GREED FOR GOLD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 163, 9 January 1914, Page 3

GREED FOR GOLD.

RKI) lil'UBEIl HORRORS. INDIANS SOLD |;ODY AN"I) SOUL. London, November Si. A story of I hi- awful atrocities which are occurring 011 the Amazon, some of which exceed iu brutality 'even those which Sir Jtoger Casement found existing in tlic I'utnmayo district, has lieim told this Week l).y nil Englishman who 11 ;> s jits i. returned to London after spending eight years on the Bolivian frontier. This chronicle ol alleged crime t was narrated by 3lr. F. Woodrdi'e. , who furnish'd l lie Anti-Sill very and Abo- , rigincr,' I'rotcction Society wit!i the account of ttic! exploitation of the Indians k of the Amazon in the interests of ruliber enterprises, 011 which the Society Ims hased a report to the British Foreign Ollice with an ;ijipcal for (lovcrunicnt protection for the hapless victims oi mail's greed for gold. Mr. Woodrol't'e went to the Amazon eight years ago as an administrative 'ofiiccr ill the employment of a BriLish rubber company, anil he has been in the tropics until quite recently. During this period he travelled as a trader' and 111 other capacities' through tihe vast areas travel sed by th# upper readies ot tin 1 Amazon and its affluents. l'or tliree years Mr. Woodroil'e was in the Purumayo district, ami this fact (jives authority to his allegations that tlie conditions in the Iteiii. Acre and other areas are ''worse than the I'utuuiayo-'' What is known as the, "peonage" system obtains iu the.se districts, and it is 011 this system that he liases his indictment. The system is explained by .Mr. Woodruffe as follows: ijtbor agents of the .companies are scut out into the villages in order to induce the Indiana to join a. party for the collection of rubber. The Indian usanlly has certain petty debts which he wants to discharge, and the agent, begins by making him a small advance of money. Then he is transferred from Ins home to tlie place of his labors, which may be anything up to a thousand miles away. When lie arrives he has 110 food ami little clothing. T'uese he has to iv.irI chase, together wit'i tools and outfit ne•ecssary to enable him to collect his licst ' parcel of rubber. The coH of thc3c things is charged agaiiut him to tins amount very often of £1(10. What this means in its operation is that the Indian has practically Isold himself Imdv and soul to the company, for the hapless native—like many white men who get into the clutches of i usurers' -can never get out of til" companv's debt. Every little thing lie has U debited atraiust him. It he is ill ho is charged from os to (is # ilav for his maintenance, ami extra for aiedicine. whilst for th" produce he deliver* lv> 's accredited with only a third or a half of the current ore.* of rubber. If an Indian widies to leave the district. <1 which he is ivorkinjr. lie can only do so by running awav. Then he is pursued, unit if caught thrashed until his sviirit is broken. 1 "Such/' added Mr. AYoodrofic, "is the peonage system. It is !.'ie sv-.tem in the American forest". If thr.t is not sliverv. what i-' INDIAN'S MASSACRED. Another allegation which llr. WooJrofl'e makes is that of the wholesale murders of native", known as ''braves,'' that is, Indian saviu'cs who have not come at all nmUr the influence.! of civilt isitinn. They are nomads, moving about i" small partes numberin > from twentv-live to two hundred and flit v. AVlien thev reach the .irons where rubber is being worked.and their presence becomes known to the rubber exploiter ', enned parties are formed and the Tn--1 dians pursued. When overtaken, in the majority of cases all the male braves are shot, whilst the children and others not able to oll'er any resistance are , brought into settlements and become tho .slaves of their captors. I As far as the male savages are con-

I cei ned it is really a war of exienninpI tioii against them. 'Wiis sort of thins,' I is an every-day occurrence according to I to Mr. tVoodroli'e, who declares that he I has met witli men who have ;;ctually ■ taken part in the massacre.!. FLOtiUiX!!. ToirrruK and Mt'KDKR. That, (losing and torturing take place is also alleged by -Mr. Woodroil'e. ReJ'crriiijj to the latter, he said: ".Since the I'utuniayo all'air torture lias been | practised in mole reliiic.l forms; that is to -av. in such ways a.; are not likely to have, tell-tale. after-.•fleets. Instead for instance, of using the whip, the /loggers employ a vegetable product called tin 1 tree beau. This is dbout four feet long and is used when in its green state. Consequently, while call-in}? great weals, it does not break the i.kin. Then, too, a {Treat deal of kickim.' i> dane. In more remote districts, however, where, there is little risk of outside detection and interference, the whip is still used, and this or the ino.-t trivia! ofl'eiicr-s, such as apparent laziness or disobedience of an overseer's command."

As to torturing, Mr. Woodr.if'e gave one or two eases which crmo within iu's personal notice. "T kite.. one Man,' lie said, "little more than a liny, who lost one of his eyes a l * the result of illtreatment. *'

Another case was that, of :\ native ' who became a little oosfreperoiis. His I employer tied hi s bands behind his back | with IT no cords, so that circulation was 1 stopped. Mortification set in, am] the Indian underwent an operation that !o-t him one arm and part of the oilier. Another cas • \va : of a man in business on a river calh -1 the .Tacv I'earana. Pissalisfied at flic presence of five Indians who were lying aliou' iil near his house, he had thern put on a rock in the rapid* in mid-stream. The following morning the live men were gone, haviiisf been .washed oil' the reck, and either drowned or eaten ay alligators. Ileverling to flogging. Mr. Wood roil'states that whinrag is part of ilie dailv life of the country. \'ot oaly are men 'lodged for not bringing in a suiricient onnntity of nibb"'-', but women, whore t-'f'.v are employed in domestic work, are inhumanly beaten, ami for the :nost trivial faulls and oll'ences.