The Daily bulletin., 1889-10-30
THE LABOR QUESTION.

nat was the gOOd! IhrS nat l.
ron one planter this morning tina
,fter a rainy light the Chinese l..
fused to work. The more you in
crease their numbers without con-
troll, the more you increase their
power of combination. Ii seemed
TO him no solution of the difficulty
simply to introduce more Chinese
whenever labor became scarce. The
Chinese migrated from one planta-
tion to the other, getting the best
terms they could out of the necessi-
ties of the planters. They had also
the rice plantations to run to and
varied lot of employments in Homo
lulu wherein they came into competi-
tion with people of other nationals
ties. Without regulation, therefore,
he repeated, the introduction of
more Chinese was futile rs q means
of meeting the labor demands of the
planters.
Mr.. f. M. Walsh spoke of the
Importance of the question, forced
rs it was on the country from vari.
Gus standpoints. lie suggested pre-
senting the views of this company in
set of resolutions, showing that
their interests were only considered
as those of the whole country. Com
ing to the general question his ex-
perience was that New Hebrides la
Dor was not the most satisfactory.
1t might be well for this meeting to
come to some decision rs to what re-
strictions or regulations ahould be
placed upon Chinese immigration.
He had been against the consthu-
tional amendment before the Legis-
lature, considering it an unnecessary
measure. He had, however, given
more thought to the matter, especi-
ally since reading the Cabinets an
swer to the citizens committee.
This document placed the matter in
more serious light than. it had ap-
pearsd to him before. If Chinese
imported for plantation labor can
not be prevented from competition
with traders and mechanics without
constitutional amendment, then
the speaker thought the planters
should not oppose measure of this
kind. 1t should be their aim to
show that the planters interests are
not opposed to, but identical with,
those of the rest of the community.
Mr.. MacGe by request read again
from letters received from planters
in answer to circular letter.
Mr.. Baldwin was in favor of hav-
ing the question referred to com
mittee for a deliverance Of the COM
pany's ideas. He had been very re-
luctant in coming to the conclusion,
at last session of the Legislature,
that constitutional amendment was
the wisest course open out OF the
difficulty. Latterly he had become
afraid that the measure might not
be judicious, owing to the growing
scarcity cf labor. The labor mar
ket was very sensitive and there was
no saying what the consequence of
restriction might be on the supply
of Chinese. The Government had
issued strong document in favor
of restriction, and the planters per-
haps should decide how far to go
with the Government. He thought
some measure of restriction, having
respect for the rights of Chinese
now in the country, might be eff
fected. The Government recog.
nized that the contract system could
not be enforced on the Chinese, alse
that the planters must have full
supply of cheap labor. Even the
agitators in Honolulu recognize that
white men cannot take the place of
Chinese on the plantations, and
would not desire TO have the plant
ers deprived of cheap labor. What
ever restriction is devised, it should
be very carefully considered. lie
blamed the Government for not hay
ing been more active in getting other
kinds of labor, although they joined
in opposition to the unrestricted
admission of the Chinese. Let il
be understood that, whatever re-
striction be made, the labor require
ments of plantations must not be
interfered with. This he believed
to be the view of all sensible men
even among the anti-Chinese agitat.
ors.
Mr.. Young, vacating the chair,
referred TO conversations he had with
leading anti-Chinese men. Some OF
these were on wrong track, seem.
ingly forgetful that the bread and
butter of everybody in the country
depended on sugar or rice. The
speaker recited what lie deemed the
sensible views of some of the agita,
tors. He was one of the most rabid
opponents of the constitutional
amendment at the last session, and
even now thought the most moder'
ate form brought forward was strong
enough. But, even if it was in the
planters power to conduct things
with high hand wholly in their owr
interests, he should not advocate theil
taking advantage of such power,
On the contrary, he thought that the
planters should meet those com
planning of Chinese competition ir
a fair and friendly spirit,
Mr.. Bishop spoke of the serious