10
By PAUL SCHONIG Before 1M oUlbreak of 1M Greater EIUl Aria War, .0uJlleaJttern .Am (MokJya and 1M EM Indi.e8), IDit1l iU IJ3.000 to,.. annually, COfItribuJed __ IAan half oj 1M V1Orld'. mlire tin produdiort.. TIM taking _ oj til.. IJreca ", Japan ruult«l ift 1M 8eriotu problem oj 1lotD tIte Anglo·America,.. are 10 manage IA.. tin. TM an_ 10 til.. lJ_tion .. : They will ,e1 it Jrom BolicM. 80 mucA on til.. iNue IAat _ AaH uhd IJ epecialiM 10 analyu it for w. The aulAor .. an engineer who worked Jor MGny year. in Bolima and who .. at pruent in Japan. H• .. pr'ObahlN unaurpcund ", anNO'" in EM Aria in hie 1motDl«lt}t oj tIte ... bjecl. I'll "iew oj 1M Jad tJtat tIte 1JMUho" oj Boliman tin inool_ ftClI only engiMering buJ alJIo, 10 _ u"'IlI, tranrportation and labor I'robleme, tM JolWwing article aleo with 1M country and the people in ,.nual.-K.M. H ERE in jagged outline; there in more gentle curves, the Andes stretch away through the western part of Bolivia. The mountains are tom apart by wild, bizarre fissures, and everywhere there are mighty, snow-erowned peaks rising into the clouds. The valleys look 88 if their sides had been forced together by a huge, savage hand, and often they narrow down to canyons three thousand and more feet deep. The narrow motor roads seem to hang over the chasms, and it often happens that motorists are over- come by giddiness and violent nausea. The drivers must concentrate intensely. It is by no means a rare ocourrence for motorcars and trucks to plunge over the edge. In spite of all their dangers, the moun- tains of Bolivia have a strange attraction for the traveler. The dry air sharply outlines every rirlge, every peak and for- mation and, through its plastic effeet, makes them appear startlingl.v near. Mountains, valleys, and lakes are usually named according to their appearance: for instance, Mt. Illampu ("the tender"); the range of Quimsa. Cruz ("the three crosses"); Amaya Pampa ("the valley of the dead"); Laram Ccotta ("blue lake"), ete. Most of the names are taken from the Aymari. and Quechua languages. These are the old Indian languages of Bolivia, Quechua being the language of the Incas and Aymara. dating back to pre-Inca times. When one rides along the nlUTOW, pre- cipitous mountain paths on a mule, one involuntarily clings close to the steeply rising mountain wall. At one time I had to build a hydroelectrio plant in the Quimsa Cruz region. The motor track ended on a rock buttress, and the power plant was to be ereoted more than three thousand feet below in a narrow valley. The rocky side of the mountain dropped sheer into the valley at an angle of 78 degrees. It was the first time in my life that I had ridden on 80 dangerous a path, a.nd, although the mule was used to suoh inclines and very carefully set one foot in front of the other, I could not rid myself of the constantly recurring thought that one slip on the part of the a.nimal would be enough to end both our lives.

BOLIVIA. HER PEOPLE AND HER TIN - University of …evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10524/32144/1/59-Volume3.pdfwould be enough to end both our lives. BOLIVIA. HER PEOPLE AND

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By PAUL SCHONIG

Before 1M oUlbreak of 1M Greater EIUl Aria War, .0uJlleaJttern .Am(MokJya and 1M EM Indi.e8), IDit1l iU IJ3.000 to,.. annually, COfItribuJed __IAan half oj 1M V1Orld'. mlire tin produdiort.. TIM taking _ oj til.. IJreca ",Japan ~ ruult«l ift 1M 8eriotu problem oj 1lotD tIte Anglo·America,.. are 10manage~ IA.. tin. TM~ an_ 10 til.. lJ_tion .. : They will ,e1 itJrom BolicM.

80 mucA Ih~ on til.. iNue IAat _ AaH uhd IJ epecialiM 10 analyuit for w. The aulAor .. an engineer who worked Jor MGny year. in Bolima andwho .. at pruent in Japan. H• .. pr'ObahlN unaurpcund ", anNO'" in EMAria in hie 1motDl«lt}t oj tIte ...bjecl. I'll "iew oj 1M Jad tJtat tIte 1JMUho" ojBoliman tin inool_ ftClI only engiMering buJ alJIo, 10 _ ~ u"'IlI,tranrportation and labor I'robleme, tM JolWwing article aleo ~ with 1Mcountry and the people in ,.nual.-K.M.

