The Hawaiian gazette., 1906-06-22
CONDITIONS AND PROSPECTS

ment of the agricultural and indus
trial sides of the territory and there
fore l consider they are best suited to
the advancement of Americans. They
are the concentrated wisdom of 100
years of local experience. To script
and allot the territorial lands under
the land laws of the United States
would be to disntegrate our large
plantations, place fictitious value on
some of the lands embraced within
them, particularly those from which
water is now being supplied, and
would generally disorganize real and
personal property rights.
6.-My experience with the Japanese
has not been extensive enough to make
my observations interesting-certainly
not instructive. They seem to take
kindly to American ideas which suit
them, and to rest smugly in their
Oriental shell of eXclusiveness as to
American ideas which do not suit them.
1T is. Real European labor can
obtain fee simple lands from the plan
tations or sharing or community ar
rangements with them. The attitude
of the plantations is not one of ph'lan-
thropy but self-preservation. They
want reliable labor.
s and 9.-The immigration of any
laborer who may in the course of time
become an American citizen is of the
highest civic importance to the terri
tory. Whether or not they will be a
success on the plantations depends
entirely upon the laborer. The first
sugar planted cultivated. stripped, cut
and ground in Hawaii was handled en-
tirely by white labor. The cane fields
in Hawaii are not as hot, and the
work not as arduous as we find in the
corn fields of Illinois and Nebraska or
the wheat fields of Minnesota and the
Dakotas. Whether a satisfactory Eu-
ropean labor would displace the Jap
anese is entirely problematical and
would depend upon the immigration
laws relative to Orientals. In the alb
sence of some restriction on Oriental
labor the cheap and hardy labor from
Japan would be rather a formidable
figure to remove.
10-From purely commercial stand
point the islands are a source of vast
revenue to the United States in times
of peace the excess of revenue over
expenditures amounting to almost four
million dollars a year. Aside from
commercial considerations and as a
halfway station to and from the
Orient, the islands do not appear to me
to be of any special value to the
United States in times of peace.
ll.-If the islands are to be retain
ed as n part of the United States. 1t
Is imperatively necessary that they
be amply fortified, and as the only
method OF attack would be by naval
enemies, and the nearest mainland Is
two thousand miles away. naval
base should be established at Pearl
Harbor. Hawaii has been called the
Door Of the Pacific" A door without
bolt latch or key Is not security
against molestAtion. As the islands
are az present. second class cruiser,
II Il had time and ammunition. could
raze us 20 the ground before, even
with our cable communication. We
could receive aid from thr mainland.
A naval base nt Pearl Harhor and for
tidcations such as the natural contour
~ the Islands particularly oahu. adj
mits, would serve as "a hub from which
tho entire Parinc portion ~ the navy
~ the United statos could radiate, u
would put the United states in close
touch YIN tho French, German and
british possessions in the south seas
materially lessen tho distances 90 tho
Orioni ana a. the Philippines and
make q midrooaan place ~ refuge for
hard pressed transports ana conveys
dvrlnF iim0s ~ war
a. .undoublsaly pseapss sfen eoR'