The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1879-10-18

measles arr. soon brought to the shores that bad
never known them. and their ravages are always
dreadful. \ half Of the population may BE sweep
By q single epidemic Of smallpox as haPPeheu !.
Ascrnsirn Island. After the more susceptible part
o. thr community has been destroyed by these as
eases. what Is inaccurately called " tolerance o.
them il set mp; and the total mortality, ior eaen
disease. falls nearly to what II Is In the countries
whence II came. With these destructive causes
may also BE- classified habits OF drunkenness; and
even the excessive use Of tobacco, whicb nave
been very Injurious in some OF the Polynesian
groups. During the first years after the arrival OF
Foreigners the mortality from imported disease Tar
exceeds the destructiveness OF their most bloody
wars.
structive its epidemics have been. no longer con-
tinues The most potent cause OF the wasting away
Of the Polynesians. The oroadest ravages OF cpl
denies among the Islands, as elsewhere, are soon
repaired like those Of war; and by the same law
which would Gil the Atlantic Ocean In twenty
years with the progeny Of a single pair OF codnsn:
WbaL then. is the persistent cause which. now that
epidemic disease has spent its force. still wastes
away the Marquesans, the Hawaiians, the New
Zealanders. and the populations oil a dozen other
Polynrsfan groups? What blight 1t is that con-
tinnes IN full force long after wars. infanticide, and
oppression have ceased and the imported diseases
have carried of the weaker moiety OF the poPula-
ton
The answer is a simple one. This persistent
destroying cause is infeTtility. The native families
are. without exception. small, in spite OF rewards
offered By the government, as IN HAWAII, 10 the
parents OF many cnllOTen anu IL may OC NNNSN
that the children. in unduly large ratio, die young.
The number OF children under fifteen years oil age
is but % per cent. of the whole population. In
the United States it is Al per cent. Mr.. Darwin
points out that a slight lessening OF the fertility OF
any species. whether of plant OF animal. Will often
turn the balance against II in the struggle lot me-
and produce its speedy extinction. freclsely as
animals in captivity often become infertlle, so 90
the Polynesians under their changed conditions OF
life and they suffer the more certainly and pro-
foundry. like the Hawaiian. in proportion as that
- : $500 annnnfn1 and therefore the
more complete. And when to the loss from INFER
tility, which has shown itself thus far incurabie'
the high mortality of children is added, we see the
sufficient cause why the Polynesian races are
doomed to pass away. The biologic doctrine on
this point may be stated thus in general terms
A community living under uniform conditions
as by climate. food, customs, government. occupa-
tions, ideas-acquires an approximately complete
adjustment to these conditions. 1t becomes
e adapted to its environment" The LIE OF each
individual attains a natural equilibrium between
its own internal forces and the external or - incl
dent forces. to use Herbert Spencers phrase !;
and the community acquires great power oil re-
sisting the latter when they are injurious. But let
a sudden change in these incident forces take
place let new diseases, new customs. ideas. gov
eminent. employment be introduced to this we'll
adjusted COMMUNICATIVE shock Is mortal at once.
Individuals will be rapidly destroyed before the
needed power of resistance is gained. Gained,
indeed, 1t will eventually be. should the com
munity survive long enough but the prospect
is that in most Of the Polynesian groups the in
uaDltduls VIII " lmpiOfSN W.
earth"
In regard to the prospects of the aborigines in
the future, the Doctor goes on to say:
1t will now be asked Is there no future con-
tinuance for the Polynesians? Are we to say, not
only with the natives themselves. but with such
an authority as Mr.. a. r. Wallace, that { the true
Polynesians are, no doubt, doomed to an early ex-
tinction ~ This is probably true OF many COM
munities of Polynesians. Some, indeed, are ex-
tinct already. But it is erroneous to say. rs Is
commonly said. that in the Hawaiian Islands, for
instance, a few years more will finish the work.
In that group here were 49. 900 aborigines in 1872,
and but A. 900 in 1873. Surprising the diminution
to continue regularly at the rate OF ten per cent.
for each period of six years, an aboriginal popula-
ton of over 1000 would still remain a hundred
years hence. Their rate OF decrease, however,
grows slower Of late years, and, though there
seems no present means Of stopping the decrease
entirely, yet a certain proportion OF the pure
Hawaiian blood may be expected to remain Tor
many generations. unmingled with the incoming
currents from Asia. Europe. and America. An
nexation or violent further changes in the natives
habits of living are. indeed. possibilities that
would hasten, If realized, the complete extinction
OF the aboriginal people. But, on the other band,
those that are left have survived the severest posi-
bic processes of selection and they will more and
more adapt themselves to the changed conditions.
as the balf-breeds adapt themselves, so that the
pure blood may still be indefinitely preserved.
Z At present the total population of the Hawaiian
group is increasing and for the arst time since the
visit OF Captain Cook. in 1878. sThe returns give
a total of 81 9S5 inhabitants iR 1878, as against
during six years. The returns. made one hun
dred years after Captain Cooks visit to the Islands
gave the Hawaiians a fit subject OF congratnlation
for the centennial year of their so called discovery
(for they were not only discovered, but charted,
by Spanish explorers of the seventeenth century,