CHAPTER V

_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.

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.

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

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.

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.