The Hawaiian gazette., 1869-12-08
Some more Information Re
surding Ourselves.

e~N~A
Francisco BuLstiA, of November Sd, vii
show that some of the editors of thai
paper, get their information from different
sources, than most of our fellow citizens
The italics are ours.
Coolies, OR NATIVE LABoRERs p The
planting interest at the Hawaiian Islands ha:
been trying some experiments in the employ
meut of Coolie labor. which have not demon
stra,ed to the natives the necessity, or the SUI
perior value Of that kind Of labor. The frs
experiment ,ras eth japanese iaborers, who
were said to be quite superior in dOeility and
| intelligence to Chinese laborers. Great things
were predicted from this movement Japan
was only 5000 miles distant. and any number
D Of japanese could be procured on Tong contracts
at very low wages. But this theory reduced to
practice. was found defective in several psrtie-
ulars. The Japanese did not get in love with
/ the new system. They had the "sulks" and
were frequently in a state bordering on mutt
/ ny. Some got into prison, others committed
/ suicide; and a large number never could ap-
/ preeiate the kind Of moral suasion used to get
I the most work cut Of them at the lowest price.
I The experiment was failure.
! Then the Chinese Coolie system was taken
/ up with great enthusiasm. The Islands were
/ to become rich from the results of MongOlian
I servitude. Foreigners do not like to labor in
/ 4 semi-tropieal climate; and it was alleged
/ that the natives were indolent and eaprieious.
7 Coolieism was to bring in an era Of great pros
perity. This class of laborers could be had
I for about 81 per month and found, on long
contracts 1t was in effect compulsory labor !;
and not TO put too fine 4 point on it, slave
labor Of the most repugnant kind. 1t was
clear enough that if the islands could be filed
up with Coolies, the natives would be driven
to the rerge Of starvation. They are aRrious
to become slsdU lad holders. = few acres suf-
fcing to yield them a comfortable living.
With land. they are to some extent indepen-
dent-without it, they would be no better
than serfs. After all, the struggle to estab-
lish the Coolie system is inspired as much by
the desire to HsoHopoiiIe land as by any other
consideration. The planters in the Southern
States cherish theit desire for large landed
estates. The poor whites had no influence,
because they had little or no land. The
planters disliked the proximity of poor whites
working with their own hands. They dis
liked most Of all the groioiAg deposition to
acquire land in small tracts. The slaves
could own no land But as freedmen they
want their own stake in the soil. Coolies eau
otra no land, and their form of seryitude being
planters readily fell in with the scheme.
That this way of reasoning has had some
influence in the Hawaiian Islands is evident
from the disclosures made from time to time
through the newspapers published there The
natives have taken the alarm, as well as an
influential portion of the white population.
We have the highest testimony that if the ma
tiyes are treated judieiously, they would prove
equal to all the industrial exigeneies Of the
Islands. They can not be driven, because
they are freemen. They subscribe for and
read as many newspapers, in proportion to
their numbers, as the white population. The
kanaka will work, if treated kindly. He
must have 4 little patch of land and this,
with his matched cabin and garden, suffiees
for home. His small wages being paid at
regular intervals, he works moderately WE'LL
not as a slave. but as a tropical man, feeling
that there is no necessity to drive matters,
and much less necessity for anybody to drive
him.
In the rery neighJorh0od where it has been
so often said that plantations could not be
worked with kanaka hands sEeeessftuy, and
where rot one Of these men could be found at
work, other plantations have been carried on
with success, and to the satisfaction of proprie-
tors, with Kanaka labor. The difference re-
suits, to = great extent, from the treatment Of
these men. If treated as slaves or serfs, no
satisfactory work can be got out of them. If
treated intelligently, and with a careful regard
for their peculisrities, they viii do good work
on plantations, or anywhere else where un-
skilled labor is required. Whaling crews are
frequently made up almost entire, save the
officers, of Kanakas. When the wages of a
seaman have been paid, or "lay'' in
whsler, even in the cold regions Of the North,
these men have made average crews. There
are enough KaaGkas to work all the planta-
tons in the Hawaiian Islands. And when
we are told that they are unsatisfactory labor
ers, We judge that the fault is quite as much
with the owners Of plantations as with the
labOrers.
Our CoNNENTs.-It Is valuable to know,
from the above article, that the experiments
of Coolie labor have not =" demonstrated to
the aati1es the necessity or superior value
of that kind of labor" Most people would
think that the value of labor was best
estimated by employers. And the Ma
tives, taking the word as it is meant in
this extract, as meaning the common Ma
tives, are not known here to have employ
- - 1oNeus ~ N-IPiOy any aSiattC--
We had thought that the japanese came
last Of ali, instead of first, and on very
short terms-two years-Eithout any con-
tracts made abroad, and that the first
knowledge of their coming antedated
their arrival but a few weeks, so that
much could not have been predicted about
them.
1t is pleasing to learn that the Ma
uTes are anxious to become small
land holders" and that the struggle to
establish the CoOlie system is inspired as
much BY desire to monopolize land, as
by any other consideration If there is
any country, where more has been done
to give the people freeholds, and induce
the people to prize them.-hoId on to |
them-and cultivate them, than this coun-
Try. perhaps, those people who inform q !
the BnlaiA man, on his facts will let it be
known; and scbere the growing desire |