The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1893-05-22

/ stiles For thar end ASlagic labor 1,
necessary - Us, and l will ventura
&c assert 10 YOU thar We are not Singu-
lar IN this, FOR cane sugar il not now
proutaoly cultivated anywhere IN the
world except by coiore1 aud in the
main ASiS:ic labor"
L said 10 Mr.. Spreckels; lit is urged
by auneNatiouistS here thar no settled
or stable government Is possible in
the is.audS without annexation" He
| replied:
~ can't see why we should not have
| stable independent government There
Il no disorder whatever here now, as
you know. IL the present government
| should disband its troops there would
not &c the least danger 60 life or prop
| erty or public order. Ii is not the sol
| dters in the barracks who keep the
peace, but the people themselves; and
this, though the native people are
almost unanimously opposed TO the
/ annexation prospects of our present
| rulers; and though the Provisional gov
| eminent has so far excluded both ma
| tives and Portuguese from its menu
| bership. To answer your question,
| am sure that stable, orderly and eco
| nomical government is possible here;
/ and as l am the largest taxpayer ON
| the islands, and have more property
at stake and pay more taxes than the
whole Provisional government, you
will admit that my interests must
make me conservative. 1need stable
| and economical government more
than any man on the islands"
l asked: HAS the government not
been wasteful in the past ~ Mr..
| Spreckels replied:
"Of course ii has. We have had
here an unexampled period of rapid
money making for term of years;
and economy was not practiced by
your sugar duties everybody got
| rapidly rich here-not only the
planters, but merchants and traders
and everybody. There was nat
urally no disposition TO economy, and
the government became eNtravaGont
because everybody was eNtravag-.nt.
Now at last the wheel has turned, anu
we must economiZe on the plauta-
tions, in our daily lives, and of course
in the government. Sugar planters
who practice rigid economy will make
money this year even; but not the
great dividends they made in years
past. That boom is over, not only
for planters but for the workmen
as well. Look at Honolulu sup
pose you scarcely recognize it
from twenty years ago when you
were here. Think of the hun
dreds, yes, thousands of workmen of
all kinds who were brought here 10
build the fine houses which surprise
you all over Honolulu. But that is
the least of it. Go to the plantations
and see what has been done there
fine factories, costly machinery, miles
of houses for the work people, eXpen-
sive water works, often luxurious
homes. / myself had nine hundred
workmen in wood and iron employed
at one time on my Maui plantations
for over ten months, to say nothing of
the thousands of men employed in
making machinery in San FRANCISCO
for all the islands. Workmen now
here complain of hard times, but they
forget that the sugar mills, the la
borers and overseer's houses, the water
works, and also the splendid homes
in Honolulu have now been COM
pleted; the work is done and the
boom has burst, and we are down on
strict business basis. That was in
evitable from the first; and annexa-
ton cannot make n new boom as
some of our people seem to think"
/ asked Mr.. Spreckels: as it true
that the natives are responsible for
the boom period?" He replied:
mo; it is not right to charge that
upon the poor natives. OF course they
had the preponderance in the legis-
lature, but it was largely the influ-
ence and instigation of white men,
brought to bear upon the natives in
various ways, that led them to con-
sent to extravaganza. Under wiser
leadership, do not fear them. be-
lieve that Stable and economical gov
eminent is possible in these islands |
hnut tho m nf the Unite
States, and with the Independence of !
Hawaii as nation undisturbed. 1t |
can be got by the willing co operation |
of the natives and the tax payers, and |
that cooperation can be secured"
"What is your idea about the |
future?n / asked.
Mr.. Spreckels replied: "When Presi |
dent Cleveland understands from |
Commissioner Blount the truth of the |
situation here, he and congress will |
see that annexation against the will |
of the mass of the people of the ISL |
ands would be an act of great injus-
tiee, whilst it would also ruin the |
sugar industry, on which depends the |
prosperity of all the people of the |
islands. OF course | can see that |
great political necessity might lead
great government to such an act OF
oppression and spoliation. But there
Is no SUCH Necessity. lie OIlIcu |
States can always have the full use of |
the islands by treaty, and yet leave
here an Independent government,
under which all here have prospered.
We can get on without outside inter-
ference from any power; and such in
reference is not to be expected, for
The United States, L perfectly under
stano, will not tolerate that any other
power shall seize us; and / hope that
President Cleveland will see, when he
gets the report of Commissioner
he gets at all the facts, as
1 believe he will-that the interfer-
ence of the United States, as in last
january, is only evil and ruinous to
us. That act of Minister Stevens, en-
tirely unnecessary, has deranged bust
ness here, made dull times duller, and
injured every real interest in the
islands.
zone more question, Mr.Spreckels,"
1 said. "ThinkIng as you do, why did
you not oppose this annexation move
ment ia the beginniDg?" He replied:
Because L knew nothing of it. 1t
was a complete surprise to me. i was
in San Francisco, and my resident
partner, Mr.. Irwin, was in New York,
i'm January, when the revolution broke
out. We were both completely sur
prised. The movement was managed