The Washington herald., 1908-07-19
HAWAII ATTRACTS CHINESE
Traders Sought Islands fer Stock Of
SandalWood.
8finEiiaE of CeIestials and Kanukau
Has Always Produced
Good Results.

In view Of the efforts TO secure a modih-
cation OF the exclusion laws so as TO per
NIT Of limited immigration Of Chinese
to Hawaii. some account Of the course Of
Chinese migration hither in the past Is
both interesting and Instructive
A few Chinese traders arrived in Homo
lulu at a very early time. buying the
sweet-smelling sandaiwood OF these Is
lands From that early trade the Chinese
have always called Hawaii the Mountain
OF the Fragrant Sandalwo0d." Those who
remained in the Islands at that early date
mingled in a friendly way with the ma
tives and were regarded by them with
high esteem. They were always industri-
Gus and had a great respect for the laws
OF the country
The government at certain times asked
for their help and advice concerning i'm
portant matters In case any Chinese man
wished to marry a Hawaiian. he was re-
quired to take the oath Of allegiance.
The first man to do so. as far as the rec
ords tell. was All Sing. who became natu-
rallied In 1ss5- Nearly 500 Chinese have
been naturaliEed under the Hawaiian gov
eminent since that date.
The minsIing Of the Chinese and Ea-
waiian has IN almost every case produced
very favorable results The Chinese have
always been ready TO learn from their
Hawaiian teachers, and have been glad TO
cooperate in any effort for the general
good OF the people.
From the very first, the presence OF the
Chinese has added character and stability
TO the population Of these islands The
real immigration Of Rne Chinese laborers
10 Hawaii began IN the year 1S52. Two
years previous TO this date, the Royal
Hawaiian Agricultural Society was form
ed. One Of Its objects was to promote the
cultivation OF the lands In the islands.
They realized that the native population
was decreasing and felt the need Of more
laborers from abroad They had great
difficulty IN securing any laborers from
other than Oriental countries. So they
turned their efforts toward China The
bark Thetis reached Honolulu on January
3, 1852 bringing the first company Of Chi
nese laborers. The work Of these men in
the Islands gave great satisfaction to the
society. and efforts were continued TO Sc
cure more Chinese laborers
The Chinese who came In these early
immigrations were largely Hakkas. some
Of them Christians from Hongkong A
number OF men from the Heung Shan dis
trict. near Macao. were among the early
arrivals, and during the fourteen years
following the beginning Of this lrnmlgra-
tion about 100 Chinese came 10 Hawaii
During the next nine years. from 1856 to
1874. there were en 4rrivals The next
twelve years, 1873 to 1887. was the real
period Of Chinese immigration. During
that time about 5000 Chinese laborers ar
rived In these islands. and during the
same period more than 1000 Chinese re-
turned to their own country. Taking the
whole period, from 1852 to 1888, there were
about 1900 Chinese immigrants to Ha-
wall, and nearly 1900 departures from
Hawaii This shows that although there
was wide-open door. there was no great
Hood Of Chinese labor. This makes Il
clear that the number who remained In
the Islands was less than half Of the total
number Of immigrants