The evening times., 1901-05-04

a very interesting report on the asri-
cultural resources and capabilities of Ha-
wall by William g. Stubbs. Ph. d. Direc-
tor of the Louisiana Agricultural Expert
ncnt Stations. has been issued by the De
partment Of Agriculture. The report deals
especially with the subject OF labor.
For half a century the resources and
ingenuity OF the planters Of these isl
ands, the report says, have been taxed
to their utmost in devisinE the best means
Of procuring laborers suitable for their
work, Special commissioners have been
despatched to distant parts of the globe
for the purpose of securing the desired
immigration. Earnest efforts have been
made IN the way~of carefully prepared re
ports and extensive correspondence. Large
sums of money have been expended for
costly voyages in the hope of obtaining
permanent additions 10 the population of
the islands which would develop and
maintain the growing agriculture. And
yet the struggle continues From the
lrSt arrival of coolies. in 1872. UP to the
present time there has been no cessation
III the arduous efforts to obtain an ade-
qUate supply Of labor Tor the plantations
The Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society.
established in 1850. issued a circular stat
ing that the introduction of Coolie labor
from China to supply the places Of the
rapidly decreasing native population was
q subject of great Importance In lS5Z the
nTst Introduction Of coolies was made and
the experiment was satisfactory They
proved able and willing laborers and Qui-
eted fos while all apprehension Of fu-
ture trouble in obtaining labor Other
cargoes were soon sent for and received
But while the coolies were and are
GOOD workers IL ysas soon discovered that
Iaborers imported for plantations could
not be relied upon as permanent settlers
and homsseekers. and were therefore.
from q state standpoint. very undcSir-
able immigrants. The planters wanted Ia
borers for profit: the King desired perIna-
nent settlers for the benefit of the cCUn-
try To bring in immigrants required
funds. which the former alone could
supply, but they We're unwilling to bur
den themselves with the trouble and ex-
pense Of families Hence the plans Of the
King failed In 1889 q few South Sea Isl
anders were landed or Kauai TO work on
4 plantation under contract They re
sembIed Hawaiians. were educated. and
had Christian names Itswas hoped that
this beginning Would be the means, ulti-
mately, OF repopQlating the Islands and
Supplying the needed labor, but the hope
vas never realized, 2s VIII be shown lat
er- In 1863 another CRY for importation OF
labor was heard. but the enquiry vas ev-
eTywhere made Whom and how? The
Importation OF white men as laborers was
inadFnissibIe; ditto with negroes The
cooIie was an undesirable citizen and as
a isbarer Of no great value. Private
planters would import only men. reject
ing women and children Ldborers could
not se obtained from Pacific islands,
therefore resort must again be had to
Chine
n the meanwhile sugar production in
creased rapidly New pl9nJations were
onFnkd and more labor daghspded The
statesman decrisd plsntati0h morals. due
10 ting large excess OF meIt over women
ported, and abpeelld to ting patriotism Of
the planters to aid the government IN
Introducing carefully Selected egricultur-
a plan was suggssted Of introducing
to Hawaii certain races OF the Malay
Arohibelage, but the Government was
favorable 2 project. In this imperative
demand for labor the only alternative left
was TO introduce more coolies, which was
done The Chinese COolie system as il
was called at this time, had an odium at
tashed to il almost equal to that Of the
siaye tTade- Il vas reported that men
n2ndarihs for few dollars each, while
the contractors picked up vagTants and
sold them at public auction IN the mar
kets OF Peru ana elsewhere The horrors
of the slave trade We're in some instances
repeated and the deborted coolies often
sqS9yraahed to brutal prlyations and hard
tErYFn6d by the dppQin ntmenI Of agents at
the ports OF departure TO see that no ia
boEer was taken away without his fun
These abuses gave birth 10 the cooIie
laws Of the UnitsG States, and sinnultan-
eQpsly n Hawaii z bureau Of Immigration
Ras sStabliShed- taking the business Of
importing Iaborars from the hands Of
the pl4sters and placing It under the
Charge Of the Kingdom The Hawaiians
claim that no such iniqBjty as above men
tened ever qiscgFaceq the efforts Of their
planters in their work OF importing labor
ers- The -ccolie system. as known else
where never existed on the islands; the
law between employer and employs,
known as the master and servant law
was mile, equitable and compulsory for
the specific fulhlinent Of contracts
IN 1864 the board of immigration was
established for The purpose Of sUperin-
tending tie Importation Of foreign labor
ers and the Introduction Of Immigrants
One Of its first ordinances was to prohib-
IL private persons from introducing Ia
borers into the Kingdom under heavy
penalty A2other was TO adopt measures
looking TO the Introduction Of free immi-
grants, males and females, from the
Azores, C9pafies, and Cape de Verde in
the ATLANTIC and from any OF the Pacific
isles Passages were 70 be paid by the
G0Vernnent and a bounty per head TO the
captain 81 the Ship. Still another was the
chaTtering Of ship 70 send to China to
procure more Chinese laborers. The first
ordnance gave great offence to the plant
eTs, b;sk the board firmly adhered to it
In 1855, Dr. Hillebrand was appointed
commissioner to 90 abroad and study the
possibilities Of obtaining desirable immi-
grants from India, Japan, and Malaysia.
In the meanwhile to meet the present de
mauds, he was first 20 visit China and
forward a ship!oad or two Of coolies to
the Islands In December 1863, the first
ifstallnl-5ut Of immigrants arrived from
the Caroline Islands The bureau sane
toned the contract with the planters. Si-
mult2neoUsly q small number Of Mar
QytsaDs we're introduced. Dr.. Hiuebrand
simultaneously forwarded from Hong
kong TWO ship loads Of coolies. The plant
er acquired the needed iaborer, but the
people desired Immigrants who would as
simulate with them. infuse viBOr into the
impaired constitutions Of the natives.
check the decrease Of the inhabitants Of
the Kingdom, and give strength TO the
national constitution
i King Kamehs meha III saw with sOT-
row and alarm his people rapidly decliH-
means OF arresting this decay and perma-
netiy repeopIing his dOminions- To accom-
pIish his purpose ne authorized mr. Wyl-
lie 70 neg6tiste with The BTistish Govern
rnent with the view Of obtaining consent to
remove TO the islands al Of the inhahit-
ants Of PitcaiTn's Island and settle them
= Y,roprietors or tenants on his GWn lands.
The project unfortunately failed
In the meanwhile other coolies were in
fr0duced IL 1865 KamGnameha ". in his
speech to the Legislature said Of the cool
les: They are not 50 kind and tTaCtabie as
was ANTICIPATED. and they seem 70 have no
affinities attractions, or tendencies TO
blend with this or any other race He
recommended trying the Inhabitants Of
H. H. Il sr=T.a an Il