THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE- MAT 31, 1914.
Peon Debt Slaves of the Andes
The love of home
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in every
ride an
room
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olos, a mixture-of Spaniards and In-
fns. These estates are large. You may
iltye an day across many or them and
not como- lo the end of the property.
Each of them has a large number of
Indians upon it nnd these Indians art
practically the debt slave of the own
ers. They live In villages or In huts,
scattered over the property. The land
beloncs to the haciendados und the In
dians have their huts and small piece
of land, which are leased to them under
certain conditions. One of these is that
tho Indian must work a part of each
week for his master. He may have cat
tie, Hamas, alpacas and sheep, but he
has to civo a certain percentage of the
increase ,to the haciendados. There are,
also, fixed rules- as to- how the stock
must bo sold, nnd the estate owner- con
trols the .disposition of this and of alt
the products 'that the Indians raise. Ho
practically fixes the prices' and he gets
everything for a. sonSj The haciendados
make such advances to the Indian as
keep him In a state of debt slavery, and
this state is transmitted to his children.
The conditions are different In - af
ferent prpvinccs and In some places they
ore milder than in others. But all over
the piateaU they arc supIj that the re.l
man has practically no chance of accu
mulating property or of advancing in
tht state of civilization.
r have Just had a lonK talk with a
.haclendado who lives In Cuzco, He
owns 2SS.000 acres of land at Cusslpata,
In the province of Paucartando, but he
goes there only during a part of the sum
mer, and spends his money abroad. He
has a house here at Cuzco, and his In
dians bring the crops here to rnarkct.
This man's estate represents about the
worst of the condition!) on tho high
Ands. He was ver,y free in talking about
them, and ho seemJ'to have no shame in
thn part hn is taking In them. I shall
give our conversation as It occurred.
Said he:
'Land here Is clitap. The cVate at
cilpat cost us only about 4 cents an
wo got tne wnoie, inciuaing tne
8l7ik, which consisted of a lara;e num
txp of cattle, alpacas and sheep, for
soles, or about JIO.OOO. I think we
wuld sell It for twice that amount to
dgv, Much of the land Is high, running
"1 to 16.003 feet above the sea. This Is
MUed only for pasture. We have also
ime which is as low as 10,000 feet, upon
hlch barley potatoes, qulnua and other
rops can do grown, we nave vie hocks
of alpacas, ana altogether about 8,000
sheep. Wo- have also cattle and horses
and llamas and donkeys.
"The most Important possession of the
farnt, however, Is our Indians. Our lands
are valuable not according to their area,
but according to the number of families
of Indians who have hmes upon them
and aro therefore obliged to work for
the owners, Tho great trouble here Is
labor. If we do not have the Indians on
the estate? we can get no one to work
them. Therefore wo hold them by keep
ing them more or less In debt to us. We
advance money for their expenses, and
also for the purchase, of the cattle,
llamas, alpacas and other; stock that
they own. This Is done from time to
time nntil they aro so deep In our debt
they cannot get out. We want to keep
them In debt, for this Is the only way
we can be sure of holding them to the
Ian. The Indian seldom pays his debts.
He has been accustomed for generations
to our system,' and the only way he
could pay would be by getting some
other farmer to assume his obligation to
. us. In that case he could move, but he
J would be only going from one master to
f another."
Indians Practically ISnslnrrd.
'But how do the Indians begin their
life on the farm?" I asked.
"They como first to get homes and
pastures for their stock, as well as to
have lands to cultivate. They have no
land of their own and no money to buy
It. so they rent the land of us. As they
have no money, the conditions of the
rent are that they must work a part of
earn week for us. According to tny con
tracts every Indian man has to work
five days for the estate. In his lease he
svgrees to give all of his Mondays, Tues-
T-l. n A tn.
mots' ' cuiic.uaje. AiiMieuaj-o aiiu
,ys to me and to have only Saturday
age
Is wdh fckctr staffs of off toe
and Sunday for himself. This Is the rule
throughout the year with the exception
of holidays and saints' days. In addition
we have Bpeclal arrangements as to his
stock, providing that It must be eold to
us at fixed prices."
"Can you give me those arrange
ments?" "yes," said 'the haclendado, as he
picked up a ledger filled with writing and
accounts of one kind or another. "Hero
Is my farm book. It contains all of tho
data regarding the running of the estate
Including our terms of contract with the
Indians. These terms are the same as
have been in use upon this farm since It
wao established away back In colonial
times. I twill glvo you them as they are
read to all the Indians when they are
hired. As you will see, the last rocor.l
of theso rules was put down in Kay,
190J.
Workers Get Short End.
"In the first place, the Indians agree to
work for us from Monday to Friday with
out any other pay except an ounco and
a half of coca per day. This is about u
handful and it costs us, per man, four
cents a week. It Is also "agreed that each
of tho threo Indian villages on the farm
shall furnish mo from time to time
throughout the year a man servant or
pongo, and a woman servant to work In
my house, or for some one else If I so
direct. 1 bring one of these pongoes to
Cuzco and use him here, keeping the two
others to work on the farm, Th6 pqngoea
are. changed from month to month and
tho village authorities ee that a new
one Is on hand before the old one leaves.
In this way we always have house serv
ants. "The next provisions of the lease are as
to trade. The Indians cannot trade with
a stranger without our permission, and
wo have ho first chance as to everything
they sell. As an ordinary thing they will
not trade with anyone else under any
condition, and that not even If the prices
offered were ten times what we give. For
instance, although my Indians are now
selling me their lambs for 20 cents each,
you could not buy a lamb from them for
$2. Tho same la true of horses and cattle,
and, In fact, of everything.
Ilnclrndada neaps niar Profit.
