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Show I INDIANS HELD IN BONDAGE IN PERUUNGLES H Natives in 8lavery Are Murdered, Flogged or Otherwise Tortured H At Will of Inhuman H Masters H Washington Feb, 7 With tho H transmission to congress today 1) M President Tnft of a special statu do- HJ Iiartmcnt report compiled by Amerl- 1 can Consul Stewart J. Fuller nt Ht Iqultos, Peru, on the Anglo-Saxon ex- M , ploratlon of South American Indians M , In tho Putumnyo district of Peru, M and conclusions on tho samo subject B by Krcderlco Alfonso I'ezct, Peru- M vlan minister to the United States M were made public by tlio state do- m Tho latter statement shows that H tho 1'oruvlan government has been m nwnro of every step (alien by Amerl- M can Consul Stownrt .1. Puller, and M tho minister gives assurance that nl- M J ready steps have been tnken by his H , government for the Improvement of M conditions In tho Putumayo territory H Although It was feared nt llrst that m Consul Puller's efforts had been H rendered valueless In many respects M ( by tho csplonaga of agents of the H British rubbor company stato depart- H ment officials now arc hopeful that tho crying abuses of which tho nut- H Ivo Indians Iiavo been long suffering In bringing tho Putumayo district H t under tho protection of Peruvian law, and tho administration of Just- H Ice, tho minister points out that his H government will rely largely upon M tho co-operation of tho Homan C'ath- M ollc hierarchy. M Missions Planned H Minister Pezet declares that the H moral uplift of tho aborigines has re- M celved very special attention and H that tho admlnstratlon has decided H to erect a bishopric at laultos and M establish five missions through the H district. With tho priests from these H missions living among them and In- M structlng them Senor Pezet is con- H Udent tho Indians will be effectually m protected from any now attempts to H maltreat or brutillo them. Ho says H the government nt Mum will keep 1" "SBBBM .1. t).iliimni'.i fnillltl'V llr BBS! OUCIl Willi IUU ti"u " f ' H wireless and that a flotilla or gun- H boats will patrol tho streams Hi the B district to obviate a return of the M old outrages. H "Nothing will be neglected," he H continues, "which can be done to pro H tcct the uutlvo races from tho brut- H nlitles which have occurred In the H paBt. Several parties Indicted for H ciimes against tho aborigines will ho H brought to Justlco and such of the H crlmnals hb have fled tho country H will bo brought back as soon as M , proper extraditions can bo main- M tallied." H Senor Pezet declared that Pros- H Ident Ililllnghurst Is determined to M J i punish tho culprits. Hjli, ' Barbarous Oppression m ' It Is shown In Consul Puller's re- B port thai the helpless people of tho H Putumayo district Mere victims of H a medieval system or barbarous op- H prcsslon weltdcd by the Peruvian- B ! Amazon company an Kngllsh concern H ' which works the rubber fields In the M I upper Amazor country. H It Is asserted that when tho In- H titans failed to bring In n toll or rub- H1 ' Iter surilccut io satisfy the owrseers M I of tho company riogging, mutilation B iid sometimes death follows. M i Debt Is declared to have been the H chain with which tho Indians were B ' felercd. Ily being forced to buy more fl' i Imported goods than they ever could M hope to pay for they have been ro HI duced to what Consul Puller found M was irtuiilly shivery. H Little Hope For Relief B l.lttle hope for tho relief or the lung suffering Indians Is held out B in the Puller report for tho region is M i emote from tho sent or Peruvian M government and Mr. Puller finds M that the travesty on justlco which B exists In the rubber section Is en- H tlrely In tho hands of tho rubber m company's section chiefs. Tho Andes H form an almost Impassable barrier H to the westward of tho district whllo H to reach tho outsido world through H' the Atlantic ocean river craft must H , traverse almost the entlro 3300 miles H' of the Amazon. Railroads aro un- H known and no highways exist worthy H of tho name. In