_Of the Labourers on the Isthmus_
The most difficult problem that has to be faced by undertakers of
transit and construction schemes in South America is that of labour. The
natives of the tropical latitudes have little inclination or incentive
to give their time and strength to the furthering of projects that are
introduced into their countries, and it has always been necessary to any
enterprise on the isthmus requiring a large labour force to import men
from other places.
The first experiment was made many years ago by the early Spanish
settlers, who found it impossible in many places to subdue the native
Indians. Negroes from Africa were imported, but many of them contrived
to escape from the tasks set them by their enterprising masters, and
found their way into the country districts and gradually mixed with
Indians they fell in with, and so introduced new blood into the original
stock of the country. An attempt to introduce labour on to the isthmus
of Panama was made by the promoters and builders of the railway with
disastrous results.
The Chinese, who prove so efficient as labourers in nearly every other
part of the world, were a great disappointment, and although they are to
be found to-day on the isthmus in large numbers, they are not employed
in any calling that requires great strength and endurance.
The negroes who were imported proved to be the best available labour,
and ever since the railway was established the islands in the Caribbean
Sea have furnished much of the labour for Panama.
When the first French company started its operations, Jamaicans, tempted
by the high wages offered, flocked on to the scene, and when the work
was brought to a standstill in 1901 many of them were left stranded upon
the isthmus, and those unable to obtain other employment were shipped
back to their island at its expense. Many, however, remained and settled
upon small patches of unclaimed land and lived in a primitive fashion
without much difficulty, in a country which furnishes abundant
subsistence to the cultivator.
[Illustration: A LABOUR CAMP (EVENING), CANAL ZONE.]
The demand for labour again arose when the U.S.A. Government restarted
operations, and numerous sources were tapped to supply sufficient
numbers of efficient pick-and-shovel men.
Naturally attention was turned in the negro’s direction, for he is
indispensable when such work is forward. Those who urge his expulsion
_en masse_ from the Northern States overlook the firm hold which he has
got on the plantations of the South. However high racial prejudice may
occasionally rise against him, he has made himself absolutely necessary
to the Southern planter, who would be ruined if black labour were
withdrawn. Besides, it is not a particularly easy task to expel ten
millions of people.
It is interesting to note that the nigger is far more appreciated in
South America than he is in the northern part of the continent. In
Anglo-Saxon colonies the laws against the blacks have always been more
stringent and oppressive than those of Spain, Portugal, and France. So
much is the negro valued in Latin America that many of the Republics
were unwilling to allow their black labour to be recruited for the
canal. Only recently the Argentine Consul in Panama sent word to his
Government that fifteen thousand of the workmen on the Zone were
disposed to transfer themselves to the wheatfields of the South.
Through the action of a Governor of Jamaica in refusing to allow negroes
from that island to go to the isthmus (unless upon terms to which the
Canal Commission found it impossible to agree) other countries were
tried, to make up for the loss of Jamaica as a recruiting ground. Cuba,
whence many of the Spanish settlers were brought, suggested to the
labour department that Spain would be a likely place from which to
obtain labourers, and many were imported on to the work, and proved the
wisdom of the choice. Italians also were brought, while the Jamaicans
arrived in great numbers, although not under any form of contract.
Barbadians, Martiniquians, and Trinidadians flocked in, but all of the
negro labourers who are on the work are liable to take a holiday
frequently and return to their native countries to spend, in
ostentatious display, the money they have earned.
These negroes of the different islands exhibit such lack of sympathy
with one another, that the authorities are compelled to house them in
separated camps.
The Barbadians predominate on the isthmus, probably because theirs is
the most densely populated island, and they have rapidly made themselves
acquainted with the conditions on the Zone, settling down as if it were
their native land.
The British West Indian negro has a great contempt for and prejudice
against those of his own colour who speak the French, Dutch, or Spanish
language, and whenever an altercation or argument arises between negroes
of the different nationalities, reference is frequently made to the
prowess and prestige or weakness and decadence of the rival nations.
This characteristic is set out by the old joke which probably originated
on the West Coast of Africa, but has of recent years been told of the
West Indians. “Yah, you big, black, ugly Frenchman!” a huge Barbadian
yelled at a Martinique gentleman of colour who was getting the better of
him in argument. “What we give you at Waterloo, eh?”
