The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1906-08-13
DEFENSE
OF THE KOREANS
THE REV. GEORGE II. JONES
STRONGLY RESBNTS THE RE-
SENTS THE REMARKS OF JUDGE

| cupied the Methodist church pulpit last
night, anud took for his subject the
recent letter of Circuit Judge Robinson,
which called forth a Portuguese pro-
test last week. The Rev. Jones dealt
with the Judges references to the Ko-
reans. After quoting the paragraph
which aroused the Indignation of the
Portuguese the minister said
The sting Of the accusation lies in the
statement that i'm their own country:
"These alien pauper aborers Ohe Por-
tuguese Koreans. Porto Ricans and
Molokans who have come to the ISL
ands) were in many instances social
parahs, moral Iepers and religious ia
natics" Coming from a judge before
whose court these people may at times
stand in search of justice and over
whose persons and welfare he possesses
penal power, this statement derives
very unusual significance. Is it true?
Our Portuguese fellow-citizens here
in a most emphatic manner vindicated
themselves from this charge and re-
ceived from Judge Robinson the 'un-
qualified retraction that che did not in
tend or desire, and did not have in mind
or in heart to cast any aspersions or
reflection on the morality or moral
standing Of the Portuguese people nor
to charge them with being allan pauper
laborers, social pariahs, moral lepers or
religious fanatics.
Thus in the case Of the Portuguese
Judge Robinson admits he made a mis-
take. Now, I submit that in any court
of evidence this declaration of error
vitiates his whole testimony. He is by
his own confession an unreliable wit
ness in the matter whereto he has
spoken.
I will speak of the Korean, for I
can not speak of the others. Judge
Robinson says that many of the Ha-
waiian Koreans were i'm their own
country social pariahs' This state
ment leads me to question whether he
is acquainted with the social order of
Korea at all, or has an extended ac-
uuantance with the Koreans now in
the islands AS to the classes who are
the social pariahs, in Korea they con-
sist chiefly of the slaves, actors, butch
ers. Buddhist priests and common eX-
ecutioners. have personally seen
about 1900 of the 5000 Koreans on the
islands and have never seen one of the
so-called social pariahs. I have dill
gently inquired and have learned of
possibly one half-dozen of butcher
class here, out of the butchers it Is
only fair to say that the Korean EN-
peror, about eight years ago, by an act
of imperial grace, decreed that their So
cial disabilities should be removed, and
they they are no longer in the outcast
classes. If Judge Robinson is ready ia
come before an American public and
denounce our butchers as social pa
riahs, am afraid he will find himself
in hot water. So as far as the Social
pariahs" accusation is concerned, [
think the Judge has ventured into I'M
familiar territory.
Judge Robinson charges the Hawai-
ian Koreans with being moral lepers"
in their own country. A moral leper
is one so diseased morally as to be
beyond recovery. This I take it is his
sense. But again I must say that the
Judge is incompetent. The most he can
say is that those with whom he has
dealt were guilty of moral turpitude.
There are vicious men among the Ko-
reans and these possibly are the men
with whom Judge Robinson in the per-
Torrance of his official duties is most
familiar and apparently these are the
men he takes as typical of the Korean
people! 1t is the most specious Of
pleading to hold up the criminals of
a nation as typical of its mental and
moral character. Suppose a Korean
should come to America go to our
courts of crime and draw from their
grim records the materials with which !
to portray American character, the re- |
suit might be a moral monster to
match Judge Robinson's Korean moral
leper. But it would be no character |
ization of the American people Flow |
ing in the midst of the Korean camps |
spread over these beautiful islands are !
currents of life which If known would /
show how baseless is this charge. But /
few of the Koreans can communicate |
with the residents here and few Of the
residents know the Korean language, !
so that these ideals-these manifesto
tons of helpfulness to each other these
expressions of severe condemnation on
the misdeeds of the vicious are I'M
known. They have been in these ISL
ands but three and a half years, they
come from a form of civilization an
cient and admirable in some of it's
features, but utterly different from
ours, everything is new and strange
and segregated by lack of means of
from many Of the ideas
In our life, toling in hard but honest
manual labor, they need and plead for
The kind word and friendly look. And
am very glad to bear testimony to
the fact that with but rare and con-
5picuous exceptions they are receiving
This. The charge of being moral lepers
rs brought by Judge Robinson is only
4 case of "calling hard names in the
midst of an argument" 1t indicates
subjective condition in the speakers's
mind but is unrelated to any objective
.aa1ffNy