Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-05-31

H0s0@EasH0a0a6NS1MaMaMoMnMNsSl
crops so cheaply to the markets compete
with the railroads.
"Of course II does. replied the hacien-
dado. Why should use the railroad TO
market any crops when I can have my
Indians to do Il for nothing would not
give centavo to have a railroad pass my
farm. If It did. myself and family would
be the only ones who would use IL II I
send my goods by the Indians on the
backs OF llamas It takes a little longer.
but II the weight is short when they
reach the market the Indian is responsi-
Bile. suppose l ship hundred pounds of
barley to CuLco by rail, and il comes in
four pounds short / could not get dam
ages of the railroad, but the Indian
would have to make up the balance n.
Is responsible for everything he carries
and II he should break a plate or a glass
In the load OF goods he brings me he has
to pay for it
But how can you force the Indians
to submit TO such treatment"
They have been used to II all their
lives, and besides We can punish them IN
various ways. For small offenses we
can put them In the farm prison on a
diet Of water and a very little else for
couple OF days. We can also whip them
for stealing. provided we are careful
not to let the authorities hear of what
we are doing. or We can make them come
to Cuzco to work here as pongoes for
month or so. There are some cases in
which the Indians are badly treated and
! know OF an instance on my own farm
where an Indian was tied with rope
under the arms and raised to the top
of a eucalyptus tree and left there for
two hours. If II had been found out. the
overseer would have gone to jail for
two or three years. Justice. however. Is
more in favor Of the master than the
servant in this part Of the world. and al
though the laws to protect the Indians
are fairly good the Indian has little
chance before the courts II one of the
higher classes Is the defendant.
In further conversation. this man told
me something of the Indian villages. and
how they are governed. He says the
farmer works almost entirely through the
Indian village officials. Each town mas
a native alcalde or mayor. who. as
sign of authority. carries a cane as big
around as a ball club, which Is decorated
with silver ornaments. and he has In 40
dition two other officers with smaller
canes 1t Is the business OF these men
to rectify offenses and to pass upon dis
putes. They have the right OF PUNISH
ment They are selected each year. In
addition each village has mandon. VINO
is a kind of an overseer OF the work OF
n,
by the farmer. The farmer gives all mis-
orders through the mandon. and the lat
ter is responsible for seeing that the work
shall be done. He has also charge OF
the farm tools. and is responsible for the
success of the crops. This is hiSh
ONCE and is greatly desired.
So
I asked some questions as to the edu-
cation Of the Indians, and was told
that there are practically no Indians
in the schools in the out-of-the-way
provinces They sometimes go to pubic
schools in tho towns. and there Is no
regulation that prohibits them from
attending them. 1t is some trouble.
however to establish school on an
estate far away from the railroad IL
has to be done through the minister
Of public instruction. OF whom there IS
q representative in every province. 70
do this requires money, time, trouble
and influence. and the majority OF the
landholders do not care. Some of them
prefer to have ignorant and willing
iaborers to intelligent and independsns.
Gated Indian who usually causes mosx
trouble. One of the haciendados tot9
me that he found those Indians whP
had been in the army the most difncuA
to control and that he wanted his 1H-
dams as workers and not as scholars
or as advisers or friends. a..
In closing this letter Woulo say
that the conditions herein describe4
are those current in the province OF
Paucartambo. and that they are not
the same all over Peru. There are many
places in which the Indians work only
two or three days a week for the use
Of their houses and lands and In some
they are also paid a small wage for
their work. In other places they have
small farms Of their own and raise
their own stock and crops. As a rule.
however. they have but few rights
that the white and Cholos landowners
are bound to respect: and there Is
room for a great movement toward
their education and civilization, and IN
the giving of them the liberty which
we all concede should be the right OF
every one in these modern times.
FRANK G. CARPENTER