The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1881-07-06


We certainly have now a strange med
ley of races working as laborers upon our
plantations and at the various agricultural
employments which this country offers
Beside the aboriginal inhabitants there
are Chinese, Norwegians, Line Islanders,
Papuan negroes from the New Hebrides
and negroes from the United States; out
Of all these, we assuredly ought by this
time, to be able to decide which race is
best adapted to our wants-to solve both
the labor and population question. The
Chinese, we have long set our face against;
we do not deny that the Chinese have done
good service to the planter, that many
bone and muscle, but we never can make a
citizen of the Chinese; we have far more
Chinese as it is, than we ought to have,
and their presence here to-day in such
large numbers is a very serious matter for
us politically, far more serious than most
people think Therefore we could say, no
more Chinese, not even # they are willing
to come with their families The South
Sea Islanders are an acknowledged fail
ure; though in few instances people like
them, in many more they are very much
disliked, and their physique is very much
against them, so many die. These, too,
are not likely to make particularly good
citizens. They have been extremely ex-
pensive to obtain, moreover, some 400
South Sea Islanders have cost the Gov
ernment $4,000 exclusive of what they
have cost the planter The white men who
have been brought from Sydney and those
who have come from California have not,
as a rule, been a success as field laborers.
Negroes have been fairly satisfactory, but
they cannot be obtained in sufficient guam
titles. There remain the Norwegian and
the Portuguese,-of the former, we can
hardly form fair Judgment, they have
proved, for the time they have been with
US, very desirable addition to our popu-
lation, and were very highly spoken of in
a letter which we published last week
they may or may not, in the long run
prove good laborers, but there is one thing
we doubt, and that is, whether the next
generation would prove good laborers.
Now we do not want, or ought not to want
to import class like the Chinese, for our
present needs only, we ought to be think
ing of those who are to follow us, and
though some may say with the Irishman,
"Posterity has never done anything for
us, yet we owe duty to posterity, and
that is to build up the country, that we
may hand it on to our children, prosper
Gus, well-governed and free of foreign con-
troll; we speak as a Hawaiian. The Por-
tuguese seem to us to be the race who will
amalgamate best with us all; their pro
geny viii prove good laborers; we are in
formed that young Portuguese lads of from
eleven to thirteen are as good at light
work as adult Cinnamon, that they are
quick to learn and faithful in the dis
charge of their duties The presence of
Portuguese upon the plantations has acted
favorably upon the other workmen, both
in the way of example, and also by caus-
ing emulation One of the great obiec-
tions to Portuguese has been the neces-
sity of having women with them, this OBJ
lection however, has been met by the
proposal of the Government to make the
husband bear the expense himself, spread
ing the repayment Of the sum over a con-
siderable time if necessary.
But In bringing Portuguese in we must
prepare, IN some measure, special induce
ments for them, we must bind them to our
plantation interests, if possible; we must
not be constantly importing laborers, who.
at the end of their contracts, as mass.
either go into other branches of industry,
or return to their own country or seek
some fresh field; we must try to see If we
cannot induce them to stand by us from
generation to generation. This it seems