The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-10-12
LABOR PROBLEMS.
Experience Gained in the
British Colonies.
% Is now Demo1straies That the East
Indian ceoIe Is IN. NAE Tor
West In1isu PIaniafiors.

In the future OF our West Indian col
onies the labor problem must bulk
largely on coolies. for white men can
not work in the blazing heat OF the
plantations and the descendants of the
people we enslaved will not. The mig
ger" has no taste for agricultural Ia
Dor. and bliss to- him l. the shady side
OF a hut and half-a-dollar in his peck
ct. To work the estates first Portu-
guese. then Chinese and lastly East
Indian coolies were imported. The
Portuguese made money and went into
business as storekeepers: the Chinese
followed suit in a smaller way: and
hardly an indentured laborcr OF either
race is to- be found now on the sugar
estates. The East Indian coolie has
done better in agriculture. but even
though there Is total OF li7.ecO OF
them in British Guiana alone. the
available labor Is far below what -
necessary. Mr.. Chamberlain has sane
toned the emigration OF 5000 this
year. but unless that standard Is main
| tanned for several years to come. the
want OF labor will be as pronounced
rs IL Is now. When his ten years Of
service are up-for the first FIVE he -
an indcntured laborer. in the second
five he is qualifying for his passage
| money home-the Coolie goes back to-
India. and this u the drawback of the
| system: for IL he settled he would do
well for the colony. and the colony
| thinks so much of him that II - pre-
pared to- do almost anything to- keep
| him. But. of course. home Is home.
| and when the dusky son OF the East
performs his share OF the contract. he
has perfect right to- go IL he plcascs.
But the Colonial Office might with
very great advantage tn both the In
dies increase the proportion which il
allowed to- come annually. so that the
number in active service should never
get below n certain level During the
/ three years which ended with 1855
there were over 5000 immigrants nj
the class. while during the subsequent
three years the total was less than
$500. So that instead OF increasing
the working" total Is decreasing. and
that. too. in the face OF the fact that
with cOolie labor and nothing else can
the minor industries OF which the OPP
pOnCnts OF CountcTvailing speak -four
ish To any extent. The Barbados man
himself as black rs the ace Of spades
and inclined to bclittle the Coolic bc
cause OF his Color-hc calls him
black" with hcartiucSs that would
be positive inSolenCs ON the part of ths
whitgst man that ever waS-wou't
work regularly on the estates. whcr
the hurricane Of last autumn piayct
sad havoc in Barbados and -. Vincent
agents We're sent To the islands to- OF
fer work in DcmcTaTa to 1000 men
They offered three months engage
meut. good wages. free house accom-
mediation and medical attendance. bu
even that did not meet with the dsETe,
OF success one would have expected
Mr.. Duncan says they recruited al
only. and Mr.. SommeTSon told me thcy
did not turn out what Cut.'i he de
scribcd as a brilliant bargain. The!
are baSkiug in the sunshine of thci
islands now. with the hcartieEt wishea
OF their mainland employers that thei
rest Is Congenial. The man for tn,
. West Indies Is the East Indian coolie
and before long IL Is hoped he may be
gin to- realize that himself. So IA
he has not been averse from trying tn,
experiment OF staying on. and on set
Elements in EssesIucbo. Demerara am
Z Berbice there are altogether about 10.
600 unindentured coolies making tn
most on lots OF their own OF the cult
walton OF rice. OF their success I vii
tell you later: what is sought to b
impressed now Is that the West fndiai
planter has. without bountics an
without the gibes of stay-at-hom
Britons. quite enough To- vcS his SOU
I-GlaSRoW Herald