The Hawaiian gazette., 1900-04-24
Leasing and Marrying.

mullet are raised.
Leasing and Marrying.
Cinnamon seldom buy ground. They
always prefer to lease II. They will
hire IL for FIVE, ten. twenty or even
fifty years at stipulated yearly rental,
payable semi-annually. Many Of their
lands are owned by the natives, whose
weakness is to secure some sort of an
instrument that will insure to them a
definite income for the remainder of
their lives.
There is nothing more truly char
acteristic of the Chinese in Hawaii
than their dealings with the natives
in leasing and cutivating their taro
lands. A Chlnaman will see piece OF
ground that native woman Is cult
waiting in loose and unsclentific way,
possibly obtaining from 1t enough to
furnish taro for herself and relatives.
He will in some way secure the right
to use a small piece of land adjoining
hers, and then ne will cultivate her
friendship while he cultivates the soil.
He will make some acceptable presents
to her: perhaps will give her little
money TO buy gin with, and In other
inoffensive ways do all that he can
to win her good will. Next. having
found out who her native counsellor
Is, he will retain him for $25. $50 or
500 and ask him to obtain five, ten
or twenty years lease of the woman's
land Ii does not take the native law
yer long to convince his client that IL
Is manifestly TO her interest to make
the lease.
If the Chinaman cannot obtain 9
long-term lease he accepts a short one
| He takes possession. and in a few
months what was a weedy pond witt
a few struggling shoots of taro hef,
and there becomes a regularly lait
out, thrifty looking garden. or per
haps the tract will be converted int
a rice field.
From the beginning TO the end OF hi
term the quiet Celestial will be layini
the foundations for a renewal of tn
lease, and the chances are a hundre
to one that he will obtain it long bf
fore the term is up. He may think tn
owner is "maikai wahine" tfair VIC
nam and marry her, for the nativ
women do not dislike Chinese hus
bandS-tthey are good to them and lie
them have money and buy them fish
poi and gin enough to keep them ia
and happy.
The Japanese Newcomers.
The Japanese haze not been brough
TO the islands in large numbers unit
within the last few years. Now the.
make up by far the greater portion o
the contract laborers on the suga
| plantations. There are considerable
number of Chinese employed by som!
of the Planters, but the majority ar
what are termed free laborers tina
Is, their contracts have expired an,
there is no imprlsoning them If the.
refuse to work.
Each nationality is housed separate
ly and every building Is numbered
The houses usually contain from tive
to iive rooms, twelve by fifteen fee
each, with an average of eight single
men 10 each room. elf married, one
family is allowed one room. There is
usually one kitchen to each house, tC
be used by all in common. The two
nationalities are kept apart, more on
account of the difference in their foods
and cooking, however, than because OF
fear lest strife may be engendered be-
tween them; although, of course
lhere is some degree OF race anupatny
and jealousy.
...e .U...p.ny physician has a sma.
,ospital and dispensary at some Gel
Al point near to the quarters, and
generally estimated that one-tent
w hnr y" o.
on account OF sickness, aches and
M a nj a
contract Ia an entire.y. different man
from the Asiatic working for himself
In the latter capacity he is all energy
industry and frugality; in the former
he is very ready to discover some
threatening illness, or, when on duty
to make serious pretense of doing q
great deal OF work without actually ac-
complishing much. The working
gangs usually consist of from twenty
to one hundred men, in charge 0f q
white luna (native word for overseer)
The luna has one or more japanese OF
Chinese interpreters assisting him
and gives his orders to them, which
they translate to the laborers; or, IL he
becomes impatient with the way a la
borer Is working, the luna may rush
over and catch the fellow by the back
of the neck, push him out of the way
and show him how the work should be
done.
The Hokopu System.
The system OF "hokopu," freely
translated. finish your task and e
home, has been inaugurated on ac
count of the great difficulty in obtain
ing satisfactory results by driving III,
men. The effect is that, although ,
working day is supposed to last from
daylight to darkness, some of IN,
strongest will have finished by noon
! The free laborers drift from planta
tion TO plantation. seeking the highes
wages for the least work; often the!
will quit In the very busiest part o
Il The fhnrAhNy