The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-03-05

~ EV w. NJ. WRIGHT Of Montgom-
~ cry, Alabama, has just finished a
IN three weeks investigation of the
labor question on these Islands
and has deduced some interesting
facts, which he presents as follows:
During my stay in the Hawaiian Is
lands" he says, my attention was
called to the great labor problem which
exists here at present and the fact that
the demand for labor greatly exceeded
the supply was brought to my notice.
The big sugar plantations have a
serious problem to solve, and in my
opinion there is only one way out of
the difficulty, and that is to import
colored labor from the States. and in
doing so care should be taken to bring
the right class of people here / came
here three weeks ago in the interest of
the Commercial Sugar Company and
! brought with me twenty negro laborers
and their families Twenty had pre-
iceded me and l am glad to be able to
say that they are all satisfied and do
ing well in their new quarters.
They are pleased with the climate
and so far have found that all of the
Representations made to them by their
employers before they left their homes
have been lived up to and no complaint
can be found for any cause
THE laborers 1 brought here were
chosen with special care as to their
moral Qualifications, and many were
property holders in Alabama. The
chief reason for the negro coming to
these Islands is that here ne finds him
self treated as an equal and finds that
he has equal rights with the white
man. His time of labor is shorter by
several hours than in the States, and
all conditions prevailing are more in
sympathy with the colored race than
in the States.
1.-The forty men and their families
coming here at my instigation are al
at work on plantations on Maui neal
Spreckelsville and we'll contented. Be
fore they leave the States they. are
given contract to the effect that they
will receive from SIS to $24 per month
for the first three years, and during
that time they will be permitted TO lose
| three months time on account of sick
ness or other causes and their pay will
continue.
"At the end of three years they will
receive bonus of $72 in addition to
lIltli salary "a tlItS VI lOul
house is furnished them, together with
fuel, etc. Thus far all of the promises
made in these contracts have been ad-
hered to and l do not think that they
will ever be violated on the part of the
employers.
Concerning the recent trouble at
Hilo with colored labor, / can only say
that care should be taken in choosing
the class of labor to import, for if en-
lployers are burdened with the riff-raff
of the colored population in the States,
then will they be in constant trouble,
for a negro loafer is not unlike his
white brothers in that respect and will
occasion trouble for any employer.
81 shall leave here for my home in a
few days and will return again in Sep
TENDER with at least 5000 laborers.
shall have not the least difficulty in
obtaining employment for them, as
there is plenty of room for 10000 on
the plantations. OF course, the impor-
tation of colored labor will gradually
/ force the Japanese and Chinese labor
I to quit the field and return to the ORR
ent and this is the end which we are
seeking. Their labor is not satisfac-
/ tory to their employers in any respect
and the final displacement of this class
of labor by the colored laborer will OBJ
viate any further trouble"