XXXIII.
Labor and Wages.
Slavery existed in Mexico before and after the Spanish Conquest, but it was abolished soon after the establishing of Mexican Independence. Formerly convicts worked in the cotton and woolen factories in company with free laborers; and Humboldt, in his Political Essay on New Spain, has spoken of the injurious effect of this system on the latter class.
Labor is now abundant throughout the Republic. In some of the larger cities the supply is greater than the demand. Skilled labor is rare among the natives, but they are capable of learning any trade. European labor has not thus far been largely introduced into Mexico. American negroes have been imported to a limited extent for the purpose of railway-construction.
The peons or day-laborers may be divided principally into two great classes, i. e. , those engaging in mining, and those who are employed on farms and ranches. The former class are much better workmen than the latter. They are not migratory in their habits, and will often remain in one mining district for a lifetime. The miners and millers work about seven hours daily. They are usually peaceable, and receive better wages than the agricultural peons. The latter are, as a rule, lazy and indolent. In the tierra fria and tierra templada they work from daylight to sunset, with a siesta at noon, while in the tierra caliente the hours of labor are from 5 to 11 a. m., and from 3 to 6 p. m. Women do not generally work in the fields.
A third class of workmen is employed in the factories and hotels, and by the railways. Male and female operatives obtain employment in the former.
A considerable number of the Indian population act
