The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1881-12-03

CT OF males anu ienaleS IN some passenger
ships from Europe to the United States, is
well-known. The pure minded will shud-
at the contemplation of the wretchedly de-
moralizing results that must follow such
brutal Iicentiousness such reckless mis-
management of weak, unprotected human
ity. The horrors of the ill-famed "middle
passage" Of the African slave trade, are
brought 10 mind.
y great country like the United States,
may, with some %impunity, receive into its
vast domain any and all that come, to be
moulded and reconstructed amongst its
millions, but Hawaii, small and weak, can
not afford 10 be otherwise than circumspect
a. to whom she admits to the rights and
duties Of fraternity and equality. Neither
can we afford for the sake of our good name
10 permit the existence of abuses in the OPP
Grafton Of our immigration system. That
there have been abuses and evils i'm connec-
ton with the business, that might easily
have been fOreseen and prevented by those
in charge OF the Bureau of Immigration,
will, we think, appear plain to any reason
able mind. In the case ofthe particular class,
the NOrwegians, which we are now consid-
ering,' the bad management and stupidity
commenced at the outset, by no manage
ment at all where it was very much needed
on the voyage out. And on the arrival
here, among strangers whose language they
understood not, and among strange scenes,
the manner i'm which they were disposed of
to employers, was surely not calculated to
give them q favorable impression to begin
with. \ modest but yet high-spirited young
woman, for instance, whenc called out from
the crowd rs Number One Hundred and
Fifty" and critically gazed at and eX-
amined by a male applicant for a servant,
might naturally, if possessed of an ordinary
amount Of sensibility, experience a shrink
ing sensation akin to that ola slave exposed
to public competition on the auction block.
To be sure, the teeth are not examined nor
muscles pinched, after the old practice in
the slave mart, but the Whole transaction
has, nevertheless, the appearance of a sale,
in which the owner is DESTROYS of disposing
of his human chattel at the stipulated price,
and the buyers anxious to get the best pos
sible bargain. And then, perhaps, after all
the inspection and comment to which "No.
$50" was subjected, she was sent back to
her companions for the present, as not suita-
bic in the opinion of the-emplOyer. Just
put yourself in her place, fair reader. Sure
ly these civilized and C~hristianized Nor
wegians may be supposed to have. some
p ltciILBS u hGliCdCy dlu DeTSOIal prlueJ
which our Christian government ought to
respect in its treatment of them. A little
thOughtfulness on the part of our authori-
ties should have led to a different and less
Objectionable mode of apportioning the i'm
migrants to employers, whereby a pleasant
impression might have been created at the
outset in the minds of the employees, |
to be confirmed by subsequent wise and
cOnsiderate treatment.
As to the manner in which contract Ia
borers are treated OH our plantations, we
are assured that the owners and managers,
as q class, are disposed to be kim and con-
siderate, as indeed it is manifestly to their
interests to be ;-although it is quite posi-
Die, while human nature remains the same
the world over, that there may be excep-
tions to the general rule in this respect.
And in order to guard against the occur
renee of anything like abuse or injustice to
immigrant employees, we would advocate
the appointment of a Commissioner or Pro-
tector of Immigrants for each Island, or for
say three districts, Q) Hawaii (2) Maui
and neighboring Islands, and (3) Oahu and
Kauai, to make periodical visits to all plan
%tatiOns, clothed with ample powers to en-
quire into and report to the proper authOri-
ties all complaints that might arise as to
improper treatment, etc. Doubtless much
of a trivial and unfounded nature would be
brought before such an officer but the fact
that he was specially commissioned by the
Government to look after the interests and
well-being of the laborer and to advise him
rs to his legal status, would go a great way
towards allaying discomfort, and would
tend to make matters more comfortable for
both sides.
We consider the suggestion above made
As worthy of the early and careful consider
alton of our w-maker in the coming Leg
~islature. For, we repeat, the Hawaiian peo-
pie and Government cannot afford hat the
impression should go abroad to the effect
that we fail in the smallest degree to prop
erly care for the comfort and welfare of that
class of men whom be bring here to till our
soil and to develop our resources. We owe
il to ourselves and to our friends and sup
porters in other lands, to establish beyond
a doubt that il is our fixed determination
to deal honestly and literally with immi-
grants, and to prove this by deeds and not
only express il i'm words. Therefore we de-
clare that, in the light of past experience,
the entire system, Tor want of SYSTEM of
the Bureau of immigration should be thor
oughly revised and remOdeled, be placed
upon q footing of entire independence from
the control of any other department of the
Government, and hus be i'm a position to
become efficient and responsible, which it
is not nor ever can be- under existing laws.
In speaking rs we have for the proper
care and well-being of the imported laborer,
we are not unmindful of the interests as
well Of the employer, for we are convinced
that the one is inseparable from the other.
let Us not forget the beneficent senti-
ment of the motto adopted by Kauikeaouli
the ood- The life of the land is estab-
lished in doing that which Is right"
Hawaiian Primary in the Pacific.
III it Is to be accepted as a fact incontro-
vertible that this Hawaiian State is but a
.rrnrn Of nlanfatinns nnh a nr-ndinnAn -