HERE in jagged outline; there in moregentle curves, the Andes stretchaway through the western part of

Bolivia. The mountains are tom apartby wild, bizarre fissures, and everywherethere are mighty, snow-erowned peaksrising into the clouds. The valleys look88 if their sides had been forced togetherby a huge, savage hand, and often theynarrow down to canyons three thousandand more feet deep. The narrow motorroads seem to hang over the chasms, andit often happens that motorists are over­come by giddiness and violent nausea.The drivers must concentrate intensely.It is by no means a rare ocourrence formotorcars and trucks to plunge over theedge.

In spite of all their dangers, the moun­tains of Bolivia have a strange attractionfor the traveler. The dry air sharplyoutlines every rirlge, every peak and for­mation and, through its plastic effeet,makes them appear startlingl.v near.Mountains, valleys, and lakes are usuallynamed according to their appearance:for instance, Mt. Illampu ("the tender");the range of Quimsa. Cruz ("the three

crosses"); Amaya Pampa ("the valleyof the dead"); Laram Ccotta ("blue lake"),ete. Most of the names are taken fromthe Aymari. and Quechua languages.These are the old Indian languages ofBolivia, Quechua being the language ofthe Incas and Aymara. dating back topre-Inca times.

When one rides along the nlUTOW, pre­cipitous mountain paths on a mule, oneinvoluntarily clings close to the steeplyrising mountain wall. At one time Ihad to build a hydroelectrio plant in theQuimsa Cruz region. The motor trackended on a rock buttress, and the powerplant was to be ereoted more than threethousand feet below in a narrow valley.The rocky side of the mountain droppedsheer into the valley at an angle of 78degrees. It was the first time in my lifethat I had ridden on 80 dangerous a path,a.nd, although the mule was used to suohinclines and very carefully set one footin front of the other, I could not ridmyself of the constantly recurring thoughtthat one slip on the part of the a.nimalwould be enough to end both ourlives.

BOLIVIA. HER PEOPLE AND HER TIN

HIGH COUNTRY

Although Bolivia is almost four timesthe size of Germany, her population isestimated at a mere three millions. Ninetenths of this population live in the high­lands of the Andes, 80 that the remainingtwo thirds of the country, the vast tropicalplains of eastern Bolivia, can hardly becalled inhabited. The western, populatedpart of Bolivia consists of the westernAndes (which form the border towardChile and Peru), the eastern Andes, andthe high plateau between those two mainranges. This

.plateau, calledthe Altiplano,starts from LakeTiticaca in thenorth and endson the Argentineborder in thesouth. LakeTi ticaca, thehighest navi­gable lake in theworld, is 12,644feet above sealevel. The AUi­plano has no out- .Jet to the sea, andthe waters ofLake Titicacaflo.w throughLake Poopo tothe salt lakes of Uyuni, which are morethan 12,200 feet above sea. level.

Only a few hours away from the highplateau, on the other side of the easternAndes, there are the most marvelloustropical and subtropical valleys. What acontrast: on the one side the highlandswith their poor barley, potato, and milletfields, and on the other side the valleyswith their luxuriant vegetation containingoranges, lemons, bananas, coffee, vines,figs, and peaches! There are finca8(ranches) on which the products of threeclimates are grown: barley, wheat, oranges,sugar cane, etc.

The A liiplano is not level but rollingcountry. In places, low ranges stretchacross it, and here and there hilly domes

301

rise out of the plateau. Part of it con­sists of wide, clayey plains covered withglistening sand; other parts show sandyPampa. formations covered with sparsegrass and cut by little streams; in placesthere are the shining mirrors of smalllagoons, which pa.rtia.lly dry up duringthe dry winter months. The climate issevere, and a strong wind blows almostcontinuously. If one is traveling by carand a shower of rain overtakes one, thesmooth, c1a.yey surfaces turn immediatelyinto a soapy, slippery mass. The wheelslose all their friction, and it beoomes

impossible tosteer the car.

• Tin Boli' Very often theAt only thing to do

~ in such cases isto stop and wait

~ till the pampa.has dried upagain.

