The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-11-13
"HAWAIIAN AMERICA"

Harper & Brothers have recently is
sued Hawaiian America the author
of which is Caspar Whitney The book
is admirably illustrated
On reading it, one is surprised at the
amount of accurate information, and
the correct estimate Of men and things
which it contains Mr.. Whitney is a
sponge in his capacity for absoT bling
data of all kinds. His visit in these
Islands was short, but he has obtained
and recorded in this book, a greater
variety of information than has ap-
peared in any of the books which have
been recently published On the subject
of Hawaii. The material is we'll
digested. There are some inaccurate
statements.
Mr.. Whitney is not correct in stat
ing that Kamehameha II. gave land to
the early missionaries, with the result
that the children of these missionaries
instead of being sent back to America
remained on the Islands to be educated
The King gave little, if any, lands to
the missionaries. The few small par
cells, of no market value in the early
days, which the missionaries did obtain
were usually purchased for cow pas
lures and gardens. Sixty years after
wards some of these parcels became
valuable for cane cultivation. Many
OF the children of the missionaries were
sent to the American colleges, and
much personal sacrifice was made in
doing so. The American Board of Mis-
siOns established, at It's own expense,
the Punahou school, now Oahu college,
to meet the earnest demand of the
missionaries for the adequate educa-
ton of their children. 1t is surpris-
book are SO few.
Mr.. Whitney's style is graphic and
taking as we all know. He does not
attempt to treat Hawaiian history as
Prof Blackburn has done it, in the
Making of Hawaii That treatise is
unique, and could only be written by
a specialist in political philosophy.
Mr.. Whitney does not discuss the true
inwardness of Hawaiian evolution, the
curious outcome of Puritanism engraft
ing New England law upon Polynesian
stock But he describes accurately
and justly the external facts and mani
festations of the evolution, and he fur
nishes something far above the slOb-
boring stuff about the Islands that
newspaper correspondents have UNI
Mr.. Whitney speaks with discrimina-
ton and Justice of the half-White
woman. He detects the influence of the
missionaries in steadily urging the
marriage between whites and natives
in order to prevent illicit relations.
To this enlightened policy he attri-
butte the striking difference between
these Islands and other lands where
the stronger and the weaker races have
come together, and the illicit relation
has been nearly universal While The
story of the relations of the whites to
the natives in the Pacific is a sad one,
it will remain an accepted fact in Ha-
waiian history, that the missionaries
urged the King and chiefs to create
and preserve the marriage relation, and
to this attitude of the missionaries is
due the general legitimacy of the half
caste population Mr.. Whitney takes
a hopeful view of the destiny of the
half-castes here, and he justly believes
that they will in time, become strong
social force. Fortunately, there have
been no race distinctions made in Ha
wall. Although the later immigrants
from America are disposed to refusi
them the fullest social recognition the
fixed habit of the community allows M
determinations other than are mad.
between different classes of the whit,
race.
Mr.. Whitney justifies the penal con
tract labor system, but he does no
discuss the repulsive feature in it, tina
it gives an ignorant luna altogethe
too much power over the laborer, an,
develops the worst features of tn
power of the strong over the weak
Mr.. Whitney says of the Japanes
laborer he is a natural walking dele
gate" and favors the modern labo
unions and being now converted L