In the fertile valleys, through which flow the rivers of Chile, are
many magnificent estates, some of them including thousands of acres
of productive land. Upon an eminence in the midst of broad acres,
of golden grain, waving corn and verdant pastures, all framed with
avenues of stately alamos, stands the splendid residence of the owner,
overlooking the picturesque and pastoral scene. The majority of these
country mansions are built upon the same general plan, varying only in
size and ornamental elaboration. They represent a letter H in form,
with a front entrance in the middle of the bar connecting the main
lines of the letter, the drawing-room upon one side and the dining-room
on the other. A wide, roomy corridor leads from the main entrance in
front to the beautiful patio, upon either side of which is arranged
the sleeping apartments. These residences are almost invariably well
furnished and finished with artistic interior decorations. Some of them
include rare old paintings and splendid specimens of wood carving. The
drawing-room and dining-room usually contain the best of the furniture
and decorations, as those are the portions of the house most occupied
by guests. There is an absence of fireplaces and stoves, due to the
mild climate. The house is surrounded by well-kept parks and gardens
containing rare trees, shrubs and flowers. There is a peaceful harmony
in the beauty of the surroundings and everything in the environment is
suggestive of comfort and luxury.
The hacienda constitutes a small empire, with various executive and
administrative branches. The territorial limits are usually defined
by walls made of loose piled stones or adobes. The irrigated portions
are divided into potreros (fields), of from one hundred to two hundred
acres each, the dividing lines being indicated by rows of growing
trees, usually poplar, or alamos, that grow straight and tall, and
which not only add to the beauty of the landscape, but also furnish
shade for the animals in the pastures. The hill lands are divided into
larger sections, frequently as much as one thousand acres constituting
one pasture field or range. These potreros are enclosed with thorned
hedges, from the espino which grows abundantly in the low lands.
Irrigating canals carry water from the hill streams to the cultivated
fields and the pasture land, where clover, alfalfa, and other grasses
grow prodigiously in the rich loam soil.
Roads flanked with graceful trees lead out from the residence and from
the corrals to various parts of the property. A photographic view of
one of these country homes needs only a few touches of the artist’s
brush to make it an idyl. A home glimpse in Chile, even on an hacienda,
is no exception. Sunlight through a camera glorifies vistas and
ennobles foliage; it promotes stucco and plaster to marble and gives
grace and beauty to commonplace things. The lumbering teams of oxen
and the huge two-wheeled carts add to the picturesque placidity of the
scene which presents an appearance of perpetual summer and glorious
afternoon. But the photograph says nothing, and it is well for the
chronicler to omit any mention of the dust through which the carts
creak and groan at harvest time, in a country where rain falls only
between May and September.
The servants on a large hacienda consist of an administrador, a capataz
(sub-manager), various mayordomos, vaqueros (cowboys), shepherds and
a troop of peons. The administrador, or manager, is the responsible
executive head, and has entire charge of the farm. He receives orders
only from the proprietor. He suggests to the owner the work and
improvements necessary, and when his suggestions are approved he gives
orders to his subordinates to execute the plan; he receives from the
mayordomos accounts of the work done and wages earned, pays employés,
etc. It is also the business of the manager to dispose of the animals
raised on the farm, when ready for market. These sales are usually made
at auction at the most convenient railway station or shipping point.
Sometimes the sales amount to as much as fifty thousand pesos in one
day. The owner or his representatives are always present, and animals
are never sold for less than they are actually worth.
The service of an hacienda manager consists in whatever the owner
may order; he passes most of his days on horseback, as do the other
servants, except the peons. The pay of this important personage is
three hundred pesos, equal to one hundred dollars United States
currency, a year. In addition to this meager money compensation he has
the use of ten acres of dry land, suitable for growing wheat, six or
eight acres of chacra, or vegetable producing land, and pasture for
fifteen to twenty animals. Ten horses of the hacienda are usually set
apart for his exclusive use.
The capataz occupies a position next in importance to the manager;
his business is to ride over the farm daily, and make reports and
suggestions to the manager. It is also the duty of this functionary to
impound all animals not belonging to the estate found in the potreros.
A fine of so much per head is assessed against all such animals, and
the owner is required to pay the amount before they are released.
Vaqueros, who are under the direction of a manager, have certain fields
and animals under their charge. Each is held responsible for the
animals under his care. A daily count is made, and if any are missing
the vaquero is sent in search of them. The vaquero is the cowboy of
South America, and represents a type peculiar to the country.
His leggins usually consist of untanned goat skin, worn in the natural
form and without attempt to make them conform to the shape of the legs.
