The Democrat. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1910-1910, 1910-10-25
IMMIGRATION QUESTION IS THE MAIN ISSUE NOW

DuU UHlS UuOTe ulieCIly anu Nlldlly al
fects all the people of Hawaii than any
of the others. 1t resolves itself into
this Shall special interests, acting by
virtue of law passed for their special
benefit and through the Territorial gov
ernment itself, be any longer permitted
to bring into Hawaii hordes of foreign
ers to come into competition in the la
Dor market with the native Hawaiians
and with the toilers already here, to
keep wages down and sugar dividends
up at the expense of the working man?
One of the specious arguments of
those who favor the continuation of the
present law providing for the assist
ance of foreign immigration to the
shores of Hawaii is that the plantations
need the labor, that there are not
enough laborers now in the Islands to
do the work.
That this is but flimsy pretext
which is without foundation in fact was
amply proved last year during the Jap
anese strike on the Island of Oahu AT
that time 1900 japanese walked out of
the cane fields and sugar mills and re-
fused to work longer for the wage
paid them by the plantations What
happened? The planters, finding it alb
solutely necessary to get other labor in
order to save their crops. were forced
to agree to pay living wage to other
than japanese laborers. They issued
call for Hawaiians and others to go to
work in the cane fields at $3.50 day.
The result was that every morning
the railroad station was thronged by
Hawaians. Chinese. Portuguese and
men and women of other nationalities.
ready and eager to go to work for
decent wage So eager were they. in
fact. that many stayed in the depot all
night; others were there day after day
by o'clock in the morning-because
there were more who wanted to work
than there were jobs for, even with
1900 japanese on strike.
For weeks these men and women toll
ed in the hot sun, hoeing the cane tend
ing the irrigation ditches working in
the sugar mills-all of them glad and
happy to have for once in their lives
the opportunity of earning a wage that
they could live on.
And yet the planters and the Repub-
lcan leaders now claim that they must
have assisted foreign immigration to
keep the plantations from going to the
bowwows because there is no labor to
be had here
Let the plantations again offer to
pay $1.50 day, and they will once
more find out whether or not they can
get labor without sending to Europe
or Asia for it. The Hawaiian will
work, is anxious to work, if he is paid
for it as man should be paid But so
long as the wage of a mule on the plan
tations is dollar day and his board
and the wage of a man is about 80 cents
a day and no board, it cannot be ex-
pected that the citizens of Hawaii are
going to clamor at the gates of the
plantations for permission to go to
work.
What the planters want to do what
the Republican party wants to do, is
to keep wages down below the wage
of mule. What the Democratic party
wants to do is to shut off the flood Of
cheap, inefficient and often crimina
laborers from the slums of Europe anC
the prisons of Manchuria and give the
present citizen labor of Hawaii E
chance to earn a decent living.
Even if it were true that the rianta
tions really needed more labor thar
there is at present in the Islands theil
way of going about it to get it would
be joke if it were not such sad com
mentary on the good sense, judgmen
and acumen of those entrusted with th'