Hawaii Holomua, Volume II, Number 42, 6 November 1894 — AN OUTRAGEOUS REPORT. [ARTICLE]
AN OUTRAGEOUS REPORT.
TLe PIanters, I>abor and Sapplv Conjp*ny was presented with a report lrom its labor committee nhieh is as nniqac as it is idiotic and oatrageoas. Mesars. H.£. Baldwin, C Bolte. | aud F. M Swanzy compri»e the| committoe. Tbe first mentionedj is a practical planter, tbe two| others bave ouly seen plantations! (hrongh the windnws of theirl offioesTbe rep rt of this comraittee is, of great imp<trtance. aud tbe whole coontry looked forward to it witb exjK?ct ition8 and some ap prebension. Tho commnnity isj tboroogbly disap|>ointed. Tbe committee offer» no plan for : future iroport<»tiou of lubor,but; confines it.s<*lf to rebe«r ancient hi.story. It bas no snggestiousl watever to otfer except that “we j mu;»t have eheap labor.” In reviewing the situation lbe ; association is told all about Cbi- 1 ne»e labor—bnt tbe eommUieei adds— wo ein’l get it If tboj tbree geutleraeu knew wbat they ■ were aboutthey might baveaddod| tbat tbero isan understanding witb tbe Japunese governmont whieh provents lnrther introduction of Chine.se eooliea. It may be that the three great mon do not eonsider tbc said agroeraent of any importauce. but we ean assure tbem that tbe Japanese government is most determined in enforciug tbe agreemeut, and will positive!y provent any irnportntion of Cbineso into Hawaii. However, the committeo admits that we cannot getChiuese labor We aro theu iuformed tbat Portugue»e are the hope of the pl«nters. and at the anine tirae tbo eommilloo stutes that the mission of Mr. Hutchiuson seems to be a failoro, but tbnt sorae bopos are to be derived from tbe apj>earanco at iho Azores of L. A. Thurston. Tho eommiUee must kuow tbat it is trying to deln»lo the plautors. — lf Mr. Hutcbiuson cannot obiain laborers from I’ortugal how would it bo possible for au uncoutb straugor liko l'hurston to do so. Mr. A. Hotfuung ia j>erhaps the only man who conld couutoract advices from Portugueso in Hawaii coutrary to immigralion aud sccuro moro laborors, but we doubt that he foels ineline»! to help a government whieh iu spito of bis valuable services has doue notbiug besidcs hoaping iusulls and etfroutory on his bea»l. Poor Glade, we are told will assist in tho business. We havo uo doubt that Ma»loira very often has its iuliuenoe on him but we aro suro that he has no inHueuee on M»deira. Tho coramittee finally biuts tbat thero is no show for Porlugucse labor. The proposed E<st Indians are dropj>oii in a short paragraph. The slave »lrivers of Hawaii couldn't secure them. And then wo finally oome to the Jaj>aucse aud that is where tbe temj>er and indiscrotion of the oommittee ruu away with them. The committee admits tbat Japan is tbe only labor market open for Hawaii and whiie it doesn’t nj>j>arently eucourage tlse furthrr importation of Jaj>anese{ labor it »listinctly sUto$ that the couutry has got to Uke it, And thereupon it heaps the moai unealie»! for insults on the i heads of tho Japanese govern-{ ment, its represeuUtive here and iU legal adviser, Mr. Paol Neuman who beretofore, while doing his doty as ihe »ttorney of tbe Japauese has always been willing to listen to reason from the eruployers and has in; moat iuaU&oea coufinetl himseif| io waleh the interest of hia eiienU and to seo that tbe rigbta of the poor ignoraut serfa of our planien are not encroached upon and lbut som« soit ol justico at *
Ieast is dooe in oar pl»ntatioariddeu court& But tbe interesting eommiUee corupofed of H. P. B.t!dwin. CBolte and F. M: 8»»niy. we ment on their n*nies agiin. staef th;.t ‘ it is amtt!erf“r regret. tbat the facilities m the ahape of free legal defence do mneh to promote ap:-eals to the law conrts on frivolous pretexts." Did yon ever hear the like j since tho day when the slavo- i driver’s whip cracked across the tbe haek of the poor Sonthern aigger? 'fbe three gentlemen of tbis eominiliee t»lace tbemselves on I record as stating lhat are | jadges of what a frivoloos appeal means and that they ean criticize 1 the legal aelion of Mr Paul Nea- | mann whenever be tbinks tbat a ; higher conrt ahall decide in a 0;»>e against a Japanese, decided by an inferior district magistraie, generally appomted by the nearest plantution. We are not surprisad that Mr. H. P. Baldwiu should sigu such a report. His plantation reeonl i is well known and ho has always ha.l au ineliualion to write bim»elf; I, Henry Baldwin. by the grace of God plantei| of Hawuii and ant »crat on Maui. We don’t worry over Bolte. Who is he anyhow ? But we must say that tbe s gn- I ature of Mr. F. M. Swanzy a partner in the firm of Theo. II. Davies ; & C<>. in that combination und , under such expressions has been . a stunner to the community who , yet believes in British liberty i and British honor. The following extract from the ; roport is the crowniug outrage. Tho demagogic elemeul among the laborers kindles and keeps alivo nn antagonistic sontiment against eraployers whieh woukl be non-existent but for the efforts of the agitators, and when the speciully retuinod counsel of tho Japauese guvernment in open Court justifies the most fligrant outrages by laborors — as was done in the course of the trial of some strikers from Ewa pluuiatiou in September last- tbe possibility of coutro!ling the badly disposed among tho laborers becomes a vrork of extrerae difliculty. That paragraph raeans that the Japaneso goverumont tbrough its reprosentativos and through its legally appointed attorney is enconragmg the laborers in eommitting offencos anel justifying strikos amoug them. We believo thnt the Japanese representative as well as Mr. Neumann is perfectly able to rofuto the iusiuuations and s!urs preferred by this intf>restmg eommittee but we desire uevertheless to pnt ou record that the eomroitteo that wrote that report and the assombly that accepted aud oudorsed it have cornmitted a serious breach of decorura and got tbemselves iuto a most disagreeable muddle. If the planters iu this country will think less of ibeir divideuds and not altogetber make tbeir purses their God tbey will get along better and have plenty of laborers. When they will reraember tbat eveiy man who works for them is a tnan and not a head of cattle there will be no troub!e with Japanese or others. When tbey will realize that the rigbts of tho Iaborers must be protected as well as the rigbts of the masters they will find that thev will have no reason to eom- ■, ment on tbe actions of govornment attornoys. But if they simply want to be with no other object than the sackiug of the golden jaice of tho soils. Wheu they will do nothiag ia elevate or eom- | fort the meu who work for tbem they must expect the laborers the governments'aud their represcnt- ! atives to eheek them wbenever opportunity otfers. And no report from Messrs. Baldwin, Bolte and Swanzy ean stop jostice and fairness. I “