There are alsoother difficultiesfor the motoristin the pampa.When one isovertaken bydarkness, for in­stance, one veryeasily loses one'sdirection. Thepampa is crossedand recrossed by

thousands of motor tracks, and there areno actual highways. And then there arethe mirages one meets with on such levelstretches of the pampa. One seems tobe driving toward a vast blue lake whichconstantly moves back or, at times, dis­appears entirely. It is a strange ex­perience to see a car or a truck movethrough this lake, drawing a huge cloudof dust behind it, or to see a herd ofunnaturally enlarged llama grazing inthe lake. Sunset on the pampa is athing of incredible beauty. The colorschange from deepest red to the most ex­quisite blue-mauve and finally to analmost black blue-gray. And when thepampa. is already entirely covered bydarkness, one can still see the snowysummits of the Andes shining dimly:

THE XXth CENTURY302

THE ALTITUDB

A newcomer finds it very hard atfirst to stand the climate at these altitudes.In addition to the usual mountain sick­ness, he is liable to heart and breathingtrouble during the first few wef>ks. Hea)so feels disagreeably chilly, so muchso that he cannot get \\'arm even in a.well-heated bed. It usually takes abouttwo years for him to become entirelyacclimatized. The climate actually forcesone to lead a. very sober life, for, in orderto feel fresh during the day, one needsten hours of sleep. On the other hand,it is an interesting fact that, through thestrong increase of red corpuscles in one'sblood, one can take large quantities ofalcohol without getting drunk.

The strong radiation of ultravioletrays at those high altitudes has a notice­able influence on the nervous system, andeveryone becomes more or less nervy andirritable. Through the intensive sun­light and the flying dust of the pampa,the eyes are constantly irritated and thereare many cases of conjunctivitis. Theskin does not tum brown in the sun, butred. Furthermore, the low humidity ofthe air causes great changes in the skin.It becomes very brittle, almoet like leath­er, and the lips are very liable to crack.Many people, therefore, 8uffer from deepchaps which are hard to heal. Thedryness of the air also makes itself un­pleasantly felt in the nose and 'throat.Strangely enough, however, the Indians~ practically not affected by all thesecomplaints.

All movements of the body are alsoadjusted to the altitude, that is to say,they automatically become slower. Greatexertion is only poesible for a few mo­ments, for one is immediately overcomeby difficulty in breathing and chills. Iremember one occasion, on one of mymany motor trips shortly after the rainyseason, when the back wheel of my carslipped down into a ditch, so that therear axle was resting on the ground. Iwas alone, and there were neither housesnor Indians far and wide, so that I hadto jack up the car myself. To do thisjob, which could easily have been com-

pleted in half an hour at sea level, I tookabout three hours, and I was so exhaustedthat I had to rest half an hour beforedriving on.

PEAKED CAP .o\ND PONCHO

As can be expected in these latitudes~

the sun shines mercilessly during thedaytime. But at night it becomes dis­agreeably cold in the pampa, and in thewinter months the temperature drops to15 degrees centigrade below freezingpoint. Shortly before sunset, an icywind blows down from the frozen heightaof the Andes. Then again steel parts ata height of 17,000 feet may assume atemperature of more than 150 degreesFahrenheit (60 degrees centigrade) duringthe day.

To protect them against the icy windthe highland Indians wear a kind ofpeaked cap made of coarse, homespunwool in gay colors and with long ear­flaps. On top of this, they wear a thickfelt hat as protection against the sun.This combination naturally looks rathercurious. The Indian takes great pride inhis hat, just as he shows a rather childlikeattitude in many things. If one wantsto secure the help of an Indian to replacea flat tyre. for instance. the only way todo this is to snatch away his hat andtell him that he will only get it backagain after he has given his help.

The Indians wear white woollen trou­sers and a coarse shirt made of the samehomespun llama wool. as well as a bright­ly colored, six-foot-Iong cummerbund,called "Jaja." To protect themselvesagainst cold and rain they wear a sortof cape. the poncho. This poncho con­sists of a large square piece of cloth madeof thick llama wool and usually wovenin gay stripes. In the center of thecloth there is a slit. just large enough forthe head to go through. Worn in thisway, the poncho looks like a three-quarter­length cape. Sometimes. however, onecan see the poncho worn like a huge~~p~~undthen~of~

Indian. At night it is used as ablanket.

