The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-12-12

able early action OF congress to take IN
islands of Hawaii into the Union ha
brought the question of their popuia
fion to the front. For some reason no
vet explained the Japanese portion o
the population appears to be grea
hugbear in the minds of many. This L
probably due to the fact that an Asi
attic whatever part o1 the Occident III
may hail from, is regarded as an unde
sirable citizen. The majority or Amer
icans have heard of the disagreeablt
side of the Chinese nation; they nave
read that the Japanese are aggressive
and can run a white man out or buSi
moss. besides many similar statement
along the same line, which lead TO the
classification of all Asiatics into one
conglonerate whole and the speedy con-
demnation of the lot
To one who has lived in Hawaii fol
+bree wears and been intimately asso-
ciated with the various races that the
islands now have within their borders
# seems indeed strange that men OF
Anplo-Saxon blood should express fear
of the Japanese either in mercantile
business or in the labor market. The
-Janauese coolies work for a mere pit
tance when they first come from Japan
There can be no question about that
But the aggressive characteristic of
their nature shows itself very quickly.
They can appreciate high wages IS well
as an American. 1t is peculiar fact
that while many Americans fear an
nexation on account of the possible ef-
feet of the japanese on the labor mar
ket many of the business men Of Ha-
waii fear annexation on account of the
tendency of the japanese to seek a
higher scale of wages.
Then. again. few people of America
appreciate that the common people
among the japanese of Hawaii are lib
eral buyers. They seek to adopt Eu-
ropean and American customs in dress
and manner of living. They buy coats,
trousers, hats and shoes. nearly all of
which are made in American factories.
The fact that the japanese are '1mita-
tors" is often remarked as Slur upon
the little yellow man." Be this as it
may, the American manufacturer gets
the benefit of this initiative desire
among the Japanese of Hawaii. The
little yellow men are also good "livers,
and while they can, if necessary, exist
on a handful of rice day, they are not
slow in loading their tables with Amer
lean delicacies just as soon as they can
get a little money together. They are
hard workers and also liberal buyers.
The best evidence of where the cloth
ing for the japanese Of Hawaii is
bought consists in the fact that the
principal business of the IL or 15 JAP
anese stores in Honolulu is in Japanese
knicklnacks only. Yet three-fourths of
the japanese people of the country
dress after the style of the Americans.
Any one walking through the streets of
Honolulu or any other town in Ha-
wall can see a practical demonstration
of the fact that the Japanese popula-
ton of Hawaii are good buyers Of the
products of American woolen and cot
ton mills, as also of our boot, shoe and
hat factories.
When considering the subject OF pop
ulation, however. it is well to remem-
ber that the Hawaiian Islands, with
today's population of 10000, are capa-
BILE of supporting 100000. There are
thousands of acres of land in Hawaii
more fertile than the beautiful valleys
of California. These lands are in the
hands of the government and are being
disposed of to bona fide American set
larger portion is being developed in the
cultivation or coffee. 1t has been prov
ed beyond the question of a doubt that
coffee can be grown at n profit on the
mountainsides of Hawaii 1t has also
been proved beyond the question of a
doubt that the white man, the Ameri-
can, can go into the tropical forests.
clear his fields, plant his coffee-in fact,
do all his own work. as did the early
pioneers in the United States. AT the
end of five or six years an American
can. by the work of his own hands. have
field of coffee that yields steady in
come and a home surrounded by a gar
den whose beauty and fruitfulness are
only limited by the industry of the own
er. While the islands are within the
tropics the Americans of Maine. Min
neSota, Georgia, South Carolina Ore
Gon, Washington and California are to-
day working in the fields, healthy
hearty and getting good returns for
their labor.
The writer during his stay in Ha-
wall met a gentleman who had been
farmer IN Montana. He had heard in
definite reports regarding the fertility
of Hawaiian soil and finally decided 10
make the trip and see what th,src was
FOR small farmer in the islands of the
Pacific. 1 talked with him after he had
been in the country three months He
had taken up land for coffee cultiva-
tiou. He had sent for his family and
written To three of his neiyhbors who
contemplated leaving Montana that
they could not find brighter onenine-
on earth for small farmer than in
Hawaii This man had held back about
going TO the islands because he was
not sure about the security of the gov
ernment and the title of his land after
he once got il. There are a great MANY
Americans holding back from going to
Hawaii for just this same heason. They
nave heard IL is a country of revolu-
uons, consequently they prefer the Sc
curlty they have in the United States
TO an uncertain government. But as
soon as the United States takes the is
ianos as part and parcel OF American
territory il viii be found that Hawaii
VIII MI up with Americans in mighty