wagners simple Life" Aside from
his tendency to pale the rainbow ana
| dim the effulgence of the heavily bodies
with the splendor of his ralment, tno
Burman is a man who wants put niue
| here below If he Is pious Budonlsl'
| by the way, he wants rather Tess thaii
arr o. that" In the future. His highest
hone Is for Niryana, or nothingness, as
a reward for the merit he has acquired
n this and other lives.
The Burmese are almost wholly an
! AGRICULTURAL people. In the rlch DEL
! tiac region, which Providence or
dained should be a great Paddy" field,
and which has made Rangoon the
worlds first rice port, there exists
peculiar combination of SOIL climate
/ and rainfall which results in rice pc
ing produced almost labor free 10
begin with the Creator fashioned the
mouths of Burma rivers fan shapeu'
Their various outlets gridiron the coast
So that far out at sea steamers plo"
through a coffee colored liquid com
posed in three parts of silt. Inese
streams have their sources III lhe out s.
ramparts of the Himalayas, and dram
unexplored areas of forest country
where great herds of elephants are I'M
molested by hunters with modern nre-
| arms. 49,, -
The rich alluvial soil in the deltas OF
| these rivers is ideally situated Tor rice
! culture, and the rainfall is So unIalllng
| Il9I the rice RECEIVES tiiC AAt ~
of flooding without effort upon the part
of the grower. Full advantage is taken
of these happy conditions. and with
very little work large crops are mar
| vested. In other parts of the country
| there are good opportunities TO get
! living easily, and because OF the con-
tentment of the Burmese with very Ut
| tie worldly goods and simple pleasI
ures. the maxim "let well enough
alone" is the slogan of the masses.
| Practically every individual in Burma
| reads and writes. This is due TO sys-
| tenn of free education extending to the
smallest villages, and giving equal OPP
| portunities to the richest and poorest
| families The Burmese are Buddhists,
only twelve per cent of the population
holding other creeds. The schoolmas-
ters are the Buddhist priests, who are
| Supported by the people and who, IN
turn. keep the light of learning afiame
| gratis. Wherever one goes In Burma
| the monk is a distinctive feature OF
the landscape. He wears yellow rope
not unlike a Roman toga, Keeps MS
head closely shaver and carries
huge palm leaf fan or an umbrella to
| ward off the actinic rays of the tropi-
| cal sun Every Burman spends a part
of his life as a priest. The minimum
| is one day. but the more commonly &C
cepted low limit of service in the
| D1leBlHOOQ
| of his parents and one for the &C
quirement of Individual merit. Priests
| ten or twelve years old may be boys
who expect to devote themselves to the
calling permanently, or merely lads go
ing through the formalities of obli-
gatory priesthood.
Because the land is productive, and
the population per square mile small,
the Burman is as Independent lord
of the soil as one could find. His farm
is usually small and his methods are
nearly always primitive, but he is not
seeking an opportunity to change his
way of life. He declines mental serv-
ice absolutely. There are no Burmese
domestic servants, cabmen or coolies
in the Anglo-Indian city of Rangoon:
In rural Burma the man who hires him
self to fellow countryman for farm
labor ranks low in the social scale.
Every family desires to live upon Its
| own patch of ground.