The Hawaiian gazette., 1911-05-19

dtlHtt ihtlarni lu checking Nr lhul
iinit and referring 40 ntrurffa nf time
keepers fof data regarding theif mofi
nlid overtime. VI any. ucft never 90
fctfcd Unpaid debts ~ iaburera moi
currfcd by wages due them, are ne
qucni source Of loss in plantation
stores. Neither tho laws Of the Terri
tory nor extra legal customs permit IN,
coercion % lnbotora for debt or to en-
force lnbon agreement, and nothing
resembling pconago cxists In Hawhi
The personal liberty Of the laborcr Il rs
fully guaranteed as anywhere IN the
United States.
"rhc question suggests itself, why Il
should be necessary % raise and 20 dis.
pose Of 30 many points like those when
they would not be raised In case Of
agricultural lhborcrs on the mainland.
In reply, many regulations and customs
oppressive TO labor formerly did exist
in Hawaii during tho days Of labor con.
tracts and the period OF transition to
purely voluntary labor, and the tradi.
ton OF their existence still continues.
Doubtless some managers and overseors
would like 20 see tho old conditions re-.
established and are coerced by changing
legislationsa public opinion TO adopt
new methods while still in their hearts
ehershing the spirit Of the old regime.
Probably also laborers were in individ.
ual instances better of under the severe
discipline OF the contract system than
they are under their present freedom,
which leaves them victims to their own
shiftlessness and vices. But no unbiased
observer would question that the mass
of working people on Hawaii planta.
tions are now better Off than ever be.
fore Their wages are larger, their
housing better, their standard Of living
higher, their opportunities for advance
ment broader Moreover, the public
opinion of the islands and the senti-
ment of plantation managers and over
seers as a class are predominantly in
favor of the changes in administering
labor that have occurred, and sympa-
thetic with the progress made bySplan-
tation workers under the new system.
Still Room for Improvement.
Nevertheless, room still remains for
Improvement in plantation labor eondi.
tions-a remark that applies equally to
mainland occupations. While Ave wears
have seen betterment of plantation
housing and camp sanitation. and in
many places within another half decade
every married couple win occupy a de-
tached cottage and garden, vet the sub
stitution of new residences and the in
PRODUCTION of improved sanitation take
time, and occasion expense that in any
business enterprise will be distributed
over several years. 1t appears to be
the rule that bad housing poor santa
ton, and overcrowding are more com
mon in privately owned tenements out
side the plantation limits than upon the
plantations themselves. The rate of
wages obviously does not permit plan
tation laborers to adopt the standard of
living enjoyed by white labOrers in the
United States; nor can wages be raised
Immediately to such rate. We have
no reliable way of knowing whether.
taking into account cost of liviog as
well as actual wages, the economic con-
dition of Hawaiian workers is improv-
ing faster or slower than the condition
of workers upon the Pacific Coast. But
there is NO immediate prospect that con-
ditions in these two places will be
equalized. The differences Of indus
tries, traditions, and race are too great. -
Wages Second TO Queensland.
However, comparison of Hawaiian
conditions with those of California is
hardly fair one. More properly Ha-
waii should be compared with other
tropical and insular countries, having
similar industries. Yet this comparison
must be conditioned by important dis.
tinctions. Without attempting either to
confirm or deny a causal relation be.
tween the two facts, there is no cane
producing country in the world, outside
the American tariff area, where sugar
is so highly protected as in Hawaii.
There is no cane-producing country ex-
cept Queensland where the rate of
wages is so high for common field labor
as in Hawaii. The condition Of labor in
Hawaii is better than in Madeira and
the Azores-white labor countries-for
the Territory is now drawing it's main
supply of immigrants from those isl.
ands. Wages are higher than in Porto
Rico or Cuba, and the material environ.
ment of labor is better than in most
parts of the West Indies.
Furthermore, the autonomy Of in
dustry, which reflects itself directly in
the general welfare of workers, is prob
ably greater in Hawaii than in any
other tropical country. Hawaii is not
and never has been a colony. Its in
uustiies Horo DullI up WheH III was q
self-governing kingdom, almost entirely
with its own capital, and instead Of Dor
rowing abroad Hawaii is now supplying
money to develop plantations in the
Philippines, Formosa, and the West In
dies, and oil fields and mines in Cali
fornia and other western States, and
its capitalists are heavy investors in
and business enterprises,
and owners of business property all
along the Pacific Coast. Consequently
most of the plantations are home owned.
Less than ten per cent of the sugar
property in the Territory is subject in
any material degree to absentee control.
Men who have become rich in Hawaii
sometimes later in life make their
homes more or less permanently in
Europe or upon the mainland; but their
of property is conducted
IN local spirit. This mere propin-
luity Of habitation creates common in.
terests affecting both employers and
employees To illustrate by single in
stance from many, it creates a direct
personal interest on the employers part
n preventing and combating contagious
diseases to which his family may be
exposed, far greater than the mere
motive would be to keep good
health among his laboring force did he