Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1896-03-27
EMIGRATION TO AFRICA HAS
SCARCELY BEEN CONSIDERED.
Are Ambitious In CivilizatIon-Cnnn
subsi.t on Rice Eaters Wages
Taxation Grievance.

interviewed a leading Portuguese
in this city. The BULLETIN re-
preventative asked him:
"Why don't you go to Africa, if
you don't like the country ?"
He replied: II shall answer
that by asking you a question,
why don't the Japs go to Africa.
The country here is all right, but
the conditions of living are not
| all right. We were brought here
to Hawaii on the invitation of
this government and arrived ahead
of the Japs, and we don't propose
to take back seat now if we can
help it. We consider that we
have perfect right to look out
for the interests of ourselves and
families. The crowd Of Chinese
and japanese with which we are
surrounded has for some time past
made it more and more different
for Portuguese to exist on these
islands. We think the time has
now come when we must look
ahead little, and ascertain what
we are coming to in the future. 1t
is bad enough now, but what will
it be in few years? ] know it is
the custom for some folks here to
look down on the Portuguese, and
treat them on the same level as
Chinese or Japs. You hear in
the streets the expression, oh,
he's only a PortugueseH Now, l
may tell you that altho' a ma
| jority of my countrymen in Ha-
waii belong to the laboring class,
still 1 would ask you not to forget
| that they consider themselves on a
higher plane of civilization than
| the Asiatics. We have an ambition
to get on in the world, as well as
other white settlers. And here L
may say in passing that because
we belong to the Latin or Southern
European race some Of the local
newspapers will not even admit
that we are white. We live econo-
mically, but as we get on in the
world, and accumulate a little
goods and chattels, we alter our
style of living accordingly, just as
others of a similar class in Amer
lea or Europe would do. We are
a wine-drinking people, but we ale
not drunken race, as may be no.
ticed from the Police Court records.
And without Boosting | may add
that the Portuguese are one of
the best of races for settling a
tropical country such as this. They
are thrifty, hardworking, peace
able and stand the climate we'll"
| swell, did you see that adver-
tisement in the newspapers call
ing for 300 Portuguese laborers to
| go and work on the plantations?"
"Yes, noticed it, but it looked
very queer making its appearance
just on the evening previous to
our presenting our petition, and
in addition look at the wages Of
fered. They are too low. We
think that, considering the high
price of sugar and the enormous
dividends being paid by the sugar
plantations, the planters can af-
ford to pay such of our people as
are laborers, living wage, not
pittance such as they offer to the
rice-eating Asiatics. We do not
think that the United States made
the reciprocity treaty for the sake
of a few holders of sugar stock,
but that the laboring class should
participate to a small extent in the
benefits derived from the treaty.
| IL we are not to benefit from It.
then the treaty, 30 far as we, as
voters, care may as well be abro-
gated right away.
at must not be forgot also that
| the Portuguese here are not all
laborers. We have amongst us
quite a number of skilled artisans
and mechanics, tradesmen and
storekeepers, including carpenters,
blacksmiths, stone masons, brick
layers, hackdrivers, expressmen,
florists, etc., and they too are en-
countered by the cheap Jap pro-
blem. l see some of the local
papers are always bowling out for
American settlers to come here.
How would Americans like to go
and work on the sugar plantations
and keep themselves and families
on SIG a month. l should like to
see them try it,"
"To return to Africa, do you
II ~ l. A. -. zE A. d. -.