The Hawaiian gazette., 1916-08-29

q. DccbOr OlaTh IncH goes deeply INTO
production costs of small farmers, con
tractors and plantation companies, and
/, diseussrs the moot question of placing
i be mills and canneries under govern.
1 raent control, with public regulation Of
pontraets. In this connection he OBJ.
| serves: L., ...... ..r a.. =.
Treats Labor Conditions ; a. led
! FttConsidering the Territory as n
whole, Hawaii well illustrates how
largely the organization Of rural an.
dustry depends on the character of the
population. Given an abundance OF
cheap, doeile, lowstandard labor, as in
most tropical countries and in parts Of
the Southern States the land will
gravitate into the hands Of few own.
ers or administrators, who win employ
that labor and take most of the profit
| from their toll. $50
trGiven population of educated
sclf.assertive, high standard labor, such
as occupies northern Europe and Amer.
lea, and land tends 10 become subdi
vided into small farms worked by their
owncrs, who are economically most eff.
dent when they direct their own eff
forts in production under, the stimulus
OF lntelltgent self-interest. ..+
= ''Hawaii has been a land of Cheap
or low-caste rural labor, aud the con
test there between tho small white
farmers and the big plantations IL q
contest between little and big exploit.
ers Of Asiatic wage hands. There Is
almost no demonstrating in Hawaii in
the sense understOOd by Americans.
dcinland and Hawaiian Island farm.
ers do not take up land in Hawaii to
tertilize it with the sweat of their
hro"s; they take it up on speculation,
hoping either to make it profitable
WITH apother person 3 labor or to sell
' for more than it cost them.
Land Laws Mentioned
: ''For is>reason the attempt that
has been made to model the land laws
Of Hawaii upon those of the mainland
~ mistaken; for it is trying to apply q
'Vstem successful under one set of cor.
7tHions TO u country where very differ.
ent conditions prevail Even in Texas
and California, where land originally
was divided into vast private grants,
the inflow of white settlers has forced
the subdivision of these large holdings
into small farms, because the latter arr
more profitable.
z "On the other hand, in Hawaii.
where the native kings took many pre-
cautions to protect the Thousands or
small native holdings to which fee
simple titles were given by the land
law Of lS4S, small Holdings have. been
absorbed by big corporations and large
Individual owners. A few years ago
T. twenty-five new hOmesteads were cary.
ed out of some valuable, cane lands
that had been leased for several years
to sugar plantation in southwestern
Hawaii. Americans and natives took
up the eighteen OF these that already
were planted in cane, while the seven
that were uncultiyated were not ap-
piled for. Although, as already men.
TONED, the present homestead law
prohibits the selling OF leasing of home
steads to a corporation or an alien, il
allows the transfer of eighty acres of
homestead land to a citizen Sixteen
Of the eighteen homesteads in question
have already been sold to men CONTROL.
ing the stock of the plantation of
which they formerly were a part. The
effect of the law has been to deprive
the people of the Territory of the rent
al from the land when leased to the
plantation in order that u few spccu-
lators might profit individually.
Corporations Greatest Owners
After paying his respects to the
homestead law of 1910, which he shows
is rapidly alternating the public lands
without compromising advantages to
anyone Doctor Clark takes up the
citizenship and school problems, and
the growing financial interest of Orient.
ais in Hawaii.
. Speaking of thee displacement Of
whites by Asiatics he says while there |
isyno probability of Asiatic domination |
0ricntals are becoming permanently es,
tablished. Seventy per cent of the |
taxable wealth of Hawaii is owned by |
corporations, thirteen per cent by |
AnglO-SaxOn individuals, eight and six
tenths per cent by Hawaiians, two and
fourtenths by Chinese, two and five
tenths by Portuguese and Spanish and |
two and ,two -tenths per cent by Japa-
nese. Then, Doctor Clark says; v |
"EcOnomie competition, does not ac-
count for the displacement of whites
by Asiatics so much as social repulsion.
Both races instinctly withdraw from
SoNh bhHNi III iNppVHob W impulses thub
are hard to analyze. Nevertheless these
age-old barriers between the West ind |
the East should NOT blind us to the
rights acquired by oriental residents
in Hawaii They came at the invita-.
ton Of the former Government and |
were there when we took the country, |
or have come with our consent since |
II wns in our possession.
japanese Control Fisheries
1--WE have by our laws changed tLem1
from fndentured laborers, who might
be deported at our tbehest, into life
residents and fathers Of future citi |
Icns. Tnless' we abolish representative
government 10 Hawaii, their children,
mostly Japanese, will soon be able if
they are SO disposed to dominate the
country politically. We shall then have
the choice Of either denying our most
typical institutions to one. Of our cwn
territories, or of giving over the con,
troll of one of our most important