They not infrequently differ in color and marking, causing the wearer
to present a grotesque appearance. He also wears immense spurs and
other articles correspondingly fantastic, not the least conspicuous of
which is his hat, an enormous cone-shaped sombrero made of felt and
embroidered in fancy colors. His lasso of plaited rawhide, loosely
coiled in two-foot circles, rests upon the back of his horse. These
servants on the hacienda receive as compensation fifty pesos in cash
annually, the use of two acres of chacra, four acres of wheat-growing
land, and pasture for six or eight animals.
For each department of labor on these properties, including canals,
corrals, repairs, storehouse, direction of peons, etc., there is a
mayordomo, or foreman. Their pay is the same as that of the vaqueros.
The proprietor furnishes horses but not saddles for all of his
employés, except the peons.
“Ovejeros” (shepherds), connected with these estates live in the hills
and work on contract. They receive twenty-five centavos for each lamb
born, or one-third of the lambs. In case one receives a per cent. of
the lambs as compensation for his labor, he is compelled to sell them
to his master for one peso each. Each shepherd has in his care from
five hundred to one thousand sheep.
“Inquilinos,” or farm tenants, comprise the servants living on the
farm. They must work when ordered or furnish someone to labor in their
stead. The head of each of the families is given an allowance of four
acres of wheat-growing land, and pasture for six animals; they receive
no cash compensation. The peons on the hacienda are not given land and
pasturage for animals, but are furnished with a daily ration of food.
The owners of estates furnish houses for their servants, free of rent.
The owners of the large, irrigated and well-equipped haciendas
constitute the wealthiest, most cultured and aristocratic class in
Chile. Presidents, senators and congressmen are elected from this
class, and ministers, judges, admirals and generals are selected from
the landed gentry. Prominent and influential professional and business
men rely upon their estates for both pleasure and profit. The owners
live upon their haciendas a portion of the year, but their homes are
in the cities, most of them in Santiago, where they live in mansions
and spend with lavish hand the income from their estates. The majority
of them spend more than their income and as a result the heavily
capitalized mortgage bank of Santiago has its octopus-like hand upon
ninety per cent. of the beautiful and valuable country estates in
Chile. The extravagance of the wealthy class in the Republic is cause
for comment, and a surprise to most foreigners. Their prodigality
furnishes a ruinous example to the middle classes, who try to emulate
them, producing thereby a cheap, imitative kind of aristocracy. Most
of them belong to old and influential families who inherited their
fortunes and names from pioneer colonists. Some, however, are parvenu
aristocrats who have gained access to the exclusive social circles by
means of money, a position which from lack of education and breeding
they are not qualified to maintain.
Large landowners give little time to the cultivation of their estates,
and as a result the haciendas never produce to their full capacity. The
chief occupation of the owners is a calculation of the probable income,
with the application of as little capital and labor as possible on the
property.
Notwithstanding the fact that Chile owns the richest and most extensive
nitrate fields and guano deposits in the world, and that thousands of
tons of fertilizing material are exported annually to other countries,
to enrich depleted soil, little or none of this valuable re-creative
agency is utilized to rejuvenate the sterile soil of the worn hill
farms of the Republic. They refuse to return to the soil by artificial
means that which is annually drawn from it in the production of crops,
and as a result much valuable land has lapsed into disuse, being
considered sterile and valueless because its producing quality has been
exhausted. Under existing circumstances the farmer’s expenses are heavy
and certain and his income decreasing and uncertain. The result is that
the handsome estates are fast falling under the bane of mortgages,
the payment of the interest on which is sapping the life of the soil.
Economy is not one of the ruling characteristics of the Chileno; social
and political prestige must be maintained, even if the inevitable
result is financial ruin.
Mortgages will not permit of a disunion of the estates they cover,
or selling of a portion of the land with which to pay interest, and
when the owner is unable to longer meet his obligations the hacienda
is sold at auction. The family then retires to a life of seclusion,
and thereafter live upon a very meager income. There is no moral;
remembering their former achievements and the splendor of past life,
they indulge in no regret over present conditions. These families
do not as a rule, however, belong to the best blood of Chile. They
generally consist of those who go from country to the city and whose
vanity leads them into unwonted extravagance.
The artificial and realistic phases of social life among the above
mentioned classes furnish some sharp and well-defined contrasts. The
phase most commonly known, and the one invariably presented to the
world, is the artificial, with stage effects and deceptive lights;
the other is the real,--the everyday home life, where the natural
characteristics of the actors are presented. In the home, all show,
pomp and exhibition can be safely discarded; no stage effects are
necessary. A “peep” into the home life of some of these families will
reveal the female members sitting in groups upon low stools, or on
the floor, around a “bracero,” charcoal fire, the servants squatting
in close proximity, discussing in a familiar way the latest social
triumphs or the day’s hidden economies.
