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

| stances than to hold our ideas clear of
| the confusion which aseribes misfortune
| to an action in itself indisputably right
. and noble. instead of the follies and self
!shness which have used it for evil.
Il Beyond question, many of those
who voted white Australia failed to
grasp the practical issues of their vote.
| They certainly did not realize that this
| was to be worked for the subordination
| of all things to labor influence, and to
| the ruin of an important Queensland in
| dustry. The lesson of the position
is not the reversal of our federative ac-
| ton but the reversal at the earliest OPP
portunity of our fatal choice of Federal
representatives. The thing to he
done is to put the government right. The
| thing to be done is the election at the
| next opportunity of representatives who
shall make 1t impossible to treat the
| State they represent as Mr.. Barton's
| government has treated Queensland.
These are weighty and telling argu-
ments, and their perusal is apt to give
pause to the thoughtful Honolulan be-
fore he rashly condemns those who do
not consider the annexation of Hawaii,
with all it's undeniable advantages. as
an absolutely unmiNed blessing.
The South Sea Islanders constitute
the only source of field labor left the
North Queensland cane grower, and the
recruiting is carried on under strict SUI
pervision by government agents accom-
panying each vessel. The blacks are
employed by the struggling "cockatoo
| farmer as well as by the big estates,
and a most paternal government
watches their treatment as to food and
hospital care. Every one of them is
{scrupulously accounted for. and atythe
end of his service is landed upon his
native beach. They are as happy as
children the live-lcng day, ana that
lthey in any way compete with the
white man is the purest of fiction. Yet
it is now proposed that this industry
be sacrificed to propitiate the Great
Moloch, yclept the Labor party. |
would state here inter ALA, that the to-
tai number of Kanakas in Queensland,
according to official data, is at the
present time only a little over 5000. This
| in a country with an area of Cos. 49I
square miles, /. G.. equal to more than
I5h times the area of the United King
dom or one hundred times that of the
Territory of HawaiiD To show the
temper of the Queensland people in this
matter ! quote another article. written
| in lighter vein:
| The kanaka labor problem can be
| solved in one act. There is plainly no
/ hope from the Federal governments; the
| White Australian" politicians are in
| overwhelming majority in the Federal
House. 1t is averred that white men
Will not do the work. LET US MAKE
| THEM DO IT AS a PUNISHNIE NT
| Queenslands gaols are fun of men and
| women, the labor of whose hands COM
petes most successfully with honest out.
side labor, in so much that periodical
protests reach headquarters from sad
dlers, bookbinders, etc. The labor is ad-
| mittedly severe, and would be a fitting
| punishment for offenders against the
| law. The judge of the future might put
| on his black cap and say: you ARE
SENTENCED TO PENAL SERVITUDE
IN THE CANE FIELDS FOR LIFE,
AND MAY THE LORD HAVE MERCY
ON YOUR SOUL" Smaller offenders
might be given shorter terms, common
surate with the gravity of their sim
Thus, the common assaulter would get
three months in the cane fields the COM |
mon thieves would get six months, while
the garden drunk would get tired of the
dry field life in a fortnight. Let the gov
eminent undertake to provide prison la
Dor to replace the Kanaka There Is |
plenty of material to draw from. The |
result would be the salvation of the |
Queensland sugar industry. And trades
That are now struggling against the COM |
petition of prison labor would revive |
under the henfgnHnt Influences OF a fair !
competition, and an untrammelled field. |
What the prisoners themselves would |
think about the matter is of no impor-
lance. But the government would soon !
wipe off ali deficits, and peace and pros
perity would continue.
Mr.. r. w. McCulloch, local govern |
ment Inspector and valuator, who has |
just returned to Brisbane from an Off |
cial tour through the sugar districts |
although disinclined to speak as to the
exact position of the industry in the
light of Federal legislation, lest he
should expose himself to an accusation |
of partisanship by those to whom the |
conviction borne of his observations
might prove disagreeqble, nevertheless
expressed himself as follows in reply to
the question:
What about labor for the next sea-
SOM"
Next season, If Mr.. Barton's bill !
comes in operation, with the proportion
of kanakas that vii have to be returned !
the situation will become acute.
Private mill owners will not be able to
hold out under the new conditions. They
state their intention to make as much
as they can during the next Ave years
| and then shut down. With the exception
| of the big mill owners. who might hang
out bit longer, that Is the outlook. .,
l. Too much emphasis cannot be laid
| on the harvesting difficulty. You can
| imagine the plight of a man with his
, crop ready for the mill and no labor to
take 1t off available. Unlike cereal
crop, sugar deteriorates rapidly No 9th
er industry is on the same footing with
| it. Yes, everything points to a record
crop next year, and a short labor sup
ply"
as that the feeling OF the North"
Absolutely. White labor has been
tried and failed There have been contin-
uous efforts year after year to get white
men to do the work in gangs.
Failures! My experience has been that
the white man won't tackle the WORK