The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-06-03
PHASES OF OUR /
ISLAND LABOR

Editor Advertiser-win you allow
me TO voice the sentiment that the
American people and the American
Congress have yet TO learn that a gar
ment OF one size and pattern cannot
ne forced upon wearers of all sizes and
shapes. with any profit or credit to ell
Their the wearer or the arbitrary will
which makes the wearing compulsory.
They have also 20 learn TO accept the
truth OF the adage that. although they
may lead the horse TO water and load
HIS head with weights enough to sub
merge his nostrils below the waters
surface. they cannot compel him to
drink: and their devices for compuI-
not disaster. both TO themselves and 20
the beast.
The application OF these remarks Will
be patent TO any one who had the mis-
fortune 10 witness and experience the
trend OF affairs in this Territory under
American labor vagaries. with their
costly results.
The British appear to have In
measure adapted themselves to the
self-evident truth. but have yet to
learn the lesson In its entirety. as wit
ness the history OF the labor question
I'm Australia Yet the conditions there
may not exactly coincide with those in
this Territory.
Grant the desirability that this should
be "a white mans country" and that
IL can. and eventually will become so
TO an extent both gratifying and suffi-
cient for the paramount good of all
concerned: the process OF TRANSFORMED
ton must necessity be slow, and no III
judged or inhumane attempts TO force
undesirable conclusions will result In
anything but a retardation OF progress
with large attendant loss to unwilling
victims all along the way.
Does IL never occur to the 'laboring
classes" who are madly following the
popular outcry against the Asiatics.
that IL these patient "hewers OF wood
and drawers OF water" are excluded
from the country. they themselves
must perforce lay down the hammer or
the busy pen. or stop the whiriing
wheels OF their machines. to hew their
own wood and draw their own water.
or that In the expulsion OF those who
VIII strip and load cane and are fit
TO do nothing else. the great industry
that constitutes the bed rock on which
all other Industries in this land are
built must fail. and with it's failure
must come disaster TO all the others.
with the loss OF income and OF situa-
lions to thousands OF Industrial fac
tors and wage earners. not only In
these Islands. but on the mainland as
well?
There Is a commonly accepted saying
that sheep on tire run Will follow their
leader though they all fall into the
ditch. VIII the working classes" OF
this Territory rashly support the cham
pions OF unjust exclusion. either here
or on the mainland. TO their own ruin.
simply because the cry against Chi
nese labor has become popular. rather
than favor regulated immigration of
those who will do what the white man
wiz not do7 VIII they for a moment
pause TO inquire whose country this
\, "a De. or what manner OF country IL
will be. In case its living industries.
devised by active brains and urged by
energetic Wills. should be extinguished
FOR want OF sufficient hands to perform
the necessary labor. and at a cost |
which will leave n margin OF profit TO |
The principals? "'