The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-01-29
Geo. B. MCCLELLAN
IN KARPER'S WEEKLY
Washington, D. c., Dec. 80, 1904

4
| To the Editor of Harper s Weekly:
Sir,-An article in the December "a
issue of the Weekly, entitled "The
First Business Before Congress-, sug-
gests again the difficulty of securing
here in the mainland clear conception
of conditions, either political or eco
nomic. in the outlying territories and
possessions of the United States.
One clause of the above article says:
- Liberty of access to our markets has
applied to the sugar industry of Hawaii
an extraordinary stimulus, and has as
sured to that archipelago a degree of
prosperity unexampled in its history. -
1t is an unpleasant task to correct
even a minor part of an excellent ar
ticIe, but to permit the above state
ment to go unchalienged would add to
the already great misconception of the
n American people as to conditions In
! Hawaii.
The first part of the statement is
true; but it must be remembered that
! this free access to American markets
has belonged to Hawaii by treaty stip-
ulation for the twenty-eight years
since 1876, and very large part of the
stimulus resulted from Hawaii s free
access to the world 5 labor market, and
to the retention of her own customs
dues for local governmental expendi
! lures.
| Simply the permanence of free entry
! to American markets was assured by
annexation; but the other two elements
of Hawaii s prosperity were reversed
by that same event.
The drastic consequences of that re-
i Il yDel
low sugar prices, has been to plunge |
the entire Territory of Hawaii into a !
commercial depression during the past |
five years, while the mainland has been |
enjoying unexampled prosperity. So |
severe has this depression been that |
scores of families of Independent means
have been made practically penniless,
and some of the wealthiest men have |
been reduced to serious financial |
straits.
The widespread nature of this de-
preston results from the fact that
since practically the entire business of
the Hawaiian Islands is based upon
sugar production, the rank and file of
island inhabitants, OF all races, rely :,
either directly or indirectly upon that
industry for their livelihood; also that
most of the savings of the entire
people, from BARRIERS to bankers, are in
vested in shares of the sugar planta-
tions Il
Thousands of dollars have been spent Z
by Hawaiian planters in futile efforts
to secure adequate labor to replace the {
Chinese feldworker, who can no longer h
enter the Territory under Federal lawfL9
But although it IS physically possibfed
for the white man to work in the sub {
tropical climate of Hawaii, he has
steadily refused to engage in field work
here, even with liberal inducements
md steady employment offered.
Whether it viii prove possible to per-
maintain the Hawaiian sugar G
industry with the present limited sup 4
by of labor the test of experience !
llone can prove.
Although the net Federal revenues Z
rom the Territory of Hawaii exceed !
hose from either Arizona, New Next g
o, or Oklahoma by almost $1,25O,00O :
it has thus far been impos :
ible to get Congressional appropria- G
ions for needed Federal works in Ha- =
vail.
Common justice demands that the g
Act of Hawaii should be =
mended to permit the local expendi- :
ure of all net Federal revenues in Ha- g
Taii, under specific appropriations to 3
e made annually by Congress. :
L am, sir, z
GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN. q