"According to our contract we have
fixed prices at which certain things shall
be sold by the Indians to us. I will glvo
you them In American money. Bulls 3
years old are sold for J2.W each When
wo resell them we get 210 or more. If
the bull Is 4 years 'Vd the Indian gets
13.60, and he must sell his cows ut 15.20.
Ho receives ii for a full grown ox. For
a cow we get 117 and for an ox about $20.
"And then take the prices of sheep,"
this msn continued. "According to our
written contracts with the Indian he must
sell his1 Iambs at 20 cents, each, his ewes,
full grown, at 60 cents, and his wethers
at 60 cents. A hog sells for about 12.50
that Is, when, It represents a weight of at
least 300 pounds. If It Is only a shoat of
8 months It brings 20 cents. We retell
the hogs for their meat and lard, and get
good prices for them. It Is the same with
the sheep; they bring us many times as
much as the Indian receives. We have
also an agreement as to the pastures, by
which the Indians pay us 10 per cent of
the increase of the sheep each year for'
their use. They also pay 20 cents per an
num for the feed of each llama and al
paca, and 00 cents for each head of cattle, j
It Is ccovlded th.nt t& Cl&eo c&Jttfa
be branded, and that they be counted
over at certain times by tho faVmer. This
is In order that wo may collect our share
of the stock as It grows up.
Native Do the Hauling.
"Another provision Is as to the carry
ing of the crops to the Market. We arc
fifty-four miles from Cuzco, and, ac
cording to our contracts, the Indians who
own llamas must take tho products of
the farm to that point or to anywhere
else we may direct without extra pay
than that stipulated In the contract. The
rate wo have established for tho fifty
four-mile trip to Cuzco Is J2 for 110
arrobas, or 2,750 pounds. If the goods are
taken to Slcuanl they get twice this
amount, but the distance to that point
Is 100 miles. The Indians do not have
to work on the farm at the time they
are engaged In transporting these goods,
and we furnish them food to use on the
way. They will load the grain In bags
upon llamas and drive them to the mar
ket. It takes them about a week to go
to Cuzco and back, and they sleep at
night on the road. They may stay a day
In Cuzco, and then they will start and
walk back, driving their llamas loaded
with supplies for the farm. It takes
twenty-five or thirty llamas to carry 110
arrobas. Kadi llama has a bag of grain
on his back weighing' seventy-five or
eighty pounds. This Is taken off when
It reaches Cuzco, and a load of some
other kind Is put on for tho return trip
We allow the Indians to keep as many
llamas as they please, for every addi
tional llama adds to the freight posslbll
Hies of the farm."
"It would seem that tho farmers ought
to make money on such contracts,"
said I. (
Can't Help Making Money,
"They cannot help It," was the reply,
"Think of It! I buy a lamb of an Indian
for 20 cents, and the understanding Is
that he Is to pasture and caro for It until
it Is six months old or older. At that
age he brings it to me. and I can sell It
for JI.S0 or 2. If the lamb dies he has
to replace It. We have a fixed price for
hides, which aro now selling In Cuzco
for 23 cents a pound, or J23 per hundred
weight. We buy theso hides from the
Indians at 30 cents each, making no ac
count of tho weight. As to wool we buy
that by the fleece without regard to the
weight. Kvery fleece of sheep's wool 1
sold to us for 8 cents, and we sell It for
ten, fifteen or twenty times that amount
This is by our contract, made at the
time of the lease. As to the alpacas, wo
pay for their wool according to the qual
ity, but the amount Is a bagatelle In
comparison with what we get from the
exporters."
"Hut If the man works five days for
you how Is he to take care of his own
crop and to watch his cattle and sheep?"
"That is done by his wife and chil
dren," was the reply. "The children
learn to herd the sheep and cattle almost
us soon as they are able to walk, and
the women keep the weeds out of the po
tatoes and help hoe the crops. The Indian
can do tho same on Saturday and Sun
day. All of tho Indian women work, and
the husband selects his wife as muoh for
her strength as her beauty. The women
are Industrious. They are always spin
ning or knitting while looking after their
sheep and alpacas. They do their own
weaving and mako all the clothes for the
family. They do all the cooking, and, in
ViOSii&ued on Cit.
Your most important problem is the selec
tion of a home. A home is a necessity to you, and there
is everything in the world in STARTING RIGHT. It is
just as easy to have a PERMANENT home with pleasant surround
ings as it is to acquire a bundle of rent receipts from hotels, board
ing houses, flats and rented houses.
t
The way to own your own home I
is not blocked by insurmountable obstacles, as
you may now believe. Plans have been de
vised by which you can purchase a home by paying each month I
about the same amount of money you would ordinarily pay for .1:
rent.
The most vitally important matter to you
right now is to get some PRACTICAL advice. The
young married man who is thinking of buying a home
his first real estate venture -has the chances of a wise or safe
purchase decidedly against him, Sentiment, enthusiasm at getting
a home for his dear ones, his idea of how the place Should look, all
conflict with the cold-blooded analysis of property "which - should
precede a purchase.
Not ten out of a hundred home
buyers really know how to figure carrying
charges or ground value or to deal with fac
tors looking to the increasing or falling value of a home once they
have occupied it, The more a young married man knows about
family finances, cost of living, cost of home operating, efficiency in
domestic machinery and arrangement, the better he is prepared to
be the head of a family
Real estate dealers of Omaha are experts
in suchmatters. It is their business. They contribute
valuable information to you in the real estate columns
of the Classified Section today. We would suggest that you select
an advertisement that makes an attractive offer to you and go, see
the advertiser.
He will gladly give you full infor
mation on the subjects mentioned above and
you will be on the RIGHT ROAD which
leads to prosperity and happiness
i: A-
THE OMAHA
BEE
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