The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-05-14
Says Japanese Colonial
ton is Rapid.
Hawaii Would Be a Valuable
Acquisition to Any
Country.

Charles l.. Goodhue, who has just re-
turned from a six-weeks' trip to Ho-
nolulu, says the Springfield Repub-
lican, is considerably impressed by the
encroachments of the Japanese, and
| by the obvious fear of the people in
Honolulu that Japan is planning to
annex the Islands. He does not think
that this fear is assumed for the sake
of hurrying the United States into an
nexation, as some have supposed, and
he believes that we ought to get posses
sion of the Islands while they are to be
cannot be- had without fighting for
them. The objections to their annex
alton he considers very slight in COM
parison with the advantages. In the
case of Cuba, which he has visited half
dozen times, he thinks that annex
Ltation would be unwise, because of the
character of the population, a Latin
race speaking foreign tongue But in
the Sandwich Islands the dominating
white population is largely American
English is the language of business,
and American gold and silver coin is
the chief currency. The inha bitants
come of good stock, large part be-
ing descendants of missionary famil-
les. With Anglo-SaXon sense of order,
they have established an excellent gov
eminent, the city of Honolulu, with a
population Of over 10000, is excellently
administered, with efficient police, fine
streets, good gas and electric lighting
and the best of water works, of which
Mr.. Goodhue is an expert critic. In
short, the Islands are already in con-
ditiOn to be annexed without difficulty,
and in his opinion if it is to be done
at all, it must be done without too
great delay.
To show the zeal with which the
Japanese are colonizing the Islands,
Mr.. Goodhue mentions that just before
he arrived in Honolulu large number
of Japanese immigrants had been de-
tected while evading the immigration
laws and shipped back, rousing strong
animosity among the large and grow
ing Japanese population, who at once
appealed to Japan for redress. By the
Hawaiian laws each immigrant is re-
quired to show $50 on landing as proof
that he is not a pauper. The transpor-
tation company makes a business of
furnishing immigrants with the needed
money as a loan, taking it back as
soon as the immigrants are safely land
ed. When the fraud was discovered
a careful investigation was made, and
all that could be detected were sent
back to their native land. 1t was on ac-
count of this difficulty that the Jap
anese Government sent a warship to
Honolulu, to which the United States
responded by sending the Philadelphia.
The dispatches explaining the situation
came on the same steamer with Mr..
GoOdhue. and the Philadelphia was
Immediately ordered to the scene.
The Hawaiian Government, as he
points out, is quite at the mercy of the
first aggressor. There are no forts, |
ships of war or cannon, and any ma
ton could control it with a single man
of-war. 1t is not surprising, in view of
the threatening behavior of Japan, !
that the Islands should desire to get
under the wing Of a powerful nation. !
It is felt in Honolulu that Japan is
casting cOvetous eyes on the Islands
to its east with a view TO controlling
and monopoliZing the Pacif >. One in
dicatiOn of this is the strong effort
that is being made to get the CARRYING
trade between the Orient and the
United States. The great new Japan
csc line of steamers which is to ply be-
tween San Francisco. and China and |
Japan, beginning in May, 1898 is like |
" to have things its own way It will |
probably absorb the Pacific Mail and !
the Huntington chartered ships. in
vOlving the abandonment of the whole |
steam-carrying trade of the Pacific by
American ships. The subsidy offered
by the Japanese Government for the
extension of this maritime trade is so