Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 257, 12 August 1891 — Our Rice. [ARTICLE]

Our Rice.

Tao agitation whieh the £Ugar planters and theif friends raieed to attempt to secure An abolition of tbe duties on iu>ported rice is onlyanother inetancc of the suifioh greed of our iuonied of sugar planters. To parti»liy overcome the disabiiities whieh they euffer under the McKin)ēy Turiff, they wōuld sacrifice and para}yze every >ther industry we posses-. Every other bran«h of agricultuie and everv «maU farmer must stand eubservient to king eugar.

£o]der eveti i» tHeir d6m«nds tfaan were the robber barons of old. they now atta.ck onr second ohief indaBtFy f - v»z.. rice, but it is time tf> eall a kalt and exsmine the ques,tion. A hapdful of wealthv eugar autocrats find themselvea forced to eeonomiee by a deciine inlae value of their product. Rice being the pnneipal food of their laborers, they p?opose to rob a sister industry of its profits by obtaining eheap and freē nee from China and .īapan. They pay for Hawaiian ricc about 5c.; free rice from the orient would cost ābout 3c, thus effecting ā saving 01 2c, a.nd as «aeh laborejr eouamiiea- on the averutre alx>ut 5 " sacks of 100 lb. eaeh, annually, the economy would nmount to about $10 per head yearly: Say a -plantation having 250 hands would eave about annually. Wliat a paltry sum this is eompared to cthet items of expense on a sugar plantation and what widespread in3usti.ee will be d©tie to effect this Bavingv Our production of rice is about 3f),000,000 U>s„ or say 300, 000 sacke. Two thirds of this is consumed here and the profits retained in t-he country. On« third only being shipped to Caiifornia. Let the orientai rice in free and every pound of Hawaiian rice would have tobe |hipped to California. The Hawaiian rice planter would be robbed of his loeal prosts the benefit of the sugar planter and Asiatic comuierce. And what would be the result in California. Hawaiian rioe duty free comes now tfiito XiiSrican rice, the pnee being regulated in the Kast in California. To have the bulk of the Hawaiian rice product Buddenly launched on the California market would break the ui'iee down to freezing point, and the Hawaiian ripe interests would be wor*e ]>aralired than sugar is now; in fact all but ruined Now; why should our rice interest.3 be sacriliced to the greed of the sugar baron ? And what are our r;ce interests ? The Dlanter says it wou!d effect only the Chinese. But stop and cxm6id-j er! Almost eveny aere of land under rice culture is under lease to J Chineso who pay high ren&ls. Hundreds of nati'ves live upon the rentals received from kuleanae leased to Chinese rice planters; and man v white peoplederiye handsome revenues from tracts of land aleo so leased. It is known thāt ihe ohinese rice grower receives fr»in his paddy but little more than he would get if working for wages on a sugar plantation. The chief i>rofit is made after the paddy is h-ull-ed, and the bulk of the crop is handled by Amcri*an mcrchante in Honolulu. v Are' not then these Hawaiianand American lessors and mercliants, who ar« a uumerous eon Btituency, enlitled to equal deration with the handtuVof "feugar nabobs. Though tU© rioe hidttstpgr is emall compared with eQgar, its | profits are mor£ widely distributed, | and it is an industi*y worthy of pro- j |ductioD»nd encouragemeßt. Let| the sugar plant«r Btudy tholabor question; in that, lies solution of their dif&cultios* If they need cheaper rice badly, let them turn a portion of their $ugar lands iutO rice—it would be feasible and pro fitable. Their propoeiti»n to introduc« oriental rjce freo of duty ie unjustand nn(ait,j aud we doubt if the Uiuted Statee would regardBuch a manceavro witli favor.

