Punishments (Corporal)

Report made up of group of letters concerning vagrancy problems on northern frontier; includes notes on Indian attacks; need for Indian labor in mines and haciendas; payment to Indians in Inferior goods; use of Penal labor; reluctance of some Indians to work as day-laborers; visit of Galvez; legal actions of Galvez, Corbalan and others on pay; Croix's inspection; raids on various settlements; types of labor involving Indians (charcoal making; cultivation; Adobe making; mine drain construction; firewood and lumber cutting; livestock tending; Mule train servants; ore processing; and various mechanical arts); dangerous alliance of local Indians with Apaches; economic crisis that results from lack of sufficient Indian labor; problem of local Indian community demands on labor force; limited value of Indians in mines; seasonality of Indian labor demands; role of mulatos in mines; fugitive Yaquis in mining towns; ff. 348-355 includes copy of points 5-10 of Neve's general report of 1783; he finds explanation of rise in banditry in unfair use of forced Indian labor; he sets limitations on coroporal punishment in mission settlements (for example - six lashes for missing mass); he considers other matters involving civil justice; notes many of bandit's crimes falsely attributed to Apaches; use of presidio labor in new presidio constructions; ff 357-361 - Ugarte grants various rights to Indians of Pueblo of Santa Maria (4 December, 1787); this includes coverage of forced labor; payment in goods and cash; reviews earlier Indian labor policy; describes poverty and hunger of Indian day laborers; lack of spiritual guidance; locations of labor; character of culture change; importance of cheap Indian labor to economy, and failure of administrators to solve problems of Indian abuse become clear in this report. (J. Williams, may 1987)