The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-02-23

burden OF proof Thereon. GTaHJlHS,
then. the feasibility in practice OF this
principle, some such demonstration as
we have sketched was an almost neces-
sary preliminary 10 the introduction
of white labor with family life, an end
toward which those representing a
gOodly proposition of the capital rep
resented in Eva plantation have work
ed for years. They have believed that
whether the capacity Of the Ieutonlc
race TO endure the labor Of the hot
cane fields We're an open question or
not there was no open question but a
positive negative TO their ever doing
so under a penal contract or a wages
system or under social conditions, at
all similar to those established by con-
tract importatfons. AS 10 their eff
cheney and capacity for such labor, IL
was significant that the essayist Of the
evening named affirmed it emphatical-
" speaking from experience, stimuli
taneousIy with his defnate recognition
of the fact thatthe penal contract must
90. This was not the testimony Of one
of those 'who have been in the coun-
try but a few years. who know abso-
IuteIy nothing OF the past history Of
the sugar or any other industry" but
of one possessing wide experience and
an intimate knowledge of both and
firmly established reputation of being
one of the most conservative and care
full business men of this community.
For my part. by observation, train
ing and almost heredity, l am be-
lever in the thorough practicability of
Hawaii becoming an Anglo-Saxon civ
iIization and community, and some
time a State that will be in every re-
spect an honor TO the Union. My faith
er. himself a notable example of the
capacity for prolonged labor of all
kinds during the greater part OF his
life. was always 2 firm believer in the
fitness and efficiency of the Anglo
Saxon for any and all kinds of labor in
this country. and he had the oppOrtun-
ity of nearly so years of residence in
which TO change his mind.
+ believe that the time has come
when such a class of labor should be
established upon the plantations Of
these Islands. and the beginning made
that will terminate in villages COM
posed of the homes of English-speak-
ing families. in place of the mixture
well called plantation quarters" No
one has dared TO make this move in the
past. and tentative efforts have proved
abortive, because it has been well re-
cogniZed that no class could be intro
duced into this country upon the preva-
lent basis and under the social condi-
tiOns of agricultural labor that would
form permanent communities where
there would develop and flourish high
civilization. judged from the American
standard / believe that this effort, if
carefully made through the methods OF
Notwithstanding. will insure a result sat
isfactOry to the employers and the en-
pIovee: that by this method sufficient |
financial return will inure to labor TO |
make possible the marginal ''nest-egg.
without which harassed by anxiety for
the future and the effort to make both |
ends meet" the tTuest social progress
becomes impossible; that a thrifty, in
telIigent. Woodworking class, already |
largely American citizens or we'll quail |
flied for such citizenship, may be OBJ |
tanned by these means; and finally that |
a golden opportunity now offers for |
a successful prosecution of the scheme. |
A careful examination to determine |
the practicable phase of prOfit-sharing |
with which TO begin the work, will, ! /
am confident. lead most estates to first |
establish Notwithstanding and to per-
ceive that the progress of the Eva
plantation contract has been a logical |
sequence Few. if any sugar enter
prises in the Islands. lack the amplest
data from which they may determine
very closely the proportion of product |
Cat say $50 tom equivalent to the pro-
norton of production contributed by |
the labor included in the proposition.
This may then be discounted, If so de
sired. to assure a basis upon which TO |
start. and from which advance can be |
made and not retrOgTessiOn. Upon fully |
developed estates (as OnOmea, perhaps) |
additional study will probably be nee
essary. inasmuch as IL is safe to say |
that fOur-fifths of the number of Ia |
borers working under Eva contract |
will accomplish the same results bet |
ter than the full previous complement |
II can readily be seen as well. in view
of this fact. that any attempt at an i'm
mediate and wholesale application of
Notwithstanding to a developed estate in
wolves the serious question of the prof
liable use for all parties concerned. or
a superfluity of labor. on the given es-
tate. For in the proportion that the
claims of it's advocates for greater eff
ficiency are demonstrated will such SUI
perfluity likewise exist on estates hav-
ing no margin of expansion. Whatever
plan or method may be adopted as best
suited to given cases, it is indispensa-
BILE that a direct relation shall be main
tanned between the financial results and
the quality of labor; in order that the
former. expressing. so far as is posi-
BILE the equivalent of product realized.
shall be as it were the measure Of the |
latter,
Having then determined what pri-
portion of product takes the place or
wages. any subsequent: advance or |
change becomes simplified 10 the ques- |
ton of what constitutes a reasonable |
proportion of the fruits Of industry |
credftable to labor and capital respec- |
lively the existing division having /
been well defined. This question is as |
old as industrial history, is as irrepres-
sible as human nature. but we may /
well hope through these channels of /