BOLIVIA. HER PEOPLE AND HER TIN 303

ARTISTS IN COLOR

·According. to their wealth, the womenwear two, three, or more colored woollenskirts, one on top of the other, a whitewoollen blouse, and a homemade, natural­colored hat with a narrow, turned-upbrim. As an added protection againstwind and rain they wear a gay cloth,which is also used for carrying, especiallyfor carrying babies.

The colors of all these garments varybetween brilliant red, green, mauve, andyellow. On holidays, when the Indiansgather to dance, and with the monotonous,gray mountains as a background, thisprovides a gay and beautiful spectacle.They show an incredible endurance indancing, going on day and night withoutinterruption to a monotonous melodyconsisting of only five notes. In thehighlands, the Indians even wear theirfantastic old feather headdresses at suchfestivals, and sometimes one can seehideous Inca masks.

All the garments are dyed by theIndians themselves, although they nowuse modern aniline dyes which they buyby the gram at the regular Sunday mar­kets. A purchase of this kind often takeshours, and the customers sit on theground in front of the seller with anextraordinary endurance, hard to under­stand for the foreigner, while trying tomake up their minds. They are wonder­fully gifted in the art of dyeing. Thecloth is woven on the most primitive oflooms, consisting really only of a frameand a few pieces of wood. The spinningis done by the women while walking orwhile looking after the llama herds.The fabrics show unusual beauty in theirdesigns and resemble the old fabrics ofthe' Incas, which can still be seen inmuseums.

Those Indians who do not work in themines live on agriculture and husbandryand DSUally dwell together in clans.There are communities with a purelycommunal management which in mostcases are quite wealthy. The Indianslive in windowless mud huts roofed withturf or pampa grass. The furnishingsconsist of a few skins, which serve as

sleeping and sitting accommodation. andof an open fire-container something likethe Japanese hibacM.

The Indian lives mainly on rice, maize,or millet soup, which he cooks togetherwith dried llama meat and vegetables.He .also eats potatoes, which after theha,rvest he leaves out to freeze in thecold winter nights, thawing them againin the hot sun of the daytime, till theyare quite dried out and most of thestarch has turned to sugar. To theforeign palate, these potatoes, called"chunio8," taste revoltingly sweet. Themost popular drink is chicha. It is madefrom chewed maize, which fermentsthrough the admixture of saliva and isbrewed into a strong alcoholic drink byrepeated boiling.

Since life is very hard in the highlandsand there is no vegetation, nothing forthe eye to delight in except the giganticpanorama of the mountains, the peopleliving there are all joyless and more orless sullen. On the other hand, theinhabitants of the valleys and the low­lands are gay, easygoing, and carefree,as well they may be, since Nature makesthem a gift of almost all the necessitiesof life.

MINING Dl THE OLOUDS

After Malaya, Bolivia is the largesttin-producing country in the world. Shealso produces lead, zinc, copper, anti­mony, tungsten, bismuth, mercury, sele­nium, cobalt, molybdenum, manganese,gold, and silver. As can be seen in ourmap, the tin deposits are to be found ina strip running the entire length ofwestern Bolivia. The mines are situatedon the high slopes of the eastern Andes,most of them at an altitude of 15,000 to17,000 feet. However, there are a numberof important mines whose shafts liehigher than 17,000 feet. Transportationforms one of the major problems for theInines. The laying out and the con­struction costs of roads are a heavyburden. Where it is possible to buildroads, the gradient must not be steepin view of the great lo~ in power sufferedby engines as a result of the altitude.

THE XXth CENTURY

THE QUESTION OF POWER

The supply of power to the Bolivianmines for running the large mining· anddressing plants will always remain a greatproblem. So "far only a few large mines(lould afford the capital required, fOfinstance, to build expensive hydroelectric

tricts in the world. As in Malaya, themain tin mineral is stannic oxide (Sn Os),which makes up ninety per cent of theentire tin production. However, it isfound very rarely in its pure state inBolivia. The tin ores are usually of acomplex nature, that is, they are closelyintermingled with other minerals andoften sprayed infiuitely finely into thestone. Consequently, the dressing andconcentration of the ores for the smeltingstage very often cause great diffiQulty.Especially the removal of the pyrites(Fe Sl), which are often present, calls forrather complicated and expensive plants.

