The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1882-02-11

OUR iaDOr SYSTEM Wnicn mas given Occd-
sion to so much animadversion against us
abroad, will require earnest and thoughtful
attention at the hands of our Legislators.
IL must lie dealt with in some way or other
during the coming session, and II Is ear
nestly To be hoped that whatever may be
done will be done efficiently. 1t is desir-
able that a careful examination should be
made of systems which are being worked
elsewhere. Ii is impossible but that we
shall be able to learn something from such
an Investigation if undertaken honestly,
and not under the influence OF foregone
conclusions. At the same time, II is neces-
saTy that the condition Of things in our
own country should have careful considera-
ton. The sparseness of our POPULATION has
to be taken into account. We have here
no reserve Of labor upon which We can fall
back, and we are therefore under the neces-
sity Of establishing restrictions which may
not be necessary elsewhere. The law of
master and servant, as it exists in this
country, has not been brought into Its
present shape without much consideration,
and those who are responsible for the form
in which we now find it made an honest
endeavor to do justice to both employer and
employed. The fact that among the nu-
AlEIOA7 AL1Eh LAAal q OGth
against the country, and especially against
our plantation owners and managers, Of
late, scarcely any disparaging reference has
been made to our statute law which con-
trolls the labor system, Is proofin itself that
the law has been framed in moderation,
and that it is really the contract system
and the personal conduct of individual en-
ployers and their Lunas. against which a
without the contract labor system. and the
task before US is to render that system, as
administered here. acceptable to the class
of men whom we need rs plantation
labOrers. The measure which appears to
us most likely to quell the complaints
which rave been put in circulation about
the treatment of our plantation hands is a
more active supervision on the part of the
Government of the condition of the laborer.
There stand in the way many hindrances.
1t is a very difficult and delicate thing to
pry into the management of private con-
Germs. He who is charged with such a
mission must needs be a discreet and, at
the same time, u r~esOlute man, one who
can be trusted 10 allow no personal feeling
to warp his judgment either for or against
any employer. He should be as indepen-
utlL Us L > pOSSlDic lOE Il uLldu DelIlR 10
be of all influences likely to warp his judg-
ment, or to render him hasty in his way of
dealing with what he sees, or what is
brought before him in the way of COM
plant. To this end it is absolutely neces-
sary that such an official be literally paid
and absolutely prohibited from following
any calling or profession. His services
should be given exclusively to the Govern
ment, and ought to be confined to the one
office of Inspector or Protector of contract
laborers. 1t will, undoubtedly, be a very
difficult thing for the Hawaiian Govern
ment to find such men, and an onerous
thing for the Hawaiian Treasury to pay
them adequately for their services. Yet it
may be doubted whether any other expen-
diture for which a place will be found in
our next Appropriation Bill will be as
truly and fully IA reproductive investment
as this would be if agreed to by the Legis-
lature. 1t may be doubted whether, at the
present moment, our position in regard to
the future necessary supply of labor is
really comprehended by the majority even
of those directly interested in the question.
We are sure it is not appreciated properly
by the general public. Our requirements
are continually growing, larger areas are
put under crop each year. We cannot get
on without u corresponding increase in the
number of laborers to cultivate and get in
the crops. Where are we to look for the
hands that will be needed even before this
time next year? How many newly-arrived
laborers did our employers absorb last
year? What are even n thousand Portu-
guese, if they be secured, to compare with
the numbers that came from all sources
in 1881? Rejecting IN what is before us
i'm this respect, everyone must confess that
whatever we can DO to make the country
more attractive to the contract-laborer
ought to be promptly undertaken, and that
whatever it may cost will be nothing in
comparison with the disastrous loss a short
supply of labor will entail.