The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1906-07-23
THE FILIPINO
EXPERIMENT
WHAT THE AMERICAN SUGAR IN
DUsTRY SAYS OF ALBERT f.
JUDD's MISSION TO PHILIPPINES


Beet Sugar Gazette published in Chi
cage, in it's issue of July publishes
the following regarding A. f. Judd's
Mission to the Philippines.
The Planters Association has just
received advices that the Philippine
Commission has given it's consent to
the plan of the planters to import large
numbers of the Filipinos to Hawaii for
work on the plantations. The plan
is that an agent of the planters shall
select the Filipinos to be brought
hither, and they shall come under
a contract for a term of years,
say, three or five. 1t is a part of
the plan that a certain portion of the
wages of the Filipinos, while working
on the plantations, shall be paid into
trust fund to be held until the term
| of service has expired. 1t shall then
be paid over to the Filipinos to enable
them to return to their native land
and to make it certain that they will
not need to return home empty hand
ed
Some time ago the planters sent AL
bert F. Judd young lawyer of Homo
lulu, to Manila to confer with the Phi
lippine Commission, set out the needs
and proposals of the Hawaiian plant
ers, and secure, if possible, the con-
sent and cooperation of the commits
sion in the scheme. Word was receiv-
ed by the America Maru that the COM
mission had consented.
Before sending Judd the planters had
made Investigations which convinced
| hot M Is,,sr, nIyo
effective plantation laborers, notwith-
standing the complaints made against
them as laborers in their own country.
Experience with other laborers has
convinced the planters that if the Fill
pino were taken away from the en-
vironmentl of his traditions and Gus
toms which fasten him to a low plane
of living not requiring industry or
continuous effort to support the crea-
ton of new desires to be satisfied would
very speedily lead to industry and con-
tinuous effort. Surrounded as they
would be with new environment, with
a different and a higher plane of liv-
ing, seeing other people wearing and
| enjoying better clothes and more ex-
pensive finery, or living in better houses
than they have been accustomed to,
and freed from the environment which
had made them satisfied with what
they had been accustomed to the
planters feel certain that it will not
be long before the mere force of imi-
tation will lead them to new desires
which it will take industry and con-
tinuous effort on their part to satisfy.
The planters hold that while there may
| 1. hn
force of habit may be too strong to be
overcome by the creation of new de-
sires, it will only be small percen-
tage who are thus inert, and that the
great majority will yield to the new
environment, become industrious in or
der to procure the means of satisfy
ing their newly awakened desires, and
thus become efficient and satisfactory
laborers.
) The planters, through Mr.. Judd, also
; presented the argument that the plan
; proposed would work well for the Phi
lippines and the Filipinos in their ma
tive land. These Filipinos, on their
return from service in Hawaii, would
bring their new habits of thought their
new experiences, their new desires and
the knowledge of how to satisfy them,
and their recognition of ways better
s than the old, unvarying, ineffective
! ways of their ancestors, among their
own people, and thus would at once
become an element and influence of
progress among them. In fact, the
planters argued that this plan would
bring the advantages and educative in
fluence of travel to bear at once among
the Filipinos themselves, that it would
be exactly in line with the policy of
the commission in the past in sending
Filipino youth and others to the MAIN
land for travel and education, except
that it would be without cost to the
commission or the Philippine govern
ment and would not educate those who
thus Travelled above or away from their
people.
While they would have had the ad-
vantages and educatiVe influence OF
travel, and would have had in some de-
gree an important industrial training
it would have been through actual
work for the sake of what the work
would give them in material comfort
clothing and finery, and those things
which they can appreciate. Their
training would all have been in the
direction of impressing on them the
direct and personal benefit of steady
industry and continuous effort-of work
with the hands
Having secured the consent of the
Philippine Commission to recruit labor
for the plantations of Hawaii among
the Filipinos, the next step will be tC
actually recruit the laborers and bring
them here and distribute them among
the plantations.
The planters have been led to look
into the possibilities of a supply OF
labor from the Philippines by reason
of the fact that the source of the great
labor supply of the past ten or twelve
years-Japan-has been failing source
for some time. Though the immigra-