The Barbadian has generally appropriated a name illustrious by the
achievements of its original owner. A Mr. Horatio Nelson introduced
himself to me one day near Gorgona, and when I suggested that his was a
strange name, he assured me that it was quite a well-known one in
England, and that one of his ancestors had made it famous. And on my
still professing ignorance of it, he was very hurt and said, “You must
be Frenchmans.”
The labourer from Barbados is a big, strong, impudent fellow, and has
not got the same good name for honesty as his Jamaican cousin, although
he is undoubtedly the better workman. But the negroes who have swarmed
in hordes to the isthmus are reluctant to put forth all their strength
and energy in profitable labour.
They will employ their hours of leisure in dancing till they stream with
perspiration, but they are true artists in avoiding real work. Yet the
strength which they undoubtedly possess is often shown in their moments
of forgetfulness.
A gang of negroes were engaged in removing long, heavy lengths of timber
a distance of about two hundred yards. After they had all gazed for some
time at the stack, they were cajoled by the foreman into making a start,
which was not accomplished without considerable palaver, the point of
discussion being as to whether three men were sufficient to carry each
beam.
Two of the gang, having lifted a heavy beam between them, returned to
the discussion carrying it on their shoulders apparently little
inconvenienced by its weight, and stood for fully ten minutes thus
burdened continuing the argument. After a short acquaintance with them,
their indolent ways and casual manner become so familiar as to excite
little notice.
The quarters in which they are housed are shut during working hours, and
none are permitted to enter the premises at night until they have
produced evidence that they have put in a day’s work. Should they be
unwell, they are examined by the doctor at the nearest dispensary and
treated for their complaint. If only slightly indisposed and requiring a
little more rest, they are placed in a building set apart for the
purpose and allowed to loll about, read, smoke, or sleep until
pronounced fit to resume their labours. In serious cases, of course, the
patients are at once removed to hospital either at Colon or Ancon.
The accommodation provided for the labourers in the camps all along the
canal work have been very severely criticised by a coloured journalist
who lives in Jamaica, and who has paid brief visits to the isthmus in
order to discover if his fellow countrymen were receiving that attention
and care which he considered their due.
Any evidence of labourers’ habitations in Jamaica half as good as those
provided by the Canal Commission would be difficult to obtain, for the
miserable dirty yards which for the most part form the dwellings of the
West Indian negroes in their own islands, with the disgusting huddling
together of animals and human beings, cannot for a moment be compared
with the cleanly large dormitories fitted with iron-framed bunks which
are provided for them on the Zone.
Due regard is given to cubic air space by the Health Department, which
insists on five hundred feet for each occupant, whilst the old tin cans
and heterogeneous rubbish which the nigger is so fond of collecting and
hoarding are rigorously excluded from the dormitories, only reasonable
belongings which will not offend against the comfort and health of the
inmates being admitted.
The buildings are raised on pillars about five or six feet from the
ground, and the large space underneath has to be carefully inspected by
the health officers, for, under the pretence of utilising this shelter
as a store for odds and ends, there is a great danger of its becoming a
heaving rubbish heap.
Sidewalks and drains have been laid all through the labour camps, and
little could be done to improve or better the majority of them. In the
married quarters, placed at a distance from those occupied by single
men, it is more difficult to prevent the tenants from indulging in their
extraordinary propensity for hoarding up a miscellaneous pile of
articles of no possible use or value. If left to themselves, the
labouring negroes neglect to give much care and attention to their
dwellings, notwithstanding that many of them appear in public on high
days and holidays dressed in the latest fashions, displaying spotless
white linen, and giving the impression to casual beholders that they are
neat and cleanly in their habits.
The picturesque costumes which are worn by the women from Martinique are
reminiscent of the fashions that were in vogue in Paris fifty years ago,
while the slight Oriental touch which the brightly coloured
handkerchiefs tied round their heads impart is picturesque and
attractive. The material of which their gowns are composed has weird
patterns and in few other communities is there a variety of quaintly
coloured prints to equal those worn by the women who hail from
Martinique.
[Illustration: A TOILET ON THE ZONE.]
All these Martiniquian women appear to be very tall, their thin lithe
bodies, and small heads accentuating the effect, and the gracefulness of
their erect carriage and walk is aided by the long ample folds of their
walking skirts, when gathered up and thrown negligently over their arms.
