The Washington herald., 1908-05-13
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

so homelike that he will be content to
stay ard raise his family on the plan
tation, thus building up a permanent
home-labor supply Mr. Lorin A.
Thurston In discussing this question
said; The remedy viii be found in
domieiling the employe, BY domicil-
ing him I mean giving or selling him.
at price within his reach. a piece OF
land on which he can create a home
on which he can raise fruit and vegeta-
bles for his own use; maintain a few
domestic fowls and animals, and in
connection with which he can gather
around him a few luxuries and con-
venfences, such as are not and cannot
he accumulated and protected In a
| plantation camp. He should have a
| home TO which he can retreat and be
| his own master a place where he can
| live without being subject to the pos
sibility of dispossessioR without a days
notice; a place where he can feel that
he is an individual and not a COM
ponent part of a gang; a place where
be can be an independent man, in
stead OF dependent hireIing, subject
absolutely to the orders Of another
Il may be claimed that this home
Instinct does not exist among the class
of people who constitute our plantation
laborers. This Is undoubtedly true of
some Of them. The unmarried Chinese
laborer seems to prefer to work and
live in crowd. and with exceptions,
does not 90 otherwise when he becomes
his own master There are undoubt-
edly many others OF various nation
GlFtiag n H..
long usage to contentnent with the
present conditions But even among
these more room is appreciated This
is evideneed by the fact that 100 labor
crs are removed from a plantation
camp designed for 200. It will be a mat
ter Of only q few days before the
remaining 100 viii, If permitted. spread
! themselves out over the entire camp 10
secure more room and privacy
But there are thousands of other
cases in which, TO a greater or less
degree. the home instinct and all the
Incidental desires and feelings con-
nected herewith, are possessed by
plantation laborers as fully and COM
pletely as BY members of the COM
munity who stand higher in the
social scale. Take the Portuguese for
example. There is not to my knowl-
edge, Portuguese tenement house in
the Territory. They have hundreds of
| little individual homes, costing from
| S30e TO $1,000 each, which they have
/ built with their own money. Wherever.
( IN the plantations. there are detached
/ houses with ground around them the
Portuguese are eager applicants for
them.
There has been, perhaps, more op-
| portunity for development and exhibi-
tion Of these tendencies among the Por-
tuguese and Germans. because the migra-
ticn Of those two nationalities TO Hawaii
has consisted exclusively of families. in
stead Of an overwhelming proportion OF
male adults. Moreover these nationali-
ties have no intention Of returning to
their old homes. They have permanently
/ expatriated themselves and will never
/ have any homes, except those which they
| make anew for themselves They also
! belong 10 races which for generations
/ have been migrating all over the world.
I Emigration and permanent settlement
| abroad Is therefore a common thought
to them.
! The Hawaiian Territory is not the
| only place where the labor question has
/ been a vital issue Cuba was in a Ike
/ dilemma. when, In 1856, slavery was
/ finally abolished. The plantation sys-
/ tenn had fl0urished there for generations
/ v hen the slaves were set free they would
not work for small wages and were toe
uncertain and lazy 10 earn high ones
They showed a disposition TO wander
and to become irresponsible vagrants
! Destruction stared the planters in the
face. They had to act quickly or go un-
der. They acted both quickly and sue.
! cessfully. They cut up their vast estates
into lots Of from ten to fifty acres. and
| sold or leased them at nominal rentals
20 their former slaves, making contracts
! with them to buy the cane produced
This was the genesis of the so-caIled "co-
/ lonial system" which has been success
fully continued IN operation In Cuba ever
since. It is the basis Of the contract
recently made by Col Spalding with the
/ NolOkans here In Hawaii
I believe that the suggestions made
above, or some OF them or others alone
the same general lines, will eventually
be adopted. The same masterful spirit
| which has made Hawaii what it is vii
meet and solve the problem. Dangerou.
NoAullioHa nave peeH met ana conquered
in the past, and the sugar industry o.
the islands established on a broader and
firmer basis than ever. 1t will continue
10 expand and be a source of profit fol
/ generations yet to come. While it vii
take energy, breadth Of spirit, and pro
gressive intelligence to solve the labor
problem, the way viii be found. Sugar
will long continue TO be King OF Hawaii
Copyright, 1909 by Frederic J. Haskin)
TO-mOrrow-COsmo Honolulu