The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-09-25


many roads to be built, but no labor
with which to build them, with BIZ
Ibid Prison overlooking with prison
ers To relieve this congested state
of affairs Mr.. Forbes at once set
about placing the prisoners at work
on the reads, and shortly after this
the idea of having a self-supporting
colony, where the men would have a
chance to work out their own future
took shape.
No other Prison Like It.
The Iwahig penal colony is the
only one of it's kind in the world
The Russians, at Vladivostock, the
French and the English have made
Attempts at various times along this
line, but they did not go far enough.
The ticket-of-leave system of the Eng
fish in Australia is the nearest APP
proach to the plan now in successful
operation on this island.
1t remains for the American govern
ment, with men picked at random, to
establish a penal institution, elastic
and revenue producing, with a popu-
| lation of about fifteen hundred, abso-
lutely without guard of any kind, ex-
cept an ordinary police force. And
this population, it must be borne in
mind, includes members of nearly
every race on earth-the Chinese, the
Japanese, the Malay and the white
man. Iwahig is an absolutely free
community. The men have their own
farms, electric light plants, sawmills
ice plants and a fine irrigation system
They raise corn, tobacco, rice, cocoa
nuts, cattle, hogs and carabao.
Have Their Amusements.
In the way of amusements the
colonists have a theater with moving
picture shows, and, most unusual OF
all, they have means for making the
films fer the pictures right there on
the island. Usually Malay comedies
are presented in the theater with local
talent
The island is about the only place
in the world within seven degrees OF
the equator where a mosquito cannot
be found. The colonists have formed
a mosquito brigade, whose duty it is
to make the rounds nearly every day
and by the use of petroleum and
spray pumps every mosquito breeding
place is at once covered. The brigade
is divided into squads, and each
squad is made up of picked first class
and second class men, with corporals
and sergeants in command of the
squads. Credit for the establishment
of this mosquito brigade is due to Dr.
Heiser, chief health officer of the
islands.
The colony embraces all creeds, in
Guiding Buddhists, Mahomedans
Presbyterians, Episcopalians and
Roman Catholics. Each has its sepa,
rate place of worship. The colonists
may attend any church they desire.
1t is well known that since the TAX
ing over of the Philippines by the
United States they have continued
under the old Spanish laws, in this
code many severe penalties are pre-
scribed for even the most trivial Of
fences, with no discretion allowed on
the part of the judge. A sentence Of
fourteen years in prison, for instance
was recently inflicted for a minor of
fence.
Many Pardons.
Governor Forbes has freely used
the pardOning power to avoid many Of
the extreme penalties of this old
Spanish law, and within the last two
years he has pardoned more than six
hundred men whose sentences were
far out of proportion to the crime
committed, A peculiar and interesting
phase of these pardoned cases is that
not one of the pardoned men has
committed any infraction of the laws