The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-06-21
CLARK TALKS
ABOUT LABOR
Should be a Larger
Supply Of Resident
Workmen.

MI victor -. Cldrh, representing INC
Bureau of Labor of Washington, has
been making an official inspection of
the labor conditions in Hawaii for a
couple of months last past. He leaves
for Washington on the Manchuria to-
day.
In reply to an inquiry by a represen-
tative of the Advertiser as to whether
his report would be likely to be follow
ed by any legislation affecting labor
| conditions in the Islands, Mr.. Clark
said: ''Not so far as my information
goes. Of course, we all appreciate that
annexation has changed the condition
of sugar production in Hawaii so far
as the question of labor supply is con-
cerned. Methods that doubtless were
! the best and most economical, from the
: point of view of producers, in the past
| may prove neither the best nor the
most economical under present condi-
| tions Probably the planters will have
to learn from their own experience
whether or not this is so. l do not see
that the Government can take any IN
itiative in the NATTER
your investigations, see any solution of
their present labor difficulties ahead
for the planters?"
"My own personal opinion is that
no permanent solution for the labor
problem will be found until there is
much larger supply of resident labor
ers in Hawaii than at the present time.
In Porto Rico, Jamaica, the Barbados
and in many parts of the East, as for
| instance in Java, there is no labor ques-
| tion in the sense that it exists in Ha-
wall, because laborers for the planta-
tions can be found at home. 1t might
be well to endeavOr to create similar
! conditions in Hawaii. It has occurred
to me that it might be a profitable
thing for the planters, in cooperation
with other interests, to take an inven-
| tory, so to speak, of all of the arabic
| land in Hawaii that is not likely to be
occupied for cane cultivation by the
plantations or utilized in connection
| with irrigation projects and have this
| land surveyed and divided into tracts
| suitable for laborers' homesteads. A
| law might be enacted by which such
property could be disposed of under
conditions analogous to those under
which lots in the residential suburbs of
some of the American cities are sold.
These conditions might require that
the land be titled by the owner and not
sub-let to alien laborers and that it be
occupied for residential and agricul-
tural purposes only. The latter provis-
ion would prevent such homesteads be-
coming the sites of saloons and gamb
ling houses, and centers of 1awlessness
and agitation in the vicinity of plan
tations. Then with the agricultural
assets of the Territory fully known,
systematic effort might be made to Sc
cure European settlers for these
lands, it being understood that those
living in the vicinity of plantations
could support themselves during the
development of their property, and
thereafter as long as necessary, by
plantation work While such a measure
would not afford a complete solution of
the problem, it would at least help to
alleviate the uncertainty of the pres
ent situation. European governments
would be apt to look pathetically
upon any movement that enabled emf
grants to secure homes abroad. The
unattached worker is apt to drift back
to his native land in times of strikes
or depression, often bringing with him
social and political ideas or opinions
that are not desired by European rul-
me, though, of course, L speak with no
authority in the matter, that the gov
eminent, and for that matter even the
labor organizations in the United
States, would look with favor upon any
sincere attempt to bring white settlers
to Hawaii. Even If it were possible
to provide homes for only few hun
dred or thousand families, their labor
value to the community, and that of
their descendants, would ultimately
prove greater than that of several
times an actual number of migratory
workers. l do not think there is any
disposition upon the mainland to en-
barrass the dominant industries of Ha-
waii with unwise or hostile legisla-
ton; but the problem of building up
community of high civic ability in this
Territory is matter that ultimately
| concerns the whole nation, as well as
the business interests of the Territory
itself, and l do not see how such an OBJ
ject can be attained unless there is
| larger fixed population in the Islands