El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-24
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

license for which the padrOne must
pay a small sum. II he falls 70 take
out this license, the mOzO is likely TO
be drafted into the army. or II he runs
away, the padrone cannot enforce MS
claim for his services
While the present peOnage system IS
one that no civilized nation would toll
crate, and the wages paid the poems
under It are perhaps less than half
those paid in the other Central Amert-
can countries, Ii must be said, in behalf
OF president Cabrera, that he has taken
one long and far reaching step in the
direction Of better conditions for the
peOn- Prior 10 five years ago. the
debts of the father descended TO the
sons. and the whole family Of a peOn
that died became the property of the
padrOne until the debt was liQuidated.
Usually the debt was never paid, and
the obligation went down from one
generation to the next unbrOken
through the years. When Cabrera
TOOK the matter up. he had enacted a
law which provided that when a DeOn
dies all Of his obligations to his pa
drone are Cancelled, and his family are
privileged to 90 where they viii. Pro
vision Is also made that no mOzO under
q years Of age can make a binding
contract, so that the half breeds and
the indians cannot be forced into a life
or peonage If they are strong enough
IN their determination to fight il off
Or course, very few Of them fail 10
all It's attendant ills, is certainly bet
ter than service In the army.
Inc % percent Of the indians and
haf breeds which constitute the free
labor Of the republic do not escape
working against their will When a
coIfee planter, or other agriculturist,
mas need of additional labOrers be-
sides his poems he simply sends 10 the
Je1e pOliticO and requests him to Sc
cure the desired number OF labOrers for
Whatever length Of time he may need
them, this period to be stated in the
application The jefe pOlitico sends
out TO the alcaldes and orders the re
QueSted number OF labOrers sent to
the applicant They must work for
MIN at the maximum legal wage Of a
peso and a half per day during the
time mentioned in the application. That
they dislike to work, and do il entirely
against their viii, IS shown BY the fact
that as soon as they finish their con
tract-a contract made for them and
not by them-they viii not accept an
OIIer OF even 10 pesos per day TO
complete the task that may be left
unfinished.
Strong Legs; Weak Arms.
Inc poems OF Guatemala are an IN
teresting lot OF people. They are strong
they can bear on their backs is sur
prislng- One may see a u year old
boy pick up a trunk, under which the
average American workman would
STAIRS Ihey have great endurance.
Many OF them are able to cover so
miles from sun TO sun, with from 40
10 90 pounds on their backs and if is
not unusual for them to make so miles
carrying 100 pounds OF merchandise OF
one kind or another. The average mozO
can make better time on foot than his
master on a well seasoned horse or
mule He IS given few tortilles and
started on his journey II night over
takes him, the soft side OF a stone usu-
ally suffices for his bed
one cannot but have a deep pity for
these poor unfortunate beings The
pure bred indians Of the upland region
are a splendid type OF the primitive
American They are Clearly, possess
line physlques, and lead wholesome
ives IN their native valleys when left
10 themselves. They have a nobility
OF bearing that is impressive. They
are honest and to be relied upon at all
times; their word is their bond To see
these poor people forced into a condf-
ton OF slavery and brought down into
a civilization that Injuries them physi-
caIy ana morally. is a terrible sight
No anthrOpologist who has ever Wis
tied the region Of northern Guatemala
mas FAILED to comm ent upon the high
type OF indian TO be found there But
Wnen an ln0lan IS brought down into
the coffee growing districts. and there
forced TO work year in and year out
Tor less than nine cents a day. little
" ohUeT IL IS mat ne degenerates, and
tnaat the process is resulting in the
passing OF a noble race
Education May Work a Change.
The educational system which Es-
trada Cabrera has established ultimate
~ may result in a change in Guate-
mala While the salaries paid the
teachers are such that the schools Z
are as vet of Comparatively little
benefit TO the Communities in which [
they exist, the seed Of an educational Z
system has been planted. and the i'm
partial observer begins TO hope that in /
the years to come III viii bear fruit in 1
2 higher standard OF intelligence !
among the people. 1t seems probable ]
hat Estrada Cabrera prOfessed en-
-husiasm for public education is not