The Hawaiian gazette., 1905-12-05

doubt that the average amount OF land
lcwned by the common native Hawai-
ians Is quite as large as II ever was
land greatly larger IN value. Many ma
tives lease their freeholds TO chinese
or Japanese, and live on the proceeds
added to the fruits Of their own labor
which brings high wages. The Hawai-
ian natives have about the easiest time
for making living of any class OF peo-
pie in the world. Unskilled labor at
eight hours n day is paid for at 800 to
si50. and half the native men are more
or less skilled, and earn twice those
figures. II II far more difficult to hire
Hawaiian labor than that OF Asiatios.
AS TO the land. II is true that most
OF the larger tracts are now in the
hands OF white men, including Amer
leans. either held In fee simple or more
commonly under lease from the gov
eminent, or from old estates OF for
mer chiefs. Their rentals are COM
monty very high. because the value OF
the lands has become immensely en-
HANGED by skilled improvements For
example, the extensive sugar fields on
this island would easily command a
rental of $50 an acre. This is because
white enterprise has bored great bat
teries OF artesian wells, and erected
immense steam pumps with miles OF
huge steel piping, by which many thou
sands of acres are now irrigated copi-
ously. which never before were sus-
ceptible Of culture. This has robbed no
native OF his former lands, but 1t has
greatly raised his wages. The former
rentals OF those lands for pasturage
did not exceed Is cents an acre. Such
is the actual robbery of natives lands
by white men.
DEVELOPMENT OF LANDS.
A noble example of the development
of formerly useless lands is that of
the estate of the Hawaiian CONNER
cial Company on Maui, a vast gently
sloping plain of 10000 acres, which
thirty years ago was arid pasture land,
worth less than one dollar an acre. A
German capitalist-Claus Spreckels-
got hold of 1t cheaply by a trick, and
established a large sugar plantation
on II. BY lack of management the
stock of the company fell to a low
figure, and was bought in by Alex
ander and Baldwin, missionaries sons
and able planters. 1t is now one of
the largest and most valuable sugar
estates in the world. Ten thousand
acres of cane are copiously watered
from bitches led from streams thirty
miles away at the east end of the is
land. Perhaps DR.. Kincaid holds that
Henry Baldwin has robbed the Ha-
waiians of those valuable lands of
little value until civilized enterprise
took them in hand. 1t is fitting here
n tri IN n RI u n
liberality of Mr.. Baldwin, who is a
fountain of beneficence to native
t churches and schools on his island, as
we'll as to those for whites and Asia
, tics. AS becomes the son of a noble
= missionary, he is the self-made rich
5 man to whom every worthy cause looks
with certainty for help. Such is one
; of these hateful despoilers of the Ha-
= waiians.
HOW THE NATIVES ARE MISLED.
1t is true that the natives view the
Americans with much distrust. And
this is just because they are diligently
taught to do so, especially by Eu-
) ropeans and a few misguided Amer
leans. When Kalakaua and his sister
after him recklessly undertook to over
; throw constitutional government and
to substitute heather wizard govern
ment the Americans and many Others
Z made a revolution and established thai
: republican system which was indis-
pensable and vital. For that strenu-
, Gus and necessary action we Amer
leans are paying the unavoidable
penalty of Hawaiian distrust, and our
, British comrades, as we'll as many
- 10 % hnt h lfnD
? against us. / am sorry that so good
, man as DR.. Kincaid should side him
self with such a party, and reproach
us with such loss of religious and
moral influence as has ensued, but
which he greatly exaggerates. That
alienation is wearing away, as DR.
Scudder correctly showed. The sparse
attendance on so many of our native
: Protestant churches is due largely &c
the actual decline of population in the
last sixty years from 100000 natives &c
$4,000. II Is also result of having on
: ly five or six white Protestant workers
among the natives to cope with thirty
: or forty white Catholic and Mormon
;, clergy.
!. EXODUS OF AMERICAN ME-
. CHANICS.
o DIR. Kincaid tells of an exodus o
II more than 200 American mechanic
l. from Central Union Church" l ques
{, ton whether he was correctly reporte
= because do not believe that half tina
/ number were ever connected with tina
0. church at one time. There has in trut
4, been large exodus OF white mechanic
l. and other workers during the heav
lie business depression of the past fou
lie years. especially of carpenters, VIII
k meet more japanese competition thai
lie do others But that depression wa
l. caused almost entirely by over-pro
: duction OF beet sugar in Europe. Still
If the large number of Japanese laborer
% who have acquired various forms O
m skill while on the plantations does con
Is stitute formidable obstacle to tn
i success OF white mechanics. who ca
ID not possibly live as cheaply as Asia
70 ties, although superior in workin
Id ability.
I q