AMAZON ATROCITIES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 117, 15 May 1912, Page 6

AMAZON ATROCITIES.

HOW R-UEBER^ IS GOLLEOTED

ITOfRRIBIi^ TREATMENT, OF .. ': ■ ' .V..TNDIANS.- ■•/.■:■;: •,-:

[.. '.•..■ V .'abject', slavery.;/'' . (Pqst; ■Gorrespcndent.) ~- . ' .':: :.rV\V;;-':M)ND<M r Maircli.';29:-'': ;. Mr Beymo^i; B,ell, for.' some ye,Jvt;s . -©ommercial ii{|enis on beli'alx .of the.- ---■-' British. oover'nriient in r;s nite/i; ' • .'BiaiCes,- and^ ; j./in«m|>je^;H3f:, t|ie < ■ Cfomniission' - appointed ..,'- vby 6 TeiniTian Aiiifizdri Rubber Company an 1910 to visit Puturrucyo a.nd: report upon its. commercial possibilities .ynd '..investigate the..State, of the Indians, has just come back; to London; He tells a .'Horrible story of the cruelties practised upoh/the Indians, in the collection of. rubber in the l Putumiiyp ■district of Peru. After • visitmg . tfa& whole of "he ': forest .region, Mr Bell, says:— .■ •., :"I was forced to,the reluctant coiir 'elusion that the. \vholelocal system r.f rubber collection was based on systematic cruelty. The system is as ToL-'■-..lotvs :-r+-The Indians a,re a »pnimitiw, ■ "-.'.gentla race of forest dwellers. Each riibber station ia in chairge .of ■>. a Peruvian, who keeps an armed band,mostly half-breeds', find1 &'S.mnU: force vof laa-med Indians. Through these tie natives >aa-e terrorised. They were .first of all caught and tomed by flog1 gi.n'g iand.starvation.' Then they were •... released and are aow allowed to live in the forest under supervision on . condition thiat they bring in every ten or fifteen days a, certain weight •of■.■rubber'. Once a quarter or so they are made to carry the rubber down ,to the! river stations, a distance in some cases of ss much as sixty miles. : The whole of this work is enforced by-.-flogging, ' and often by torture and" ~. d'eath:^ I know tbj-t from what I tsavv and from what 1 heard, from the evidence of men. who took part in fche jaets\ described: In my judgment thW Indians are living in a most abject •state of slavery of the< worst kind, and sows of the causes of cruelty, ■ most terrible in the extreme, that were " brought to ligjit would-be considered incredible.1 Floggings on the bacf* body with the most oiaiel kind tf whips was the principal form o: •punishment'--for;.not producing the required amount- of rubber1-/, .Wei did' not actually .see any instance of belting, but some, confessed, to us. We saw^he marks on the bodies of the Tndlians. I should1 efiy.;that /-0. . par cent, of them bad marks of flog- ■. -ging ' ori. -their. •;■;-bodies .,\,. :^-: .Ev-eh-'rAhe-youngest:.boys wore'so .marked.'' '.' ' . .•■■ ' TEARFUL '^ ATROCITIES ■/-: BETAILED. Mir Bell then (bailed, ceirtflin specific acts of cruelty which li«jd come under his own observation :— ''A case of ill-treatment was brought to our notice at the first place "we landed on tho oonip.-.ny's property About half way up the Oara Paraaui, fan laffluent of the-Pntumayo, we step -ped at a small sub-station to tnke in firewood for our boilers:. We.all wont ■on shore Sqr-r. fitroll, and one of the lirst persons we saw1 wr.s an Indi-.in-undergoing punishment because he WJis'notj disposed to work. He had a

