The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1905-11-10

WASHINGTON, d. c., October "a
Two Masons of high degree from Ha-
waii-Hon. Henry +. Cooper, former
secretary of the Territory, and Mr..
Joshua Daniel Tucker-have been tar
rying here during the past week. Mr..
Tucker came first and put up at the
Arlington Hotel, spending his time in
the main attending sessions of the Su-
preme Council, Southern jurisdiction,
of the Scottish Rite Masons. During
the week he was initiated in the hon
orary 33rd degree.
Mr.. Tucker expressed in an inter
view his opinion of conditions in Ha-
waii. He classified the needs of the
territory under three heads, speaking
as follows:
SIN the first place we are seriously
in want of Asiatic labor, and by that
mean Chinese labor, for the China
man is the best worker Of them all. /
understand that in the United States
proper the people are opposed to them,
but their coming to Hawaii is altogether
a different proposition, and can have
no sort of bearing on the labor situa-
ton in the various States. We have
plenty of Japanese, but they do not fill
the bill, and are likely to give us
trouble in the future. They are ag'
gressive and cocky, unreliable as labor
ers, and ambitious to compete with
white men in all lines of business. To-
day the Jap is as unpopular in Hawaii
as the Chinaman is well liked.
"Our second heed is the election of
white man as a delegate in the Con-
gress of the United States. This is a
matter that we of Anglo-Saxon origin
are agreed upon, but the trouble is that
the kanakas outnumber and outvote
us. We are going to keep up the fight,
however, because we know the Terri
tory will never get much attention at
the Federal capital until it is properly
represented. Another thing that would
make for the betterment of Hawaii
would be the appointment of Henry
Ernest Cooper to the governorship. MIR.
Cooper, by education, natural ability,
and standing, is a man of ideal qualifi-
cations for the office. 1t is hard place
to fill satisfactorily, but his selection
would give our people renewed nope
and confidence that public affairs would
be capably administered. -
Mr.. Cooper came in day or two
later. He has been to Boston ON bust
ness, in which he said there was no
news, and stopped off here to attend
the Supreme Council and to mingle
with Masonic brethren. His visit was
brief. Mr.. Cooper intended to stop en-
route between here and San Francisco,
but probably will sail for Honolulu on
| the same steamer that carries this let
ter. Mr.. Cooper was satisfied with the
outcome of his trip to Boston. He, too,
mentioned few things about condi-
tions in Honolulu and Hawaii, saying:
"Let us go back for a moment to the
era just preceding American ABSORB
| ton. Hawaii was then an exceedingly
prosperous little country; its people
| were happy and contented; there were
ideal trade relations with the United
States which resulted in our spending
with American merchants from $685.
100000 to $30,000,000 annually, and we
had an abundance of cheap and eff.
cient labor. This was the state of
affairs in 1896. How is it today, with
the proud flag of Uncle Sam floating
over usl / do not wish to seem pes
simist, and / have not yet abandoned
hope that our destiny under American
ownership and control will be happy
one, but just at present the melancholy
facts cannot lie ignored.
+" nder the ironclad system OF laws
which answer well in the States, but
which are totally unsuited to Hawaiian
conditions, we have been going down
hill, and for the past two or three
years have been in sore straits. The
exclusion of Chinese labor has worked
great harm to the country, depriving
us of class of people whom Gov. Taft
esteems desirable in the Philippines. If
desirable there, why not in Hawaii,
where they cannot possibly compete
with Write men2
"Today, while we have no scarcity
of capital in Hawaii, nobody wants to
borrow money, for the uncertainty and
instability of our conditions has para
lyzed all business enterprise. Homo
lulu has lost 700 inhabitants within a
recent period, and numbers of people
have abandoned their homes. Nobody
will invest a dollar in any new bust
ness and curtailment is the watchword
all along the line. Unless there is a
radical change in the near future, we
shall see the grass growing in the