The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1892-10-07
AFTERNOON SESSION.

The House reassembled at 40 p. NJ.
Rep. KaunamanO spoke at some
length, favoring the bill.
Rep. Iosepa favored the bill but
wished to have provision made for the
deportation of immigrants.
Rep. Nawahi opposed the bill in its
present shape. He was willing to
help the planters, but in order to pro-
tect Hawaiians he wished the laborers
deported after they were through
working on the plantations.
Noble Baldwin said that though he
was q planter he had always voted
consistently with those who favored
Chinese restriction. The situation had
now changed. The planters were
in distress. Many had made nothing
and the others had made but little.
1t was unfortunate that plantation
expenses had got to come down.; that
wages, which constituted 65 to 20 per
cent. of the total cost, had got to come
down, but the fact had got to be faced.
1t was necessary to admit Chinese
somewhat more freely than had been
done. The Hawaiian members did
not seem to understand the bill fully.
The bill made no provisions for de-
portation. What was the use of de-
porting the old ones after they had
come in and learned the business, and
importing fresh lot? After the la
Dor requirements of the country were
satisfied no more would scOme. This
bill would not displace Hawaiians.
They were always sure of work at q
much higher rate than the Asiatics.
They are getting $6 to So a month
| more on the plantations on Maui than
| the others. On Kauai they were get
| ting double. The rate of wages must
come down, otherwise the plantations
would have to close up and there
would be no work for anybody. The
constitutionality of the bill had been
questioned. So was that of 80. At
that time the Supreme Court was
questioned and they said that the per-
mits attaching conditions to residence
would be constitutional in the case of
citizens of non-treaty countries. That
was the case here. The Pactolus case
had been cited but in that case the
| question of the validity of permits
signed outside of the country was not
raised. 1t was stated that there were
swarms of Chinese in the country,
but the number had greatly dimin-
| ished.
Rep. White was not ashamed to say
that his father-in-law was China
man, and as he did not come within
any of the exceptions named in the
bill, if he went on visit to China he
could not come back except as q slave.
The bill would ots.hold water.
Attorney General Neumann be-
lieved it was necessary that the plan
tations should get labor cheap enough
to enable them to save their planta-
tions for a better time, and the House
would be derelict to its duty if it did
not consider the changed situation. If
cheap labor could be obtained for
them which would not compete with
other labor, they should not be
thwarted, but aided in every possible
way. 1t was well known that under
the artificial stimulus of the Recipro-
city Treaty, all skilled labor had com
manded price here which it never
commanded anywhere. Worse days
had come, and now the planters were
asked why they had put all their eggs
into one basket. The eggs were there,
and if they were not saved, we would
have nothing. A great deal of the
profits of the planters had gone into
mills, ETC., which would be of no use
to anyone if they could not be run at
a profit. The times for the main in
dustry were gloomy. He hoped they
would be brighter. Should we en-
deavor to preserve the products of
wealth, labor and skill, or should we
let it go to ruin? If these things
were to be saved it could only be by
letting the planters get their unskilI-
ed labor as cheap'as they could get it.
The country has but two sources of
cheap labor-China and Japan. He
wanted to see the common field labor
as cheap as possible, provided that
could be done without injury to white
, and native labor. and without danger
to the safety of the community.
Everything in these days must be
: figured down to the lowest notch, if
the plantations were to go on. At
| present we had japanese labor. If the
japanese should combine, the planter
would be helpless, and it was there
fore necessary to have q second source
of labor. He was pledged to his con-
stituents to vote for q restriction of