182 



THE LEVEL AND COST OF LIVING 



available at one time. Many Indians sometimes 

 work and sometimes pay, depending upon circum- 

 stances at the time. No. 49, who frequently does 

 his road work, borrowed the money from me in 

 1941 because I was paying him more for his time 

 than the standard rate. Frequently laborers will 

 work rather than pay when they work for an 

 employer paying substandard wages. In table 72 

 I suppose that half of the people work, but take 

 into account the fact that men serving in public 

 office ara exempt. This exemption holds also for 

 the ornato tax for public works; this tax must be 

 paid in cash by every man in the given age group. 



Table 72. — Personal expenses, taxes, etc. 



1 Value of time. 



The real estate tax is popularly called the three- 

 per-thousand. I am not sure, but I believe the 

 rate is actually higher. Most landholders do not 

 pay this tax because their land titles are not legally 

 registered with the higher authorities. 



Most documents must be written on Govern- 

 ment-stamped paper; in addition, every person 

 over 18 is supposed to buy the 10-cent stamp for 

 his or her cedula, or identification paper. Many 

 people do not possess this document. "' The 

 figure here is little more than a guess. A license 

 for canoe owners was also required in 1936; it is 

 not included in the table because I do not recall 

 how much it was. An item for fees paid lawyers 

 (in Solola) would also be in order, for in land 

 matters the services of the lawyers in Solola are 

 sometimes bought; but I cannot estimate what 

 the item might have amounted to in 1936. 



'" A poor woman said in 1937 that she had obtained her cfdula 2 years before, 

 grinding com to earn the 10 cents tor the stamp. When she had the money 

 her husband sugRested that she rather buy com with it; what good would a 

 eidula do her anyway? 



Again in the matter of fines, perusal of official 

 records might be of assistance in determining the 

 amount. Offenders (usually intoxicated persons) 

 are sentenced to a certain number of days in jail, 

 the sentence commutable at so much per day in 

 money. Such fines and jail sentences are levied 

 even Ln cases of disputes of a "civil" nature, and 

 when Indians quarrel and bring a case into the 

 Indencia, the result most frequently is the fining 

 of one or both parties. Indians stay in jail if 

 they cannot pay the fine or if the money required 

 is much more than their time is worth;'" fre- 

 quently they serve several days and then pay for 

 the remainder. The amount of money included 

 in table 72 is a rough guess, based on a number 

 of cases noted. 



The payment of interest on money borrowed is 

 not as common as the pawning of land without 

 set interest. The matter has been discussed 

 above (pp. 80-81) and, again, the figure in table 

 72 is little more than a guess. 



Summary. — Table 73 summarizes the expendi- 

 tures for all purposes, both within and outside the 

 community, of the Indians of Panajachel in 1936. 



Table 73. — Summary of expenditures in 19SS 



' See footnote 135, p. 147. Doubtless some of the labor on Panajachel Indian 

 homes is done by Indians of other towns, but it Is a negligible amount and Ls 

 not subtracted from the total here. 



* LeavinK out the item " Food" of table 69, included with Food here. The 

 unknown item of $3, not classified in table 69 either as locally produced or 

 as purchased outside, is here considered as spent outside the community. 



COMMUNITY WEALTH 



Most of the wealth of the Indian community is 

 in the land that it owns. Including standing 

 coffee and fruit trees, the value of real estate in 

 private hands amounts to over $20,000. The re- 

 placement value of houses owned by Indians has 



i".\n Indian reported (1940) that a friend was In Jail for having an unregis- 

 tered rifle— fined $20 coramulablo to 20 days in jail. "Maybe it will ba 

 reduced to $10, but he will certainly serve time rather than pay. Who would 

 ever pay a dollar a day when one can earn only 10 pesos or 20 cents a day?" 

 In another case two young men were sentenced to 5 days in jail commutable 

 at 20 cents daily (disorderly conduct while drunk); they stayed In Jail 2 days, 

 then borrowed money to pay for the remaining 3. 



