SOUTH AMERICAN NATIVES.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1965, 23 January 1914, Page 3

SOUTH AMERICAN NATIVES.

SSfff&OfHERRECORD |?;¥f?|fe|g ATROCITIES. * '?*";. V ':>.'&S&i&'Li~Lzl-■■' ~ : ''-fi! "1 ■■ ■■ '■' v- ; .-Stfe. , ;:.' , ;:'.'; , '. I SEE , . ?V TPWP Istj 1711 C ■. :j;r nib oUAtILS. *£?■?;<s■>* has returned to ufaiichcster.-saftcr.-sppntliiii' eight veare' j.-.o'f Sulyenturcxakiiigi of" ■ tlie representative- of the j';:0 : related some 1 |jp'"i-1 1 - t ?cSlionorsl-Zpci-fiotratpcl' in■ the coun--tncs*;Uiero.?UMUoiVjtho."ov<?£.of tluTTt;!ti!onties/ .-had travelled over,: a; largo part-"of the centre'of South' | America.':-;Me-ha<i been in' the ■forest. ■a'ndHlie'rivcf'.'couiilry. all.the time'; and was':: an , eye-witness. of' , a' great ■ deal of ill-treatment/among' 'the natives; ■■' ■He has communicated with the Anti-Slavery .and Aborigines' Protection Society, , who l.avo brought tlio matter before the-at*, tcmtio'n of Sir Edward Grey, the Secretary of Foreign ■■■■■ : ; -■ '■ Describing instances of cruelty whidi.'! had como directfy under liis notice, Sir. Waodroofe said;—l know of an employer who had six or seven workpeople enpgedin the rubber, industry who-fell ill. Tnese' men came down to* the head-quarters,-to'get medicine, and some treatment. Tho employer said to tliem, "I only feed folk who work, No work, , no food."' .These!'men were differing from heri-beri and other diseases,. That night they were taken, to a rock in the Rapids Tlio river rising in. tho'iiigbt covered'the rocks, and the men were washed 'away ,, and never seen again, ■Proceedings wore instituted by the Brazilian ■ authorities at,. Ban Antonio, but inconsequence, of- the influence exerted by tlio employer in the district, the proceedings were'■stopped. ■ Another man was found under the influence of drink. His arms were tied behind him with tliin fishing.;cord,- and he im's thrown Mo a. hut. a Three days afterwards ho was released. The tight'cords had caused the' man's rams to 'swell, and mortification had set in. The man was eventu- | ally, takeir'to , -.tlio railway company's j hospital, where'the doctor was obliged , to part of the other."! 1 ' •."'- ;•' "■' ■- " ..■■ ■■. 5,.-Another instance of brnltality quoted bvi.Mr.'"\Yoodrool'e was as follows:—"On ,one occasion I saw'a boy flogged so sc- ■'■ verely .that his eye was torn out. This happened in the administrative depart- ■ m'ent of Senegal. The man who'used tlie whip was called before the local authorities,, but again the influence and power exerted in the district by the parties [''concerned caused-the'''■'■matter!''to be hushed un." .''■, '": "'.... ... iC:;y Cirl CakoSellers. .■;■' Mr. WuodroDfe said that there were "about fifteen.to twenty different firms dealing directly with Europe and operating in a country which was densely populated. . They were financed with European money, not necessarily English. Under the peonage system the natives were given credit for'their labour,- But they were debited with many things, with the result that they were always in debt to bad employers. Flogging of men and women was common. . He had known bread-sellers sent out in tlio ■.morning by their owners to soil bread and cakes, The prettiest girls were usually employed for this work. It. was :i common thing iV>r these girls ■to be flogged if they returned with ■'.broad or rakes. These girls were .sometimes invited inln tlie houses, and the only, stipulation they madi> if they accepted the invitation was thai all their bread ami,cukes.should, he bought. Mr. AVooilrool's suggested that thi> Epllinpc of cakes, was only a pretext for the , girls to engage in a certain traffic, Tlio slave dealers were sometimes natives, w>mc'times Syrians. At present thfi business was mostly' done by Peruvians asul Syrian. 