The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-01-01

eminent TO come mere, not on cCUlIdClS
who signed an agreement to leave the
country at the end of three years. or
as soon as they ceased to confine them
selves to agricultural work. BY regis
tering them the United States govern
ment has probably given them the
privilege of remaining here.
AS the wages of laborers in China
amount to but from Sc to so per an
num- with board, in local currency,
they considered themselves well paid
III receiving $3.50 per month and board
IL Hawaii. This $3.50 when convert
ed into Chinese local currency,
brought $25. So that they had much
reason to be satisfied with a change
which gave them $500 instead of $40
per annum. Since annexation has tax
en- place many laborers have returned,
and the scarcity of hands has run the
wages up to $26 per month and board.
This great advance in price of labor,
together with the advanced rent of
lands and taxes, has especially mill
tated against the rice planter. He is
unable to advance the price of his
product, as that is regulated by the
rules of supply and demand. the i'm
ported article fixing the value. A sim
gular anomaly exists at present in
that the Hawaiian rice, a better article,
is being sold at fifty cents per hundred
less than the imported Japanese or
China rice, the well known scarcity of
money compelling holders to realize.
AS field hands the Chinese are admit
teddy the best of all nationalities which
have been tried. They are satisfied
with their wages and will do an honest
days work without the Intervention of
a penal contract. They are not given to
strikes, but settle their individual diff
ferences with the employer.
Naturally the Chinese have felt the
severity of the exclusion law, which
has been most vigorously put in force
here where they were accustomed to
the mildness of the restriction laws of
the late Hawaiian government. Under
its terms it was feasible to bring their
wives and children to them, and for
those who had acquired a residence of
two years prior to the passage of tie
act permission was granted to go to
China and return within two years. A
cCgnate race with the Japanese, the
only reason the latter were not includ-
ed in the exclusion act was that at the
time it was passed no material immi-
grafton of Japanese had been felt. The
exclusion act, which expires next May,
was by the treaty and it's own terms
il tended to exclude laborers. Under
the rulings of the Secretary of the
Treasury and opinions of the Attorney
General, this expressed intention has
been extended to excluding statesmen,
clerks buyers, bookkeeperS, account
ants, managers, storekeepers, appren-
tees, agents, cashiers, physicians, pro-
prietors of restaurants, laundrymen,
BARRIERS and in fact all classes Of la
e
the Chinese capitalists and rice plant
ers live in hope that the present ses-
sion of Congress will recognize the
paramount necessity of admission of
more Chinese laborers to Hawaii i'll or
der to prevent the threatened extinc-
ton of the rice industry. Towards
that end they have forwarded a large
petition, which was generally signed
by people of all nationalities to whom
it was presented. They have many
reasons to believe that the petition will
receive the attention which it deserves,
on account of the peculiar conditions
existing here. It in no wise conflicts
with the exclusion law in that Chinese
laborers are prohibited from going to
the Mainland from Hawaii by special
law. Congress should take into con-
sideration the requirements of a part
of the republic which is in the tropics,
and where the climate initiates
against white men engaging in field
work, even if they could do the pecu-
liar class of work required in rice
planting
They are large consumers of Ameri-
can food stuffs, as flour, canned goods,
ham and bacon, salmon, ETC., and all
wear American clothing, hats and
shoes. The Chinese are not large hold