Hawaii Holomua, Volume I, Number 29, 21 ʻOkakopa 1893 Edition 02 — ANNEXATION. [ARTICLE]

ANNEXATION.

Tbe qoc&ti(m of annexation is now a dead »M. Tbe ins«ue freak o( tlie jonta of filibosteren> and woold-be annexatiom.stn last Janoarx'. is e\piring a natnral death The P. O. abortion eoncei\ed in po!iticnl pro«titotion. born in American dishonor. and adopted by fooU wiil »oon be boried iu an ob!irion that will stink (or a peneration. The men who f*tbered it will, and most be. open the restoration of legitimato goTernment in Hawaii. ca»t aside and piven s*cverely to onder»t«nd that they hare l»eeome poliiioal iraposaibiiities in this coontn-. The l»est thinkers in America have e\prt‘ssed their views against the annewlion of H iwaii from eveiy poinl of view, and the wise state«nianship of President Cleveland has saved the Cnited States from committing a politieal crime that won!d staiu her uatiunal honor. and fi\ a precedeut that wonld lead to many other nnpleasant complications. The present and future generations in Hawaii will thank tbe fates that defeatetl the plots of Thurston and the other emisaries of Apolyon who have tried to play thodevil here, andthat Hawaii escaped a number of misfortunes. Firet the undesirable government of an uni>opular missionan' clique whose unfitness has been amply demuustrated in the past nine months of de«{>otic P. G. rnle. Secondly, the dsstruction of national independence. the home and conntry of the native Hawaiian. and the rupidly mcreasing population of half-castes, whom Iho Amenoan usur{»ers inaplenlh' attempt to oppress aml override. The AmericHU elemenl, iucluding women aiul children is but 2.14 per cent. of our popnlntion and the niajority of them are mostly adveoturere after fortune whieh, hke the Chinese, they ho|>e lo eujoy iu their native laiul. The half-caste Hawaiian who finds here his moiher country is alreudy an important faetor in our social 8ysteaa and the census statistios show that they nre a I healthy and porlific meewho in a few decades will form a large und the largest elemenl of our ; populaiiou. The half-caste is a i sturdy Pboeuix rising in determined and fateful strength upon the heels of the departing aborigineo, aud has every right to his heritago of an inde|>endent state, and distinet nationality. Who are Dole.Thnrstonet al who •ttempt to cmsh out this n»tional life tbat sonie of them have licontionsly assiste«l to {>erpetnale? The tbird aml final misfortnne that threateued us w,is anuexation to tho Unitetl States. It is with no >nti Aroerican spirit that we lake this gronnd. The HoLoxr.v, and we ean eonfideotly say tbat niost of onr Huwaiian readers will not lake second plaoe in admirat«on of tbe Groat Kepuhlie. its government and the genios of īts (>eople. But we view the qnestton of the annexation of Hawaii to the Cnited SUtes porelv froa a politicai and eeonomieal sUud- , point. Annexatiou woald not benefit Hawaii, but wouKi in less tfaan a ye«r bring a c«Uclysai of dis aster lhat woold Uke ye*rs recover (rom. At Utis poini let ns note tb«

too contiicting attitude of tbe P. | G. schemer». The Star and its | cliqne are hosti!e to the sugar plaster and eheap labor. and are perfoctly willing to !et tho sogar . indaetry colUpse, while au at- j tempt Ls made lo turn Hiwuii into an American colony of small farniere. Tbe Advertiser and ib cliqoe more practical andsfarewd are inelineil to stund by sngor. | but are utterly «t a loss how to j assiiuilate sugar witb annexatiou. | WiUi sncb confiictiog and un- | certain theories of pubiic policy, j how ean we entrost the futnre ; welfare of our eounin.' to the P. G. usuri»era. whose conceited and boastful assuroption of being the nee niim of diploroatic and political ability. is worse tban a housi> of cards. What timl>er. eoal, graiu, niine» and manufactures are to other states. »sngar pjrincipallv aud rice seeondly are to Hawaii. These are the back-boue of our financial and commerciaI prosperitv upon whieh all other collateral interests are hinged and dependeut for existence. Through the soil tbe.se staples germinate and materializa a prodnct that is in demaml aml exchanged for weallh in foreigu markets. In the prodnction aml marketing of these sUples, apart from the eheap labor, raany skilled artizans, clerks, etc., are employed, shipping and other transportation is actively engage«l, merchants, traders, and small farmere find cnstomers for their goo<ls and produce, i411 trades find employnieut and in fact tho wheels of commerce are kept in active and prosj>erons motion by the wealth whieh foreiguers pay onr plauters for the pro«iuct of our soil, and whieh filtere throngh tho varicus chunnels that are all created by onr leading imlustry. Without these pr<Hlucts we could not eommand money; utter stagnation and distress wonhl ensue, and we would fall back to the arcadian simplicity of onr forefathers. Let the sngar and rice plauUtions fail. aml Hawaii wouUl be poor and »lesoU»te. No countrv eao pros(»er without somo staple , rosource to support it. Sugar is as goo«l as eoal or wheat. and is in increasing demand in tho world‘s markets; And sngar is and will eonlinne to be Hawaii s chie( staple. for there is no otber article knowu at present that ean replace it. Rice has reached the Iimit of profitable pro<luction aml is necessarily confiued to a small area. Coflee will be an important item but confined to a ImiiUnl sectiou; Tropical fru ts eome next. but the market is limited, unless the growers turn their prodnct into aleohol: Kamie and Sisal raay figure in our (nture ex|K>rts. but noue of tbese will replace sugar. whieh is a eeiUiu and e»Ublisbed crop handled by tbe l»est equip(>ed mdis in tue world, witU natur«i markets c!ose at hand. S»de by side wsth sogar. tbere is ample room for the diversfied m nor iadnstries and it is verv des!rsble that they be encoroazevi Bnt tbe scheme of the Star and its free b<<otere to break up the sug*r industr\' because it ueeds | eheap Ubor and rcplace tbe big planUtions witb eolonie» of Aroerican stnali (armers is an absurdity eo exist«nt onlv in tbe sbaIIow brains of alien »dventurere like W. G. Smith and his backing of stupid and blind P. O. filibasUrers.