big chain fastened to his ankle with padlock, and was carrying some.- 12tt oV more of chain on his shoulders, jiw object .being to prevent his runmr.g away to join his tribe. V ."I was stayingviat a white ' man 3 house in a clearing■■ in a-forest. I taw some natives coming in, perhaps some twenty or thirty of them, from the outlying districts. I noticed that one man had a cut on his side freshly made. I' asked the India,n what -w^s -the origin of the,,cut. :He replied: 'The white' msvn did it with.1 his macU T .etc because ■,1 was ,!not comirig alon^ 'quickly - enough,.';.'■ ■'■lf;;^kedI,': Mm.:;/ *p°{ ;p6int out the jwhite man-whoSidicut; -■him-; ■He pointed to one of /the vPeravian Gompany's omployeesr While we Were talking on■-■lndian came up. He painted to his lprig hair, and I noticed that his eair had gone. I asked who. liad done it'; he replied, 'The same man-.' I learned 'that- he* had been treated in tbio way because he lial not ' i brought in sufficient mbborJ Immediately iifteywardis I pame.across .another Indian who: had1 been treated in pirecisely the same way;' and on rouking'inquiries 1 found! that he bad; suffered for the same cause. "Of course, everything possible wa!i done in order to conceal ft-om us oviidence of; any cruelty, but I fxv/ stocks in several districts which wore used- as punishments for failing 1o bring .rubber".' I ■ often saw- Iho people—men,.; women, and children—coming down with the laibber from their journeys. The only,food they had for the' journey was an insuifi-"cien-b supply of-manioc, provided by themselyesi. In many cases it, \v.«s evident that they were in a condi tibn'of starvation. TRIBE OF SKELETONS. "I have seoii Indians lying at the;' side or. the; .track exhausted or ill. j When< one of ,the masters came along j they, were kicked or beaten till they; struggled on with their burdens,. One! tribe that we .4aw at Atenas were reallyl ■vvialking skeletons." Mr' Bell dealt with the question of,; the Indian. women "In several trading stations," he «a,id, "I saw houses specially built for unattached Indian women. Recruits, for these houses■'«! taken by force, and' no regard is pail to the prior claim of the Indian husband, "i Mr Bell next narrated seveital cases which did not come under his personal observation, but ::S i which he had reliable evidence. "I ■am satisfied," he said, "that Indians were often held under, the water ,< f the river until nearly drowned. 'Tn some cases death did ensue. We heaird'of; soni^ 6f ;these cases From the Indian chiefs, and in some, iii;stttncesi the d^tai!.?: came; from -the Peihi^Ms :.th.eftiselves. This punish'mentwa/i inflicted because the Tadians -had not completed their tale of rubber. I heard evidence of a«aw of two people being burned alive, c'-n okl woman ajid .a young man, and this occurred in one day's march; Another case was that in which a small boy was ta,ken away from Jits mother and beheaded before her eyes because she wa.s unable to tny , whether certain fugitive Indians, of1 whom the Peruvians were in search, were hidden. A FOUL SPOT. "At the time of our visit," add..xl

Mr Bell, "the white employees were i paid by commission on the amount -*f rubbei1 they wero able to send to headquarters. It is only to be expected tlistt in a- district so far away iirom civilisation, when payment js made by results, that the natives sKould be made to suffer. As long :as this iniquicous system is continut>j in these outlying districts, &o long will these cruelties last. We wer.j informed that the system was to be abolished. Whether it has been I oo not know. In some parts the Indians were staa-ving, because the Peruvians did! not allow them sufficient time to cultivate their landi Thousand's t-f them hiive died from want and! jjitreiitment. Owing to these causes >and to a large number who have been slaughtered, the tribes are being gi-aduially exterminated. This \va.-; the condlitipn at the time of oisr visit, and I have no re&son for thinking' that there has been much improvement. It is timo that this ■distressful/ and brutal state of affodr.s ■was put an end to. What* I have said may appear very strong, but^ jt is by no means tin exaggeration. The Piitum^yo is on© of the foulest spots on the' face ~of the earth, .and the sooner pressure is brought to bear on tho Peruvian Government and pub! 10 opinion to cleanse the place the befcter*it will be for everyone."