Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-01-04

| Springfield Republican e Drcrmbrr
| H.. Rev. MIR. SCudder was MS sj0uury
OF the Hawaiian board as superinttn.
dent OF Japanese work from l9o2 20
1904. and from that time until IH"7
was general superintendent OF all con
! gregatiOnal missions in the Hawaiian
| islands. He said in part
! 'HawaU's Importance to Paciuc
peace lies not in her stratrsIc posi-.
! ton as a naval or military base. but
! in the crucial relationship which she
sustains 10 all Pacific problems First
, OF all. Hawaii eXerts profound intlu,
ence on behalf OF peace in :he
| Pacific because of the peculiar char
acter impaired TO her by her native
race. A curious thing about Hawaii
/ is its typical AmeriCanism Some peo-
pie picture our mid Pacific territory
! as mOurnful example Of Orientaliza.
a., ton and shudder to think that any
part of the American mainland should
! ever be so OTerrun with ASiatiCS but
! their sympathy is wasted. for eCouo-
! mically Hawaii is nearer Paradise
than any spot on earth. There is Il
larger proportiCnate amount of profit
! sharing in cur ch'et industry than in
any other than I know Of The trou-
BILE with those who fear that a large
ASiatiC :r.r2.FrGtOa into our country
will imperiI its civilization is first,
priorism "" ~ premises. and second.
lack OF faith in AmericaniSm 1t is
not true that the spirit Of Asia is so
/ tenacious of life that it will persist
unchanged, regardless of environment.
/ The Chinese in America stays not al
ways Chinese, nor does the Japanese
cling with unloosened grasp to his
simon pure Yamato damashiL Amer
icanism is the most powerful trans
forming social force in the interna-
tional realm.
Il know of no place which proves
this true so strong as Hawaii We
sent a mere handful Of Puritan mis-
sionaries thither less than 100 years
ago, and | challenge you to produce
a community more saturated with 20th
century Puritanism or more dominat-
ed thereby, than the 'loVeliest feet of
islands anchored in any sea- as Mark
Twain so beautifully terms our mid
sea gems. We have a model Austria
Ian ballot and an ideal primary law.
We are debating the city manager plan
for Honolulu. If you wish to see up
to-date America. go to Hawaii. There
is still plenty for red-bloOded men to
fight for, there, but we have as pure
and as powerful brand of the Amer
lean spirit as. anywhere under the
stars and stripes.
And the Asiatic yields to it: The
leading men in the mikado's empire
will tell you that Japan's students
come back from Europe criticizing Eu-
ropean civilization and satisfied with
Japan, but those whom America has
stamped with her impress, return to
criticize their native country and to
hold up American ideals. If that is
not an unprecedented testimony to our
national spirit, made. too, by men
whom Bushido and Yamato Damashii
have dominated since birth, do not
know where to look for one. Japanese
coming to Hawaii say that their c0un'
trymen who have long resided there
are different, do not look like Japanese
at home, nor talk, nor act like them.
Our laborers acquire competence, re-
turn to Japan to retire, but the heavy
taxes the constant police surveillance
and the meddlesome paternalism OF
the old country drive thousands of
them back to live and die in Hawaii. |
Today the vast majority of our Japa-
nese wish to remain in the islands, and
are proud to have their children born |
there grow up as American citizens.
They come to love our flag.
Il call this a triumph of American |
ism. We are not afraid of the Asiatic !
in Hawaii because we know that the |
spirit of our nation can and does mas |
ter and remake him. He outnumbers
us men of American ancestry more
than seven to one. There are more |
than 10000 Japanese there born citi- |
zens of the United States. They are |
almost all minors. but they soon viii |
reach majority and far outnumber us. I
We do not fear them.
First, because they are intelligent.
Recently made study Of SO4 grad |
yates of our three largest grammar |
and three largest high schools. 1t COW
ever several years. In scholarship the !
Japanees headed the list, 30 Ito per
cent having taken the rank OF A or
excellent, against Is 2-10 per cent for !
the American North Europeans. The |
of those reaching the rank |
of B or 50 and upward in a scale of |
100. were for the japanese. 81 per
cent: and for the American North Eu-
ropeans, S0l2 per cent.
The young Japanese-American. is
intensely patriotic. He loves his coun-
try. America, as do all other normal
children. born under our flag. The /
Japanese also is independent. He will |
not vote en- bloc as a japanese or in |
any other herded fashion. His own
individual point of view will dictate /
his ballot This is a racial character-
istic of his, and Hawaiian American
ism tends to foster this inherited
trait. Again, Hawaiis influence upon
the peace of the Pacific is due to
her intimate knowledge of the situa-
ton. We know the Asiatic as the
mainland does not: first, bel
cause We have may OF him, and sec
Lndly. because We Ike him. You can
know only the man whom you love.
Il Ily-l