The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-11-19

having a wide circulation in Easter
papers:
No country in the world has so hete
lrogeneous a population as Hawaii IT.
| inhabitants are made up of element:
differing so widely in origin, physica
and mental characteristics, speech anC
religion, that there is no prospect OF
ultimate fusion Of the various races
| Strangely enough, the natives are the
least resistent to such a movement
| They have ever displayed Willingness
! to mix with strangers and receptive
ness to foreign influences. The women
of the islands have married freely with
every alien race, and a native strain
runs through almost every prominent
| family in the territory. The population
of Hawaii is somewhat in excess Of
$780, 900. 1t is composed of five principal
elements: /, American, British, Ger
mans, ETC., who number about $4,000;
2, japanese, exceeding $4,000; 3, Chi
nese, 5000; 4, Portuguese, $4,000; 5, Ka-
nakas, or native Hawaiians, $1,000. The
remainder consist of negroes, Filipinos,
Malays and various other Pacific is
landers.
The origin Of the people of this Poly
nesian group is obscure. Their tradi-
tional history, which is wonderfully
reliable, considering that it lacked the
vehicle of a written character, places
the first settlement of the islands at
a period about 500 years before the
birth of Christ. The claim of Gaetano.
the Spanish navigator, to the discovery
OF Hawaii appears to be well founded,
but he states that he found Spaniards
and Norsemen among the people. These
foreigners, the victims of shipwreck,
were happily domiciled in that natural
paradise, and declined the explorers
offer to carry them back to the West
ern World. More than 200 years
elapsed between the visit of Gaetano
and that of Captain Cook. the accredit-
ed discoverer of the Sandwich Islands,
as he named them. Shortly after Cooks
Inflated sojourn, British and Yankee
traders began to touch at the islands,
and during. the nineteenth century
English and American influence grew
and developed a bitter rivalry. AS early
as 1889 two seamen named Davis and
Young, the sole survivors from the
massacre of the crew of an American
brig, settled down amongst their cap
tors. married and were raised to the
rank Of chiefs. From these first Ameri-
can Hawaiians two of the most promi-
nent families of Hawaii sprang, and
marriages between whites and native
women have ever since been of COM
mon occurrence. A white woman has
never, however, been known to marry
a Kanaka.
The children of such unions are gen.
orally an Improvement upon the native
stock, but seldom up to the American
standard, physically or mentally. The
half-white girls appear to be
more favored than their brothers.
They are more vivacious, have
greater intelligence, better features
and stronger constitutions. OF the
various kinds OF half-casteS in the
islands the Chinese awaiians are the
most promising and apparently superior
to all others in physical and mental
equipment. The first generation of
them is approaching manhood and bids
fair to make its mark in the communi-
ty. Indeed, it is more than probable
that some Of them will eventually be-
come prominent figures in our national
life, for these young hybrid shoots are
American citizens. All the good quail
ties Of each race seem to be retained,
whilst the undesirable traits are elm
mated. The children are the best
scholars, intellectually and morally, in
manly fellows, with keen ambition and
a wholesome pride in their citizenship.
They respond readily to the efforts of
their fathers to thoroughly American
ize them. This element of the popula-
ton, although numerically small, will
surely become an important factor in
the future development of the terri
tory.
The Introduction of foreigners in
large numbers has been in response to
the great demand for labor to work the
sugar plantations. The Kanakas
whilst physically capable, are d:sin-
clined to hard or sustained labor, and
no amount Of remuneration would in