The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1897-08-06
MORE OPINIONS
Conditions of Hawaii Are
Suited to Negroes.
What Southerners Say of Their
Capabilities as Laborers-The
Views of an Employer.

Watson Wyman, the young newspa-
per man from Cincinnati, now visiting |
here, says regarding the scheme to
colonize plantation negroes in Hawaii:
In Cincinnati there are a great
number of negroes working on the
levees, and l know whereof l speak
when l say that the negro will out
work the Japanese in every particu-
lar. / have been on plantations in the
South and have seen whole families
working in the field day after day, and
it is on what l saw there that l have
my opinion of the negro as a laborer.
aside from the fact that these peo-
pie are good laborers and are cheaper
than Asiatics, l believe Hawaii will be
better off with them here, from a po>
litical standpoint. The people here
probably do not realize that there is a
strong undercurrent of anti-anneXa-
ton feeling throughout the United
States, and the foundation of it is
based entirely upon the fact that they
consider the population of the Islands
entirely too cosmopolitan for the Unit
ed States to annex TO. If this could be
done away with, if the people of the
United States could know that this
could be done away with by the intro
duction of American negroes, then
the objection TO annexation would be
removed
1T is evident TO me that action on
the annexation treaty will be deferred
until next session of Congress. Ia the
meantime, the opponents of anneXa-
ton will work tooth and toe-nail
against the measure, using as a basis
for their opposition the labor problem.
To me, it appears timely that the peo-
pie here should array themselves in
favor of bringing the negroes here and
putting them on the plantations.
Enough could be landed here by the
time Congress convenes, to make a
showing, and when the people see that
American labor is being introduced
annexation would go through with a
rush"
One of the men most interested in
the scheme is V. NJ. Fulcher, the Olaa
coffee planter, who went up to Hilo
on the Helene Thursday. In speaking
TO a reporter, before his departure, he
said:
THE gentleman quoted by you in the
paper yesterday is all right, except az
TO the capabilities of the negro. In
stead of two of them doing more work
than three japanese, | would say, from
my experience, and l have lived all
my live with them, that one negro is
worth three Japanese. OF course, the
negro of today is not what he was be-
fore the war-he won't stand abuse.
He requires a luna, just as other la
borers do, and so long as they know
there is a boss within sight there's no
soldering.
IF they can be brought here, and
the lunas, not city men, but men who
have been used TO working this class
of labor. brought with them, they will
be a success. One thing / want to say
about the cost of keeping these peo>
ple: When we hired them and agreed
TO keen them the allowance per la"
borer per week was, seven pounds OF
dried salt pork, one peck of cornmeai
and a gallon of mOlasses, all of which
is produced right here on the Islands
Why. we Olaa people will furnish corn
enough to supply half the plantations
We coffee men need negroes on &C
count of their families. The children
could work at picking and settle the
difficulty that stares them in the face
l have been in favor of bringing them
here ever since l came to Hawaii, anc
l hope now that the people will take
hold and bring them in, but we must
have plenty of them. The negroes like
company. A half dozen families would
be useless, because they would not
stay. There should be at least a hun
dred families on each plantation"
Speaking of the value OF the ser
vices of the negro as a laborer let me
add that he does not consider himself
amenable to the eight or ten hour law
and he don't join labor organizations
He is brought up to understand that
his work begins at daylight and ends
at dark and he sticks to it. They are
hardy race of people and in this
warm climate they will do well, both
for themselves and the plantations.
NY experience covers lifetime in the
extreme south and 1 reckon 1 know
what am talking about"
1t was said yesterday that Admiral
Beardslee. who is himself plantation
owner in the Southern States express
ed himself highly pleased with the
probability of the negroes being
brought here. Viewing the scheme
from the standpoint of an American
and an advocate of annexation of the
islands by the United States, he con-