The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-05-23
TIE LOCAL LABOR QUESTION

erOuS, ana STRIKES ana OlHeT III LIS oi
mutiny result Originally the Japan
csc were introduced to counteract the
Chinese; now it becomes necessary, so
the planters think, to find laborers who
will counterfeit the japanese. The lat
ter are so numerous and have become
so "cocky," as the phrase goes, that
they are thought by some to be poten
tial source of danger. 1t is not a ques-
ton of the supply being cut off. Doubt
/ less an endless supply could be had, for
coolies will come here as free labOrers
so long as work is offered, but that is
not the point with the planters. People
of different sort are wanted.
Where shall they be found? Europe
( has been searched without much avail
| for suitable white labor. We have had
Galicians, but want no more. Italians,
despite Mr.. DamOn's earnest persuas-
/ ions, prefer going to Mainland cites
of the United States or to Argentina.
| Not much is expected of the Tyrolese.
Perhaps more Portuguese could be co.,
but the planters are apparently not con-
! sidering them. Insteau We hear that
they are about to investigate the supply
of Porto Rican labor, with view of
bringing some thousands of Spanish ne
groes here.
This source of supply is not so far off,
measuring the route from here to Porto
Rico via Panama, and it would be easy
to get at. Doubtless the Porto
Ricans are cheap and not ambitious for
crea lure comforts; but there are SO
many drawbacks named in connection
! with them mat we hope sincerely that
/ the planters will be aole to find a better
class of labor, and thus escape the ne
cessity of making a rash experiment.
IF there is a worse racial combina-
ton anywhere than the Spaniard and
/ the negro, history does not reveal ii, "
said a recent Englis.. writer The
half-breed inherits the vices Of both
ancestors, and the vices of the Spanish
slave driver and the slave from the
Guinea coast left very little to make
the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomor-
rah exceptional" The two points local
ly cited in favor of the Porto Rican la
borers are that they have worked IN
sugar fields at home, and that they are
the cane fields of Porto Rico have al
ways been wretchedly titled, and that
distress does not make an undesirable
neighbor any the less undesirable, we
see that very much remains to be SAID
to attest the wisdom of the mooted eX-
pertinent. 1t is certainly grave mat
ter when we propose to add to the COM
posite population of these Islands a
class which has kept the West Indies
in a ferment for three hundred years.
During all that time the Porto Rican
has had to be held down with troops,
says the authority quoted. He is Sc
ditious, revengeful, suspicious, i'm
moral and dissolute, and his one re-
deeming point is the laziness which
ways striking twelve" If he were to
do as badly in Hawaii as he always did
at home when the vigilance of the
troops was relaxed, he would be the
worst investment in labor that Ha-
wall could make.
One special objection to the introduce
ton of the Porto Rican is political He
may at any time be adjudged an Am
} erican citizen; indeed a late Western
decision veers strongly that way. I'm
der our educational test he could not
vote; but when one large class of Am
erican citizens is kept from the suffrage
and another class is permitted to exer-
else it, We have the beginnings of
bloody strife.
The Advertiser admits the difficulties
of our situation. The sugar business
must not lack for hands to carry it on
and there are some unpleasant things
about Japcnese preponderance But let
us have a care that we do not Jump
from the frying pan into the fire. There
are worse things than a scarcity OIL di-
versified field labor; easier remedies
for Japanese overpluS than an influx of
West Indian poems. For ourselves we
do not despair of the white cooperative
method of filling cane fields; certainly
there are some propitious signs OF
success in the small Eva experiment
Why should it not be wise TO test Tie
full capabilities of the cooperative
plan before going farther afield? AS
suredly white men wno can endure
farm work in the interior of California
Arizona and Utah would find the eli
mate of Hawaii entirely to their taste
And considering the extra profits to be
made here, the incentive for them tc
come would naturally be strong.
-<
The Independent cannot doubt tina
the good Government Republicans ar,