The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-07-26

themselves. They receive no pay for their work except the ground rent of the places where their huts stand and of the little patches which they are allowed to farm. If their master needs only a part of the time he has the right to hire them out to others, and if they do not obey them he can inflict certain punishment upon them It is against the law to strike and Indian, but, as one Englishwoman tells me. such striking is perfectly safe if it is done when there are no white witnesses present, as the courts will never accept the statement of an Indian as against that of a white. This woman has been living in different parts of Bo- livia. She says that a system of child slavery is common in the highlands and out of the way districts of both Peru and Bolivia. and l understand that 1t pre- vails in some parts of Ecuador as well. Said she:
 There Is no doubt but that Indian children are bought and sold to be used as servants Indeed [ myself have bought girls and boys ranging in age from ? to 12 years. At times l have taken them in out of pity to give them a hhme. and at other times because wished to use them IS servants. Such
 buying is more after the form of a lease than in the way of regular bar gain and sale II is like the binding out of children to work for their board and clothes as was once common in some parts of our United States.
 When times are hard of famine comes the Indian fathers or mothers will often bring in their boys and girls and ask you to raise them as servants. They will expect from 10 to 20 Bolivians for them, or s to BIO In gold. There are pose, and a part of the contract reads that they shall have the right to take the child back upon the payment to you of 10 cents per day for every day you have had it. This repayment is a sheer inn possibility, and the purchase of the child means that you have the right to 1t un- til it grows up. The law provides that you must train the child and teach it to read and write It also provides that it must be well treated, but this depends upon the caprice of the purchaser Many of the servants are gotten that way"
 Practically all the domestic labor of La Paz and other cities of Bolivia is done by the Aymara Indians. In some cases they are paid wages and in others they get nothing but their board for their work. In the latter instances the are pongos, who are sent in from the country to do a certain amount of work for their masters, who live in the city. The leases by which the Indians hold their little homes and lands provide that they may be sent from time to time Into the town to work as house servants. Such periods are limited to a week or so for each person, and in some of the houses of La Paz the servants are changed every two weeks, new one coming to relieve the old one. A land owner with a large number of Indians on his estate may agree to furnish you a house serv- ant for year, sending man after man, in relays as it were, to fill up the time. When the pongo comes to work In his masters house he usually brings with him enough bags of llama manure to serve as fuel for the cooking during his stay.
 While there he carries all the water, brings the vegetables and meats home from the market, and 1t is his business to empty the slops and clean the pots and pans. There are many of these pongos on the streets of La Paz. They go along half double carrying great copper or clay water jars on their backs. They act as the watchmen of
 the houses, sleeping at night oh the stones inside the door that leads to the street. and they must get up and open to the people who go out or come in. They do all sorts of drudgery, and some kinds that servants of other classes will refuse to do. Indeed, one may have 20 other servants, but he must still have his pongo.
 Notwithstanding these hard conditions the Indians are attached to their mas
 ters They will work for them for lit-
 tie or nothing rather than for a for