Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1903-01-15

In the HaWa1an ISLANDS. InlS SUP
committee consisted Of Senators
Mitchell OF Oregon, Burton of Kansas,
Foster of Washington, Cockrell Of
Missouri and Blackburn of Kentucky.
The last two named did not visit the
islands, but Senator Blackburn joined
in the recommendations numbering
&c. The visit to the islands was made
last September and covered 25 days,
during which time 43 meetings were
held and 10 witnesses were interro-
gated.
Leprosy.
The condition of affairs in the Ieper
settlement on the island of Molokai
excited the liveliest interest The
committee made a quite thorough i'll
quiry concerning this settlement,
which is under territorial control, with
the result that it recommends that the
management of the colony be trans
ferred to the marine hospital service
with headquarters in Washington and
that a general leprOsariO or retreat for
all the leperS of the United States be
established on that island. At the
time of the visit of the committee
there were S58 leprous patients in the
settlement. The opinion is expressed
that there are many hundreds of other
cases Of Ieprosy in the territory. In
the past year on the MOlOkai settle
ment there were IA deaths and 16
births in the colony, eight of the chill
dren born being illegitimate. Much
diversity of opinion was found in the
territory as to whether the control of
the settlement should be retained by
the territorial government, though all
the territorial officers were found to
be favorable to such retention. The
committee takes strong grounds in IA
vor of change, and in this connec-
ton freely discusses the conditions
with reference to morality which pre-
vail, saying:
Your committee has been some
what surprised to find that under ex-
listing management of the leper settle
ment, indiscriminate legitimate and
illegitimate cohabitation is permitted
fered to be celebrated between lep-
rous men and women, regardless of
their physical condition. Children are
born in the settlement of leprous
union and as a result Of cOncubinage,
and, strange as it may appear, the
leading officials seem to regard all
this not only as permissible, but pro
test vigorously against a system of
segregation that would prevent it,
Further along the committee says
that unrestricted illegitimate associa-
ton is permitted by the authorities,
and adds: "The only attempt seem
ingly to abate or minimize this evil is
by counseling and earnestly urging
marriage On the part Of lepers, even
going so far in this direction as to aid
facilitating divorce where a leprous
man or woman has a wife or husband
outside of the settlement, so that the
husband or wife thus released from
the marriage obligation might again
be married to leper and inmate Of
the leper settlement"
Labor Problem.
In connection with it's discussion of
the labor question, the committee
takes up the effort on the part of the
business men of the islands to secure
the removal Of some of the restric-
tions on Chinese immigration. This
desire is conceded to be very general,
but Senators Mitchell and Foster rep
resenting a majority of the sub-cCn-
mittee, take very positive ground in
opposition. They say that the condi-
tons are not different in the islands
from what they are on the mainland,
and make the usual argument against
Chinese admission. They contend al
so that the Chinese do much to intro
duce and maintain bubonic plague and
other contagious diseases.
Senator Burton takes the opposite
view He says that neither the ma
tives nor white men will work in the
sugar fields and he calls attention to
the freedom with which oriental labor
was brought in IN the days of the mon
archy. 1T is" he says, "a well known
fact that the country over there was
very prosperous when it was a king
dom, and continued very prosperous
under the provisional government and
under the republic. It's period of de-
cline began with annexation and mat
tiers have gone on under annexation
from bad to worse until today the
specter Of hard times is found every
where throughout the islands" He
says the Chinese are preferable to the
Japanese and he urges that it is an
unfair discrimination to allow the lat
ter to come in unrestricted and not to
permit the former to come in at all
He suggests that Chinese be allowed
to enter to perform agricultural labor
and for no other purpose.
Public Lands.
Much space is devoted to discussion
of the administration Of the public
lands of the territory and the commit
tee finds that the policy pursued in
Hawaii with reference to those lands
is directly contrary to the policy pur-
sued in the United States. 1t is re
marked that whereas the policy on
the mainland is to preserve the lands
for homes for the people, the policy
now being enforced in Hawaii ''seems
to be to utilize the public domain sole
~ for the purpose of revenue, and
consequently but very little of the
public lands are being sold, but large
tracts placed under long leases. a pol