Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1885-03-07

with the pure natives, who arc thus fearfully
decreasing in 4 much more rapid ratio than
they did during the two las, periods.
This will be a dreadful how on those
who were hoping for, exp citing turning point
in the decrease, and it ought to be an awful
warning to the government generally 1t
would be very interesting TO kn,w, from
what can be procured througi the board Of
education, what have been the real amounts Of
nflive i, aths recorded since 1880, and whether
/ yih. death rate having suddenly increased
during these last two years, any baneful effect
can be traced back to he late liquor legislation
| As it is, the Hawaiian race seems to be
doomed, and doomed in an appalingly short
| future, and one can but feel d smiyed and
oyerpowercd with grief at this unfah mable
decision Of the Almighty Wisdom, for better,
kinder, more naturally honest good natured
and cheerful population is certainly not to he
found anywhere, and they were worthy, in spite
oI all tfcir sins, oi a better destiny.
This awful fact, thus suddenly made so
| glarng ly statistical study, is not only
sad in ITSELF bu, it ash destroys all the
/ pleasure that patriotic minds might have felt
At the sight Of our otherwise increasing popula-
lion. And, moreover, it forces our attention
to this iact that this increase is only fictitious,
not solid, durable, stable. and, consequently.
not TO he depended upon as assuring the future
u the country. This is clear. Most 4 the
elements constituting the increase are laborers
imported IN contract for limited time, and
in the same wav it may be depended thai
many will g uf at the end Of their cngng
ment, the more so it might be expected that il
any critical period was to fall on these islands,
Il wages only had to b. reduced-and at the
present &c Of crisis and hard times, the world
all over. there is no knowing what will happen
there would be a general * ,dus Of all these
aborers, so that in a few months the tota
popu alton night fall much below what it wa,
at the Las; census. ALREADY good many Portu
guesc, NorwcgiIns and others, with families
have gone away because not helped or induced
10 settle here Oh their own account and now
through the on'y incipient eff.cts Of the pr,
sent hard times, quite departure of China
men is announced for III. next months. Ant
with a suddenly diminish ID population, how
would the government manage to face thc
deficit and the consequences Of their love fJ
expenditures
Let it then b, well remembered tlr onl,
stable elements in til. population Of kingdom
like.this can be found al nc in married men
settled with their families ON Ian Is b longing tt
them, and wsich they cultivate themselves
That is the class whose immigration ought ,c
nave been and oush, to be now promoted above
I'll Others il the government is sincerely strivit
1t rcpopulation Of the country | shall
therefore, try here riter to see wha, can b,
suggested to stop the decrease of the na'iv,
race as well a. to insure the stability Of tn,
foreign population.
The only consoling feature Of the census il
the steady and rapid increas Of both half-caste
md foreigners, llaw1iian born. There is
healthy look about both, and hopes for tn,
kingdom il the he nth OF the population i
properly attended 10. On the other hand,
is to be regretted that the census has not beci
made more exhaustive. Census taking il
other countries are made to be much more com
prehensive and to incu e the statistics Of tn
ownership Of land and other properties, ant
: the enumeration Of cattle, cows, horses, mu'es
; dogs, shetp, etc. From such details, hav
: been found the best means of arriving at
useful. accurate knowledge about the divisio
Of land or the distribution Of property, and q
true estimate of the real wealth of the coun
try; these are, further, the only things VIII C
can serve as good basis to a sound and jus
assessment Of taxation and TO an abso.u,
t knowledge of what classes Of society tn
government had better seek the support Of, b
' attending 10 the proper satisfaction Of the
0 wants and wishes.
:, 1t remains now for me to examine what ca
he the future prospects Of the population, fror
which is 10 be decided whether these island
. are to constitute nourshing and wei
. populated kingdom or republic, or wheihc
p they are to follow the des,inies OF similar
u situated archipelago, that Of the Latrones {
o Mariannes, whose islands are nowadays most
deserted. A. MARQUES.
10 Honolulu, February %, 1855.