The random paths down which my curiosity take me often surprise me. In the past couple of days, I have done some cursory reading about the Peruvian Amazon Company and the abuses it committed in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Apparently, the rubber industry took off in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A lot of the available rubber trees of the time were located in parts of the Amazon with little-to-no government control or oversight. An entrepreneur by the name of Julio Cesar Arana arose to take advantage of the rubber boom with his Peruvian Amazon Company. According to one entry:
Starting in 1850 rubber became a hot new commodity in the industrializing countries of Europe and North America, and the Amazon’s monopoly on “black gold†tapped from Hevea brasiliensis trees scattered in the rainforest spawned what the contemporary Brazilian writer called “the most criminal organization of labor ever devised.†A Peruvian rubber baron named Julio Arana founded the Peruvian Amazon Rubber Company and grew fabulously wealthy by exploiting the Bora, Witoto, Andoke, and Ocaina Indians on the Putumayo River, which forms the border between Peru and Colombia. Reports of systematic torture, an orgy of sadism, the perverted mutilation of men, women, and children, women being kept as concubines by the Indian and Barbadian muchachos or captains, of the rubber gangs, reached Roger Casement, who had exposed similar atrocities ten years earlier in the Congo. By the time Casement got there, three-quarters of the population on the Putumayo had been wiped out in the previous six years, and there were only 8000-1000 left.
One account I read described “Suarez of Bolivia” (I believe this is Nicolas Suarez Callau) keeping a harem of native women for use of him and his friends to create a reliable labor pool. Less spectacular was the process of a sort of de facto enslavement of rubber workers. They would have access only to company stores to buy supplies and staples. They would have to buy these things on credit and then could never seem to get out of debt through their labor collecting rubber.
When I read of episodes in human history such as this, I become more convinced of the proposition that there is nothing “natural” about natural rights. In the absence of an effective government, there are no rights. And unfettered capitalism, like an unchecked fire, certainly has the capacity to do more harm than good.
Roger Casement is also a name of which I had been unaware. He was a British civil servant who reported the abuses in the Congo and then Peru, was made a knight in 1911 for his efforts, but was subsequently hung for treason in 1916 due to his efforts supporting Irish independence and collaborating with the Germans during World War I.
Incidentally, I stumbled across this aspect of early 20th century history while reading about Percy Fawcett, a British explorer who ultimately disappeared in the Amazon – quite an interesting character.
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Doug, I agree with your comment that ‘natural rights’ do not exist, and it’s a sobering realization too. Rights are the product of civilization, or at least an orderly society. In fact, the very term ‘natural rights’ is a bit of an oxymoron.
Years ago I saw a play about Roger Casement – he was, in the play at least, a tragic hero. He is also the subject of an Irish “rebel” song that you hear at St. Patrick’s Day, or more likely at an Irish Festival, but I cannot remember the title at the moment – it might even have his name in the title. I could go look through my CDs to see if I have that song, if anyone is interested.
Researching Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible for a book discussion led me to information on Belgium plundering the Congo for rubber. Truly horrific the atrocities done to the people. I had never before had any inkling of Belgium having such an ugly past. Apparently King Leopold was bothered by the fact that landlocked Belgium could not mount much of a navy, and this was his way of showing his country was on a par with those that did.
Heh. That’s a Baader-Meinhof moment for me. I had never heard of Arana until last night, when I read a brief passage about him in a book about Theodore Roosevelt’s trip down the previously uncharted “River of Doubt.” This morning, I read more in your post. Very good book, but the way (as is The Poisonwood Bible).
Read up on bananas and the origins of the term “banana republic.” It’s equally horrible and horrific.
United Fruit seems to be coming up a lot lately in my readings.
For more on Percy Fawcett, the British explorer and his adventures in the Amazon in the early 1900′s, read “The Lost City of Z”, A tale of deadly obsession in the Amazon, by David Grann Copyright 2009. I heard about it on Book TV, picked up a copy at the library and couldn’t put it down.
That’s the book I read. Good stuff.
Mario Vargas Llosa, en su libro El sueño del celta ha descrito de manera ejemplar la vida de su personaje Roger Casement, un irlandes que escribio dos informes de las atrocidades del congo belga y la amazonia sudamericana causando gran conmocion; incluido la gran poderio de Julio C. Arana, y en especial de Leopoldo II.
Es un libro que lo recomiendo
Seems to be a fascinating man indeed.One of those larger-than-life characters from days of old. I’m trying to find out a tidbit given to me by my father. That an Englishman, an idealist opposing the exploration of the Indians during the great rubber boom, was murdered by the rubber companies. Does it ring a bell.
you might like to read about Roger Casement’s trial here:
http://broadsidesdotme.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/high-treason-by-sir-john-lavery-a-document-of-irish-history/