Jan. 1, 1901.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
487 
down if jou have return cargo. By steamer ifc 
costs fr«)ni 5f28 to $Sl (lie ton boili ways, the 
distance by river being about 120 miles. Freight 
from Tlacntaliiam to Vera Uniz has to be added, 
but I iiave not the figures by me. There are 
besides handling and s; orage charges first atPlaya 
Vicente (12^ct. a package) Tlacotalpam same, 
perhaps at Alvavado, aiid finally at Vera Cruz, 
and I am much better oft' than the vast majority 
in this section. The freigiit from Vera Cruz to 
London is about the same as from Singapore to 
London. Tlie next " revolution " has got to come 
from the Government in the shape of roads, and by 
that time our grand-children will be old men and 
women. Private enterprise will, most likely, have 
to undertake road-niaking, and pay Government 
for doing so. 
Labour. — All who have gone in for Tropical 
Agriculture in Mexico have, with a strange un- 
animity, avoided this most important question and 
for very obvious reasons. First, the large holders 
have lands for sale, and soon, if I am not mistaken, 
the small buyers will be sorry they ever bought. 
There are four classes of labourers employed in 
estates in Mexico : — 1st labourers recruited from 
Oaxaca, Mexico and other cities and surrounding 
villages on a 3, 4, 6 or 180 days' contract ; 2nd 
Serranos, 3rd, prisoners, Jrih, villagers living in the 
vicinity of plantations. The 2nd and 4th class are 
by far the best labourers, but will not go far 
afield for work, and will only leave their villages 
for crop time (generally end of October to end 
of December). In fact unless the estate is in the 
hills or near their villages this class of labour 
can only be depended upon for crop, but will not 
stay and work steadily all the year round. The 
3rd class are taken out of the prisons on pay- 
ment of $5 to $10 a head, and this forms a 
more or less regular income to certain Government 
officials, not leaving out the highest in each 
State, This labour has to be worked literally as 
prisoners, and as regards treatment, wages, etc., 
the slave was far better oft'. They are generally 
the greatest scoundrels in a country that pro- 
duces a good many, i have seen them brought 
up on a steamer, bound together and guarded by 
armed police. They are invariably locked up at 
nights and when not working. There is a good 
deal of this class of labour used on the tobacco 
plantations. They cost anything from ^15 to 
$35 landed oh the estate per head and work from 
three to 12 months getting 25ct. a day and food, 
but in the majority of cases get nothing when 
leaving, and if they do have a balance are given 
every opportunity to abscond. Personally I have 
never worked this class in any of the estates 
under my charge. The 1st class is the one 
generally employed. My experience is with 
Oaxaquenoa chiefly. They are recruited on 
a " 180 days' work " contract, the longest term 
they will agree to. This is illegal, as according 
to the Mexican constitution, no Mexican 
can contract his time. In practice the law is not 
enforced, but still it exists. The average advance 
comes to $16 for a man, and $9 for a woman, all 
recoverable. The recruiter gets a commission of 
$10 for a man and $5 for a woman which is not 
recoverable. Wages : men 37 cts., women 20 cts., 
boys and girls, 10 to 15 cts., a day, with food. 
My average rate of wages from Jun'e 1899 to end 
of August this year, works out on all the five 
estates under my charge to -6518 cents per working 
labourer per diem. This includes wages, food, 
gonitnissioii, cooks, watcUmeu, watei-carri^vs, caboa 
(kanganies) wages and food and loss on absconders. 
Per contra the credit balances of absconders are 
also credited to the average. Working with class 
Nos. 2 and 4, the average would be perhaps 5 cents 
less, and in the Sierras perhaps 10 to 12 cents less. 
Nearer the coast the average would come to about 
80 cts. As to the labourer himself, I will sum np 
his chief characteristics — laziness, stupidity, care- 
lessness, drunkenness, callousness, self-conceit and 
an utter absence of ambition and thrift are the 
chief, lying and dishonesty coming a good 9th 
and 10th. When he first arrives, his chief idea ia 
to abscond, but when treated fairly, he soon settles 
down. I am not judging him from a European 
standpoint, but in comparison with Tamils, Sin- 
halese, Chinese, Malays, .Javanese, Banjarese and 
Dyaks, all of whom I have worked during my 21 
years in the East. As regards work ; in heavy 
weeding, he will do about 15 per cent more than 
a Tamil, but not as good work ; and in clearing 
with the " machete," he is as good as the Malay 
with his " parang ;" but in every other respect he 
is 10 to 50 per cent behind the Tamil as regards 
estate work. What can be expected from labour 
10 per cent of which are field hands, and the balance 
loafers, gaol birds, tradesmen, artisans, clerks, etc. 
No wonder they have to be constantly watched, and 
often as not locked up when not working and at night. 
Beyond weeding and using the machete, tiliey 
know nothing about estate work, and by the 
time you have taught them something of their 
work, their contract is up and away they go and 
you have to begin again. By taking advantage 
of his thriftlessness, I have kept a good many 
of the best men in the place for a year by ad- 
vancing them goods from the estate shop, thu3 
keeping them in debt and raising their wage to 
50 cents a day. None, however, will stay beyond 
the end of crop i. e. 18 months from date of con- 
tract. When they get a craving for change no- 
thing will keep them. Labour, such as it is, ia 
scarce, and some Americans are beginning to in- 
troduce Chinese at a cost of $75 to $100 a head 
and $1 a day wages without food, In the first 
place they are making a mistake by getting 
them through the San Francisco " Societies " and 
unless Planters and Government combine and 
get Chinese direct from China, they will end by 
being at the mercy of the "Societies," as the 
Sumatran planters were ; but under existing cir- 
cumstances such a combination is very unlikely 
to come about. The present labour is bad, ex- 
pensive, and insufficient and Chinese are the only 
ones that can be got. My experience of 18 years 
with them is that they work splendidly on con- 
tract, but on day wages are very unreliable and 
do as little work as they can. 
Taxes. — Mr. Darley says: " Ta^es are low 
enough. " This being a country with a Protec 
five TarifT disproves the above. The import duties 
are heavy, running in some cases to 75 per cent 
and 100 percent. This fact makes living expen- 
sive, even jilain living. But leaving out import 
duties, the following are the duties we pay in 
this state, 
Income Tax on incomes over .$15 a month 4 33 
per cent jier annum. 
Poll Tax on labourers (recoverable) 21 cents 
a month, payable by estate. 
Tax on Grcss Sales Estate Shop 1-90 pei' 
cent per annum. 
Land Tax $13 on every $1,000 value im- 
proved or unimproved land or other property. 
Property Tax (leadjusted every five years.} 
