The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1901-12-27

the Criminal Court. ana by night. tc
be ranting claptrap about the nobility
of labor at some impromptu open-ail
meeting in the public parks. The pro.
fessional demagogue speedily attains tC
the pinnacle of his political aspirations
| in these environments.
But their labor unions are splendidly
| organized. No one who has watched
the parade in Melbourne on the ami
versary of the Introduction of the
| eight hour system inaugurated
over thirty years ago-a general
'and close holiday mark you -
can have failed to be impressed. 1t is
an imposing and significant spectacle
the like of which is to be seen nowhere
else in the industrial world.
| For many years the Labor Party
has practically controlled Australian
| politics, and the secret of its success is
very easy of explanation. The voting
power is distributed with lavish liber-
ality. In most of the Colonies, prior to
their amalgamation, every white man
irrespective of nationality, could vote
for Parliament after six months resi-
dence. The alien had no need of In
tention Papers" or to. take an oath of
allegiance even. a simple affirmation
that he had resided in the district for
that length of time entitled him to eX-
ercise his elective franchise. Hence the
great power of the masses, which would
seem to have been perpetuated under
the auspices of the newborn Common
wealth. To be sure, capital is repre-
sented. They have Their plutocracy,
bless you; monied aristocracy, what
you Will; but ii cannot stem the tide
against the Working Man. He is the
autocrat of all the Australias.
During the latter part of the eighties
| had exceptional opportunities to
study the race problem on the sugar
plantations i'm North Queensland,
among the pearl fisheries in Torres
Straits, and in the great country at
the head of the Gulf of Carpentaria
During this time Sir Samuel Grifiiths
the then Premier of the Colony, yield
ing to the pressure of the Labor party
on the hustings at the general parlia
mentary election pledged himself to in
troduce a bill for the abolition of Ka-
naka labor for plantation purposes.
and on the strength of that pledge he
was returned to power. The bill was
duly passed, to take effect from De-
cember 81, 1890. Three years sufficed
to well-nigh ruin the planters, whose
cane was left rotting on the fields, for
Mr.. White Laborer failed to material
ize." Sir Samuel, however, came for
ward, openly admitted that he had
made a mistake, and the obnoxious
measure was repealed Later on, after
protracted and grave deliberations,
Queensland Joined the new Common
wealth. And now the troubles of the
sugar planters have begun all over
again
Mr.. Barton, the first Federal Premier.
is bent upon the passage by the general
parliament of a bill of his own. the
salient features of which measure are
that no Pacific Island laborer shall en-
ter Australia on or after March 81,
1904, and providing for the deportation
of those now in the country.
The Planters, with their costly ex-
perience of the past, have naturally ia
ken the alarm, and the situation has
reached a crisis. DR.. Maxwell. former
ly of this city, is now in Melbourne,
assisting a committee appointed to try
to get favorable result on the bill in
the Senate. Says thei Queenslander
tBrisbane) of November 49, editorially:
SHOULD WE HAVE FEDERATED?
: Under the disappontments that have
fallen upon us from the action of the
Federal Legislature, we are becoming ia
miliariZed with the assertion that feder-
alton was a mistake. 1t is not only that
the erewhile opponents of federation see
their prophecies fulfilled, and glory III
their reiterated II told you So" with
every new indication of Federal folly or
tyranny, but that the friends of fedora
ton themselves publicly avow their re-
pentance. They bitterly regret, they say,
that they voted in favor of federation,
and declare plainly that II the question
were reopened they would be found on
the other side. Nor can there be the
slightest doubt, looking to the actual
vote for federation and to the subsequent
disappointment that If they had the OPP
portunity the majority would be found
on the other side. That is a very Sc
rious thing to say, but 1t is beyond dis
pute; and IL affords grave matter for re-
Election for the Federal PARLIAMENT.
Think of the Indictment involved In the
fact that the Federal Parliament should,
during its first session, ALLEVIATE the 10y
atty of a State covering nearly two
thirds of the eastern territory of the
, commonwealth. But when We have said
this we have by no means settled the
question of the duty or wisdom of feder-
alton. That We should be disappointed
in the results of federation, that We
should Unexpectedly suffer from it, that
some of us should repent of it and wish
II undone, is no proof that we did wrong
IN accepting 1t, or that 1t would not be
our place to accept Il again If we were
called upon anew to make the choice
For after all We cannot divest this
question of the element of moral obliga-
ton; and that is an element which takes
no account of consequences. Right and
nobleness claim US though the heavens