The Pacific commercial advertiser., 1897-09-29
LUNING On COFFEE.


Greek, Michigan, a man of consid-
erable property wrote TO j. W.
Luning of this city, for informa-
ton about coffee raising, and re-
ceived the following reply:
FANK w. WARD, ESQ,
Battle Creek, Mich, U. S. A,
Sir:-We are in receipt of a letter
from you under date of May 9Th. to
which we can reply with very little
satisfaction, as the subject is one that
is hard TO write about.
The book you say you have will most
likely give you as accurate infOrma-
tion and figures, az any person could
privately, as it was compiled by the
Government in order to attract white
people to the Islands, and we say God
help them when they come as we have
been here 20 years, and ought TO know
what the outlook is for white men. If
you want to do constant wedding and
hard work personally miles away from
any town or civilization, you may be
able to do something with coffee, but
the experience OF one person we have
lust talked with is not encouraging, he
says that eighty acres cost him the
first year in preparing the ground
wedding, planting, ETC., eight thou
sand (SS.00O) dollars, and that does not
include the buying of the land, which
already belonged to him, but the actual
outlay, and it will still continue to cost
him the wages of three men TO each
acre at fifteen ($15) dollars each man
per month, or $45 per acre for the next
two or three years before there can be
any return of capital invested not to
speak of other expenses that can only
be known of as each month comes
along. We are sorry not to be able to
tell you something more encouraging,
but think it best at all times to tell the
truth. where money is to be invested,
and our advice is to all white men TO
stay away from the Islands both with
their money and presence, until all
business matters are on better foot
ing than at present
As Mr.. Luning, on his letter
heads, processes to buy and sell
lands, his statements naturally
carry some weight, as he advises
his enquirer not to buy. What his
motive was, in writing such a wild,
reckless letter, dangerous because
it contained only half truth, we
do not know. Possibly it may have
been written under acute pain, at
the moment, inflicted by some irate
boot. Possibly the truth was such
a rare article with him, he could |
not afford to part with it, as he |
might never again see the article.
Possibly he was ignorant on the
whole subject, like the Lancashire
hotel-keeper, who in a moment OF
excitement shouted out, ''Pll wager
a guinea with any one that | am
the ignorantest man in this town."
He undertook to prove to Mr..
Ward that his claim was not the
least to be called the town liar.
Mr.. Luning evidently intends
to keep settlers out of the country.
Perhaps that is because he has set
tied here himself. To that extent
he is considerate, and kind. Fill
these Islands with men of such a
type and the Almighty would have
to submerge them before they
would be fit to live in. This man
has abundant opportunity TO find
out the facts about coffee. He may
easily know that even in the eX-
perimental stage 1t pays moderated y
well. He knows that in the same
business, men succeed and fail. !
Instead of handing Mr.. Wards |
letter over to Mr.. Taylor. or to
some one who would make a truth
full reply, he cites an extreme in
stance of a planter, who evidently
does not work on economical meth
ods, and makes it the standard for
coffee cultivation.
The coffee industry Is at present,
the one strong and penetrating
wedge for driving Anglo-Saxon
brain and sinew into our social sys-
tenn. Mr.. Luning and some other
men would prefer to keep this
wedge out.
III &C InIo.o De-