The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1899-11-21
THE gALlCiAS ON,E s,hs

his assertive head, this time In IN,
columns OF the Louisiana Planter ans
Sugar Manufacturer. a journal wbici
oscillates between hatred OF Hawaiiai
Republicans and unhapSlness over tn
extent and value OF our sugar crop
The Planter. etcetera, has Just heard
about Rabbi Levy and his essay In
freak philanthropy. whereupon It re.
marks with hydraulic pathos that II
Is evident the guarantees of liberty and
personal rights have not yet been ex.
tended to the humble jewellers Of tina,
(this) region" And then our Louis
lana contemporary declares that "tnt
time has come to establish American
institutions In the island group" II
must have been difficult for the Louis
lana editor in inditing these noble
sentiments to resist the passion to in
tersperse them with Cheers and pro
longed applause" doubtless he would
have made frequent use of these catch
Woius u he ndu Deeu itpoittHs HIS
views as a speech.
1t is an unusual privilege to sit at
the feet OF a Louisiana planter and
learn Americanism and the ethics of
liberty and personal rights-one that
the people OF Hawaii who were fight
ing for years to get under the flag
that Louisiana tried so hard to escape
from will Of course appreciate. But
We venture to remark that there are
several kinds Of Americanism and that
the Hawaiian sugar men are entitled to
their choice. There Is the American
laborer in the cane fields grows OBJ
streperous runs him out of the country
on some cooked up charge. turning
loose bloodhound or mob when his
feet begin to lag. But it is not the
kind that fits into the civilization of
Hawaii. 1t is a trife too much like the
ante-bellum Americanism which
brought Louisiana into difficulties with
the North to satisfy the civilized aspir-
ations OF these Islands.
There is another kind of American
ism which the Hawaiian planters use
In their treatment of imported labor
which Is best interpreted by the recent
decision Of the United States Supreme
Court in the Arago case. The Arago
was a merchant ship whose crew de-
serted and were arrested for breach of
contract and thrown into Jail. the.
had signed the articles for the voyage
and chose to break them. When ar
rested they employed counsel who made
the Constitutional plea Of involuntary
|servitude, but the Supreme Court Of
the United States held the contract
with its penal clauses to be valid. The
seamen had known what was before
them; they had wanted their berths on
the terms offered; they had accepted
their wages and then changing their
minds. had sought to evade their Obli-
cations. In common justice to their
employers the law compelled them TO
do as they had agreed.
The planters of Hawaii have done
nothing in their treatment Of the Gall
clans which opposes the letter and
spirit Of American law as interpreted
in the Arago case. All they asked was
that the Galicians. who had been i'm
ported here at their expense on definite
terms, should meet those terms. The
Galicians thought It would be good
speculation to desert. leave the planters
out OF pocket for expenses and go to
work as free laborers. The Hawaiian
courts in turn. following the exact
precedent in the Arago case, held diff
ferently. and as the Galicians refused
to work they were sent to jail as they
deserved to be. 1t was their rare good
luck that they did not try their disre-
putable tricks in Louisiana. II they had
We do not doubt that most of them
would have danced in air before the
next sunrise, unhappy examples Of the
danger that comes of running amuck
with Louisiana Americanism.
However, let the Louisiana Planter
and Sugar Manufacturer understand
that the penal clause In labor con-
tracts is now, despite Its Americanism,
held in allegiance here. 1t Is no longer
enforced. That Is concession we
make to the spirit OF the times. Bat
il is still in order for Louisiana, in
its devotion to liberty" and per
sonal rights" to do something for the
negro Of its cane fields whose enjoy
ment Of either Is a blessing too much
disguised to be at all apparent.