The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1870-01-08

az tbC SAB'hN
that happens, it necessarily and naturally be
comes oligarchic, selfish in its aims and purposes
opposed to popular enlightenment, education anc
moral discipline. immigration should be advO
Gated ON the ground that the island is capable o
sustaining forty people where it now sustain'
four"
ssScAenes Of Immigration wiH fail if the man
object IF cOlOni@dtion as Forgotten. They will ial
if the welfare of the people is again made sub
scrvient to a mere money interest. They VIII
fail if no discrimination is used in the selection
OF laborers, who are to become at a future period
the mainstay Of the island. They will fail if,
after the introduction OF immigrants, they are
turned into beasts of burden, and slavery, under
another namc, is reinstated. = They will
fail if, finally, false representations arc made to
seduce laborers to the island, and expectations
are held out to them that can not be realized. .
The return system is viewed from two
stand-points. Financially it is urged that Il
ship-load of coolies, going back, will take with
them from $4O,G GOO to $50, 600, (no fear of this
from these islands, under our system) and, under
these circumstances, the heavy tax imposed upon
the Colony and the planting interest for their
return-passage must be considered a hardship. If
10 IL pOoIti'O iiJuShCO' J."
granting IA free return at all is absurd. After
making heavy sacrifices to obtain a laboring
populations, the Colony, by its own act, depriyes
itself of that population as soon as it is thoroughly
educated and Injured to service"
From an economical and moral stand point we
offer the following: Colonization. and not Il
temporary supply of labor, is the chief object to
be attained. The principle of granting back
passages, and allowing immigrants no choice but
to accept them, is, i'll my judgment, an erroneous
one. 1t is not sound political economy, nor is it
just to the people who bear the burden of the
immigration outlay. 1t looks like an c~xpiation
of some wrong inflicted on the coolie, and is SO
interpreted abroad. 1t offers a bonus to the i'm
migrant to go away after he has become an
efficient, acclimated laborer. To offer him a
bonus to stay would be the wiser policy
The coOlic system peculiar to the British Colonies
provides by enactmen that {" the immigrant aborer
is entitled, free of all charges, to Il certificate of
industrial residence after he has worked five
years under indcnturc. He can shorten this
term of service, and receive his certificate by
paying n Communication fee of $50 at Tie end of
the third year, Or of so at the end of the fourth
year. At the end of the second year, and of
each subsequent year, he can, at his own election,
change his employer, and give his service to
whomsoever he plcases.'' These and other con-
cessions to the coolie are 9 grave and serious OBJ
stacles " and {" although inserted from motives of
humanity, may be very irksomc to the employers
of the coolies SO said the Hawaiian Commits
siOner of immigration.
I" Under his contract the immigrant either
works out his five years or pays the commuta
ton and in either event he receives the certiti-
cate which frees him from service and conveys
the right of naturalization" Every indncement
is held out, even to the gift of land and remission
of taxes for three years, to urge him to become a
settler. "Colonization, and not a temporary
supply of labor, is the chief object to be at
tained.'
For the protection of the immigrants the
Government appoints a superintendent vested
with special powers :" who indentures the immi-
grant to bis employer = y visits and inspects
the condition of the immigrants on the estates.
= This officer has also power to cancel any
immigrants indenture if it shall appear to him
that the man has been i'll used by his employer"
The report of this officer is sent to the Govern
ment, and it is claimed that the Government
supervision is carried " to a point that many
consider injurious to the planting interest
Punishment for refusal to labor is allowed, by
imprisonment, for Il term not exceeding fourteen
days and in the contract is found the assignment
clause, but we can believe that much OF the
force of these two Objectionable points is lost
when we consider that the superintendent of i'm
migrants is appointed by the British Government,
and that the Communication fee robs tic c5astet
of much of - hardship.
We End shat the argument 81 ofcu ,sed
that the coolir ! hc.,c. a taaI ws-n N has own
country prevails in The British Wet Indies, and
under he laws which exit @ t1~efai6iy uay
n -e- wisa a1ore lore t,.a elre.
tbe sisi..sa SYSTEM offer somewhat from the
aeb. a4t 1t is ciaimed that under it the pagan
becomes civilized, forgetting I" the gross supersti-
lions in which he was wont to put his faith -
and it is even claimed that : more might be done
towards Outstanding and civilizing the people
of India in one year than has been done by all
tie missionaries that ever migrated to the East
under the influence of the most enthusiastic
zeal" But we are hardly ready to believe that
the coolies 4. are scholars and catechumens; the
masters, instructors and preachers the planta-
tiOns, boarding schools and little seminaries OF
that the coolie system is a method of education
and conversion
The discussions on this much vexed labor ques-
ton will doubtless result in good for anything
which will throw light upon the subject should
be put forward, and we know of TO better way
of showing the probable effects of our present
system than by bringing to light the history of
other sugar growing localities which have passed
through the ordeal.
Protection versus Free Trade.
The discussion of these important political
questions appears likely to attract considerable
especially if any representatives are
elected to the coming Legislature pledged to
bring them before that body. That our tariff is
not what it ought to be, nearly every one will