The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1901-06-01

Mount Misery are these poor tahbeF.
ing black people. who have 20 BE liter.
ally knocked from the steamers gang
way with clubs. 80 rzveno1s are they
for aims OF work from the passing
Traveller. There Is not one days
labor Per week for the willing han1s.
ami travellers need nos wonder ~ the
scramble Of the black men for cargo
or the plteous beggary ashore -Our
system. complacentIy remarked or
British feiIowzraveler. is for the
propriekor. ofacial. and professional
classes.
This last expression Of British
fellow traveller OF Mr. Hill that, -Oar
system is for the proprietor. Official
and professional Glasses well Illus
trates the present conditions in IA
wall Legislation in the past has been
solely in the interest of these classes
Despite the farseeing wisdom Of q
few men, ike 3. F. Dillingham;. no
effort has been made to induce labJ--
ers Of the better class 10 become land
owners Rather. as Mr. Hill describes
the condition in Trinidad. land has
been held at such figures that The
laborer could not purchase ii, while
government land has been hedgsd
about By such conditions that the
laborer could not obtain title to it
Under the 4th heading. as enunciat-
ed above. Mr.. Hill describes the in
PRODUCTION Of contract laborers and
one needs but to change the word Tri-
nidad to Hawaii. and Hindu 10 jan
anese or Porto Ricans to have an &C
curate description OF the landing OF
many ship loads of contract iaborers
on these shores. Here IS what he
says:
To produce revenue for alien plan
tiers the world is secured for cheaper
labor than that already procurable mp
on the islands, thereby reducing the
standard Of living. keeping wages
down TO the merest pittance. and for
cling thousands TO idleness. At Tri-
nidad | saw landing a motley crowd
Of Hindu immigrants, whose sole pos-
sessions were the filthy pugrees and
loin-cloths which they wore. They
had been imported under the same
contract-laboring system as that which
in our colonial days brought the low
whites to Virginia | asked a high
oficial Of Trinidad why a humane
government permitted further addi-
ton TO the seventy thousand Hindus
already oversupplying the labor mar
ket of the island. He replied that
from his residence he could see i've
hundred huts inhabited by idle people
who would gladly work for shilling
day, but for whom there was not an
average of one days work in five.
Lack OF occupation has thoroughly
demoralized these people. mo longer"
said he. lis petty crime considered a
disgrace by them. II is looked upon
as an honor to go to jail"
| explained that in our country we
assist and elevate this class. Laws
guard them from competition against
foreign contract labor Their children
are given not only education but OF
portunity; the public lands are open
to them free of charge or for nom
inal cost "Oh. but that is America,
was the reply. Yet Trinidad has thor
sands of acres of virgin soil. but held
at such price per acre that these PEI
pie could not acquire it with years
of steady labor.
In speaking of American working
classes and legislation Mr. Hill de-
scribes a condition of affairs that the
people of Hawaii should strive to
bring about here. He likewise pays
q noble tribute to free public schools
and education for the masses by say
ing:
In America the working classes are
usually consldered in legislation and
administration; they are virtually un-
taxed. and the whole trend of our sys-
tenn is to give them opportunity to
rise to higher comfort and station.
What nobler monument can our coun-
| try have than the millions of people
who have been elevated from the
depths of European poverty to self
supporting and honorable manhood
and womanhoodl During the last cen
fury, while generation after generation
of immigrants have entered our gates
TO be assimilated by our civilization,
the colonial people of the West Indies
have gone steadily backward in moral
and material welfare Year by year
the white population decreases, and
the sons and daughters migrate to the
United States and elsewhere. The
blacks, instead of gaining in wealth
and condition as in this country, stead
lily degenerate.
Which path will Hawaii chooses
That which elevates. and helps &c
make ali the people self-supportiag
or that which enriches the few and de