There was a great deal of talk some little time back about the presence
of these women on the Zone, and allegations were freely made that the
United States Government were paying their expenses to the isthmus, and
that the purpose for which they were brought was one that no Government
could officially sanction. After a great deal of investigation, much
evidence was collected, which went to prove that the women whose moral
character had been called in question were quite respectable, and were
meritoriously engaged as domestic servants and washerwomen, earning
wages far in excess of those obtainable in their island home. Their
presence on the Zone is doubtless appreciated by many of their fellow
countrymen, and keeps them from growing homesick, for the dancings and
rejoicings which they amuse themselves with on holidays and Sundays help
to encourage a spirit of contentment.
Over a hundred and sixty affidavits were made by Martinique women upon
the isthmus at the beginning of the year 1906, for the purpose of
refuting the charges which were brought against them by newspapers in
the United States, and the Governor of the Canal Zone at the time, C. E.
Magoon, in a letter to the Secretary of War, stated that many of the
women were much alarmed when questioned about the articles that had
appeared against them, and were apprehensive lest they should be
deported back to Martinique. They most willingly gave evidence as to
their occupation. They were well satisfied with the wages they were
earning and the conditions under which they lived, and all of them
protested strongly against the statement that they were “living in sin.”
The marriage customs among all the West Indian Islands differ from those
obtaining in more civilised communities, and to rigid moralists of
northern latitudes may seem rather lax and casual. Few of the women who
subscribed to the affidavits put forward were able to write, only
twenty-seven out of the whole number being able to sign their
testimonies, the other hundred and forty all making a cross. All the
names betrayed, as one would expect, the French origin of their owners.
Some of them were ingeniously fanciful and almost ludicrous.
Such names as “Susering Johnabatist,” “Danshale Alptired,” “Catherine
Maxemen,” “Vuss Marie,” sound rather odd, and the alliteration of names
like “Pauline S’Paul,” “Dennis Denir,” “Philomen Philibert,” “Alcina
Alcide,” is doubtless intentional, whilst a few like “Gabriel Paralo,”
“Fluce Bernadette,” “Eleonore” have a romantic and not unpleasant sound.
But the Martiniquians are not alone in possessing extraordinary names. I
remember looking through the register, kept in an official’s office in
one of the West Indian islands, and was amazed at the extraordinary
names written in it. I asked how it was possible for such inappropriate
appellations to have been selected by negroes who surely could hardly
have seen them before. The official produced a large old-fashioned
dictionary, and explained that when parties came to register the birth
of a child and were at a loss for a name, he would read out a list of
long words, the most unsuitable of which was sure to be selected by the
parents, regardless of absurdity. Fancy a small black child with little
clothing or dignity having to support such a name as “Bathybius
Johnston.” Luckily, the registered name is forgotten in a day or two,
and unless a copy is written out the child usually grows up accustomed
to hear itself called by some commonplace and familiar nickname.
During the year 1906-7 there were over twenty-four thousand labourers
employed upon the isthmus by the Canal Commission, and most of these
were imported from the neighbouring West Indian Islands and Italy and
Spain, as it was found difficult to obtain the necessary labour from
among the natives.
The country life of Panama is simple, and it requires little effort to
supply the necessities of life. The poorer classes of Panamanians who
dwell in the country are a mixture of Spanish, Indians, and negroes--all
living a more or less primitive life. Marriages are very rare amongst
this class, for the women prefer to remain independent of their mates,
dreading the ill treatment which is usually meted out by the lords of
creation to wives who cannot escape from their bondage. The more common
form of family life is one in which the man and woman form a
partnership, which can easily be terminated by mutual agreement, and
when a parting occurs a division of the household belongings and assets
takes place even down to the children.
Their houses are of the simplest construction, consisting of a few trees
stuck into the ground roofed over with palm or other suitable leaves.
Some of the huts constructed in this manner have an extra room in the
roof, which is approached by a roughly constructed ladder. The sides or
walls of the huts are made of bamboo split and woven into a kind of
rough matting, although some have walls made of the bamboos placed side
by side, the intervening spaces being filled in with clay. Partitions
devised in the same way are made inside some of the dwellings. As one
would imagine, the furniture contained in most of these houses is of the
simplest and most elementary description.
