Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/772

 REDUCTIONS

692

REDUCTIONS

Bcarcply iinywhcre outside of the Reductions) and field produce, tobacco, indigo, sugar-cane, and above all, cotton were cultivated. Much care was devoted also to fruit cultiu-e, and that successfully. Even to- day one may find in the wilderness traces of former splendid orchards, particularly orange groves. Vine culture was attempted, but with only moderate success.

One of the most important products of the terri- tory comprised by the Reductions was the so-called Paraguay tea (hcrba), which is still the largest article of export of the country. It consisted of dried leaves of the mate tree (Ilex Paragimyensis), crushed and slightly roasted, and drawn in boiling water; it was then, as it is now, the favourite beverage of the country, and almost entirely displaced the intoxicat- ing drinks to which the Indians had been addicted to a deplorable extent. Because the hcrba forests {herbalcs] frequently lay himdreds of miles distant, and the Indians there employed must needs be de- prived of regular pastoral care for too long a period, the Jesuits attempted to transplant the tree into the Reductions; their endeavours were successful here and there, but the jealous Spanish colonists used every means to frustrate their endeavours. The other abundant natural resources, choice sorts of wood, aromatic resins, honey bees, and the like were con- verted to useful purposes, and attempts were even made, on a small scale, to produce pig-iron. Cattle- raising attained a magnificent development, the en- tire countn,- being rich in grass, and some estancias numbered as many as 30,000 sheep and more than 100,000 head of cattle, numbers which were not unusual in some of the Spanish haciendas. The herds were increased from time to time by the capture of wild cattle, and the breed improved by careful selection and breeding. Horses, mules, donkeys, and poultry were also raised on a large scale. In addi- tion, hunting and fishing aided in providing support; these forms of sport were, however, restricted in the Guarani Reduction for reasons of discipline. The individual Reductions devoted themselves more or less to one or the other branch of production, and supplied their wants by exchange with other Reduc- tions. A written almanac of 176.5, which the Salesian Fathers of Don Bosco discovered about 1S90 at Asun- ci6n, contains on its parchment leaves, besides the calendar, an adviser for agriculturists, with particular reference to the climate of the coimtrj-; the manu- script shows what knowledge and solicitude the apostolic missionaries devoted to agriculture ("Kath. Missionen", Freiburg, 1895, 259).

(3) Industries. — The vast needs of such an enor- mous establishment and the difficulties and ex-pense of import necessitated the foundation of domestic in- dustries. Thanks to the exceptional native gifts of the Guaranis, the abilities necessary for almost all the trades and crafts were soon developed in these people. Some were carpenters, joiners, wood-turners, builders; others blacksmiths, goldsmiths, armourers, bell- foimders, masons, sculptors, stone-cutters, tUe- makers, house-painters, painters and gilders, shoe- makers, tailors, bookbinders, weavers, dyers, bakers, butchers, tanners, instrument-makers, organ-builders, copyists, calligraphers etc. Others again were em- ployed in the powder-mills, tea-mills, corn-mills etc. Each man remained true to the craft once adopted, and provided for the transmission of his trade by teaching it to apprentices. The wonderful quality of the products of the workshops in the Reductions is shown by the beautiful cut-stone work of the churches. In some of t ho Reductions t here were print- ing establishments, as for instance in Corpus, San Miguel, San Xavier, Loreto, Santa Maria la Mayor, where principally books of a liturgical and an ascetic nature were printed (Rodeles, "Imprentas de los antiguos Jesuitas en Europa, America y Filipinas",

in "Raz6n y Fc", XXV, (J3-474, and XXVII, 349; Schuller, "Um Libro Americano unico o primeiro impresso nas Missioes Guarani S.J.", Para, 1910). It should be noted particularly that the remarkably high industrial development was not reached imtil after the end of the seventeenth century, when Jesuits from Germany and the Netherlands came to Paraguay in larger numbers (see Huonder, "Die deutschen Jesuiten-Missionare des 17. u. 18. Jahrh., Freiburg, 1S99, 68). In 1726 a Spanish procurator of the missions admitted that "Artes plerasque [missionarii] erexerunt, sed eas omnes Germanis debent". Aits and the crafts were completely neglected in the Spanish colony at that time, the houses in Buenos Aires being built of clay and covered with rushes. A German lay brother of the Society of Jesus, Joh. Kraus, erected the first larger brick buildings (college and novitiate) in Buenos Aires and C6rdoba; Brother Joseph Klausner of Munich introduced the first tin-foundry in the Province of Tucuman; while Indians from the Reductions, under the direction of the missionaries, built the fortifica- tions and ramparts of Buenos Aires, Tobati, San Gabriel, Arecutagui, and other public works (Huon- der, loc. eit.; Monner-Sans, 105 sq.).

(4) Distribution of Labour and Manner of Con- trol. — The economic machinery of the Reductions could be kept in motion, and the Indians, naturally averse to work and thoughtless, brought up to sys- tematic labour only b}' a well-regulated direction and control. Even the children were taught to work, and day by day some of them were occupied in the workshops and spinning-rooms under special over- seers, while others were led out into the fields and plantations, to the joyous strains of music, following a statue of St. Isidore carried before them, and em- ployed there for a few hours. The women were obliged, in addition to the performance of their household duties, to spin a certain amount weekly for the use of the community, to help during the sow- ing and harvesting of cotton etc. Men who followed no particular trade were obliged to work at least two days weekly at communal undertakings, in the fields, , or at public buildings, etc. All had to work during harvest time. Relaxation and recreation were pro- vided in the hours set aside for leisure, which were passed in arranging common games, military drills, horse races, and the like, by the many feast-days and the days set aside for hunting trips and other expedi- tions. Cards and dice, however, were strictly for- bidden. The heads of each community were en- trusted with the direction of their communities (see below). Besides, each branch of trade had its own superintendents and guild-masters, who constantly remained in touch with the missionaries, who watched over all and whose presence and authority formed the driving-wheel of the whole community. All officials were obliged to give exact account of their adminis- tration, and it is a matter of fact that the accounts and administration reports were in exemplary order, according to the testimony of the government in- spectors. The superiors of the order also conducted an exact inspection every year. Labourers and such public employees as hospital attendants, sextons, and others were kept at public cost, and the private fields of draymen and ferrymen, shepherds and others, who were engaged in public service, were tilled by others for their Ijenefit.

(5) Distribution of Rations. — Food and dress were the same for all, with some slight concessions in favour of the caciques and public officials. The produce of the private fields provided the secondary dishes for the daily table. Whatever was missing was pro\'ided out of the common store-house in equal measure. The principal article of diet of the Indians was meat, which they obtained from the common slaughter-houses at regular intervals. Ordinarily,