CRUZ DAS almas: a BRAZILIAN VILLAGEi — PIERSON 



97 



A pioperty owner rarely makes a will. A village 

 official knows of only two wills having been drawn 

 up in recent years, and one of these is no longer 

 in force, since a clause in it prescribed that the 

 sale of any part of the property would nullify the 

 testament and a part of the property has since 

 been sold. If an owner dies intestate, half of the 

 i^roperty goes to the wife, if she survives, and half 

 is divided equally among the children. 



The practice of primogeniture is absent in this 

 culture. The ordinarily high reproductive rate 

 has thus resulted in extensive subdivision of landed 

 estates, a process which already has reduced ma- 

 terially the size of holdings in the community and 

 is continuing, with each succeeding generation, to 

 reduce them still more. A large farm of 770 

 alqueires (4,420 acres) was divided sometime ago 

 between seven heirs, so that each owner now has 

 110 alqueires (656 acres). A farm which 50 years 

 ago contained 400 alqueires (2.388 acres) ^^* has 

 now been broken up into 42 separate properties. 

 Another farm of 60 alqueires (360 acres) was re- 

 cently divided equally among six children so that 

 each possesses only 10 alqueires (60 acres). A 

 farm of 12 alqueires (72 acres) recently was di- 

 vided among four heirs, so that each now has about 

 18 acres. In three generations, a farm of 120 

 alqueires (720 acres) has been subdivided until 

 an heir who died recently left only lio alqueires 

 (9 acres) to be divided among six children. "Be- 

 fore long," remarked a villager, humorously, 

 "these farms won't be large enough for an ox to 

 lie down on, unless his tail hangs over." 



The recent purchase of two busses (see Trans- 

 portation, p. 95) was made by 10 local men, each 

 of whom put into the enterprise 20,000 cruzeiros 

 ($1,100). Two of the men are storekeepers, an- 

 other is a retired farmer and present sub-delegado 

 and part-time carpenter, four others are farmers, 

 one is the overseer of the olaria, or establishment 

 for making bricks, another is a politician now liv- 

 ing in Boa Vista who grew up in the community, 

 and the tenth is a farmer's son who owns and drives 

 a truck. 



MONEY, CREDIT, AND WAGES 



As far as contact with the outer world is con- 

 cerned, the inhabitants of the community partici- 

 pate entirely in a money economy. Payment for 



farm produce that goes to the city is in money, 

 as also is that for the few articles of clothing and 

 the tools and other equipment which the farmer 

 or villager buys in neighboring towns. Inside the 

 community, barter still continues to some extent. 

 Farmers occasionally exchange produce among 

 themselves. At least part of their accounts at 

 village stores may be settled in kind. As has been 

 indicated, most of the payment for the grinding 

 of maize at either of the two mills is made in by- 

 products of the preparation of maize flour. Labor 

 on farms is often paid for, in part, with farm 

 produce for the laborer's family. A village girl 

 who helps take care of the house on the fazenda 

 at the edge of the village, is paid in food and 

 clothing for herself and invalid mother. At the 

 same time, the money economy of the outer world 

 invades continually more and moi'e even local 

 transactions. Most purchases at village stores 

 are paid for in currency, as are, almost without 

 exception, drinks at the village bofequins. When 

 buying and selling among themselves, farmers or- 

 dinarily use money. The salaries of village offi- 

 cials and the two teachers are received and taxes 

 are paid in money, as also are fares on the newly 

 established bus line. Payment for labor or other 

 services almost always is made in money. 



Credit often is extended to farmers and villagere 

 for purchases at village stores. One storekeeper, 

 for instance, estimates that 60 percent of his sales 

 are on credit and the owner of the bakery esti- 

 mates that "less than half" of his sales are for 

 cash. Without capital of their own or means of 

 arranging credit elsewhere, most farmers are 

 dependent upon this system to supply the needs 

 of their families during the months while a crop 

 is growing. At harvest time, the farmer may set- 

 tle Ms account with the storekeeper in cash after 

 selling his produce elsewhere or, as has been indi- 

 cated, he may deliver a quantity of produce which, 

 at the local price, equals the amount owed for the 

 year. "Wlien I first came here," remarked a 

 farmer, "Seu Sebastiao (a storekeeper) agreed to 

 let me have credit at his store. I don't know what I 

 would have done without it. I have just sold a 

 crop of onions for 7 contos ^^ and paid the 4 cantos 



i« This farm was at that time bought for 6,000 milreia. 



IX Previous to the substitution, in 1942, of the milreis by 

 the crus:eiro, the term conto was used to refer to 1,000 milreia; 

 in popular speech, the term has since been transferred to 1,000 

 cruseiros. 