Hammocks are used instead of beds for sleeping in, and stumps of trees
serve for tables and chairs. The food consists of frigoles, (a kind of
bean), bananas, plantains, and yams--which form the vegetable and
fruitarian portion of their repasts, while for meats they have so large
a variety to choose from that there is no need for them to complain of
the monotony of their fare. Monkeys and the large lizard, the iguana,
make favourite dishes. Wild turkeys, ducks, red deer, the wild hog or
peccary all find a place on their menus, and they have the art which all
countries seem to possess of brewing intoxicating beverages, the kind
they make being fermented from the sap of a species of the palm. This
custom dates from a very early time, long before the Spaniard first set
foot upon these shores. Tobacco has been in use among the Indians of
America for ages (the followers of Columbus were astonished to see the
natives puffing out clouds of smoke from their mouths), and the leaf of
the soothing weed grows around them at every turn. A little skill in
hunting and hardly any in cultivating are all that is necessary to
maintain existence in this fertile country, and until the native is
convinced that there are things in life worth possessing which at
present he has not got, he will never see the advantage of toiling and
sweating to earn money he knows not how to spend, or to live a life he
could not enjoy.
Thus he spends his days in a country that is to him
“A fair Utopian mead
Where his throat is never dusty,
And tobacco grows a weed.”
The negroes from the West Indian Islands have been so long in contact
with the higher forms of civilisation that they have acquired some of
the habits which belong to the white races, and although there is not in
any of the countries which they hail from the compelling force of hunger
to make them work, the customs of dress and living which they have
acquired induce them to labour, in order to secure the artificial
embellishments they have come to consider necessary to existence. The
isthmus and the canal work have been a happy hunting ground for the
negro who wished to enrich himself; and ever since the French Canal
Company started operations, it has been almost a habit with many of the
Jamaicans and Barbadians to go there and work for a time to earn high
wages.
The negroes on the isthmus noticed with increasing alarm the gradual
importation of peons from other countries--Spain and Italy in
particular--and felt that they were quickly losing the secure position
hitherto occupied. I have watched a group of nigger labourers standing
outside the wharves at Colon when five hundred Spanish labourers were
disembarking from a Royal Mail steamer, and although their faces were as
impassive as statues their conversation betrayed their apprehensions.
The labourers recruited from all parts of Spain have settled down upon
the isthmus; many of them are at work in the
[Illustration: A STREET IN THE OLD QUARTERS, PANAMA.]
Culebra cut and elsewhere. There can be no two opinions as to their
superiority to the negro as pick-and-shovel men, and the foremen have no
trouble in keeping them at their tasks, as these men have a little
common sense and intelligence, as well as brute strength.
[Illustration: WATER-BABIES BY A RIVER-SIDE.]
They are employed in clearing away the bush, cutting down undergrowth,
laying railway tracks, and attending upon the clearing of the dump
trains, and it is surprising how quickly they get accustomed to their
new surroundings. At first there was a little difficulty in supplying
them with the kind of food they desired and were used to, and the negro
cooks who waited upon them were apt to steal some of the rations served
out and give them short measure. I remember seeing a body of about forty
Spaniards advance to the headquarters office at Culebra to lodge a
complaint about their food.
The two ringleaders had with them an old tin can containing water that
was very dirty and a piece of meat that was certainly far from being
choice. They had come about five miles to see someone in authority and
air their grievance. It was pointed out to them that because they were
in possession of some stagnant water and putrid beef it was no evidence
that it had been served to them as food, and they were sent back with a
promise that their camp should be properly inspected. It turned out that
the deputation had been organised with the express purpose of getting
rid of a Barbadian cook against whom they had a grudge. They had hunted
round the district for the dirtiest water they could find, and had been
fortunate in coming across a piece of stinking meat that had been thrown
out of some wayside shack. So much regard for their comfort had been
displayed by the officials that there was a tendency on the part of
these Spanish labourers to presume upon it by bringing all their natural
cunning into play.
On Sundays and holidays groups of the Spaniards congregate in Panama.
They look very picturesque with their great balloon-like trousers and
shirts of many colours, and their habit of carrying their coats and
jackets on their shoulders like a mantle. They have not yet adopted the
lighter styles of clothing usually worn in the tropics, but they do not
seem to suffer unduly from the heat. Many of them have very fierce,
villainous expressions, and it may well be that the Spanish Government
spends less in support of its jails and prisons since so many of its
subjects have found employment upon the isthmus.
There is a disposition on the part of these native recruits to the
labour forces of the Zone to settle, and not a few of them send home for
their wives and families. It does not seem at all unreasonable to
suppose that the example of their forefathers will be followed by many
of them, and it certainly would not be an undesirable thing to have a
fresh influx of new blood.
The rapid increase of private building operations in Panama and Colon,
and in the many smaller towns along the line, has given the labourer
opportunities for selling his services to a variety of employers, and
for years to come there will be a large demand for skilled workmen as
well.