The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-11-26
The Territory of Hawaii.

The Territory of Hawaii.
The announcement is made that the
commission which was appointed by
the president to recommend form of
government for the Hawaiian islands
as a part of the United States has
agreed upon the main features of it's
report and that it will advise a regular
territorial form of government, with a
governor, a delegate in congress and a
legislature. The legislature will be
elected by the qualified voters of the
island. but there will be property ana
educational qualifications imposed on
those who vote for members Of the
upper house Of the legislature. The
franchise will not be extended to the
japanese or Chinese in the island, but
the Portuguese who become citizens
will not be excluded under the restrC-
tions imposed. The system of import
ing laborcrs into Hawaii under con-
tract will be abolished: the experiment
of employing white labor in plantation
work will be tried.
The form of government thus pro-
posed for Hawaii does not necessarily
have any bearing upon the problem of
governing the islands won from Spain
in the West and East Indies. 1t is to
be remembered that the people of Ha-
wall are already living under a we'll
established and thoroughly organized
republican form of government which,
as ore of them writes, is the out
growth of long experience and wise de-
liberation" Their political and social
system is thoroughly American" and
does not require to be assimilated. This
writer, a Honolulu contributor to the
Washington Star, takes pains to en-
phasize this point. Occasional articles
appear in your papers" says he, (which
ndiscriminately lump together Hawaii
and other expected acquisitions Of ter
ritOry, such as Porto Rico and the Phil
| ippines, as all calling for similar deal
ing. This is totally erroneous. Hawaii
has been for eighty years under Ameri-
can influences, and has become thor
oughly Americanized. All the leading
and controlling elements in Hawaii are
completely American. The daily news
| papers are all thoroughly American.
The schools are all American and every
child and youth in the group is re-
quired to be taught in the English lam
| guage. with American school books.
The churches and the courts are all
| American in form. Thus Hawaii is not
! a community requiring, like Porto Rico,
! a long course of Americanizaton before
I being safely treated as an American
! territory. Americanism has become
! naturalZed in Hawaii, and the people
| largely assimilated thereto. There are,
! of course, limitations and qualifications
! to such IA statement. So there would
! be in a similar statement about Massa-
! chusetts, as in the case Of the French
! Canadian element. But in both places
| the elements which are partially or not
| at all Americanized are not influential.
! They are dependent elements of soci-
etv. They do not materially influence
the tone Of society or the conduct OF
affairs. In dealing with Hawaii, con-
| grcss has to deal with a thoroughly
! American territory, for which no paral-
! lei exists in Porto Rico or other prob
able appendages to the United States"
| It is the belief of many Americans
| that Porto Rico will Americanize very
! rapidly; that with free schools insti-
tuted there and teaching English lam
| guage and Anglo Saxon principles, and
! with American capital opening up new
! sources Of wealth, It will be not longer
than "a generation before that snug
little island will be ready for a gov
ernment such as is now proposed for
| Hawaii. This, however is matter for
! the future. In all the territory wrested
| from Spain the immediate problem Is
| not 80 much political in character as
it is economic. When the inhabitants
| of those islands are taught to work
! and to save, and are given opportunity
to do both, it win not be difficult to
provide them with a satisfactory form
of government. The bane of Spanish
rule everywhere has been that 1t utter
ly ignored the civilizing value Of a con-
tented and prosperous labOring class.
This is the true secret Of its ignomin-
ious downfall.
| Congressman Bailey says he has no
fear of being deposed from the Demo-