I»EiTH-S IM)*AINg. The St«amer Likelike rt a:> chor under tbe great ciifi'wherc Vhe i islahd of Molokai rises. three thoueand feet Btraight out of the sea. The inorning snn illnmined the rippling water and the great wall j ficcked with green. ! Direct!y in front was a 3trip of low roliing landextendingfW>m tbe baise of the .clsff into the sea. On-l this sferetoh of green mea«iow lnnd I we see a considerable viilage oi*: white cottages niany surrounded bv pmall garde?iy. 1 There were no streets, and-no stores or bu&iness plaeea; fof this is Kalaupapa, the leoei* settlement, where theonly bnsiness is death, Still the scene from the steamer was iair enough to look unon. Straining our eyes we could see forms gathering on the shore and running to and from, on ibot * and on horsehaek. On board the steanier. a gre»t. mass of ueople wcre crowding the deck and janimed together about tne gangway waiting for the first boat. Tt was a very quiet arid eubdued assembly who said ]ittle. but looked eurious!y at the shore and with evident impatience to reaēh it. When the first boat waa ready it was h&rd to keep the crowd back [ and almo6t impo6sible to examine I their pasaports. Theboat was soon r full to overfiowing and the īnter[rupted fitream hnd to wait for the next. ,It ti>ok more than an hotir to diBcharge the human freight. When ihe greater part had I>Wn landed we entered a boat and were pulled Blowly teward the land/We watched intentlv tbe figures on the shore as we approached. like voyagers to the nether wor!d might jsaze aoross the hlaek Waters of the Styx and strive to make qpt the for:ns of ths flitting shades on the border land of the infirnal regions. As we approached the awful viāion unfolded itself. First it seeined as if some of thefigureson horseback wore huge red masks, strange caricatures of the human face. As j we eame near the !anding the horI rors oi the sight multiplied. Here | etood objectg that were images of iall tbat is horrible and revolting. things thātmadethe speetator draw back and 6hudder. Truly, thie ie the realm of death and tofment; these faces have bsen ecorcbed, roasted by the fiws of hell, and Bcratched, 6ftamed. and distorted in hideoi:s mockery by the red-hot fingers of demons. Here are creatures a!l raw, bleedmg, ulcerating, hanging in tage of flesh and mas«es of corruption; with eyes glazed and ecalded, festering stubs of limbs. great grimming deatha heads, misahapen, inhnman, grisly. H€vearQ ,the rōlling inhabitatst9 of a dosexi grave yardg walking ab<»ut with tho fiesh droppjng from their bones. Ae fast as the boats arrived the paBsengerB landed and fused with the crowdoflepers. Peoplo lo<Vnd their chiidron» parents, brothert or sisters among the lepcrs, !t 18 impossible to imagine how thcy could restogn:zs any reserahlanee to their friends among.such * mass of monStrous defbrmitv, But thcse Kawaiian« did; and embraced aud kissed the livid putresceut flesb and clun»j theiA aud ; cried aioud. Soon after thev- wouki go away with thu to their hOx<cs. perhao® m . sX > Ui e even worse easeF whieh were unab!e to dr«g themseives out. To be Continucd,

- ON I)JT. That the Bulietin CanDerr mnee the A*}yertiser'B alUieion to it ? hae gone into bankruptcy. " . Xhat a iaerch&nt 011 Merchant« stre«t, f.'a'iikhj acknowtedged that he wa« not a rose tr6e. though ho carried a rose; an<i inodest-ly as?erted that be fclt more glorioosly arraved t-h&n eit.her-:.Chariev or Ciaus wiili ail their sbek«]s. i That s:s"s-n hīeuWil or 'sequel -of .her, Majesiy\s tour to Waimanalo ltfßt..vteek, ail h>inds atid the eook,. got g] o rious od that whieh took the royal party over, and pr obahly the same thi ng occnrred as a final to that t«,bleaux. Thnt the Ka Leo is receiving itĒ I usuai cojnplimentP from both friend j and opponwit, and we hope that the cnmpliment will be in substantial from. That owing to the consideration of Premier, has l>een oblrged tō , Temain over, and forego, that mueh needed rest. whieh waB the resu!t olw".exbaosting effort reqiiired to prepare and orate his nuinerous speecheB, " Poor Sam, ,we are afraid that the weightr affairs. of stftte will make hiui prenia?:urely o!d. That a new clerk has heen appo!nted Irt the Foreign Affairs Department; he is a relative of Hon. W. H. Oomwell, one of ihe poHtical op4>©nertts of the preaent Pre!nier Tbat a gentleman in California eavs, that the t<)bacco franchise allowei by the Hawaiian Government, was offered to him by a young nohle of the Legislature. That the great hook maker t who wa» booked to leave by the steamer Zelatidia, did no 4 » leuve io meet his family; the great necessity for staying appeara to be the ff ar of being gnyed by the San Franciscopapers, for' the unappreciative aiui antagonistic attitnde of the populaee at Sanj's poi and luau speeches while starring the gro«p with Royalty. That General Ara3Btroog, left yeeterday with his daughters, and wilj probablv reach San Francisco > at the same time with our two last issues. We hope the Gcneral will b? able to peruse the English page of Ka Leo of yesterday and the day before, as wu,feel sure he will be eaabled to give a truthful aecount of how affairs are in Hawaii, at pr> eent,and the anti-missiouary feeling the Hawaiians entertaiu after being made homeless and penniless through religious lessons as taught him by Boeton thpologians. That tae Adc4i~tux:r\s willing that Hi6 Ex. Samuel Psirker, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bhould go to San Fraacisco, kk as Mmister Parker hae ou va4ation tours for the paet or three»onihs,"and thatowing te ,l the past exhausting effori peqnim] to prepare and orate (sttgar> his numerous speeches c«lls for a r«st now : M and A, probably H when the vacuum in his cranium is stuffcd from Some sugar niagnate*s offtc*in j banFram-i?cvV'he wi!l be prcpsreil to j work out new prob>m< of st*te M i. ( e.» some wav to hoom the sug;;r estates and iutr a new sehetne for bnnging more Asi*ties into the . country and rioe duty to | kelp iinpoverish hie own peopk