The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1872-10-09
Our Correspondents.


THE second of series of articles on the subject
OF Labor and Population in the GAZETTE of this
week, is sufficiently pronounced and radical in its
tone TO indicate that it is the production of one OF
that class Of sensational writers, who, some three
or four years ago, when this journal was in other
hands, ran such tilt at planters and plantations in
these columns. We confess to no little surprise in
observing our coutempoarys course at this juno
ture. p Z. A., Oct. s.
II it were worth while to be surprised,
or were it possible to be surprised-at
any thing which the versatile and many
sided writers of the Adce,tiser may see
fit to put into their paper, we must con-
fess that we should have been surprised,
nay, astonished, upon reading the edito-
rial, of which the above are the opening
sentences. Indeed, for a wonder, they
are surprised at the course of the GAZETTE
in "this matter" as they say, and then
90 on to show our great culpability in
permitting correspondence in this paper
which takes the liberty to criticise-not
the labor systematic status of the differ
ent classes of laborers in this country,
and to point out how, in the opinion of
the writer, a more abundant supply of
labor may be procured at home. We
have not commented upon the ideas ex-
pressed by our correspondent, nor do we
feel called upon to do so-neither have we
commented upon the letters of another
correspondent upon the same subject, who
evidently takes different view from the
one in question, for the same reason-it
has not been necessary. Every citizen
has right to express his views through
the columns of this paper so long as his
opinions are expressed in moderate and
gentlemanly language, and no one can
say but that both of our correspondents
have observed this rule. Whether the
propositions made by them are practical
bic or impracticable; whether their state
ments are overdrawn or underdrawn, it is
not our province to say. We have an in
telligent and thinking public, every one
of whom, we hope, has read or will read
all the articles and letters published in
both papers on this important question;
they can Judge for themselves as to the
merits of the discussion.
But really, it has suggested itself to us
whether or not the correspondence on
" Labor and Population +" is not sour
grapes to the AdUefiser; and to relieve
our minds on the subject, we would mod
estly ask the responsible man, (whoever
he may beg, whether, if the correspon-
denee in question had been offered to him
for publication he would not have caused
it to be published in the Adcatiser ?
And further, if he had taken occasion to
comment on the letter would he not have
commented favorably? We think that
if these questions were candidly and
truthfully answered, (but dear reader we
shall never know the truth about it,, we
might hope to come to a tolerably good
understanding as to the sincerity of the
writer in his comments upon our loosely
written correspondence.
PROFESSIONALLY this subject of labor
and population is the most important
question which presents itself before this
country to-day. 1t is question which
should be discussed thoroughly and dis