The San Francisco call., 1897-06-09
Assertion That Only Japanese
Are Benefited by the Cali.
fornia Enterprise.
A. B. SPRECKELs NAILS THE
POLITICAL LIE.
He Declares Positively That o5 Per
Cent of the Work of Cultivation
Is Performed by Americans.

w. n. Armstrong, the Hawaiian Labor
Commissioner, now in Washington, wired
yesterday this message to Labor Commits
sioner Fitzgerald of California:
Send the number of japanese and Chinese
employed in beetsugar industry in California.
To the foregoing dispatch Labor Com
missioner Fitzgerald sent the following
reply:
Practically, all large beethelds worked by
japanese. The demand is greater than sup
ply. Immigrants are arriving 10 meet de-
mands tor increased cultivation Under ex-
istlng conditions the beet-sugsr industry is of
little benefit 10 American laborers.
Labor Com missioner Fitzgerald said he
had Just received notice from WatsonviIle
that fifty japanese arrived there Saturday
and that they had not been in the State
more than three days before their arrival
there. He said the japanese were con-
tracing to clean beets for 81 ton and
that American la boTeIs would be forced to
come to tha: figure.
They underbid white labor on piece
work, said the Com missioner, land they
Will wait Tor their money until the crop is
harvested. One thousand Japanese have
been employed for some time at Chino
and 100 more left here for that place last
Sunday. The Japanese work under the
not deal with the men individually, but
all transactions ar conducted with the
agents or contractors"
The statement te!egraphed to Washing
ton by State Labor Commissioner FItz-
gerald is fatty contradicted by A. B.
Spreckels. When copy of the dis patch
was read to him Mr.. Spreckels said: 1.-The
statement is not true. There is not jap
on the payroll of the WatsonVille factory.
The assertion that the beet-sugar industry
is of little benefit to American laborers Is
not true. Some Japanese are worked in
the field by the beet-growers, but 95 per
cent OF the labor OF beet-raising at Wat
sonville is done by American laborers. Of
course, the factory does not produce the
beets, but contracts simply to pay 81 ton
for the beets delivered. The labor is
chiefly performed by the farmers, who
employ men and boys 10 cultivate the
fields. The statement IS not true that con-
tracts TO clean beets for 81 a ton have been
made with japanese"
Mr.. Spreckels expressed surprise that
Labor Commissioner Fitzgerald, a State
officer receiving salary from the State to
promote the interests of American labor
should telegraph such misleading state
ments to Washington.
1t seems that the Hawalians now in
Washington are making a great effort to
perpetuate the reciprocity treaty between
the United States and the republic of
Hawaii. In getting the Labor Commits
sioner OF California to wire that American
labor is not benefited by the beet-sugar
industry they hope to be a bic to convince
Congress that The abrogation of the treaty
would not benefit American laborers en-
pIoyed in California.
1t is probable that the farmers in the
regions OF Castroville, Watsonville and
Salinas will advise Senator Perkins that
the beet-sugar industry is of great adyan-
tage to American labor