The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-11-15
As SEEN FROM FAR ARKANSAS

T, to whita men, irrespective OF whether
the men OF color voted with them OF
not.
That is now and always the Demo
cratic doctrine. In the South, where
| the Democrats rule, an Hawaiian
would find himself without civil rights
simply because he has a brown skin
| In the North where the Republicans
are in majority, he would be treated
as well as white man. Here in Ha'
waii the Republicans have been quicl
to give the Hawaiians every politica
which named the Prince, there were
more Hawaiians than white men
There are more Hawaiians than white
men In Office under Governor Dole To
! day One OF the strongest planks in
| the Republican Territorial platform Is
the one which stands for the mainten.
ance of the Hawaiian suffrage"
| The Democrats have given their en-
dorsement to Wilcox. and have re-
ceived in exchange for their support a
promise of one-third the members Of
the legislature. The natives are max
ing no little campaign thunder out ol
the fact that Hawaii has receiveu ut
aid from the United States since an
nexation. The campaign now on is an
exceedingly lively one.
Personally, the Prince is clever
agreeable sort OF fellow, with plenty
of friends who will do their best to put
him in office Wilcox has at different
times AFFILIATED with both the Republi-
can and Democratic parties.
Some politicians say that the atti-
tude of Prince Cupid means the even
tual disruption of the Home Rule par
ty. Be that as it may, there is no
doubt that when the election comes
of In November there will be bitter
fight at the polls.
A 16-TO-1 STORY.
The average Hawaiian political lead
er does not go very deep into abstruse
political questionable takes life too
easy for that. Apropos of this, good
story is told of John Wise, who was a
native delegate from Hawaii to tie Ma
tional Democratic convention in Kan
sas City in 1900. 1t will be remember
ed that it was Hawaii that cast, in
committee, the deciding vote which put
the free silver plank in the Democratic
platform that year.
Some time after his return to the
Islands Wise was haranguing meet
ing ON the political issues of the day,
when a fellow Hawaiian asked him:
John, what does 16 to mean?'
Wise looked puzzled moment,
scratched his head, and then began:
Sixteen to one means-means-hang
it, / don't know what it means and
don't believe William j. Bryan knows,
either"
And he thus babe farewell to dis
cussion of financial matters-amid a
roar of laughter.
There is no questioning the fact that
Hawaii needs a strong representative
in Congress, and whether Prince Gil
pid, if elected, will prove that sort of a
man, remains to be seen. A number Of
important questions relating to Ha-
waiian affairs will come up before
Congress in the near future. AS is well
known, a committee of United States
Senators has lately been in the Islands
investigating the needs of our newly
annexed territory, and lengthy re-
port will be submitted by these gen.
tlemen when the time comes
One of the subjects which claimed
the attention of Senators Burton, Fos-
ter and Mitchell was the fact that
great depression exists in the sugar
industry of the Islands. Roughly esti-
mated, 100000 acres of land are taken
up by the sugar plantations, which in
1901 produced over 10000 tons. The
price of sugar being low, and, at the
same time, the cost of production hav-
ing been increased through the search !
ty of labor, the sugar planters had an .
exceedingly bad year of it. The low !
price of sugar caused a depression in /,
Hawaiian business circles, just as low
priced cotton produces the same effect
IN the eotton-growing sections of the
South Not until the enormous surplus
stocks of sugar in Europe are cut down.
and the bounty system becomes thing |
Of the past, in accordance with the rec I
of the Brussels confer /
ence, will there be marked change +
Tor the better.
THE LABOR QUESTION IN THE
ISLANDS.
The labor question in Hawaii is a
serious one When the islands were I
annexed to the United States, the Chs
1ese exclusion law, of course, became
operative in the newly acquired ter
-itory and thus shut out coolie labor,
which has been found by long odds the
best The natives do not make good !
ield laborers-the work is too hard to !
suit them. With Cinnamon shut out,
he price of labor naturally went up,
and the expenses of the plantations ,
we're thus very materially increased. |
The Planters Association brought |
over nearly 5000 laborers, with their
wives and families, from Porto Rico. |
Some Italians and Portuguese were |
also brought over, and the experiment |
If bringing in negroes from the South |
srn States was also tried. The |
Porto Ricans did not prove a gilt
.ering success. Regarding the exper- |
ment of trying negroes, the secretary !
Of the sugar planters, in his last an
lual report, says:
The experiment of bringing such /
negro laborers did not prove success
Tul, and no further attempts in that
direction were made. The Italians,
though few in number, have thus far /
proven satisfactory"
The Japanese laborers in the cane /
fields are not nearly so satisfactory as /
Tho Chinpsn Thov aro paithar co !