The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1881-11-26

THE POINT Of interest which is undoubt-
occupying the public attention here at
the present time more thu any other Is
the attack on the fair fame. King
7 nom wnGcn I.a5 GH@s" made, a. Is
being persistently kept up, by u
Francisco Chronicle and other CalifoIn
papers. We cannot hide from ourselves
the truth that such attacks are injurious in
proportion to their virulence rather than to
any admixture Of truth that may be found
amid their bold and slanderOus untruths.
In view Of the position held by this Island
Kingdom, II is OF the utmost importance to
all Of us-natiyes and foreigners alike-that
its good name among the nations hould DO
scrupuIOusly maintained. Now it is most
evident from the character of all that
has hitherto been written against us, that
the maintenance OF this good name depends
at this moment entirely upOn the manner
in which our plantations are managed.
Whatever faults critics on the spot may
find in our constitution and laws, our
national pOlity and social condition, our
( customs and our manners, this j. the one
thing for which we are conspicuous to those
who are at a distance. We are known as a
community made up in large part of
planters and their labOrers we have made
ourselves conspicuous to the outer world of
late, chiefly through our simultaneous
efforts to obtain a good market for our pro-
ducts and an abundant supply Of labOrers to
cultivate our plantations. WIat else goes
ON here, what else we may be busy with,
beyond the production Of sugar and rice
and the importation Of cOOlie labor i little
known and less thought Of out stie the
limits Of our little Archipelago. Hence
the character Of plantation management
throughout the Kingdom becomes a matter
Of supreme interest and Importance To all
Of us.
We do not desire, at this time, TO parti-
cularize, and refer TO individual instances,
but this we will say, that we have know
ledge Of the system and details Of manage
ment On several large sugar estates of
which we can unhesitatingly speak as
worthy Of every praise. On these planta-
tiOus not only are liberal wages paid, but
great care has been taken to provide COM
Portable quarters for the hands employed,
scrupuIous attention is paid to the quality
and quantity Of the rations supplied, pro-
vision is made to promote the cleanliness
II health Of all, and even means of re-
creation have not been neglected. On such
estates the prOprietors are not found acting
As mere drivers OF gangs of laborers, but as
the wise and beneficient medium in the
joint organization of capital and labor. On
the other hand, il must be confessed, that
there are a few, though not many, planta-
tons in the Kingdom, on which, we are
sorry TO say, things are not managed in ac-
cordance with enlightened and humane
principles. There the hardest possible bar
gains are driven with the laborer, the
ratiOns Of food are stinted and sometimes
Of second class quality, the provision for
the lodging and repOse Of those employed
is meagre and inadequate-unwOrthy, not
only Of q Christian management, but of
enlightened enterprise also. such q policy
as is pursued i'm these cases is not merely
unworthy, it is foolish and shortsighted,
and must in the end defeat the objects OF
those, who, whether il be through greed
ignorance or sloth, are Unwise enough To
indulge in it,.
The much maligned last Legislature,
amongst the many beuefcent measures D