The Hawaiian gazette., 1901-08-16
SUICIDE FOR HEALTH.

SUICIDE FOR HEALTH.
The plea that Hawaii would H.. better
off In the long run for the destruction
Of the sugar industry is made by the
Humphreys interest for reas lns which
need no characterization here. Enough
To say that the argument derives no
support from the Southern instance Ci-
ted. for unlike the South, which slowly
recovered from the effects of the rman-
/ cipation of the slaves because II had
. large white population attached I"
the soil and was possessed Of export and
manufacturing resources, Hawaii Is
purely an agricultural land, the sol"
marketable export crop OF which-or the
| only Jne worthy OF the namc--is sugar.
Take sugar out and We could not make
a living from what is left. II Is use
less to talk Of oranges in competition
with California. Taking oranges to the
Coast would b. carrying Goals to New
castle, and even If there was a market
the more oranges we raised the lower
the price would be As for pineapplcs
no country ever got rich from raising
them and none ever will 1t takes very
few pineapplcs indeed to glut the mar
krt and there are times in San FrGu-
|
works off slowly at five cents IA head
As for our banana export trade. it is
growing smaller owing to the Compel
ton of other points Coffee is a drug
on the market our sole useful re
lance. therefore. is sugar; and if ",
lever lose that staple Hawaii will ccas,
To- be OF commercial Importance.
II is absurd to say that If the sugar
,I, ri
be cut up into small farms by white
mon. Such people have something bet
ter to do in the world than To compete
" It'll Asiatics in raising fruit and gar.
DIR truck on a Pacific island. In thu
: South after the war the white m"r
who owned the land had to go TO worl
to save themselves. They We're on thu
ground and had to stay. Here ,hrr'
J are few white men indeed who. If suga
went into a decline, would be Obliged
: through the ownership of arabic land
$ to remain and work it. Those wh
lease their holdings would sub-let +
8 Asiatics and those who own then
g would do the sam" thing. the Asiati
: being willing to pay more for farr
: land in small parcels than the whit
g man. In the final analysis We shout
4 have an Asiatic Hawaii where the; ycl
% low man earned his living as he dfd q
( home. Very likely he would tr,
" through some cooperative method, {
revive the sugar industry for othcrw's
the Chinese and japanese farmers, wit
q nothing In particular to export. woul
u become like the community describe
" by sydney Smith where the poop
earned precarinus livelihood by tab
y ing in each others washing
There could be no Just compariSn
y between tn" South after the war an
v Hawaii i'm the event of the destructio
OF tn" sugar industry. In the South tn
planters had as much cheap labor aftc
the war as before. II cost no more
o pay the negro free labOrer- mostly
$ store orders-than 1t had to keep hin
Is as "A slave What mainly saved tn
|, South was the rcvivifcatiOn Of its 81
BE- industry: hut here the Humphrey
e economists, pretending to cite the cx
n ample of the South, propose to save an
r. better Hawaii by tn" destruction n
j. that industry
i The fairoSt comparison FOR a Suga'
= less Hawaii would hc Jamaica. Whr
< the sugar industry went 10 pieces thcr
X the phrase "a Jamaican fortune" whic
II had been synonym OF great wealth
T. became meaningless. Attempts wor
II made to reach, through diversified in
x dustry, some of the old upuencc, bu
they all failed No tropical cnuntr
a ever thriVed without chief staple ir
j. dustry supported and carried on h
Il cheap labor, and Jamaica is but one ,
- many instances in point The sole ain
Il of the people of that dependency ev,
II since their sugar business succumbe
r. to the labor laws of England has bee
lie To find some means to rehabilitate i
n Annexation to the United States, Or q
lie least reciprocity treaty affordnE sre
e access to the American market. Is
If cause with which al Jamaican lnnS
+ owners are now identified. iaey han
al no hope OF the white farmer. the sma
n proprietor. He has been sought ana NJ
l. found. Like the men in the Arabia
SIS tale who cried open wheat" "Opt
a barley, in vain attempt to unloC
"a the doors Of the magic treasure hous
L the people Of Jamaica found that the
ic could not enter the house Of riches VII
re til they had said open sesame AZ
ne that meant sugar,
m To propose the destruction NJ II!
waits sugar trade squares the cirnlc
or ignorance and folly. No man who Ii
SIS tended TO stay here and make his H.
IN ing would think Of such a thing, mu,
va less suggest 1t as n measure of publ
II relief. As well cali 1t wisdom TO destr,
,e a ship, engaged in a profitable trad
n. so that the crew and passengers cou
IN each get n bit Of floating wreckaGe
st go trading on by himself.
,,l A