Letter from Paraguay by E. W. Snyder

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 19, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 25.

Letter from Paraguay.

By E. W. Snyder

(From Atlantic News.)

THE latter part of February, in answer to a call prompted by an interest awakened thru our literature, we visited the National Colony. This settlement numbers 109 families, composed of representatives of the leading nations of Europe, with a sprinkling of Paraguayans. Allured by the government's offer of sixty-four acres of land free to each head of a family, many came with bright hopes for the future, which, in the majority of cases, have never been nor ever will be realized. Owing to lack of market and transportation, all that the poor colonist produces is sold at the lowest price, as the following will serve to illustrate: Bananas, five cents a bunch; sweet potatoes, thirty cents a bushel; rice, thirty-seven cents the arroba of twenty-two pounds; corn, thirty cents a bushel; sugar-cane, $1.50 a ton, loaded at the railway station. Clothing and dress-goods, being imported, come very dear; hence the colonist must content himself with a condition of having but little above that of the native. His house usually consists of a large room twelve or fifteen feet square, the walls being composed of a mortar made of earth and water, mixed without lime. This is applied to a framework of small poles. The roof of long grass is extended at one end in order to cover a space of the yard of equal area to that of the room, while the floor of all is only the earth. The outdoor sheltered space is employed as a sitting, entertaining, and dining-room; in fact, the warm climate enables one to almost live out doors. On entering we find his furniture of the most primitive kind. In one corner stands a home-made bed of rough lumber, while canvas cots occupy nearly all the rest of the available space. Two board benches serve as seats, while a box nailed up against the wall holds his few books and papers.

As we held up the brighter hope beyond this vale of disappointment, many received the news gladly. We left ten adults rejoicing in the light of truth in this colony, while others are asking for meetings in their neighborhood. Some gained the victory over the tobacco habit, which has bound them for years; and this being universal among both men and women here, to overcome it means a fight against hereditary appetite.

In conclusion we must say that our faith in the third angel's message as the Gospel for this time has been greatly strengthened by this experience.

E. W. SNYDER.