Another striking contrast in the home life is the different
characteristics possessed by the men and women. The women are domestic
by nature, patient to a degree, long suffering, good mothers and
loyal wives. They are content with little, and either by inheritance
or through generations of experience and training they do not
expect much from their lords and masters. Their education, which is
generally secured in the parochial schools, is influenced by religious
prejudice. They manifest little interest in politics or world affairs,
and a professional career is not to be thought of by a Chilena. ’Tis
considered more respectable for a woman to live proudly in abject
poverty than to earn a livelihood in a profession or commercial
occupation. Many of the Chilean señoritas possess great beauty, are
graceful and vivacious. They know the force and effect of flattery,
and are artists in the use of that dangerous weapon of society. They
have natural talent for languages, usually speak French and have some
knowledge of English, and their own language they use with consummate
skill.
The sons in the families of the better class are often educated in
the belief that labor is degrading, and encouraged to lead lives of
indolence. Instead of being taught that labor is honorable, that the
gods sell everything to those who work; that the most useless and
uninteresting members of society in this busy world are the drones;
that intelligent industry is the chief factor in modern civilization;
that honest effort is the advance guard of commercial and industrial
progress, the youth of Chile is encouraged in the belief that it is
honorable and manly to rely upon paternal dependence. Their education
and youthful training too often lead them into the erroneous idea
that business is drudgery, and that discipline of mind and will are
hardships to be endured only by the servants and poor classes.
The men who constitute the wealthy class in Chile contrast sharply in
characteristics with the women in the same social cast. They have
an agreeable, dignified manner and polite address. Intellectually
keen, they are quick to grasp a theory and clever in presenting it.
Super-sensitive, they are quick to take offense, but will keep a
smiling countenance, a polite, unruffled exterior, and even manifest a
liking for people whom they inwardly detest. They are drawn together by
business and political interests and whenever their interests conflict,
enmity and even hatred are the result. This is carried to such extent
that in the cities the families of the managers or heads of competing
commercial houses or business firms will not associate with each other,
and friendship between two Chilean gentlemen engaged in opposition
business is the rare exception. Political opponents are enemies so long
as their interests clash.
It is generally among the hacendados that political schemes, resulting
in combinations of far-reaching consequence, have their origin. When
a candidate aspires to an elective office, he makes his wants known
to the managers of the party to which he belongs, and assures them of
his willingness to pay the required sum to carry the election. After
securing the nomination the candidate puts himself in communication
with the influential men of his party in the province in which he
stands for election. Among these men he distributes the amount he is
willing to pay for the office. These confidants distribute the fund
among their friends, who in turn re-distribute it, each retaining
as it passes through his hands what he believes is the value of his
services. There is never any accounting, and no questions are asked. On
election day, which is a general feast and field day for the peons,
each candidate has friends and money representing him at the various
voting places. The peons have no political faith or party, probably
do not know, much less care, for what the election is being held.
Their votes are for sale, either publicly or privately, to the highest
bidder. Those from the same farm, district or village, usually band
together, one of the number acting as spokesman. When the polls are
declared open the inspectors of registration take their places behind
the ballot box, and the bidding for the purchase of votes begins. The
agent of one candidate approaches a group of peons and asks for their
votes, the spokesman for the crowd asking in turn what is bid for
their suffrages. After some bargaining an offer is made. Taking that
as a basis, negotiations are then opened by a representative of the
peons with the agent for another candidate. When convinced that they
cannot secure more the peons close with the highest bidder, and march
in single file to the voting place. One by one their names are called,
and as their right to vote is admitted, the agent of the candidate
making the purchase deposits the vote. After the voting is completed
according to agreement, the peons receive the money in the presence
of the inspectors, politicians and other voters. There is no attempt
at secrecy. There is a law upon the statute books making the purchase
or the sale of a vote a crime, with severe penalties attached, but it
is disregarded and has become almost a dead letter. The laws of Chile
also provide for a secret ballot, but it is neither secret nor sacred.
The election of a president in Chile is by the electoral system, the
electors being selected by popular vote, and apportioned on a basis of
population.
The constitution gives to the poor of Chile the birthright of freedom,
and all men are supposed to be equal under the laws of the Republic.
Many of those living upon the large haciendas, however, have little
freedom of action or individuality and some of them are little more
than a part of the general farm equipment. They are dependent and
apparently defenseless. Inquilinos almost invariably sell their labor
in advance to the owners of the property on which they live. They never
leave the hacienda, for conditions are everywhere the same. The rich
landowners are powerful enough to force into subjugation all within
their domains, and they assert their authority with the arrogance of
autocrats. The inquilinos have nothing beyond a meager living; they
always remain poor. They are not permitted to sow, reap or do any
work for themselves until all the work of a similar character on the
hacienda is finished.
