The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1898-10-21

efHmsni aufiha the iasi tNsnit ~
years has besn 10 fesiei me sugar IN
dasirg No American. no Iafnpsan
state has done ~ much IN proper
ton 10 iis fss0uftss, IN suppiylns ths
plantations with iaDwers a. HAWAI-
has done Towards million 1T Dol
lars have been spent In assisting i'm
migration for this single purpose. and
the consideration n the needs ~ mod.
ern civilization have been entirely
cast aside We state the fact. but
maze no criticism upon H. n Was
natural and fair from the commercial
standpoint to DO no.
Bnt u Ia now necessary for us 10
realize. and realize deeply, that patcr.
nalism b. about at an end. and will abb
ruptly end the moment Congress
passes an organic act Tor the Govern
ment ~ this territory
80 fortunate 90 favored have been
our planters. they know little indeed
of labor troubles. They have lived
In Paradise OF labor In comparison
with the employers OF labor on the
Mainland The voluminous reports of
the labor commissions both of the
Federal Government and Of the sew
eral States show that the majority Of
manufacturers are at the mercy of thu
labor unions; that capital and labor
are in perpetual state OF suspended
hostilities: that concerns with enor-
nous capital cannot control their own
men; that the Walking Delegate de-
priyes the employer of labor of his
liberty and his sleep; that the short
ness Of the labor supply, aside from
strikes, has during the last fifty years
caused losses far beyond the value of
the sugar crop of these Islands; that
at times, parts of the cotton crop have
remained unpicked for want of pick
ers; that In places, the grain crop has
fallen to the ground for want of reap
ers. that potatoes have rotted for
want OF diggers; that the fruit crop
has in many places, remained on the
trees for want of pickers. The labor
supply, on the Mainland is never
abundant, and often deficient.
While the Anglo-SaXon world has
been in tribulation about the labor
supply for some years, the fortunate
Hawaiian planter has simply turned
the faucet and stream Of Asiatic lab
or has spurted over the land.
We now face new conditions. II
is useless to quarrel with them. They
must be met.
The prosperous man, everywhere, is
drugged by his prosperity. II is the
history of the great majority of Am
erican commercial houses that long
prosperity brings them dry rot" and
they finally fail. The prosperous man,
after some years of toll. Is in no mood
to tackle new and vexatious problems.
He insists on rest. The British own
ers of the tin mines of Banca Straits.
became prosperous, were unwilling to
meet the labor problems, ard finally
sold out to the Chinese.
When annexation settled the future
of these Islands. by making their for
tune common with that Of the Main
land, prudence suggested that the one
all important question of labor should
come to the front at once. The great
industry depends upon it. So far as
we can learn, the planters have no
plan, beyond that of getting laborers
in a manner positively forbidden by
the Federal laws. though these laws
are not applicable here at present.
The comment of a disinterested OBJ
server would be. If the planters and
their agents are unwise and will not
act, let them go to the wall" But,
behind the sugar interest, is a popula-
ton OF most excellent men and wo-
men who would have to go to the wall
with ii.
The real question then is, shall We
tackle the labor question now, and be-
fore we are confronted with trouble,
or shall We delay until the evil is up
on us.