The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1869-09-25
1S3D-1SGO.
supporters.

Among the papers of an old resident, now de-
ceased, has been found Il letter to the I. : Sandwich
Islands Institute" from the venerable Thomas
GARRISON, the friend and co-laborer of WILDER.
force in the abolition of the system of African
slavery, rs once known and practiccd upon
British territory. The letter is dated August
10Th, 1889, and contains sentences which will
bear publishing ut this time, as giving advice
upon evils which existed thirty years ago, and
existing ut the present time, though perhaps in a
different form. The writer SAYS:
"There h one circumstance more TO be deplored than any
other in the part OF the globe which you inhabit. which is.
that the kings are the oiOnsIs q the sol, nor win it be an
out their lands TO tenants as in Europe! They would still
,sSTi, ,he sr prop psI;y rs Of The 8, islands md as before. and suiicien, au:
am aware that no man likes TO part with power but stnl this
step would promote Industry and labor mi ish"T Son nIG n =
mote health, aud perhaps stop the desolating havoc made in
Your population, which no man can read without horror.
cry Of the people Whatever a man may earn is no, his own.
~ .hese are The two evils against which You will
can be ameliorated, and I trust that some way will be dis
na de- I Gsr ~h steS you IN may nay remedy them by degrees Other
WIS do not noe exist What has been done once may he
! need not tell You, who are liberal and enlightened men. how.
my - uyhs . sem.dy The two evils above mentioned, you must
One OF the evils referred to by Mr.. Clark
son, is the ownership of the soil by the kings.
While IN 1899 the soil was monopolized by
the king, it is no less a fact that in 1868
the soil is held in. large parcels, not only by
the King and remaining chiefs, but capitalists.
graziers and planters are also absorbing the
larger tracts of land. We arc informed by a
gentleman who has investigated the subject, that
a larger part of the arabic lands of this Kingdom
are held by a few individuals a fact as much to
be deplored now as in 1889. The second evil
spoken Of cannot now be said to exist, or if it
does, and we have heard rumors of oppres-
sion which may not be well founded, there is a
remedy by appeal to the law. The third evil
mentioned, which did not exist at the time the
writer penned the letter, but which it appears he
was fearful we might fall into, and which he
warns US to " steer clear OFFS is slavery. We
should not, in order TO have steered clear of
slavery, have initiated a coolie system with its
special code of laws and regulations.
As bearing upon the subject of lands and the
coolie system, we quote from a leading American
paper the following:
ITO adopt n cooHe system would be the resource Of impa-
springs from coerced labor. To introduce n system OF peon-
age. or modified slavery, by filing the cotton fields with new
oaroarians would be to proiong the system Of vast plantations,
- Dhv I am : T aoa and Of all Improvements, and to mni,l-
i~nioieIable- The testimony Of cotton planters is quite conciu-
sive that intelligent labor upon small farms will harvest the
Dst Cotton crop, both in quality and quantity"
VIII not this argument hold good in regard to
sugar cane culture? Are not the remarks re-
garding the coolie system applicable in this
locality? To avoid a semblance of slavery in the
future, should be the aim of every friend of
humanity.