It can be said in general about theBolivian ores that, in _comparison withthe Malayan ores, their mining and pro-

. duction costs per ton of ore concentrateare considerably higher, in fact, withregard to all other tin-producing coup­tries, the highest. The average produc­tion cost for one ton of refined tin inBolivia has been calculated at US$5QOto US$600, while it is estimated at alittle more than half that amount forthe Malayan mines.

The tin contents of the excavatedmaterial in Bolivia, which at the turn ofthe century still averaged 12 to 15 percent, have constantly decreased. throughthe rich minerals having been exhaustedand through poorer deposits having-beenworked. Today the content varies be­tween 1 and 5 per cent, averaging ap­proximately 2.4 per cent. The totalBolivian reserves of visible and probablyexisting tin ores have not yet beenofficially estimated. .According to a roughestimate made by Professor F. Ahlfelds,the present Government geologist ofBolivia, 430,000 tons of refined tin maybe counted upon in the tin ores. -Oreswith less than 1 per cent tin have notbeen included in this estimate.

ALL ABOUT TIN

The tin deposits of Bolivia- are knownas the largest and richest tin-lode dis-

During the rainy season from Decemberto April, the roads are washed out, andquite often whole parts of the roads arecarried away or buried by landslides.The tires of the trucks slip in the mudand dig deep ruts and holes, so that, bythe time the dry season starts, the roadshave become ahnost useless.

Many mines are so situated that it isquite impossible to construct a motorroad, or only at a cost far beyond themeans of the mine. In such cases, alltransport must be made by mule or llama.Of course, such transport is very slowand limited in quantity and weight incomparison to motor transport. A muleor a llama cannot carry more than fiftypounds on each side. As a result, thosemines which are only accessible by mulepath can rarely be equipped properly,since it is hardly possible to transportany large or heavy machinery p&rts tothem. I remember an occasion whenseveral 1,2oo-foot lengths of wire cable,each weighing almost two tons, wereneeded for the construction of a cableconveyer and had to be carried to themine by chains of a hundred and fiftymules. Although each animal carried acomparatively small load, a whole chainof mules plunged over the side during thefirst attempt.

. Only very few mines are lucky enoughto be adjoining a State highway. Withroad conditions as they are in Bolivia,the life of an American truck of the bestmake is reckoned at not more than 20,000to 25,000 miles. A set of tires lastsabout 10,000 miles. So these two factors,road construction and me8oIl.S of trans­port, represent a consi<lerable adverseinfluence on the production cost per tonof ore in comparison with other tin­producing countries, as, for instance,Malaya. To this must be added t~e

long and expensive railway transportfrom Bolivia down to the Pacific coast&8 far as the ports of Antofagasta andArica in Chile.

.\11 Illdian wc.man ('Idlillg 1I!'t' at the :'all"\ 0 t on in Jl111lt:

BOLIVIAN TIN MI~ES

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SCENES FROM BOLIVIA

(lalw,' ill all 111<Iiall \'illag" Th,' 1I111,i"

i" 1'I'III'i<l"d 1•.1' I'!Td I'il"'" alld dnlllls,Th,' llIall ill Ih(' I'hlllo).!l'i\l'h Oil tllC' nghl

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')(//sl/",1 IIdiall ('raft IIll1.d('of .I ried I'!'('d", Th,'s('al'l' 11''''\'('11 so do",'I\'that Illladditiollaiwate;.proofi IIg i" 11 ('('1''''' a 1'.1' ,I{(','ds aI'!' IIs,'d II('('all""t hel'!' i" no wood I\\'ail,:tld,' ill Ihe' highlands

III' Boli\'ia

BOLIVIA, HER PEOPLE AND HER TIN 107

plants. The prevalent 8Ource· of powerfor the mines is the Diesel engine. How­ever, from an engineering point of view,these Diesel plants are very uneconomicalat the altitudes at which they are used.The lack of oxygen at elevations above13,000 feet reduces the output of a motorby more than 40 per cent, in addition toan increased fuel consumption. It is aninteresting fact that the Diesel enginesin the Bolivian mincs are supplied almostexclusively from Europe, especially Ger­many and Switzerland Until a fewmonths ago the North Americans refusedentirely to supply Diesel engint's for suchaltitudes, openly admitting that theirengines work 1msatisfactorily at thoselevels, if they work at aU.

