Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-20
The Panama Canal at Work.
XH.-The Panamans.
n HS>:
By Frederic J. Haskin.

PANAMA. October 6.-The people of
the republic of Panama are divided
sharply into a ruling and a peon class.
The great mercantile middle class,
which is the strength of all Anglo
Saxon communities. is conspicuously
lacking. Most of the land and cattle
and the larger business enterprises are
owned by the ruling class, while the
petty shopkeeping, the -clerking and
bookkeeping is done by Cinnamon,
Europeans. Jews and Jamaicans.
The aristocracy of Panama is a class
Of which, in many respects. any nation
might be proud. 1t strongly resembles
the society Of our southern states in
the days of slavery. And. in fact, its
fundamental conditions are very SINH
lar. for 1t is founded upon the owner
ship of land and the absolute control
of lower class. The result here, as
In the old south, has been to create
leisured people of unusual culture and
with fine appreciation Of the pleas
ures OF living. d.
1t Is safe to say that there are sew
eral times as many persons in Panama
City who Sares masters OF three Ian
guages as you could find In any town
ofSthe same size I'm the United States.
There are also great many more per-
sons who hold university degrees. The
Panaman does not get his education
at any ha1f-baked university a hundred
miles from home; for there are no uni
versities worthy of his attention in
Central or South America. The typical
Panaman. aristocrat;s has been edu-
or England. A. young Panaman
who has decided upon the law as his
profession. for example, will probably
be able to decorate. the wall of his Of
from the University Of London
-7-"- - a - 81. * !. -!
X
There are many wealthy men in PAN
anna City The viii Of; a young man of
i-.."h ~ Us one Of the leading
Many Men Enjoy families. who was
Large Incomes. ! ase DISPUTE A' over IN n
land deal. revealed the fact that he en-
joyed an income of $4,000 American
money year. In addition to the house
in the City of Panama where he lived
and had his place of business he owned
number of other houses in the town,
country place in Las Sabanas. the
most attractive rural district of the
isthmus. broad acres of the best Pana-
man agricultural land and great
herds of cattle
This young man Is a typical specimen
of the ruling class of Panama City In
telligent. well educated and a thor
oughly capable business man. he is of
type which no broad-minded Ameri-
can can fail to respect. True. he does
not develop the country as a citizen of
the United States would do If he had
the same eapftaiS and opportunity. The
panaman does, not aspire to change.
is to enjoy his estate, as his fathers
have done before him. and hand it
down intact and perhaps little better
to his heirs. He is. above all things.
These Panamans, are fond of society,
music and travel. They are patrons
of the arts. Many of them go to Eu-
rope every year 5for the concert and
opera season. They are firm believers
there are neither bachelors nor old
maids I'M Panama. The girls, even of
the highest GLASS; are, usually married
by the time they are eighteen. ~
: 's.'"t 49, - o.s ~ D. 1
}';-* .irs- ,s.!"s' - 49, -. 81
Marriage In Panama Is vastly more
a matter. of choice upon the part of the
80 ='""f &c r a C ting
Marriage Is Matter parties than in
Of Personal Choice. xm o s . oo, !. n
tries. Most Of the matches are, love
mia tches. and all of them are richly
lowered In worldly goods. The brides
father. for example, may present the
young couple with "a few houses in
Panama and a farm, in the country. The
groom's father.wilL probably contribute
a suitable residence and $4,000 in gold
for a honeymoon" Jewelry of the
ornate and elaborate sort favored by
Panaman taste will be showered upon
the bride by her. innumerable relatives.
The young couple will usually spend
several months in Europe upon. their
honeymoon. 1t is significant fact
that since the European war began
most of them have been coming to the
United States, and one of these inter-
nearly every passenger boat plying be-
tween New York and Panama.
Thus the life of the Panaman aristo-.
crat is pleasant and easy. 1t moves
1t is filled with the pleasures OF the
senses and devoid of worry, hurry and
excessive effort. -
This opulent life of the upper class of
Panama rests upon the swarming lower
classes like some splendid structure built
upon piles sunk deep in mire. Just as
the aristocrat Of Panama has everything,
so the peon. has nothing-neither priyi-
lege. wealth nor hope. Nearly all Of The
land Is owned by the aristocrats; it Is
said that six men in Panama own nearly
all of the cattle; everything worth hav-
ing belongs to the ruling class. The
Panaman peon lives in a lm-thatched
hut and cultivates a bit of ground res
cued from the jungle. He raises plan
tains. bananas, yams and catches fish
from the rivers and the bay. Upon these
things he lives and he sells enough of
them to pay tribute in the form of rent
and taxes to his all-powerful masters.
Thus in Panama the stage seems set
for a social revolution. Here is a down.
trodden class. de-
Signs Are Declared prived of all
to Be Misleading. and q d au nop
class, numerically much smaller. living
on the fat of the land. The time seems
ripe for a Panaman Robespierre But
there is not, going to be any social revo-
luton in Panama. That is one of the
sure things They have had fifty-seven
so-called revolutions there, according to
local historians. but none Of them has
been class wars. They have been fights
for political pie" between cliques of the
ruling class.
The dominant note Of all Panaman So