The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-05-24

We aAO AAp aAHttahahln$1C
as regards those countries.
Java Is a coffee producing country
where labor is cheaper than We can
ever hope TO get it Ia this country,
but the production.of coffee In Java
Is not large enough 10 materially
affect prices In the markets of the
world.
We will now look at the conditions
of labor In the principal tea growing
countries, aud there We find very
different state of things. China, Japan,
India and Ceylon are the great tea
countries, and they are populated by
hundreds of millions of people, who
furnish an inexhaustabIe supply of
the cheapest labor in the world. First
Is China, he largest producer OF tea in
the world.
There laborers on the tea planta-
tions are paid from four to eight MexI1
can dollar cents per day, and for thia
pay iaborer il required TO pick from
Ia to 16 lbs. OF green leaf per day
other labor on the plantations is paid
for in the same proportion. In Japan
the wages are higher, but still far
below what is paid here. Labor on
tea plantations averages 20 Mexican
dollar cents per diem for men, and
about ii cents for women. | have
this from the very best authority. A
Mexican dollar is now worth about 81
cents United States gold, therefore the
wages paid are less than ii cents per
diem in our money.
The amount of work performed /
find, upon Inquiry, to be about the
same as in China.
Now, what are the labor conditions
in Ceyion, which country is rapidly
coming to the front as tea producer2
A Ceylon tea planter should be well
acquainted with the rates of wages
paid there, and what he states as to
the rates of pay there Is correct in one
sense, but certainly misleading In
another. He states that a coolie Is
paid Is cents per day, and cents for
each is paid to bis congany, or head
man. / was informed in Ceylon that
the conganies received but 2 cents fer
each man of his gang that turned out
to work each day. and, in addition, he
received the same pay as his men,
and that he performed the work OF u
luna over his gang. Now, we have
to pay our lunas rather better pay
than this.
will now point out where :. P.is
statement is misleading. He states
so many cents, leaving 1t TO be in-
ferred by your readers that this money
is of the same value as our money,
when, as a matter of fact, it is worth
but little over One-half of our money.
The rupee is down to Is. 3d.-equal to
30 cents of our money therefore the
laborer receives sum less than II
cents in our money.
In India the pay on the tea planta-
tions is much less. In Trayancose in
Southern India where there is an in
creasing production of tea, the labor
ers are paid four annas per day; there
are sixteen annas to the rupee, and
four annas reduced to our money is
but seven and half cents. In sup
port of this statement as to the wages
paid, would refer G. p. to the Ma
dras Times of August 20, 1898. The
pay of the laborers on the tea pIanta-
of the Himalayan Mountains, some OF
which L personally visited, was four
annas per day or seven and half
cents for the men, and from two to
three annas per day for women and
children. The rates on the planta-
tions at Darjeeling from 5000 to 5000
feet elevation in the mountains were
about the same as on the plains, but
the labor was infinitely superior.
Laborers were performing daily tasks
that no laborer in this country would
undertake. / think I have said
enough to show that as regards the
price of labor this country is at an
immense disadvantage with all the
tea growing countries, and il tea is
made success here, there must be
other conditions immensely in our
favor. G. z. may know of these con-
ditions and advantages, and il he can
make tea paying industry he will
deserve the thanks of the community,
and he will find no one will do him
more honor than the undersigned.
Rnt 4 rnnCf HnofaGC II a the
ent outlook, reluctant to advise any
one to embark time and money in
the culture of tea.
One thing more / must mention.
G. p. evidently sets forth the superior
stamina of the laborers in Hawaii as
one of the favorable advantages for
tea culture here. That is indeed a slim
dependence. Are the japanese here of
superior stamina to their countrymen
Chinese in China? Are they superior
to the Butas in the Himalayan Noun
tains ? ] was informed while on a
large tea plantation in CeyIon, that
coolie could pick fifteen pounds of
green leaf per day, about the same
amount as the Chinaman picks in
China. Tea plucking is certainly one
of the largest items of expense on 8
tea plantation, and q. P. knows very
"Sli thdI III yiOut as III All obAtI
tea countries, the piucking is largely
done by women and children. But
have already taken up too much of
your valuable space, and with your
kind permission / will in the near
future have something to say con-
corning the suitability of certain dis
tricts on these islands for growing
cocoa, nutmegs, rubber, etc.
JOSEPH MARSDEN.
Mr.. EDTToR:-The main argument
in favor of granting the suffrage to