THE LABOUR-SUPPLY 61 



high price there was something over for the labourer at 

 the end of the season, in spite of the charges against 

 him at the store ; but at the present time, so far from a 

 balance in his favour, there remains only a record of 

 debt. And this situation becomes more hopeless for the 

 men as time passes ; for they are not permitted to buy 

 elsewhere than at the store of the property where they 

 work, and hence they have no alternative but to accept 

 the exorbitant prices charged against them, or starve. 



The standard of honesty that tolerates the mulcting 

 of the labourer through the truck system reacts on the 

 general commercial situation in hard times, such as 

 have now overtaken the rubber industry. The property 

 owners do not discharge their indebtedness to the 

 aviadores; the aviadores are unable to fulfil their promises 

 to pay the merchants; the merchants fail in their 

 obligations to the manufacturers. Such is the state of 

 affairs that has been reached to-day in the Amazon 

 Valley, and the confusion resulting from these con- 

 ditions has enmeshed banks, financial institutions, and 

 all varieties of commercial undertakings maintaining 

 business relations with this section of South America. 

 It entails a severe restriction of credit for many years 

 to come. 



In Bolivia the truck system is also the paramount 

 feature of all payments to labourers on the rubber- 

 producing properties, and it enjoys State protection in 

 so far that the law of the country does not permit a man 

 to leave the service of his employer unless he can first 

 provide for the discharge of his indebtedness. In dis- 

 honest hands this means the condemnation of the 

 labourer to a condition not far removed from what can 



