The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-01-09
MORE FROM
PORTO RICO.
Four Hundred Coming
To the islands.
THE EXAMINER EXPOSED
San Francisco Call Denounces Nau-
seating Fake Philanthropy
Of That Paper.

Commenting upon the fact that more
Porto Ricans are coming to Hawaii and
upon the miserable conduct of the San
Francisco Examiner in preventing most
of the last lot from reaching here, the
Call, says editorially:
Dispatches from San Juan, Porto Rico
announce that the steamship Arkadia has
sailed from Ponce for New Orleans hay
ing on board 400 Porto Ricans, sixty-five
per cent of whom are women and chill
dren, destined for Hawaii"
That little item of news is a matter of
some concern to the people of California
and particularly to those employed as
workers in our farms and orchards. Not
long ago as viii be well remembered,
number of Porto Ricans engaged for Work
in Hawaii We're brought across the con-
Trent From the time it was known they
were coming, a yellow journal OF TINS CITY
began working up sensation, charging
that the Porto Ricans were being car
ried into slavery. BY the exercise of its
peculiar tactics it managed to induce
good many of the number to break their
enga cement to GO to Hawaii, and to stop
in this State. They were without money,
without skill in cur kinds of labor and
could speak only Porto Rtcan Spanish
They thus became competitors with Cali
forna labor and were of necessity COM
PEELED to accept any wages offered.
Moreover, as may be clearly foreseen,
they are likely to become charges upon
the charity of the communities that re-
ceive them.
All such considerations were as moth
ing to the yellow journal. Having made
a fake display of philanthropy by pro-
voking the Porto Ricans to refuse to go
m Ha then undertook to make
another by providing work for them. The
means by which it sought to do that
without expense to itself are shown by
the following telegram which it sent to
the editor of the Coast Advocate:
San Francisco. Dec. Is.
George P. Schaefer, Halfmoon Bay,
Cal: Will you assist us in doing kind
ness to stranded Porto Ricans by giving
immediate employment or a good home
for one of them?
Are mld-mannered, strong young men,
speak only Spanish and can do plain man
ual labor. Telegraph answer
Commenting upon the action of the vel
low faker the Coast Advocate says: ut
created a hullabaloo, stopped the men
and women from going to occupations
where they could have earned a comfort
able livelihood, and where they would
doubtless be much better off than in the
land they left: and now appeals to the
public In well turned phrases to assume
the care of the unfortunates whom its
grasping lust for trade has thrown help
less and penniless among strange peo-
pie, of whose ways and customs they
are intensely ignorant. If this
bombastes furioso in the journalistic field
were sincere in it's efforts for the amelio-
ration of the condition of these people,
why does it not send them back to their
own country announce the fact that 1t
has done so, and await the praise that
might be bestowed were the public salts
fed that the act arose from disinter-
ested motive?"
After further exposure of the meth
DDS of the yellow journal. the Coast Ad-
vocate goes on to say: Many times in
the past people who could not afford to
give five cents without imposing hard
ships upon their own, have been caJoled
into giving five or more dollars to some
protege of the yellow journal; and con-
cludes by saying: "It is time this in
cubus upon the American journalistic
world should be called down. 1t 10
nauseating."
That is the record made up by the yell
low journal in dealing with the first num-
Der of Porto Ricans engaged to work in
Hawaii: and now another company of
Porto Ricans are on their wav toward
this city. Surely 1t will be worth while
for the public authorit es, the labor
unions and all concerned to see tn 1t that
none of them be stopped In this State to
be either placed as competitors with our
own workers or else made charges upon
public charity. One fake of that kind is
bad enough. Let us not have another.