The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1899-11-14
PUN AND rne PRICE, ~ wAes,

L w ihfef INftV"fhuNi Nhi p'fltbn
days Of Hawaii. the fact Tat the prIc
! Of food must To q large extent regu
late the price OF wages seems q
. 80 unnoticod. The people Of thes,
Islands every year are becoming NOR,
dependent upon imported foods boil
from the East and the West We i'm
por, meats. vegetables. fruit. groceries
-four. grain and hay. ON the whole. II
Is safe to say. that We import more
food for man and beast. In proportion
20 the people. than Great Britain does
In fact. We are now entirely dependent
Great Britain Is also dependent largely
on imported food. and her prosperity
Is undoubted.
Prince Kropotkin. In that remark
able book, Fields. Factories and
Workshops" to which attention was
called the other day. discusses this
dependent condition OF Great Britain
and declares that in the end Il will
place the wage earners OF that country
at a disadvantage. He shows by reli-
able data that the British may obtain
from their own soil the food needed
by the entire population, but that they
unwisely rely upon importations. As
Industrial expansion continues, and
each nation, through a distribution OF
industrial machinery and the use of
educated labor, supplies IL own needs
OF manufactured goods. the cOmpeti-
ton for foreign trade will increase
and the profits be reduced. The Amer
leans have largely reduced the iron
trade OF England, and, in due time.
under the superintendent of American
brains, the Chinese. with their vast re-
sources Of iron and coal. will reduce
the American trade in iron. Other pro-
ducts will be subject to the same con-
ditions. Kropotkin claims that i'm
ported foods must cost. by reason of
freight. handling and commissions.
more than the foods produced at home.
Therefore. In the coming competition.
the community which supplies its own
foods will be able to fix the rate of
wages below the rate prevailing in |
which import their foods. |
This factor in the cost of manufac- |
tured goods has only or late become |
important, because 1t Is only OF late |
that the industrial expansion has taken |
place.
II his proposition is correct, the |
economic condition of Hawaii Is not |
The cost of food Is high. |
The price OF meat is rising. With |
scientific cultivation one bullock to the |
acre may be raised. The ratio here Is |
not known. but II Is at least ten acres |
TO the bullock While hay and grain |
may be cheaply raised on the upiands.
they are hardly produced at all. Fish |
Is simply luxury, which Is beyond the |
reach Of those with moderate wages or
Incomes.
The moment Federal laws are applied
which restrict Asiatic immigration, the
'esident laborers. discovering their
,ower to control the labor market. will
lgitate for the increase OF wages In
,rder to live" II for no other reason.
The day has passed when we can say
o these laborers. IF you will not ac-
ept the wages We offer you, you can
cave" Labor will soon be King here.
IS 1t is on the Mainland. In demand
ng and fixing the rate of wages. the
ost Of living will be an important
actor. Disseminated laborers are a
menace to law and order. Il
As the time gradually approaches, I
'hen the United States will produce
surplus OF sugar, and be forced into r
he markets OF the world in COMPETE
ion with the sugars OF the West In I
les, Russia, Germany, Africa and Aus c
ralia. It Is not the scientific produc- d
ON OF sugar alone which will settle '
he cost Of producing It here, but the I
Dat OF feeding and satisfying the v
'borers. The enormous growth OF the v
interests OF Philadel- o
hia, Is largely due to the cheapness o
land and homes OF the working n
asses as we'll as the low price OF food d
uring the many commercial depres- 81
ons which have caused so much dis u
ess throughout the land. Philadel- e
Tia has suffered the least. because Of N
r opportunities to furnish her work Il
q people with food and houses at the In
west rates. b
1t Is not the duty OF the government
consider these questions. unless the ia
impose 1t upon them. 1t at
the high and, indeed. solemn duty ~
the intelligent men to take up these u
rplexing questions that confront us, IN
d deal with them earnestly. seri-
sly and effectively. MI