6 , It was not supposed to be 'recognised by the Government, but the 'authorities never took any notice of it. Attacks wore made oil tribal houses: the ■ older members of the'trihlo were shot, and tho younger ones captured. "If you buy a girl for £40 or £50 find she works for you until «he is 80. it gives .vim , rather cheap labour. Eiironeans ■ going out there a straders after living in- the country for a month «r so lirfoine accustomed to seeing this sort of thine. . It is part and parcel of the system of the land, and thpy quite naturally fall into the idea of having do-mestics of that -descriiytion. ■ ■ .The Peruvian and Bolivian Governments aro more directly responsible for. this kind of thins. Th Brazliian Go»- j eminent is tho only one that makes any serious attempt to protect tlfe aboriginal within its" boundaries. I regard it as far worso than the Putuinayo district, for tho Indian.'; I speak of are more , civilised. Atrocities have been going, on during the whole eight years I lived in the country. But I never opened my. mouth in opposition tc them; I never' mentioned them to anyono, because. I w,".3 dependent on the' country for-'my livcliliocd. As an individual member of tho community it was as much as.-my life was worth te show surprise-: or'dissatisfaction with what I saw or heard. " J : i' ! -':'""' ' SalO Of CirlS, oiie'passage'of the manuscript of his book which will be published, Mr. AVondroofc describes the salo of two Indian girls. He was on a launch at, iiip■ time. Ho says: "Shortly after ■ embarking, on ■ tho launch we' ' were stopped, by-signals from a large boav, wlucli was'being impelled rapidly in our direction. -We'were shortly boarded by a ■sliort/'ibnital-lpoking' m.in,. apparently a-Turk , or Syrian. 1 dicl not pay any attention:'to his'conversation' with our captain,, but saw money .and goods change-"hands, ■ apparently' in payment for two Indi.ui girls, one aboiit seven years of age and the other about three years of. aso. I was surprised to firm that' this was sv, i! being confirmed by the captain, who called me into his cabin to show me his : purchases. . These consisted of.-two. ■, preserved Indians' ' heads, a ~Jfine boii-constrictor skinned, and these .'poor Indian children, all of which'ho-had bought for about.£15. '-He seemed fairly well -satisfied •with his purchase, but expressed, the hope .'that ho was not going, to lose his money by. the'deal, as She children had bnly : been taken from tho bush a few to; their apparent fear ■ coiiid'isiot ■ be' induced to'eat. Day by c!av!;tlicy ? became more emaciated, .and ■y.-ero "eventually sold to the proprietress of a large firm,, who," 1-learned, mado ii\"-.'Uttfl.bargain, as the children quickly. 'siici:uml>ed.:;'.inorc probably from grief than ■■'.aiiytliing cls<-..' These' piuciiases ' and '.'resales of' Indian 'children aro of | common occurrence.■■-.lt is so large a cnstnm,.and as such tolerated and pro-, 'teclodf-.'that, it would be, an exceptionally dangerous-'waiter to iitti'iupt any dis- ] closure;, of Jhese things ..while.- still in I j'the-.cmii'.try.'V-i' ■:' ■■'■>".■'. ■.-, i'..'iir.--:'.Y\'()0(!roole β-akl that one , young jmlin'ipasjc.ed.-'i!.:.man' for employment "iihd. , presented .to him his iiei-oiint" cur'■'rciil ■'.' ; t'i'oivi vhis '.' nmster, , which shown that";he''was in' dpbt to tlie (?xlont of .£l7o.*' Ho ■ had joined the service of .'tiiat:.!omployer'with a supposed debt of 000 dollars, which his master paid, lo?s p.'i3J per. cent., but the account current ..showed ah original debt of !)00 dollars, plus,-20, per. cent, commission, and al-though-the'man had been working several 'months absolutely nothing stood h> uis credit;for scrvicrj ivridcrod. There wore, .Ihiwovi'l', , small debits consisting ol'.such..-sniiill',itoms us ji iish hook, six ..feet of.'lishing.rard, etc., and niiiinton■:i.iicojchinii'4. several days when ho hud ■.boon".: too■ ill >'.l'o" work. ■..;.. '■