The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1877-01-13
From NJ. de vsrigny's I6 years IN Hawaii
Mr., de Varigny tells why the Chinese
were induced TO come here.


The question which presented itself for solution
was, therefore, how to procure for eur planters Q
sufhcieney OF labor at a fair price, in a country
where the rate Of interest is II per cent. III advert
again here to the rate Of interest, it is because the
price Of labor is ordinarily highest where money is
dear. What localities would DO most favorable for
us to obtain the hands Of which we stood in need
Europe and America were not to be thought Of
Certainly l would have contemplated with pleasure
the arrival of European emigrants who might have
come to the islands to better their own coalition ss
well as ours, TO make our fields to blossom, and TO
swell the ranks Of the partisans Of Hawaiian indie
pendence. But the warmth Of the climate, distance,
and the expense Of the voyage were insrfmountable
objections. In America the price of labor was higher
than at the islands, and they too were in want Of
hands. Oceanica and Asia were then the only
sources from which we could draw. I was very
strongly in favor of Oceanica. because Of the similar
iy Of race. To bring in immigrants Of the same
race, would be profitable both to them and to us; to
them because they would promptly assimilate with o
people whose language. traditions and mode OF life
had SO much in cOumon with their own; for us be-
cause We would thus avoid the introduction Of a new
element often dangerous and always embarrassing,
the absorbing of which would be very difficult.
The numerous islands Of the Pacific Ocean were
inhabited by a population little il at all civilized,
divided into tribes, always at war with each other.
Famine was frequent among them, Notwithstanding
the richness Of the soil, and civilization was retarded
at every step by the same obstacles which il had en-
countered eighty years before in the Hawaiian Isl
ands. l dreamed that / might pursue by peaceful
means the work commenced by Kamehameha I, by
attaching little by little these different groups to the
political status Of the archipelago, to civilize them
by labor and by commerce TO make them consider
Kamehameha v as their king, or at least as their
protector and representative among the family Of
nations. / might thus serve the common cause Of
progress, and whilst extending our influence draw TO
US their surplus population. and send them mission
aries and sc~hool-masters Of their own race; make
them appreciate the advantages Of peace and preach
to them by the force Of example; such was my dream,
and 1 could not realize any Of it. But perhaps
others will realize it some day, If the independence
of the islands is maintained and the covetousness Of
the United States permits.
With the exception Of Tahiti, New Caledonia,
Riatea. and some other Islands peculiarly governed,
and very costly to France, the rest Of Polynesia and
Micronesia serves as a field Of battle Tor the Catho-
lie, Protestant and Anglican missionaries, jealous Of
each other, always ready TO make an international
matter of their personal griefs; these missionaries.
up to this time, have obtained very small results, If
the efforts and the amounts Of the money expended
by their several churches shall be taken into consid-
Grafton. I'm H t.l
have often asked myself in presence OF she facts
which l could vouch for with certainty, whether this
fury of propagandism had not its origin in sectariaui
hostility, rather than in the desire to do good. / do
not, indeed, doubt the personal devotion Of the mis-
sionaries, and I am now speaking Of those who direct
them rather than Of themselves. 1 have too often
unhappily seen examples Of the sad consequences
which this zeal for proselytism, has produced, not to
speak my whole thought, even at the risk OF wound
ing the susceptibiities Of those whom / profoundly
respect. From Cochin China, to New Caledonia,
from the New Hebrides TO the Hawaiian Islands, Il
is sufficient that one missionary should put his foot
on any one island, and the rival seets Immediately
send forth their missionaries. What is the result
among the ~natiyesl Almost everywhere, hypocrisy,
often Indifference. They believe the missionaries
when they attack one another, and they do not be-
lieve them when they proclaim themselves the only
possesecrs Of the truth. Througheut Polynesia and
Micronesia, the kanaka believes the Catholic PRED
when he announces that the Protestant Minister ID Q
wolf in sleeps clothing, and he likewise believes
the Protestant when he proclaims that The Catholic
is an idolator, and his form Of worship very nearly
approaching to pagsnism. -
1t is invariably thus that the struggle commences,
when some day, q ship4of-war arrives and the COM
mander, as is natural, takes sides with his country
men, and an armed force is put at The service Of a
religious cause. Some tribe in obedience TO the in
stigation of foreigners, has badly received the mig
sionaries or has driven them away artillery lie
brought to bear upon them, and to obtain satisfac-
ton for wrongs too often real, the villages are burnt
and the inhabitants are killed and thus they COW
the seed Of hatred against a civilization which seeks
to convince by force.
/ exaggerate nothing ; the facts are 50 patent that
a blind man may see them. Whilst / write even,
China is ordering the expulsion Of all missionaries
from her borders, and blood will again be shed on
the banks Of the Yang-tse-Kiaug in the name Of the
God Of peace aud charity. 1.-THE connection Of these
reflections with the subject which our author has
under treatment at the moment, is not very obvious;
but still we thought they would interest our readers.
Ed. P. C A
It was exactly to this same China. that it was
necessary for US to look for the laborers without
whom our plantations must remain uncultivated.
For centuries, Asia has had the privilege Of furnish
ing laborers for the entire world. In our own time,
it is Asia, which in the person of the Chinese has
made the working Of the Chincha Guano Islands
possible. The Chinese have constructed the Great
Pacific Rail Road which binds New York TO San
francisco. India has furnished its Hill-cOOlies to
the Isthmus Of Panama. The Plaeers Of California
are filed with Cinnamon and already in spite Of I'M
just legislation. they are flowing on towards New
York and the Eastern States. 1t is in vain, that
Europe and America, who have opened the ports OF
: China at the lannon's mouth to obtain an entrance
for their merchants. their missionaries and their
productions, should by strange inconsistency refuse
the Chinese access to their territories ; circumstances