The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1869-11-13
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13.
The Penal Enactment and Its
Working.

they are made available to the master, have been
the subject matter Of much discussion OF late.
At the public meetings recently held, the cham
pious Of the Master and Servants law certainly
appeared at u disadvantage. All their arguments
were met and turned back by those whom 1T is
fair to suppose were as honest in intent and pur-
poe as any who defended the contract system.
The correspondents of the Government organ
have sneered at the youth of those who attack
the system, and contemptuously speak of them
as a. juvenile orators" infected with " mawkish
sentimentality." This style of argument may
have its bearing upon the questions which now
agiiate the public mind, but we are not SO senile
as TO see their force. IL certainly cannot be
claimed that these Juvenile orators" gave
utterance to such sentiments as that the situation
was such that in order to secure labor some plan
was necessary by which it might be forced that
principle was well enough, but that the expe-
diency Of measures should be considered some
times that penal meant punishment, and that
Imprisonment at hard labor was not punishment,
but "a coercion ;" nor did they, to force n point,
utter statements which were proved TO be false,
and left the impression that the utterer knew
them to be so.
yanauished in debate the defenders of the
system now resort to their 81 house of refuge"
the Gazette, and attempt by sophistries to make
the worse appear the better part. One writer in
that paper says:
t.h,rsrs r~ta.aI 20 sork up5-r II. eSn,ract. m he can show
any fair reason Or cause for such rehasAi-saeh as insufficient
p1ye and IL is ouly in extreme cases Of eaGsSisss, Stllfal,
snssSsd IssS vaiaaIafiy and iareIiseniiy. that the IishI 10 in,
woke the AID q the eoeTeiye clauses against him can have any
s sssssass- elmer sSr's seei,o an f lsis q i4 sSss ~ aSsen = sHs himself II
pSsar ssS =; Psus. justice. has, under ,e M term. u bo,h IN ,he :
Scctrus. full power Instantly 10 terminate his Imprisonment
SstsSS asssg bis contract. and Il 4 teiasS Saasls 20 sIoM eaa.s
sc his refusal .s dis0bsd.spse, he sthi persist, doSsedly, in his
jet fr SYMPATHY and II he be sent To PRISM aud compelled
Of hi. maintruanec and other costs, Is Il, I ask, iMr OF reason
able 10 dcaeanes THAR rs the involuntary servhuden for
assert 20 be analogous 10, II not identcAl with, slavery Itself,
mnea, ~ ihs simps sasresss 2, hI sSaaon, ~ s% 90 nS 70
put an Instant period TO both the dur-ss and the labor ~
We can answer this by adducing a statement
which was made in our hearing, recently, regard
ing the practical working of this L" coercive "
section. We should first state that, in some in
stances, the magistrates before whom laborcrs
must make their complaints reside upon planta-
tons that instances are known Of magistrates
themselves employing contract laborers, and we
can hardly imagine that such magistrates are i'm
partial thar III all cases the planting interest has
n control of such magistrates; that the ~continu-
ance in Office, the material well being of the
magistrate depends upon his regard for the inter
ests of the planter. This is rendered clearer
when we state that the Chief Justice and the
Ministers, the nominating and appointing power,
are planters, and it is not fair to suppose that
they will permit their private interests to suffer
that the puslic interests may prosper. Again
the Commissioner of the Board Of Immigration
says
"Eor redress Of grievances the lower courts Of the country
are Of little use To him, 1.-THE coolie) because he does not under
stand their mechanism because he cannot express himself OF
influence Of his employer fails heavy in The scale against him"
1t is also customary for each plantation to have
in its employ one, two or more constables whose
special duty it is to see that the prosecuted planter
obtains his rights as against the laborer, but we
have yet to hear of the first officer so located to
see that the laborer obtains justice.
But to our statement. On a plantation upon
these islands there exist some of the aforemen-
toned constables. On q certain occasion when
the signal was made for the laborers to turn to-
two delinquents were reported and the constables
were put upon their track, and going to their
quarters found them and gave them notice TO go
to work. The natives answered, our wives are
sick and need our care, and VIZ do not wish to
leave them. The constable not wishing to assume
the responsibility of compelling them to go to
work, told them To 60 TO the ovcrseer. The ma
tives went to the oyerseer, and told their story.
The overseer doubtless supposing the story q fab
rication told them to go To work, and not being
obcyed, the constable was authorized to take
them before the magistrate, by whom they were
sentenced to n months imprisonment, and our ill.,
fornant stated that it was his opinion that the
women would have died during the month but for
the care and assistance which they received from
himself and others.
Here n labOrer refused to work for what is
generally considered n :. fair reason or cause for
Ii was not n 81 causeless, willruI, and
obstinate refusal to work in accordance with his
contract, entered into voluntarily and intelligent
ly," that did "a invoke the aid of the coerciye
The hborer did !. persist, doggedly,
in his refusal, and for cause which should render
him q" a fair subject for Sympathy We do not
believe that this is n solitary instance where the
power of the master aided by the law is felt.
We have other statements, some written, others
oral. which prove conclusively that abuses exist
which could not but for this law. We do not
believe that all plantations are thus managed
but a system that will permit the management of
one such needs remodeling.
The writer goes on to state that section 1870
THAT IT. party bound to work by a contract in writing,
shall refuse TO serve according to his contract, his employer
apply to a magistrate, who shall send for the recusant,
either oy wanan, cr otherwise, and u las refusal shall be
NJ hard labor until he will consent TO serve according to law"
Ii is evident that the section is subjected to
different interpretations in different localities.
Another writer says:
-The Law provide. that II the servant who has so bound
himself shall HiLynIy absent himself from such service, he
may upon eonUiefioa be compelled TO serve double the time
fr which he has ab-ented himself. and II he refuse to serve,
according TO these terms, or the terms Of the contracts. ne
SHALL be fnprfsoned az lard labor until he riY consent 10
Serve according 10 Larr.n
We have no evidence that the two natives
above mentioned were compelled to serve the
plantation two months for the one which they
uere iuprt.nnad hnt NJ b.liava Sc W. bo,o