The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1889-04-13
THE CHINESE IN HONOLULU.


the best authorities place it some
where between 100000 and 10000, |
or barely half that of Fiji Yet al |
ready the Chinese number from one
quarter to one-third of the whole,
and, as everywhere else where their
interests come into collision with
those of the whites, they have been
tried and found wanting. 1t was in
1873 that the Hawaiian Government
first addressed an official commune
cation to the Canton Viceroy,
through Mr.. Mackrill Smith, their
Acting Consul-General for Hong
kong but the Chinese authorities
showed no readiness to open up
official relations with so insigniti-
cant Power. Hawaii, however, is
perfectly Independent, and like its
quasi protector, the United States,
annually celebrates its Independence
Day-its emancipation from the con-
troll of either France or Great Britain,
which two great Powers are sup
posed to have had designs upon the
group, and finally agreed to mutu-
ally abstain in favor of native rul-
ers. Kamehameha the Great was
the first Hawaiian monarch to unite
by conquest the different principal
tiles into one kingdom but all this
race are long extinct or discredited,
good Queen Emma is dead and kala-
kaua now reigns. Opium smoking is
criminal offence in Hawaii. AS in
Australia, New Zealand, and the
United States, the objection TO the
Chinese is of doubtful purity. Quite
recently Chinese Total Exclusion
Bill was introduced into,if not pass
ed by, the Hawaiian Legislature,
but it is unlikely that it will ever
take effect. That objection to the
Chinese which is based on the con-
sideration of morals, or rather i'm
morality, is decidedly out of place,
and comes with bad grace from San
Francisco. The Chinese in Homo
lulu, as elsewhere, bring very few
| Chinese women with them; but this,
with the family views held by the
| Chinese, is not much to be wonder
ed at, and would certainly be rene
died if sufficient security were given
or even tacitly understood, that Chi
nese family rights would be respe,t-
ed, and that facilities would be
given to obtain suitable land for
burial grounds. As it is, quite a
considerable number of Chinese
have brought women with them, and
have settled permanently in the
/ country. whilst the majority content
themselves with connections. more
!. less temporary. f5-usd with the
kaaakB vouau- vLo here, unlike
what : The case IN Fiji, are ready 10
sell their charms TO the highest bid
der. Ii Is admitted that the Chinese
have been the immediate and SOLE
means Of bringing under caltivatI0r
q great deal Of waste land which
would otherwise never have beer
brought under cultivation at all q:
coolies they work well, and as quiet
ly as any others: but the difficulty
Is that they are rarely willing to re
main as laborers one day longer thar
their contract time. With his geniu
for peddling and huckstering, ever,
Chinaman who shall have saved
hund ed dollars conceives an ire
sistible ambition to open store, o
barber's shop, a cook house, vege
table garden, carpenters booth, O
what not; and it is UNIVERSAL,
granted that the white man has NJ
show at all when he is pitted in fre
competition with the economical, pa
tient, and Industrious Chinese. Th
finest stores in Honolulu are at leas
half Chinese, and it need hardly b
said that goods are obtained there
as at Shanghai, much cheaper tina
at the foreign stores. The "boys" a
the hotels are neatly dressed Chi
, ! nese, and John seems quite at HON
in the art of mixing ice
drinks, and in running the bushes
; of a saloon. The best offers fc
leaseholds are made by Chinese
: who, however, show a very natur.
r reluctance to purchase land in th
, islands outright. If they were ell
couraged to do so, and if the island
were ruled after the sensible fashio
in which the British rule Hongkon
and Singapore, the Hawaiian grou
would soon be sufficiently populate
by an industrious alien race, and IL
surviving natives would find the
level as wives or servants of I'll
= Chinese. The great want of tt
. country is labor, and without col
=, stantly fresh supply the magnificel
Z sugar, coffee, and banana plants
= tlons can never hope to compe
: with other places at a profit. 1t
u only United States protection, al
,. the powerful Influence of Spreck
~ Brothers which, even now, make Il
sugar export to California a prof
able one. There is fair proportic
'' of Chinese amongst the prisoners
Jail; but the easiness of Hawaii;
penitentiary discipline may be judi
ed from the fact that on the King
birthday the prisoners of all natio
:. alities were engaged in dancing rec
J and native posturing in carpe
= ter's shed adjoining the street,
y y the music of bandoline or gulta