The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-07-28

what the Army is DOing-A Natl I
of Slaves Who Are Contented With
Slaycry-The Great Estates and
Their PeOns-Thc Pongo Or Indian
Dish Washer Who Works Without
Pay-A Look at an Aymara Hut
His Queer Food and How it is
COOked-Have the Indians Natural
Ability?-The Outlook for the Fu-
ture.
Copyrighted, 1914, by Frank G..
~Carpenter.)
LA PAZ, Bolivia.
The Bolivian government is at last
waking up to the condition Of it's In
dams. Three-fourthS of the inhabi-
tants Of this high plateau are little
more than savageS They have
churches, but their religion is a com
binatiOn of superstitions interviewer
with the customs Of medieval Christi
anity. The government has schools,
but the Indians do not attend them,
and not one in a hundred can read
and write. Thousands of them are in
q state of debt slavery, I'D tens of
thousands are so solder with alcohol
and cocaine that for the most the
time they are little better ian beasts.
Tine government has established a
compulsory system Of education, and
IL Id LIZ SCAOOlS open W all
Bolivian children. Nevertheless, but
few of the Indians go to school,, and
not one in q hundred has any am
bition to rise above his present con-
Gition.
One of the new movement for the
elevation of the Indians has to do
with the reorganization of the b.
livian army. Military service has
been mad compulsory for all between
the ages of nineteen and twenty-one.
The selection of the troop is made
without regard to race and in this
way thousands Of indians are BENZ
brought to the military barracks and
schools from every part Of the re
public. Here they are drilled by
German officers and instructors. They
are taught to obey, and they learn to
read and write and do primary sums
in They are kept from
drinking, and they acquire uch civil
iized tastes and wants that when their
military service is over they are not
contended to go back to the semi
savage life Of their villages. Those
who do go carry the seeds Of ~civiliza-
ton with them, and a crop Of e
ideas and new customs is beginning
TO sprout.
| have seen a great many of these
indian soldiers during my stay. They
are fi~ne-lOoking fellows and are sale
to have good fighting qualities. The,
have great powers of endurance an(
are noted for their frugality an(
patience. The only trouble is that tn
army is not large enough t. take i,
more men and there has to be SOM
wedding out of those who voluntee.
TO go into the service. At first tn
Indians were afraid Of the army, blu
they are now keen to serve.
All the above statements relate t.
the Aymaras. They are the chief ma
ton Of red men upon the plateau o
Bolivia. They are numbered by hun
dreds Of thousands, and altogether ar
twice as many as the Indians OF tn
United States. They belong to a rae
that is said to antedate the Incas
and to have been so powerful tina
the 1ncaS were never able to subJugat
them as they did the other India
nations that populated the Wester
part of the South American continent
After the Spaniards got possession Q
the country, the Aymaras were en-
shaved, and they are in what might b
called a condition of debt slavery to
day. 1t is a state of peOnage not VI
like that which prevailed in. the day
of feudalism. Much Of Bolivia is sl
a feudal country, and the men an
women are practically bought an
sold with the farms on which the
live. The fact hat the law permi'
them to leave upon the payment {
transfer of their debts does not alte
the matter; for it is known that the
attachment to their homes is sue
that they will not do so. Many of tn
Indians on the Industrial farm nes
Lake Titicaca, whom our missionary
are now trying to c~ivilize, have b.
Ionged to that farm for generation
and they AVE always done a certal
number Of days work every week II
the right to stay there and cultiva
the lands allotted to them.
The same conditions of tenure pr
vail upon most of the large Bollvls
farms. The Indians give TWO
three lays OF each week to the own
of the land, and. they are allowed Il
remaining days Tor themselves. Tn
receive no pay for their work exec