The majority of these poor people are honest with their patrons. When
crimes are committed it is against others and not their master. As a
rule the only offense of which they are guilty is that of harboring
friendly thieves in their houses on the haciendas, thereby indirectly
aiding in theft committed. If an hacienda changes hands, it makes not
the slightest difference with the servants, who remain, many of them
spending their entire lives upon the estate where they are born. The
average wage of these farm laborers is about forty centavos per day.
This low compensation is not due to a surplus of farm labor, for in
fact there is a scarcity.
The condition of the poor people in the farming communities has
resulted in recent years in an exodus of labor to the nitrate fields
and mineral districts of Atacama, Tarapaca, Copiapo and Coquimbo, where
they receive good wages and are paid regularly. This inviting field for
labor, within the territorial limits of the Republic, is encouraging
a more independent spirit among the working classes. That, together
with the resentment against oppression so long imposed upon them by the
hacendados, has already produced a marked effect and is rapidly growing
into a condition of open hostility between employer and employés. The
laborers are already organizing themselves into unions which opens a
fruitful field for the agitator and the political demagogue. This has
been evidenced by organized demands for shorter hours and higher wages
among the employés in many of the seaport towns within the past few
years. It had its most striking and tragic illustration in the riots in
Valparaiso in May, 1903, when the city was sacked and property burned
by a mob of striking stevedores.
This independent movement, this breaking away from former conditions
had its origin in the revolution of 1891, which inaugurated new and
worse relations between capital and labor. The uprising gave the
Roto Chileno an opportunity to unmask and to manifest his natural
characteristics. Not at first upon a strike plan, but in secret
combination against those who employ labor; to shield each other in
infractions of the law; to organize a class into a union of criminals
that includes in its depredations every act in the category of crime.
An undeclared war is waged, unexpressed antagonism, and unspoken
enmity have been inducted into being. The policy of weak submission,
in which they so long acquiesced, is gradually but surely changing to
one of open defiance. Generations of smoldering hatred burst forth in
the flame of strife and revolution, and the growth and menacing hostile
attitude of labor and capital to-day is the outgrowth of that movement.
These labor troubles, felt first in the populous centers, are gradually
finding their way to the farms and haciendas, and it is easy to predict
the changed condition that will result within a few years; conditions
that will reach the other extreme. There is no class of people so
tyrannical, so unreasonable and dictatorial, as the ignorant, the poor
and oppressed, when once they hold the balance of power. The Roto
Chilenos, as an organized force, would be a desperate, dangerous class,
a menace to society and good government. Let us hope that the distance
between these extremes will be narrowed, that capital will be given
the protection and encouragement to which it is entitled, and upon
which its existence depends, and at the same time labor will be given
the best remuneration, the broadest field and the amplest opportunity
possible. This is a problem that should concern the politicians and
statesmen of Chile. The time has passed when the working class will
submit to intolerance and oppression, and the fact that conditions are
changing, even in a country where the common people cling tenaciously
to tradition and usage, must be recognized. The sons and daughters of
farmers go to the cities and take service with foreigners. When they
return to their country homes they take with them manners and ideas
acquired from a different people--transplanted customs from another
world. And so, slowly, backward and forward among the people passes
the shuttle of changing methods, weaving into the fabric of life
new and strange conditions. These influences are making themselves
felt in many ways. In the typical Chilean village one sometimes sees
among the thatched roof adobe huts, a house with some pretensions to
ornamentation. Instead of an earthen floor, and the patio occupied by
fowls and animals, there is a brick or tile floor, and the walls are
ornamented with pictures. The poncho, which was formerly universally
worn by the men, has been almost entirely discarded in the cities, and
generally so in the villages. The mantilla, that most unsanitary of
articles, with which all the women of Chile formerly draped their heads
and faces, and which had also the objectionable feature of giving them
a common and unattractive appearance, is fast growing into disuse, and
is being supplanted by more modern feminine headdress. The country
people are beginning to discard sandals for shoes, and in many ways
manifest a more progressive spirit.
A Chileno may appear upon the streets of a city in personal attire
the same as that prescribed for gentlemen in any country, but custom
in the country prescribes a different standard. A gentleman huaso,
well mounted and properly equipped, will have several hundred dollars
represented in his personal adornment and caparison, for he must appear
“a la moda del campo” (in the costume of the country). The cost of
the outfit of the average well-mounted Chilean gentleman farmer may
be calculated as follows: Horse, three hundred pesos; silver mounted
bridle and reins, seventy-five; silver mounted saddle, two hundred;
inlaid silver belt and knife, fifty; silver spurs, seventy-five;
poncho, fifty; hat, twenty; special riding suit, one hundred;
embroidered leggins, seventy-five; boots, twenty-five; watch and other
extras, two hundred; total, one thousand one hundred and seventy pesos,
equal to four hundred dollars United States currency.