Arizona republican., 1913-02-08
Special State Department Report From American Consul in Peru Reveals Condition Which is a Blight on Civilization
BRITISH RUBBER
 COMPANY BLAMED
Document Says Indians Were Captured, Enslaved, Made to Work and Flog- ged or Killed If Failed to Produce Quantities
ASSOCIATED PRESS p1sPArcHl


 WASHINGTON, Feb With the transmission to congress today by President Taft of the special state department report compiled by Amer ican Consul Stewart J. Fuller at lquitos. Peru, on the Anglo Saxon exploitation of the South American Indians in the Putmayo district of Peru. The conclusions on the same subject by Frederick Alfonso Pezet Peruvian minister to the United States. were made public by the state department
 The latter statement shows the Pe- ruvian government has been aware of every step taken by American Consul Fuller and the minister give. assurance that every step has been taken by his government for the i'm provement of conditions in the Putu- mayo territory
 Although there was fear at first that Consul Fuller's efforts had been by the espionage of the agents of the British Rubber Company. the state department is now hopeful that the crying abuses from which the native Indians have been long suffering vic tims, eventually will be terminated. In bringing the Pautumayo district under the protecting Peruvian law and administration of justice the minister points out that his govern ment has had to rely largely on the CO operation of the Roman Catholic heirachry.
 Little hope for the relief of the long suffering Indians is held out The Fuller report for the region is remote from the seat of the Peruvian government and Fuller finds the travesty on justice which exists in the rubber section is entirely in the hands of the rubber companys sec ton chief
 The Andes form an almost impass able barrier to the westward of tha district and while being transferred to new creditors the Indians and | their families are really bought and sold. While Fuller found evidence 1 that the company had amended its ways to some extent he saw much l.unquestionable evidence that cruelties are still practiced. All the while ! Consul Fuller was attempting to get at the facts of the rubber field sit | uatiOn. he declared his steps were | dogged by the cOmpany's agents 1 making it difficult for him to obtair any information, but such as it was desired he should procure
 1 The Indians are said to have cow cred and lapse into silence whenever l tL l Consul Fuller hopes ultimately fol 1 the mitigation of their suffering l through the efforts of President Bill linghurst of Peru. Fuller found the Indians not wild and untamable, bu inoffensive and ld-like. It wa. the disclosures made by Sir Rogel Easement. British consul general a Rio Janeiro. who investigated the sit uation in 1910, that influenced tn, state department to order the inves 1 tigation made by Consul Fuller. lSi l Roger found that among other thing the Amazon company had imported 200 Barbadoes men. who, upon thei arrival in the rubber district. Wer
 armed with Winchester rifles anC sent into the jungle to capture ant
 enslave the Indians dwelling aloni
 the upper tributaries of the Amazon
 The British consul found that in tn
 exercise of this illegal compulsior
 Indians were murdered. flogged am
 otherwise tortured, the company
 through it's agents, forcing the Bar badoes men actively to participate il . the atrocities in order to compel tn helpless natives to SCOUT the forest , and bring in rubber upon their back
 from the remote districts
 The Barbadoes men, in turn, com plained of the harsh treatment ac
 corded them by the agents higher Il
 who deprived them of food as means to compel them to drive tn Indians to further extremes
 The entire plan of operation
 seemed to be based upon a systei
 of oppression from the highest to tn y humblest in the employ of the com z pany which. it is declared, wielde always by an iron hand from the fa = away London office. Minister Peg,
 declares the moral uplift of tl = aborigines has received very speci;
 attention and the administration hs decided to erect Bishopric
 Iquitos and to establish five mi:
 sions throughout the district. Wit priests from these missions livir ? among them and instructing ther
 Senor Prezet is confident the Indiai u will be effectually protected from a1