Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1884-06-07

SATURDAY .................... JUNE :. rss.
HoPE roR HsHSITtNs.
The future Of the Hawaiian race is
not altogether hopeless. To be sure,
the dictum has gone forth THAT sooner
or later in this century the closing
catastrophe must come, and the TN
thinking foreign resident and the i'm
pressionable native alike have accepted
the dictum as the voice of fate. All
abroad among the natives It is tacitly
understood that the race is decaylng
and that its years are numbered. The
popular conviction among white rest
dents is that the extinction OF the race
is merely a matter Of time. The out
side world holds to very much the same
opinion. After a weeks sojoun in
Honolulu, a sentimental contributor to
to the Washington Republic finds
that "the gentle Sandwich Islander is
passing from beside us as the frost
fake melts away before the all too
sultry breath of spring SO too, after
five hours stay in our miniature me-
tropolis, the great Monday lecturer of
Boston, fresh from the teeming hives Of
Asiatic population, as the " majestic
steamer drops off shore into the scented
dark" hears many voices call out
Aloha the wall of race about to
be extermnated. NoyIfHrf .SaIntdmnS :
I'VE who are about to die salute you 4"
Has all this sentiment above "the
sensitive, sympathetic, sweet-soued is
lander of the tranquil tropical Pacific
who lie down and die of such trifes as
mumps and measels and even influenza
sufficient basis in fact 1t is according
to fact that the process OF decay is
rapidly decimating the race We all
know that the outlook is dark enough
but thinking men among us are be
ginning to question whether the era OF
decay has not already given place to an
era of growth Certainly we are not to
conclude that the causes OF past de
cline and deterioration have not spent
their force, and that the forces which
contribute to race growth have not al
ready set in. 1t will not do to pre-
dicate what has been the past, of what
will be in the future. Besides there are
signs of better things already in the life
and habits OF the native race. To-day
they represent the best muscular de
velopment in the land. They afforc
the best examples ofphysical endurance
The scourge of leprosy and liquor i
abroad among them but who does no
believe that rigid segregation woulc
check the one, and enforced abstinenc,
prevent the ravages OF the other
What nationality now inhabiting tn,
islands could have stood so well th'
fearful exposure in which this so-calleC
"dying race" have lived now thes
many years Violations OF the PLANES
rules of physical care, the practice O
intanticide, the reliance on the crud
remedies of native doctors to stem epl
denies and contagious diseases, tn
low, damp unhealthy grass-houses, tn
poisoned blood of generations, --thes
have proved baneful enough but no
nearly so disastrous as might have beel
the case with any OF the other race
among us subjected to the same cond
tons. 1t is popular delusion that tn
race OF Indians in America is anothe
dying race, The encyclopedias eve,
give the belief currency. But tn
census returns afford very little groun
for this belief 50 In 1920 the entir
Indian population OF the United State
was estimated at $4,000. Accordin
to the estimate of the Indian depar
ment in 1871, the total Indian popul.
ton Of the Union was about $50, 1000
This increase was due to the accessio
Of new territory having an Indian popul.
ton. No account is made however {
the losses to the Indian population
the bloody wars of the last forty yer
one of which lasted seven years an
cost the United States fifteen millio
dollars, II the figures can be made
show that the Indian population h;
actually decreased, the decrease can /
shown to be small, and not an evidenc
Of the dying condition of the race.
fact very encouraging increase can
shown in the population OF the less wa
like tribes.
The generalization is altogether tc
broad that "evey dark-skinned ra'
must disappear when brought into co
tact with the whites" History recort
the practical extinction OF other ths
dark-skinned races. And because
race has suffered alarming decrease
numbers, il does not follow that Il
best blood may not recuperate and !
establish the race in the very face
the forces that have decimated it,
all the progress being made by the b.
ter class of natives to count for nothi
in our estimates Of the futurer II
race was never better housed than /
day Habits OF care are gaini
ground. The family instinct is bel
awakened. The value of protects
nom contagious disease is being reco
niscd. The instinct Of race preser,
ton is seen in the preference of tho
Of their own kind in marriage. Intel
gent natives are beginning to feel Ii
their race has gained nothing in ply
cal vigor or intellect from the miNtu
OF the blood OF other nations Il
pure-blooded Hawaiian is natural
strong in body and ready in intelle,
and now that there seems to be
abatement in the decrease of the pop
lation, may we not hope that the day
better things is dawning for this nat
rally vigorous and heroic people, /
thinking and influential men stop I
current talk about "the poor Hawaii
hurryinp To his fate and Let there