The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-07-24
LIFE
Of ITALIANS
How a Supply Of Labor
May be Secured for
Hawaii.

eral rule are owned by the nobility,
off the produce of the farms are very
often subject to the orders and com
mands of the landlord. In most cases
these tenants are descendants of SER
wants of these masters under the old
Feudal system of government. Even
in these days of advancement and
progress, lingering willingness still
exists in these workers of the soil to
humble themselves before their super
sacrifice their own lives to save those
of their supposed lords. For this rea-
son, perhaps, you would observe In
mingling with these people an under
current of natural affection between
master and servant. Lands in all
parts of Italv have been titled from
time immemorial, and still the product
of the soil today is just as great as it
ever was.
~ "oiicii gnu CfiiliI tl dl Z do uluCu
a part of a farm in Italy, as the COW,
the fowls, the goats, and the donkey.
These constitute the working force re-
CURED for the prosperity and advance
ment of their work.
What | observed on some of the
farms in Northern Italy was that, at
sunrise, the mother goes to the stalls
to feed the animals and milk the
cows; then she SADDLES the donkey and
places baskets on its, back One for
vegetables, one for fruits, one for
eggs, and one for miln, cheese, and
saltless butter. This is all covered
with colored blanket, which she uses
as cushion on her return. With this
load she leads the donkey to the near
est market for the disposal of her
goods.
In the meantime the father has har-
messed one COW to the plough and is off
to the field to commence his DAYS
work, while the children are feeding
the fowls and the goats, wedding the
vegetable gardens, washing, taking
care of the baby. By ABOUT II
O'Clock a. m. the mother is home with
her empty baskets. This is their
meal hour, SO they a.. cluster around
In the open or under shelter, according
to the state of the weather, to partake
of their meal, which is very often of
salad or some other vegetable, with
eggs, cheese, bread, fruit and wine.
After this meal the mother undertakes
all the household work, and the father
and children the field work. The
next meal is taken at shutdown, prin-
cipally of La Polenta and vegetables.
And IN this way, with other slight de-
Walton from the general rule, these
people work from day to day, except
Sundays.
In some instances the income deriv-
ed from the produce of these farms
goes 1-3 to the landlord and % to the
tenants. If the total net income from
farm of 10 acres reaches $4,000, or
800 francs, per annum, this is consid-
cred pretty good return. This
amount divided as mentioned, the far
mer and family would receive in this
instance $4,000. Out of this money,
| very often, these thrifty people man.
age to save half, which they immedi-
ately expend in buying another cow,
Or something as useful.
In trying to place before you a pic
ture of very small part of the Ital-
ian farmers life, I wish to impress
upon the minds of those who are di-
| rectly interested in the matter of
Italian immigration, that the Italian
farmers are pretty comfortable in his
| own way at home, and that they are
! not amongst those that are eager to
| immigrate. In order to induce him
| to come here to labor in the cane
| fields, the cost of living here must be
presented in detail to him, so that he
can .intelligently know how much he
: can save after paying for his living,
| and also what encouragement he IS
| going to receive in supplies and land
from the plantations. If these ques-
lions can be answered to the satisfac.
/ ton of the authorities and the Ital-
ian farmers, there is no question in
our being able to procure good labor.
ers and useful citizens for this terri
tory from Italy