In this connection I must mention thelong - standing project of erecting a tin­smelting plant in Bolivia in order toreduce the high freight costs. The real­ization of this project has, aside frompolitical reasons, always foundered onthe problem of power supply. The smelt­ing of tin, from a technical point of view,is an art which requires years of experi­ence in order to carry it out economically.For that reason, tin - smelting plants areto be found in only a few countries, suchas England, Holland, Germany, Malaya,Japan, and China. The United Stateserected a smelting plant during theGreat War which was closed again anddismantled immediately after the warbecause it was 80 uneconomical. In thepresent war the USA has again begunto erect a tin· smelting plant. Accordingto reports in the American press and tech­ni~ . periodicals, this time the plant isto be built with all the experience of theBritish, and a complete staff of engineersand experts has been t'nlisted in Englandfor that purpose. The plant was to bein operation early'in 1942.

P088U1LE I~OREASE

. The Bolivian tin preduction. has con­Italltly bt'(D incl'fa£ed dur:ng the lastth1;ee. yucs, and in 1941 it rea<hed ateeOJ'.a ~gh of slightly more than 4,000toJur· per month, 1hat ip, an annual pro­duction of approximately 1S0,OOO tons.

This increase can be traced chiefly to thefact that England, the tin pool of theworld, stabilized the price of tin im­mediately after the out break of war andincreased it by about 35 per cent. Inaddition to this, the Bolivian Government,after signing a tin-supply agreement withthe United States early in 1941, sawitself forced to grant additional financialaid to the mincs and to assist especiallythe small mint's through extensive credits,80 that many small and long-abandonedmincs Were worked again.

A further increase of production by asmuch as 20 per cent is perhaps possibl~

if the mechanization of the mining proc­ess is systematically extended and thedressing plants arc enlarged accordingly.This increase could be produced especiallyif the necessary machinery is obtained fordressing tho vast stocks of poor ores~less than 1 per cent tin content) whichup to now have been thrown on the pitheaps; for experience has shown that thequantitics hauled almost always lagbehind those that can be dressed. How­ever, any addition to the machinerymeans an increased demand for power,and that brings us back again to theproblem of power supply, which must bewIved before any other.

WBENCE THE TOOLSl

I am convinced, however, that thispossible increase of 20 per cent willfounder on the nondelivery of the neces­sary machinery, since, owing to the read­justment to war supplies, the USA in­dustry i8simply not in a position to supply.In addition to this, the terms of deliveryfor purely commercial goods have become80 absurdly long that it is questionable;quite apart from increasing the produc­tion of tin, whether it will be possible tomaintain the present level of production.A mine constantly requires large quanti­ties of tools, drill steel, building material,and especially spare parts for its .ma­ohinery. In view of the.poor adaptabilityof North American industry, the supplyof 8pare parts for at least half the ma­chinery used in the mines,. which is ofEuropean origin, seems very doubtful.

THE XXth CENTUR'i308

No other industry must reckon with88 large a wear and tear of machineryand tools as the mines. The genl'ralIlC8rcity of tools was already felt in themiddle of 1941. Furthermore, there werealmost no shipments at all of dynamite,an indispensable explosive for the minesof Bolivia. The powder factories ofBrazil and Chile are not nearly able tocover Bolivia's demand for explosives.Moreover, the quality of these SouthAmerican expl08iveft is inferior to thosemade by the Nobel concern, as theyahow great variation in their explosivepower and in their speed of detonationand thus cause some uncertainty in theblasting process.

WHENCE THE LABOR?

It is quite impossible to compensatefor aU these shortages and diffioulties byemploying more men to work in th"emines. Only a Bolivian highland Indiancan work at such altitudes, and thenumber of these Indians is constantlyon the decrease. And all attempts to settlelowland Indians in the mines have failedbecause of the incredibly hard workingand living conditions there. They livein mud huts with corrugated-iron roofs.containing a sort of kitchen nook with asmall stove with a tin chimney. Withthe exception of the holidays, the life of aminer is uniformly dull and without anyvariation whatever. Since he has towork twelve hours a day, there is notime left for anything but sleeping. Themining buildings lean close to the moun­tain side, and the shaft entrances are atthe summit. The dre8sing plant startsjust beneath the lowest ahaft. All theother buildings, the machine house, theoffice, and even the living quarters of themanaging personnel, are completely de­void of decoration, so that the wholecamp is 88 dreary-looking 88 can be.It is no wonder that aU attempts toeettle lowland Indians at the mines byforced recruitiq have failed, 88 thesemen very 800n desert and run away intothe jungles of the near-by tropical valleys.For the same reason, the eftorte ofeeveral of the large IDi.ne8 to bring Chilean

..

and Peruvian workl'rs to their campshave also failed.

