Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-02-08
FINDS CRUELTIES
IN RUBBER FIELD
Amrican Consul at Iquitos, Peru,
Reports Barbarous Exploita-
tion of Indian.


ing as a narrative of heartless cruelty
tales which have come down from the
old Spanish captains, was laid bare
yesterday afternoon in a special state
report which President
Taft transmitted to congress. The
present-day victims of a medieval
system of barbarous oppression are
the Indian tribes of the Putumayu
district in Peru. II is shown in the
report that these helpless people have
been driven to their death before the
lash welded by the Peruvian Amazon
company. an English concern which
works the rubber fields in the upper
Amazon country.
Little hope for the relief OF the
long suffering Indians is held out in
the report, for the Putumayo region
Is remote from the seat of Peruvian
government and Stuart J. Fuller, Amer
lean consul at IQuitos, Peru. who made
the investigation, finds that the trav-
esty on justice which exists in the
rubber section Is entirely in the hands
of the rubber companys section chiefs.
L
ness from the Peruvian capital from
all governmental authority, that has
left the natives entirely at the mercy
of the company, according to the re-
port The Andes form an almost i'm
passible barrier to the westward,
while. to reach the outside world
through the Atlantic ocean, river
craft must traverse almost the entire
$500 miles of the Amazon. Railroads
are unknown and no highways exist
worthy of the name. In this far-away
corner, with no means of appeal or
redress, the Indians were held at the
mercy Of the company's overseers.
When they failed to bring in a toll
sufficient to satisfy the demands Of
the overseers. flOgging, mutilation,
and sometimes death followed, it is
asserted Several of the overseers
are declared to have admitted that
they had put Indians and even white
Ilaborers in stocks for minor offenses.
Many of the Indians whom Mr.. Full
| Ter saw bore scars of flOggings and
other maltreatment.
Mr.. Fuller found that the labor of
., the Indians Is secured by a system of
peonage based on advance of mer-
chandise Although payment is made
for this labor, it is declared to be
nothing more nor less than forced la
hor The temptation TO abuse is i'm
minent and strong. especially since
the white staff is offered a bonus for
vigilance. He reaches the conclusion
that, considering the remoteness OF
the country and the poor quality Of the
rubber, 1t is unlikely to make the en-,
terprise pay without hard treatment OF
the Indians. Although large numbers
of the Indians have been killed, and
some have escaped into the South
American jungle, the output of rubber
has increased despite the decrease IL
native population. With governmental
machinery absent, Mr.. Fuller is of the
opinion that. should the rubber cor
poration cease its activities, the In
dams would fall to no better lot a
the hands of freebooting expeditions
and slave raiders.
Mr. Fuller finds that ancient, deep
rooted attitude of the white population
} toward the Indian is a formidable oil
stacle to be overcome in any solution
of the problem presented. While pre-
Tossing not to approve cruel and In
human treatment, the whites general,
regard the Indian as having been Great
ed by Providence for the use and bene
l fit of the superior race. This attitud
: of the people has found concrete el
: pressions in the universal system Q
s peonage. an old institution. which Nj
4 Fuller found. we'll established, recos
nized by law and the basis upon whic
q the rubber business almost entirel
q rests.
l Debt is declared to have been tn
= chain with which the Indian has bee
: fettered. BY being encouraged to bu
: more imported goods than they coul
:, ever hope to pay for, they have bee
. reduced to what Consul Fuller foun
4 was virtually slavery. AS claims az
transferable, the person of the debtC
being transferred to the new credito
the Indians and their families real
are bought and sold Families pass Q
Indebtedness from generation to ge
. Grafton. While Mr.. Fuller found ey
z dence that the company had mendC
!. its ways to some extent, he saw muC
unquestionable evidence that crueltir
still are praCticed.
7 All the while that Consul Full
# was attempting to get at the facts
,r the rubber field situation, it is decla
n ed, his steps were dogged by the col
panys agents, making it difficult f
- him to obtain any information b
st such as it was desired he should pr
le cured. The Indians, who were frien
4 ~ enough and willing to talk throu;
10 an Interpreter, are said to have co
erc1 and lapsed into silence wheneY
the yigilant overseers approached.
Although the company against whi'
IN the charges of cruelty are laid still
20 IN control Of the Indians, Consul Fl
a .Icr hopes ultimately for mitigation
- their suffering through the efforts
President Billinghurst, who, since
assumed the leadership Of the Per
;o- ,,o-a-r mont has shown by ac