Wilh tbe planUlioa,' pros- ’ perou> there wuuU be r.-om (or a limiīU namber of szc*i! farmers whose prodace woaU find . • home market with tbe eomma- ! nities o( families that are created by eaeh sagar e?>tate; but where woald be the market for ail the , 'ma»I*prodaet> if oor soil was j oj<erate«! by small f.iriuers | There woaU be «oihi ig to i sen i abead ia nece?fc«ire exI cbange. aod the iittle farmers ; vooid eat eaeh other ap in j | com{>etitiou for the aiuali loeal demand. Cotfee and froits wili alsto employ a limited nnmber of smail farmers bot they cannot occupy the preeent sogar lands profitably In fact tbe vrbole coudition of tbiugs bere is not sach th<it the sta.ill farraer >iu replace the big planter wbilst on the othor hand, there is lots of better land iu America for the small farmers. The methods of sngar caltare are such that eonU not be succeasfally condacted bv siuali farmers, bat must bo roaaaged in one large estate. liut what is the practical difierence botweeu a big sugar estate as at present eondocted, and the same estato oeeupieel bv a group of small farmers. The latter mightor might not prosper according to the character of their prodace aud its market value, and the danger of over productiou and eomj>etition. The former wouU bave a certain crop with a foreign value and wouU sopport a corps of engineers, sngar boilers, overseers, and skilled laborers with families, iu nnmber probably equal to the smail farmers who wouU occnpy the same plaee, and receive salaries that wouKl undonbtedly exceed in the aggregate the doubtful j>rofit of the small farmer. The homos uud the famMies that all exist in eonnection witb a big sagar planiatioa are more certain elements coutributing to general prosperity than the strnggling little farraer wonkl be. *Thecheap laborof a plantation, necessary as it is for its operation, is not its chief elcment as we have iodicated above, nor are its total wages eqnal to the amouni paid out to the higher class of employees. But eheap labor is essontial and no practical planter in tbe Hawaiian Islands will admit the j>ossibilitv of ranning a sugar plautation withoat it. White labor cannot j>erform the field work, and demands bigher wages thi.u the class of work is worth. The clas3 of labor asnallv employed is contented with tbe wages recieTed, are well houscd, well fed and usuallv well treated and work well in a tro pieal climate, and enable tbe planter to get his eommon j fieU woik doae economical]y and prodace a crop whose profits supj>ort a large naniker of desirab!e people, and add to tbe gener*l pro?penty. Without this eheap | l«bor the sagar indostry would be imjx>sible. To secare tbis | labor the contract system is uecessary and L»r from having i any sembl*nce to slaveiy, the ! contractbsimpleandhouestbasiness bargain beiween emp)6yer and employed. The j>eople eome | freely from • far coontry apou an aaaoninee of work &nd w«ges for j a certaio period whieh they agree to. Wbat moral wrong Ls tbere in tbisf The contract. faīr lo the Iaborar is fair to ihe eraployer who bas all the nak of

» 1 loss and mast l>e prOtecte*i against strikes and lalwn combines of free labor. or nnprincipled and lazy laborers. that wonKl imperil his crops :u a couutry where labor is scarco and ini|K»sible to repiace if he shoafd he i deserted at a critical moment. I With the preseut paucity of j population free labor wonld I mean a perj>ectnal meuaee to the sugar industry, and jK>8sibly irreparable damage to our eommercial haekhoae. UnderAmeriean laws the contnct labor system wouhl not be permitted. The evident corollan' of this is. that with Hawaii’s annesution to the l'nited States, the sugar iu dustrv wou!d be impossible, and thestaple resonroeupoD whichour general prosp©rity depends would atonce becrushed outof existenco; and the United States eouM not replace what we would lose. The planting intorests of Ha-1 waii must be protected sup- j ported, and the plauters »re reminded that the monarcby devoteil its fnll powers diplomatically, politically, and finaucially to build np, foster and protect the profitable sngar iudustry whieh the crazy annexationists now seek to embarass. Tho error of the past has been that the planters and their representations have beeu allowed to dominate too mneh in the atfairs of tbe geueral gevernraent whieh thev sought to control solely in their <>wn interests. thus creating an insolent pIatocracy, with sogar as King nnd damn the peoplo. But past experience will regnlate the fnture. and we are assared that tbe inore intelligent planters already roalize that the iudependent monarchy : and the Royalist> are tbe best friends of sogar aod of Hawaii. i The weigbt of this article has ; rested apon one chief point. bat j as it is already too lengtby we will reserve fortber argument | against annexation for a fatore nomber.