The Democrat. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1910-1910, 1910-11-04
MANY LABORERS BUT
NOT ENOUGH WORK

ment demonstrate better than anything
else the great amount of unemployed
labor that is in Honolulu at present.
They. show that so many applications
for work are received that, in order to
given even a reasonable proportion of
the men work for even a part of the
time, it is necessary to work the men in
shifts. For instance, a man applies for
work, and as soon as room can be made
for him, he is put on and kept for
week or two. Then in order to give
some other poor half-starved devil
chance, it is necessary to lay the first
man off for while. Thus the work is
divided up among those who need it
worst.
eff we were to employ all who apply
to us, said road department foreman
yesterday, eve could work no man lon
ger than one week out of the month. y
The same condition, it is said. pre-
walls on the Rapid Transit. There men
are worked for one or two weeks out OF
the month and then laid off to make
room for others who have had no work.
And yet the Republican leaders and
the sugar planters say that there is no
labor in this country, that in order to
get laborers they must be allowed to
bring in immigrants from foreign coun-
tries. They know very well that at the
time of the Japanese strike of last year,
when the Japanese walked out more
laborers of other nationalities. chiefly
Hawaiians, applied for work on the
plantations than could be used.
But the planters had to pay this free
labor more money than they had been
paying the Japanese. No man who has
any respect for himself and understands
anything of the dignity of labor is go
ing to work for starvation plantation
wages. if he can find any other way by
which to support himself and his fam
lily.
The free labor of Oahu won the strike
for the planters-but as soon as the
japanese had been defeated, the planta-
tions promptly discharged the Hawaii
ans to whom they had been obliged to
pay living wage, and took back the
defeated Japanese.
The claim of the Republicans, the Ad
vertiser and the plantations that they
must have assisted immigration to save
the sugar industry of Hawaii from ruin
alton is all buncombe. and those who
make it know that. Labor can be OBJ
tanned here if the plantations will pay
a decent wage. But that is the very
thing they do not want to do. They
want peonage-not free labor; cheap
wages-not freedom of labor
There are thousands of men in this
Territory who are willing to go to work
if they can make wage upon which
they can live. But they refuse to work
for wage less than the hire of plan
tation mule, and hence the planters cry
that they must have assisted immigra
ton, must be allowed to import cheap
labor in order to save themselves from
ruin. What they really ought to say is
that they want this cheap labor in order
to continue to pay the indecent divi-
dends that most of the plantations now
pay. They are not satisfied with a fair
profit on their money; they want every
thing in sight and then cry for more.
Shut down on assisted immigration
and the plantations will be forced to
pay decent wage. Permit the Special
Interests to continue to bring in foreign
ers to compete with the citizen-labor,
and wages will remain at their present
low mark.
If the voters want decent wages paid
in this Territory, they should vote the
Democratic ticket, vote for good wages,
better conditions of living, honesty in