The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1910-09-30
New System Beneficial.

! New System Beneficial.
/ We must distinguish, however, be
/ tween government immigration that
! brings IN settlers with families, and
! privately encouraged immigration, that
brings IN lahorers alone. j was great
! step in advance, in Hawaii, when the
| Territory began to substitute govern
ment immigration for private labor inn
portation: and it would be a lament able
step backward to return to the old sys-
tenn | do not believe there is weight
in the argument that Hawaii already
has enough laborers. The census of
| occupations ten years ago showed 40,
sS1 Iahorers in the country, out of a
population of 154 Dol. But at that
date. the very year the contract labor
system ceased, there were more single
men, imported as laborers from Japan
and China, in proportion to the total
population than there are today. As
suming the population to have increased
10000 during the past ten years (and
this is probably somewhat over the true
number, on account of the departures
of Chinese and japanese men for the
Orient. and the arrival of proportion
! ateiv more women from those countries
and the large number of Japanese chill
! dren in the present population Of the
! Islands, we can hardly anticipate an
| increase in the number of agricultural
la boreIs Of more than 1000 or 5000 When
| we consider that the number of small
| farms has nearly doubled during these
| ten years. and that large labor-using
agricultural industries like pineapple
/ planting have grown up since the last
census and that the plantations keep
| on their payrolls over 10000 men, it
viii be seen that there is very little
surplus labor in Hawaii. During such a
! crisis as occurred at the time of the
! late strike. plantations in the immediate
vicinity of Honolulu might temporarily
obtain considerable labor from the city
by paving $3.50 a day. But quite apart
from the question whether many plan
! tations can afford to pay such wage,
there is not enough labor. even at this
price, to supply the plantations on the
other islands: nor is there guarantee
that even near Honolulu such labor
would prove permanent.
immigration Is Certain.
However, there is very little use of
considering this question at all. Every
Intelligent man in Hawaii knows that
if government immigration ceases the
sugar industry Will do Just what any
other large industry in the United
States would do under like circum-
stances, import la hor from other places
Under the federal constitution Hawaii
can not make a law to keep out labor
from Porto Rico and the Philippines
Within ten years the population of
Porto Rico has grown nearly 1000
,oj - = h., l.1ln lo+f
wall today In other words, Porto Rico
could send man here for every man,
woman and child in Hawaii at the time
our census was taken last spring, and
still have as many people left as were
in that country ten years ago. And
Porto Rico is small island, consider
ably smaller than the single island of
Hawaii, but with over 100000 popula,
ton. Yet those 100000 people, on
such small island. all make a living
From the Philippines with their s.
0OC 600 people. still larger number
of laborers might be brought. Fill
tpinos work for $1S a month. The
planters, in order to encourage a per
manent population of desirable set
tiers in Hawaii, will pay Portuguese
and Spaniards $24 a month. But pri-
!
not bring here Portuguese and Span
, iards-that is left by federal law for
the government to do. So to cut of
government immi grafton is to substitute
$1s labor for $24 labor. Govern
ment immigration means bringing
in settlers with families who can not
live without a fair wage. To abolish
government immigration means Il
force the planters TO bring in single
men without families, who will com
lpete at lower wage with Hawaiian
i workers having families to support.
Effect OH Public Lands
Under the law Just passed by con
gress our public lands must he sub
divided and sold to citizens It should
be sold at fair price. This land !.
the common property of all the citizen:
of the Territory, and il would be rob
hing the many to favor the few 10 give
it away for nothing to a small number
of homesteaders. L would be "a i
several of us inherited a lot of lanC