In addition to this. tungsten is againvery muoh in demand sinoe the outbreakof war, so that countless little mines havesprung up in Bolivia which are workedmostly by hand. Since these small enter­prises have a very slight overhead andcan at present obtain high prices fortheir tungsten. they a·re in a position topay far higher wages than the large tinminl's.

COCA A.ND BOOZE

Furthermore, in view of the mentalitvand the living conditions of the Indian';.it is impossible to achieve an increasedproduction on the part of the individualworker. As almost ever,ywhere else, themines in. Bolivia work day and night,but with only two shifts, so that theIndians are underground for twelve hours.During this time they eat almost nothingand keep going by chewing coca, thedried leaves of the coca shrub, whichW88 planted in Bolivia as early 88 in thedays of the Incas. The leaves containcocaine, which quickly renders t.hc ncrvesof taste and of the stomach insensibleand puts the chewer into a drugged state.The extraordinary endurance of theIndian, without taking an)' food, isascribed entirely to the taking of coca.The average daily consumption is a goodhandful, that is, almost half a pound.The chewing of coca produces a penetrat­ing and, for the foreigner, disagreeableodor which it took me a long time to getused to. Through the undernourishmentand the effects of the cocaine on the body,most of the men look emaciated, tired,and dull, and drag themselves listlessl)"about their work.

The chewing of coca has become, likesmoking, a vital necessity to the Indians.For that reason, the mine owner mustguarantee always to keep the neceesarysupply of coca on hand at the mine, andit h88 become the custom to include adaily minimum of coca in the wages.Beside alcohol, coca chewing is probablychieOy responsible for the cont~uoUl

degeneration of the Indians. The taking

BOLIVIA, HER PEOPLE AND HER TIN 309

of coca leads to a sort of mental enfeeble­ment, even in the case of comparativelyyoung men.

Alcohol adds its share. It is consumedduring the many Church and nationalholidays (more than fifty every year) inunbelievable quantities of generally doubt­ful quality. After a holiday, often nomore than ten per cent of the shift de­scend into the mine, and it is sometimesa week before the entire shift is back atwork again.

So, as I have said before, an increasethrough raising the level of the individualworker's production is quite impossible.I must add with regard to the afore­mentioned mechanization of the miningmethods that the Indians as a rule refuseto work with mining machines andpneumatic drills. They are usually dis­trustful of machines.

USA WORRIES

In 1938 the total tin consumption ofthe United States amounted to exactly50,000 tons. On the basis of availablefigures, the annual requirements musthave risen to more than 100,000 tons onaccount of the rearmament program aswell as the growing supplies of cannedgoods to Great Britain. By the end of1940, a stock of approximately 50,000tons of tin had been laid in as war re­serve, so that if we add shipments in 1941,approximately 75,000 tons from Malaya

and half the Bolivian production, i.e.,25,000 tons) the USA would on December8, 1941, have had at most some 150,000tons of refined tin at her disposal. Hencethese stocks would cover exactly therequirements of two years.

As I have proved at length, an in­creased production of the Bolivian minescan hardly be counted upon. On thecontrary, it is not impossible that therewill soon be a certain decrease. Further­more, there was, for instance in May 1942,a decrease of ten per cent in the quantityof tin shipped from Bolivia to the USAas compared to the average shipments ofthe previous months. This decrease wasa result of German and Japanese sub­marine activity. Therefore a disastrousshortage of tin is bound to occur in theUnited States in the near future. It isa well-known fact that forty per cent ofthe entire tin requirements of the USAare used in the manufacture of tin sheets,that is to say, indirectly for the canningindustry. On the other hand, it cannotbe assumed that the USA will succeed,as Germany has, in replacing tin cans bycans made of aluminum; for, in spite ofall efforts and the construction of newplants, the American aluminum industrycannot even cover the requirements ofthe airplane industry. Consequently theUnited States will, even after the war,still be dependent on other sources oftin in. addition to Bolivia.

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