The Hawaiian gazette., 1918-01-04
Chinese LabOfers
May Soon Be
In Island Fields =,
Mainland Is Waking 10 need Of
Laborers On Farms As IlslaMUs
Need Workers For Plantation
Cane Fields


well under way a shortage Of labor ~
likely to be felt in the Territory. All
ready IL Is felt TO some extent In the
outside Islands but has not yet Been
noticeable on Oahu. .
With the coming Of the Filipino
there has been an exodus Of gpahish,
and Portuguese labor and departures
of these races are 20 be noticed every
, year II is hard to get any rare that
will work side by side With the Fiji
pinos and that race does not remain
permanently. During the latter part
of the past year several hundred Of
them returned to their own islihas and
others went to the nlainiahA. The
Hpaniafds geuefaliy went to the Riaih.i
loud and 80 did THE Portuguese Who
PiliShios Not sasisssss6sS
There II no getting away from the
fact that EiIipin6 labor n not 9ivlnK
full stitisfadti3h ia the Islahtik The
lffb6fsfs wh0 work steadily enough to-
secure bonuses are 0o0h ready 10 return
home Oh go to the niaiAlinl. These
who do not secure enough money are
the more undesirable elssheht who 40
nit work steadily anil who are largely
Responsible for such CRIMES Of violence
as are eommitted IN the 1Sh6hhs
Whence will come the new hibSr )sup.
ply a1E% ,..'..''> =
Mainland Waking Up ~.
From the mainIa6d there II coming
an increasing demand for tile admissi6h
of Chinese labor during the war. Here
| in the Islands the desire for the .aIl.
mission of Chinese labor has been long
er in evidence. About a year ago rep.
! -esentatives Of the rice growers went to
the mainland in an effort to get some
action from Washington for the ad
mission to the Islands of n limited mum.
Der Of Chinese laborers. Next resolu.
tions came up in the legislature asking
for their admission. At no time, how.
ever, have the sugar planters beenrag
Igressively urgent for this but il Is not
unlikely that they may soon join their
voices with the others who see the need
of such laborers.
Even from the Pacific Coast where
first went up the cry under the leader
ship Of Dennis Kearney 1.-The Chinese
must Co." there is now being eonsid.
cred the advisability of admitting
them once more, This is witnessed by
the following despatch from Grass Val
/ ley recently published by Pacific
fOoast newspaper:
From Anti Chinese LIDS
4 prisoners of war would be valuable
additions to the, supply of farm la
Dor; Chinese labor should be inn
ported, for the duration of the con
hict; wages should be standardized;.
and the whole situation should be
surveyed, in advance of the 1918
crops, the State. Committee, on Farm
Labor announced today through its
chairman, A. l.. Wisker. The report
says:
l., g. War prisoners have to be fed in
idleness, with food shipped from here
whereas il put to work on this side Of
the Atlantic, they might ,beeore good
citizens, at the termination of the
struggle.
80 Farmers are found to be 'as bit,
terly opposed as any other class to
the introduction of laborers, regard
less Of nationality, who cannot, by
assimilation, become part of the good
Ecitizenry Of the nation provided such
introduction means permanent resi-
denee, at q sacrifice Of American stand
ards Of living, but ID the present crisis,
the importation of labor of Oriental,
or other nationality is demanded, and
i the Chinese are pronounced the best
fitted for the work TO be done. ...a
~" They should be deported at the
elise of the war, and their labor while
here should be so supervised as not to
reduce below q fair and reasonable
point wages paid American labor, Civ.
ing due consideration to the mainten.
ance of the American standard Of liy-
ing,
Demand Is Growing az IL
From other parts of the country come
similar calls for farm help. In the
East there has never been any strong
sentiment against the Chinese as there
\ was in the West. In that section of the
country little propaganda would lie
necessary to secure their admission
1 Such opposition as remains is in the
West and in the agricultural sections
| that is breaking up.
The following resolution has been in
troduced by Senator Gallinger of New
I Hampshire looking toward Chinese inn
Resoiution n senate ST..
| Resolved, that the committee on
agriculture is hereby directed to make
careful investigation into the advis
ability of recommending Legislation
that win permit the importation Of
Chinese into the United States, un,
der proper restrictions and reguha,
,tions, during the continuance of the
| war; :. ~
| Cuba, is also looking toward China
for help in it's cane fields and it will
not be surprising II the United States
! will soon be encouraging Chinese to on
| ter the ranks Of farm labor on the
mainland as well as the cane fields Of
1 Hawaii. ...u....y.t ~ =
Not Long LAborers s.jEs
/ In these Islands the proposed 80, 600
/ Chinese laborers wolId BY no means
lspermanently solve the labor problem,
Past experience has shown that while