The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1882-03-25

and the Government would strengthen the latter
and benefit the former no one viii gainsay but
the organization Of a plan by means Of which
such work could be accomplished, and the
planters Of the different islands be brought
within a common bond for mutual benefit, has
been neglected and delayed until our necessitie>
are forcing Us 10 consider the matter, and TAXI
some action before We are srIven to the wall.
Perhaps the greatest drawback 10 a concerted
action on the part Of all the planters Is the
difference Of opinion as To the nationality of
laborers best adapted 10 our wants. All agree
that the native Hawaiian Il naturally superior Is
a plantation hand TO any of the importations
hitherto made but although the native race
supplied nearly the entire labor force of the
kingdom ten years ago, at present only about "a
per cent. of the plantation laborers are Ha-
waiians, and the number Is steadily decreasing.
Again, the views of planters as TO the most
desired nationalities change and vary with time
and experience. 4 circular letter addressed by
the Minister of the Interior to tho different
planters brings out an expression OF preference
IN favor of the Chinese and Portuguese as
laborers, while in 1872 a similar expression Of
opinion was largely IN favor of the Japanese.
Your committee believe that the Chinese are
probably the best for general plantation laborers,
but that il is not advisable to have the planta-
ton wholly supplied by that labor. The natives
of the New Hebrides hay proved to be of the
best of field hands-next } the natives Of these
islands and it is regretted that but so few have
been brought here. 1t Is thought, from the
experience of the past, that the South Sea
Islanders are a failure, and your committee would
recOmmend that no further effort be made in
that direction. The Portuguese are considered
a desirable class of labOrers, within certain
limits. but the expense attending their employ
ment has proved excessive. \ movement in
conjunction with the Government by which the
latter may pay for the Introduction of women
and children, without contracts, would, per-
haps, lessen the expense to the planter, and
help repopulate the country to its great advan-
tage. Your committee would report against the
attempt to bring, as contract laborers into this
kingdom, the people of any of the countries of
Northern Europe although they believe that
| assistance on the part of the Hawaiian Govern
ment to such as desire to emigrate to this country
might properly be rendered, and prove beneficial
to the country at large.
Much has been written and said on the subject
of introducing the Hindoos-a class of laborers
as yet untried. Your committee do not feel
called upon TO express an opinion as to the
value of such labor, or the practicability of in
Producing the same into these islands. But they
are firm in the opinion that under no circum-
stances should the planter become amenable to
the laws or regulations of any foreign Govern
meut. And it would be considered a sufficient
bar to the introduction of Hindoo laborers if the
Government of Great Britain will not allow their
coming here under the sole protection of Ha-
waiian laws. If a satisfactory arrangement could
be made regarding the legal control of these
people upon the passage by the Hawaiian Legis-
lature of certain, well-regulated laws, in con-
formity with the wishes of the British Govern
| ment, ana not lnllllcal 10 IL interests Oh
the planters, your committee would recon-
mend such action as should at least
test the question of the utility of such
labor, and the practicability of its intro
duction here in numbers sufficient to supply our
wants. And your mmit would further re-
| commend that the Government be requested to
enter into a correspondence with the British
Government III relation to bringing Hindoos to
this country, in order that we may know exactly
upon what terms the same may be done.
II is not probable that any Intelligent planter
would prefer to select his laborers all from one
nationality, even If u choice were gwen him. 1t
is too ~well-known that different characteristics
best fit the laborer for different POSITIONS. With
an allowance for exceptional cases, it Is generally
conceded that the regular, plodding manner of
the Ch:naman, and his aptness for initiating or
learning from example, peculiarly hts him for
the boiling-house, or the routine OF hand held
work and irrigation and your committee would
earnestly CONNIE that the Government be
requested to take all needful and necessary steps
for keeping that country open to our demands
for labor now and in the future.
While the Portuguese seem admirably adapted
for : : helpers - or assistants in the many me-
chanical industries pursued upon the plantation,
they do not, as n rule, take kindly to the monot-
onous hand work in the field, nor succeed in
the handling of teams. Heretofore we have re-
lied almost exclusively upon the native Hawaiian,
who with his natural fondness for the horse and
aptitude in handling our half-broken cattle, adds
the favorable popularity of a Willingness to
work out ukupau without regard to regularity of
hours or time of day. But unfortunately, the ma
tive is fast disappearing from our plantation
rolls, being either engaged in his own little spe-
culatiOns or absorbed by the increased demands
of our coasting service, for which he alone is
available, and it becomes a matter of necessity
that we shall, as far as possible, Introduce steam
and machinery to take the place of our teams, or
recuperate from abroad, our thinned ranks OF
teamsters.
In this connection it may not be improper for
your committee to remark upon the difference in
wages paid by planters, without a corresponding
difference IN the value OF the labor so PAD tor.
That there is a difference in the value to the
planter of the labor actually required for the diff
ferent departments of the plantation, no one will
dispute. 1t does not require the strength of
muscle, quickness of movement or good sense
and Judgment to turn the trash upon the ground
or irrigate the cane field, that 1t does to guide
the pillow or handle the team. Yet the one may
be n day laborer at high wages, picked up in the
emergency of observation-disclosures, while the other
Is a shipped hand under a long contract at the
old rates. F.
1t is, of course, only by the law of supply and
demand that we can hope to fully overcome this
discrepancy, but it is also hoped that by some
united action on the part of the planters labor
NAV be so distributed and arranged that each
man will be worthy of his hire, and the sun
downers, or wandering tramPs, be put to the
proper work or banished altogether.
In conclusion your Committee respectfully
recommend that a well concerted plan of action
be devised and agreed upon. and the necessary
capital and power be committed to the charge of
selected agents to carry out measures for bring
ing labor into the country and distributing the
same according to the wants of the various
planters upon a basis of tonnage; and in this
connection they commend to the consideration of
this Honorable Convention the charter granted
by the Hawaiian Government, for the organiza-
ton of a corporation called the Planters Labor
and Supply Co., which your believes
will solve the problem of labor, and bring about
a state of unity among the planters greatly to be
desired. =
All of which is very respectfully submitted,
Il. S. SPALDING,
H. NJ. WHITNEY,
]. C. GLADE,
w. II. BAILEY,
w. CT. IRWIN.
$. T, ALEXANDER.
DISSENTING.