The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1899-08-06
STBICTER EXECUTION or Law
IN JAPAN
Laborers Not Allowed to Leave With
out Complying Strictly With the Law.
Experience of the Columbia

The :. ;. Columbia came in this
morning with only - japanese immi-
grants, whereas she was expected to
bring at least 700 half of them to be
contract laborers and half to be free
laborers. There was much speculation
as tothe cause of the nOn-arrival Of the
large number.
In the first place the emigra ton com
panies refused to deliver more than 14O
labOrers instead of delivering 700 as
they had contracted to do. DR.. T.. II.
Kell, one of the passengers aboard, said
in regard to this Neither the immi-
grafton companies nor the Government
officials gave any reason for not deliv-
ering the number of laborers they had
contracted to deliver so far as / could
learn; however, | was told by the physi-
clan, with whom | was personally ac-
quainted who examined the emigrants
that the required number of laborers
who would come up to the health and
other requirements, could not be Sc
cured in the whole country at the time. "
The purser had the following to say
in regard to the shortage in the number
of Japanese emigrants: II think the
whole thing was put up job on the
part of the Government officials and
emigration societies to favor the Jap
anese line of steamships. Why the Jap
anese police boarded us at Yokohama
and took off forty of the would-be i'm
migrants after they had been quartered
in the vessel. | believe, however, that
it was a deliberate boycotting of an
American vessel by the japanese Gov
ernment."
The local agents of the japanese emf
grafton companies did not see anything
peculiar in the Governments dealing
with the emigrants. They believe the
Japanese Government has been lately
forced to execute the emigration laws in
a more strict manner than heretofore on
account of the great and growing rival
ry between the different companies.
s. Ozaki, agent for the Tokyo Emigra-
ton Company. the company which had
the contract to supply the laborers who
were to have been brought here by the
Columbia, made the following state
ment: "On account of great competi-
| tions between the different emigration
companies the Japanese Government is
| lately very strict.
mo one can leave Japan without a
| passport Formerly the Government
would let man go if he had "A tempo
rary passport from the prefect of the
| port and afterwards the Government
would send the real passport, made out
/ by the Foreign Office. to the man. In
this way very great many men could
| get out of the country quickly. But this
! can be done no more.
1T takes a long time for the Foreign
/ Office to get passports to large num-
/ Der of emigrants. All the men would
| have come on the Columbia if they had
! had passports. The men who We're left
we expect to come on the S. $. Carmar-
/ thenshire, which leaves Yokohama Au-
! gust s. There was no trouble: there is
no boycott; it was only because the
/ Japanese Government is getting more
strict"
1t is thought by some that the Jap
anese government objects to free lab
orers coming to Hawaii, preferring that
they should come under contract, so
that it will be assured that they will
bring money into Japan when they re-
| turn
Those who came today each had $50
! in gold.