The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-04-20
WHITE LABOR CREDITS,

a shadow upon glory OF individ-
ual corporations that figure in the
importation of white ldbOTers. We
believe that q fair distribution of
hOnOrS should be- made. In re-
gard To the white labOrcrs now ON
the way To this country from Ger
many. there seems To be IN idea
prevalent that private enterprise
alone is responsible for the intro
ductiOn of these men.
A. a matter Of fact the impor-
tatiOn of the labOrcrS referred to
is direct result of the re
gulation made by the Govern
ment that ten per cent. of the
plantation hands brought TO this
country shall he white laborers.
either European or American,
This regulation is of comparative
" recent origin and was brought
about by the increasing tendency
of the average planter To seek for
his labor in the Oriental fields
without much thought for what
might be the influence of such Il
selfish policy upon the future
population of Hawaii.
The thinking men have realiz-
ed that in consequence of the
benefits derived through the
friendship of the United States.
Hawaii has something more than
"a financial duty to fulfill The
United States did not extend it's
friendly commercial arm as a
mere matter of dollars and cents.
Back of all the balance sheets
that can be figured out with pen
ell and paper. was the thought
that American commerce would
assist in building up an Amerl-
can community community
i'm which the TuetOnic race and
American principles should be
the active and controlling power.
In view of the thoughtless ac-
ton of men to whom the serious
side of life is the dollars and cents
phase. the present Government
saw it was necessary 10 place
some check upon the disposition
to give too much prominence to
the .Asiatic. Increased restriction
of the Chinese was one of the first
moves and later came the re-
-ouirement of Il certain proportion
of white labOrerS Some of the
thouphtIess ones saw tit to OPP
pose this last and sought con
cession. They asked that i'll case
the number of white labOrers i'm
ported during given period
should exceed the required ten
Der cent. the excess should be
counted in the following period.
1t will be noted however. that
the Government has been true to
it's trust i'm demanding that the
Asiatic shall not be given full
sway, and due credit should be
given for the position our officials
have taken. To the people III
Washington ten per cent may
seen u very small amount oi
heaven with which TO change the
character of the labor loaf. Ii
* doing the work however, The
advocates of white labor have not
been asleep. The intensely prac
teal men. who comparatively lew
months since were prepared tt
mt white labor down aS Il ''prac
teal imposSibility. have stopped
to consider the drift of affairs
They begin to look over the sltua
ton through more thoughtfu
spectacles and are willing to ac
-cept the solution of the problem
as advanced by what were once
known as white labor cranks.
We have the highest apprecla-
tion of the value of the efforts OF
private individuals in selecting
the German labOrers now on the
way to Hawaii. The selection OF
the men is Il most important fac
tor and the gentlemen who have
taken the matter in hand know
their business We also main
tain with equal pOstiveness that
the attitude of the Government