The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1891-01-20
HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS.
Boston Evening Transcript

that klng kalakaua is IN TINS
country for the purpose of negoti-
ating for transfer of the Hawaii
an group to the United States are
without any foundation in fact. As
Minister Carter has said, his Males
ty has no more authority to cede
his dominions than the Governor of
Massachusetts has to sell the Old
Bay State to foreign power.
The writer was present at the
last election in the Hawaiian
Islands. There were two parties,
the Reform party, which had cur
tailed the power of the King, and
the Kings, or National Reform
party, whose war cry was "Hawaii
for the Hawaiians, and who charg-
ed the party with endeavoring to
bring about annexation to the
United States. Asa result of the
election the Reform Cabinet, which
was composed of some of the ablest
men in the kingdom, and most of
whom were born there, was COM
PEELED to resign.
Under the reciprocity treaty
which admitted Hawaiian sugars
duty free, the prosperity of the
group and its trade with the
United States had greatly increas-
ed. By the new United States
tariff, admitting all sugars duty
free, this advantage is lost to the
island planters, who must now COM
pete with the cheaper labor of
Manila and other sugar countries.
This is felt, especially by the
younger and weaker plantations, to
be a serious calamity. The labor
problem at the islands has been q
difficult one, and strenuous efforts
have been made for its solution,
none of which has been wholly sat
isfactory. Laborers have been i'm
ported at large expense from vari-
Gus countries as follows: From
China, about 10000; Japan, 10000;
the Western Islands, by treaty with
Portugal. 10000; and various col
onies from Germany. Norway, Poly
nesia and elsewhere. But with the
unexampled growth of agricultural
enterprises. the labor problem
grows in Importance, and still con-
ronts the Hawaiian planter.
Though the removal of the
sugar duties may have weakened
in some degree the ties which bind
Hawaii to the United States, these
are still too strong to be interfered
with by other nations. At the last
celebration of the anniversary of
the American independence at the
islands, which, by the way, is OBJ
served with as much noisy enthu-
siasm by Hawaiians as by oar
home patriots, Hon. John L. Stew
ems, our present worthy Minister to
the Hawaiian court, delivered an
eloquent address to the American
residents. In this Grafton he took
the ground that the Hawaiian
group would eventually come un-
der the control if not into the pos
session of one of these three great
powers which are to control the
future of the Pacific, viz: the
United States, China and the Cto
be) republic of confederated Aus
tralian. The European powers, he
contended, are virtually out of the
race, and not even the completion
of the Nicaragua or Panama canals
will enable them sufficiently to
overcome the disadvantage of loca-
ton to enter into successful rivalry
with the nations that border on the
Pacific.
Meanwhile the commercial, do
nestle and social relations of the
growing foreign community at the
Islands with the United States are
yearly becoming more close. Alb
senteeism brings the Hawaiian
planters to California to reside,
either for their own convenience or
pleasure, and to bring them within
Geographic communication with the
business world, or for the better
education of their children while
here in Boston and Cambridge are
a number of young people, born at
the Islands of American or Eu-
ropean parents, being educated at
our schools and colleges, many of
whom will prefer to remain here in
the wider field which our country
offers to them. a striking iIlustra-
ton of the close relations which
now exist between the two coun-
tries was afforded a few evenings
ago, when one of our most beauti-
full churches was the scene of
brilliant Hawaiian wedding. The
bridegroom, a young merchant of
Honolulu, where he was born, of
German and Hawaiian parents; the
bride a native of another island of
the group, OF Norwegian and Eng
fish parents, temporarily resident