THE MODERN INHABITANTS. 138 



Peonage. — Before the arrivul of the Americans in Guam it was the 

 practice of certain enterprising- citizens of the island to encourage the 

 natives to go into debt, advancing- them goods or mone}' for the use 

 of their families or for the payment of funeral expenses and masses 

 for the dead, in order to engage in advance as much copra as possible 

 or to secure labor for their fields. As a rule very poor wages 

 were paid; the employer by managing to make further advances from 

 time to time increased rather than diminished the debt and kept the 

 debtor in continuous servitude. A written contract was always drawn 

 up before the first loan would be advanced, b}' means of which the 

 debtor promised to work for his creditor until his indebtedness should 

 be canceled." Shortly after the American occupation complaints were 

 received by our officials that certain servants had "escaped,"' and atten- 

 tion was called to the system by which improvident or unfortunate 

 natives were virtually made slaves, having sold themselves into bond- 

 age. B}' order of the governor all contracts binding natives to labor 

 in consideration for mone}" advanced to them were declared void and 

 the natives were permitted to work where they could get the best 

 price for their labor, and to pay their creditors in mone3\ Barter, or 

 exchange of produce for imported goods, was also forbidden; so that 

 the natives were not obliged to accept articles of which they really 

 had no need, but were paid in mone}^ and thus might l)egin to accumu- 

 late capital to serve them in time of necessit}". Not only was this a 

 benefit in itself, but it allowed tliem to spend their money where they 

 could do so to the best advantage, whereas under the old order the}^ 

 were obliged to accept what the traders, to whom they had mortgaged 

 their crops, chose to give them. 



Labor. — The natives of Guam have often been accused of laziness 

 because they will not voluntarily raise large crops nor work as day 

 laborers for others. Don Felipe de la Corte, one of the wisest and 

 best of the Spanish governors, sa3's, however, it does not follow 

 because thej' did not cheerfully obej^ orders to plant excessively large 

 crops for the benefit of others that they are naturally indolent. Not- 

 withstanding the fact that thc}^ had at times produced more food than 

 could possi))ly be consumed, there was no provision for storing it, 

 and when hurricanes laid waste their fields they found themselves as 

 before, without resources, and consequentl}^ they thought it was better 

 for them ""to work little than to work in vain. Owing to this the}^ 

 are accused of laziness, which the}^ are far from manifesting when 

 they clearly see the good accomplished by their labor." 



Governor Schroeder, in his official report to the Navy Department, 

 says: ' 



N. 



In the study of this question [exploitation of the unoccupied public land] account 

 must be taken of a noticeable trait of the Chamorro character, viz, the pride and 



"See IMaiil \V.>rl.l, vol. 7, p. 2ti, 1904. 



