The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-07-10
CHARGES OF SLAVERY
 MADE BY GOMPERS
Labor Leader Tells of Condi-
 tions in Hawaiian Islands
PEASANTS BROUGHT IN
Gompers Declares That Sugar Planters Bring in Siberians and Promise Them Good Wages But Pay
 Almost Nothing

Washington, July 9-(Special)-Tha approximate slavery exists in the Ha- waiian island Is charged by Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor to the department of commerce and labor. He has filed s memorial on the subject and demand ed full investigation. Sugar plant CTS, acting through the Hawaiian gov ernment. Gompers charges, have been turing peasants from Harbin, in the interior of Siberia, to the islands. Rus sian and Hawaiian agents are engaged in the work. They recruit peasants, Gompers say, by attractive pamphlets and in these and by other means prom ise the peasants wages of $45 a month. free houses, fuel electric light, fur niture, an acre of land each for gar dens, evening schools, free hospitals, half pay during sickness, free railroad and free schools for children. A dele- gation of 300 deluded Siberians went to the islands last October and the total number that yielded to the lure of the sugar planters was more than 1000. Their experience in part is thus set forth by MT. Gompers:
 Instead of all of the comforts above declared the people found roofless wooden shanties. with floors of rough boards with wide crevices between them. The furniture consisted of few benches, table and a few beds; in- stead of the promised electric light, kerosene lamps were to be used, the oil to be furnished by the men them selves; the fuel was roots of sugar cane, which the men were to carry from three to seven miles.
 Instead of the free transportation to and from work, the men had to walk to the place of work, a distance of five miles and the time consumed was not included in the working day. Any tardiness of from to 10 minutes was punished by a deduction of a quarter of days pay The wages paid were s22 month for men and sl3 for women. The men were com pelled to buy all their provisions in the plantation store at such exorbitant prices that they exceeded the earnings due and they became the debtors of the plantation. In short, conditions were such as would establish peonage.
 After three months of suffering and quiet submission" continues Mir. Gom-
 
 earnings, but the money they brought with them, realized from the sale of the real property and other belongings at home, the men revoltcd and leaving the plantations, went to Honolulu to inform the American government through its reg ularly constituted authorities.
 The people looked for work elsewhere, but could find none.
 ''The governor of the island was in formed of the unbearable conditions by a delegation sent by the men, but the only answer they received from the gov ernor was that they were to return to the plantations and a promise to improve the conditions of their life was made The people returned to work, but finding no fuillment of any of the promises made, they began to appeal for assistance from the outside world, and were driven from the plantations Some have found em- ployment working on Japanese vessels Hundreds of others were left breadless and homeless, all of them having been evicted from their shanties and their be- longings thrown out into the open fields"