184 WESTERN HEMISPHERE IMMIGRATION

“These figures for race must be taken with caution. There is every reason to
believe that the Indian percentage is considerably greater than here given.
Prof. Frederic Starr, who has spent many years studying the Mexican Indian.
estimates that there are 6,000,000 pure-blooded Indians.”
In his work, The Land Systems of Mexico, page 30, et seq., published in 1923,
George McCutcheon MeBride states:
“The daily wages to the peons who work on the haciendas have always been
very slow. The law of 1656 fixed at three reales the amount to be paid to an Indian
 who was bound by debt. Humboldt reported that in 1804 the country
laborers in Mexico received about 28 centavos. Poinsett, in 1822, states that
wages in central Mexico varied from 25 to 50 centavos. Romero in 1891 gave
36 centavos as the average, for the whole country, of the daily wages paid to field
nands. The wages of the peons remained at that level until near the close of the
Diaz administration, although, in the meantime, the peso had sunk to about half
its earlier value. At the beginning of the twentieth century the increasing demand
 for labor was making itself felt, with varying results in different parts of the
country, so that the scale of wages showed a considerable range. In Aguascalientes,
 Nuevo Leon, and San Luis Potosi a minimum of 19 or 20 centavos per day
were being paid, while in regions where labor was scarce, as in Morelos, Sonora,
Chiapas, and Baja California, the daily wage ranged from 65 centavos to 1.50
pesos. The constitution of 1917 has provided for the fixing of a minimum wage,
but as yet the conditions in the rural districts have prevented the application of
this regulation.”
In his book entitled “The Republic of Mexico, Its Agriculture, Commerce and
[ndustries,”” pages 53-55, published in 1924, says:
“The Mexiean Indian, as a rule, is a good and willing worker. He is not much
given to economizing, and is content to earn enough to satisfy his needs. But
since his needs are few, he does not see the necessity of his working much after
he has earned what he considers sufficient for subsistence. This, of course, is a
question of education. The Indian when treated in the right manner, is quite
willing to listen to good advice and can be taught to do all the work possible, in
order to save and acquire a good many things of which he knows very little and
which nevertheless are indispensable for healthy conditions of life. ,
“Wages are different in the various States and sections of the country. In
the agricultural enterprises wages are paid in cash as well as in kind—that is, in
both at the same time. In such cases the wages in cash are very low. from 30 to
40 centavos (15-20 cents American currency) a day.
‘In the States along the Atlantic coast, in Tabasco, Veracruz, and Tamaulipas,
farm laborers get, in case they are not paid in kind, from $0.75 to $2 a day in
Mexican money (one Mexican peso—dollars—is worth 50 cents in American
money).
“On the Northern Plateau—that is, in the States of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila,
Chihuahua, and Durango—they also receive from $0.75 to $2 a day in Mexican
money.
“In the Northern Pacific States—that is, in Sonora, Sinaloa, and in Lower
California—they get from $1 to $2 in Mexican money.a day.
“In the Central Pacific States—Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacan—the
wages range from $0.75 to $1; for children from $0.25 to $0.40: for women from
$0.30 to $0.40 in Mexican money a day.
“In the Southérn Pacific States—i. e., in Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas—the
farm hands receive $0.50 to $1 a day. During the coffee-gathering period the
women receive as much as $1 and the children $0.50 a day in Mexican money.
“In the States of the Southern Plateau—i. e., in Guanajuato, Queretaro,
Hidalgo, Mexico, in the Federal District, Morelos, Tlaxcala, and Puebla—farm
laborers receive from $0.50 to $2.50 a day, Mexican currency. In the States of
the Yucatan Peninsula, Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Ran they cet as
much as 2 and 4 pesos (Mesican currency) a day.
“The wage earners in the town districts—i. e., those engaged in industrial
enterprises—receive in the different sections of the Republic about 50 per cent
more than those that work in agriculture. The wages in the mining industries
and in the oil fields are 100 per cent higher than in the agricultural activities.
“In the port of Veracruz the laborers receive for a days work of eight hours
from $7.50 to 39 in Mexican money, and in the port of Tampico. where American
monev is mostly used. thev get from $4 to $R a dav.’