The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-01-23
COY. FREAR'S
STRAIGHT TALK
CONTINUED from Page one.l

Continued from Page one.1
and of the advantages which will eome
to merchants and all with the estab-
nshment Of a large Naval station at
Pearl Harbor and the building of FORTH
fications- I might contemplate Ha-
wall as the center of the Pacific. draw
ing picture of what she will be when
the Panama Canal becomes a reality
within few years, with the. great
western states pouring tourists down
here by the thousands and the coming
of capital to build up Honolulu and
OF what the small farmers would do,
on a large scale, for Honolulu, as the
Olaa settlers did for Hilo on a small
scale. The products of the middle
west, by the Mississippi and improved
waterways. will find their way con-
yeniently and quickly to Hawaii
through the Panama Canal. instead of
by present channels, but it is not my
purpose to dwell on these things now.
1T may be said that 1 am inclined
to be visionary when l say all these
things are bound to happen and TO
come about within a comparatively
short time, but before deciding that l
am visionary it might be well to call
to mind certain reports which We're
not SO long ago made in regard to our
sugar industry.
1T was not so long ago that the
sugar trust sent a man out to- these
Islands to investigate conditions and
it was reported as a result that we
could not produce more than 10000
tons of sugar per year, but now we
are doing three times as much in SUI
gar production as we were given credit
for.
LAS an illustration of how far wrong
such predictions may be, we can refer
to the present condition of the sisal
and pineapple industries, and rubber,
too, and lumber. Sisal and pineapples
are speaking eloquently for themselves
THE wisest man may prove to be
fool when it comes to making predic-
tions. This Territory is more prosper
Gus now than we ever thought we
would be. Why, lumber was thought
nothing of here; it never was believed
that we could get anything out of lum-
Der, but now consider what is being
done in regard to lumber alone; it
promises to be most profitable and
a great industry. There was time
when it was thought there was prac-
tically no lumber in these Islands,
with the exception of koa, but the
company which has now taken up the
business on a large scale is finding
that there is probably most to be made
out of a wood which heretofore was
considered good for nothing but fire.
wood.
| "Ithe question of small farming, of
diversified industries, and the question
of the labor for such, are matters
which are too generally looked upon
as capable of solution only through
sacrifice to the sugar plantations, and
yet it might prove economically sound
to solve such questions. The problem
of bringing to this Territory desir-
able citizen labor class might well be
solved without a sacrifice to our chief
Industry.
Il am not prepared to say but what
the sugar industry viii come to
speedy necessity of further consider
ing important changes in methods Of
securing labor and of seriously con-
sidering the population problem.
+ what if japanese immigration to
Hawaii is stopped. as it was this morn
ing reported that it would be? I hope
that. UtIS IOGOIL may PAcsS ~ ~
wrong. If such immigration is entire
ly stopped, where will the sugar in
dustry be?
But. as it is. there are large num-
bers of japanese leaving the sugar
plantations to go into business for
themselves Some plantations have
already adopted the plan of giving
lands and houses to their employees in
lalN y ~,
some cases there are government in
ducements to labor settling, but not
on the scale that should be.
Z TT would appear that there is go
ing to be little competition from the
Coast for labor, but it must not be
lost sight of that the numerous small
but growing industries are going to
compete with the sugar business for
the supply of labor and it may be that
the sugar planters will find it neces-
sary to devise some means for parcel
ling out the sugar lands TO small pro-
prietors, and perhaps not without con-
siderable profit to the sugar planters.
Already have the sugar planters
taken steps toward a realization of
this idea, for in numerous cases cane
is being planted on contracts and some
plantations are giving land IN lee SIM
Pile to their laborers and so holding
them. In this way labOrers are tied to
the land, because they have homes OF
their own and their best interests are
there and so many can make a better
living on their own little pieces of
land. Holding their own small lands
they are able to make more money
than they would be able to make out
of the plantations alone and this ex-
ira money does not come out of the
pockets of the planters, but out OF the
ground wherein the Iaborers can plant
things besides cane.
When the time comes that there is
an established element of good citizen
labor, with land holdings of its own,
with home interests, the plantations
will not be obliged to maintain large
forces of labor when they do not need
labor, merely for the purpose of re-
tanning it, of not losing it, but they
will be able to employ the labor when
they need it and wifi not have to en- |
ploy it when they do not need 1t; and
it will be there, ready to be called up !
+ least one DIan- /