this farway comer H with no means of appeal or redress H tho Indians were held at tho merer H' bt the company's overseers. Several H of the overseers aro said have ad- H mltted they had put Indians and ov- H en white laborers In stocks for mln- H-'J or offenses. Many of the Indians BJS whom Mr. Fuller saw t'oro acars of H floggliiKo and other maltroatmeut. HS Many Put To Death HI The temptations to abuse Is lm- 4" ''j p mlnent and strong especially slnco I tk Iho white staff Is offered as a bonus bbV"'JbbbbbbbbI for vigilance. Mr. Fuller reaches the conclusion thnt considering the ro-motcticBs ro-motcticBs of tho country and tho poor quality of the rubber It Is unlikely that the enterprise would pay without with-out hard treatment of tho IndlanB. Al though largo numbers of tho Indlons have been killed and somo have cs-coped cs-coped Into South American Junglo tho output or rubber has Increased despite the decreaso In native labor. With governmental machinery absent ab-sent Mr. Fuller Is or tho opinion thnt should tho rubber corporation ccaso Its activities the Indians would fall to no better lot at tho hands of frco-bootlng frco-bootlng expeditions and slavo raiders Indians Bought and Sold Mr. Fuller finds that whllo profess Iiir not to approve cruel and Inhuman In-human treatment the whites generally general-ly regard the Indian aB having been created by provldcnco for tho uso and benefit of tho superior raco. This attitude of the people has found con-crcto con-crcto expressions In tho universal system of peouago an old Institution which Mr. Fuller found well established, estab-lished, recognized by lnw and the basis upon which tho rubber business busi-ness almost entirely rests. As claims for debt are trans the person of the debtor being trail ferrcd to the now creditor tho Indians In-dians and their families really are bought and sold. Whllo Mr. Fuller found evidence that tho company had mended Its ways to somo extent ho saw much uiuiucstlonnble evldcnco that crul-Itles crul-Itles still aro practiced. Dogged By Spies Whllo Consul Fuller was attempting attempt-ing to get at the Tacts In tho rubber Held system It Is declared his steps wero dogged by the company's agents, making It difficult for him to obtain nny Information but such as It was desired ho should procure. Tho Indians nro said to havo cowered cow-ered and lapsed Into sllenco whenever when-ever tho vigilant overseer approached. ap-proached. Consul Fuller hopes ultimately for mitigation of their Buffering through the efforts of President Ililllnghurst of Peru. Mr. Fuller found tho Indians not wild and untamable but Inoffensive anil chlldllko It was tho disci sures made by Sir Hoger Casement, Ilritlsh consul general at Ulo Janeiro who Investigated Investi-gated tho situation In 1910 that In-lluenced In-lluenced the stnto department to order or-der the Investigation mado by Con sul Fuller. Victims Tortured Sir Hogers found that among other oth-er things the Peruvian Amazon company com-pany Imported 200 llnrbadoes men, who, upon, their nrrlval In tho rubber rub-ber district wero armed with Winchester Win-chester rilles nml Bent Into tho Jun-glo Jun-glo to capture and enslavo Indians dwelling along tho upper Amazon militaries. The Ilritlsh consul found that In tho exercise of this illegal il-legal compulsion the Indians wero murdered. Hogged and otherwise tortured, tor-tured, the company, through Its agents, forcing tho llarbadoes men actively to participate in tho atrocities atroc-ities In order to compel tho helpless natives to scour the forests and bring In rubber upon their backs from tho leiiiuto districts. The llarbadoes llar-badoes men In turn complained of harsh treatment accorded them by agents high up, who denied them food as a means to compel them to drlvo the Indians to further extremes. ex-tremes. The entire plan or operations opera-tions seemed to be based upon a I system of oppression from tho high- est to tho humblest In the employ i of tho company, which Is dcclnred to have wielded always an iron baud from the far away London olllco. |