Hawaii Holomua, Number 112, 14 May 1894 — The "Ferguson" Scheme. [ARTICLE]

The "Ferguson" Scheme.

Our readers donbtl >s remember lbe sensatioual accounts recently publisbed by the vernacul;tr press aud reju;ced witb sceptical comment' iu tbese colutnus witb reference toalleged hardsbips aud cruel trealment sutfered by Japanese imiuigr .nts in Gnatemala. In couset[uence of theso stories. Mr. Chinda, •Japanese Consul in San Francisco was senl to examiae and report, aud bis aeeouni. an epiiome of whieh now appears in tho Miehi Xichi iih :utbun, uot only dispels tbe illusion that Japanese laborers bave been snbjected tt> anv ill-treatuient, but al.so sbows tbat their emp!oyers have b* en k!ūd and even liberal tow .rds tbem. There are at preseut l lo Japanese lvborer> iu Guatemaia aud tbeir work ciuii;ists so f ivc*rably with tbut of tbe indoi* ut nat>ves of tne plaee that no disposition eiists to treat them barsbly. It is trae tbat tbe lazv babits of tbe

na»ives Lave etnployers to resort to metho«l> of ponishf.;ent <:f a in‘"»re or le>- qu- >r. )nable ch*racter. among wuieh are inclu«led ;nipris<)cment ia ceil> conātracted on the planUtioas. •r, l redoct:or.> ofthe l»:Iy rat; n f f T. I: -cems very \rc r thai the Jat snese ob -ote i t « form of empIoyn:ent whieh in-’ i cloded >nob coQtinger.ci- s. but certain!y no >; eei i! har>uu — wa> resorted t m their ca>«* M re ver. the great m*; r;:y f :Lem Lire heeome free labor>rs -_■» that onlv ‘>0 n w r»— ’ main under contr*»ct. Oae i rc>ult of th > i> th:»t the J.ipar.* - I labourers have ac<;nir-1 -Ac *pi tional inAuenee. They kuow j how to u>e tbeir t and instances are not wanlin!ni their combination f r purp Iof intimi<latk*a. S ■ !.ir. t.. r- :< ifr <m being in a >■.*:«. ■ f >•• :.i>iav< rv. they really coutr «l the >:tuitioa and command eoueiiiatorv treatmcnt. The true <>r:gin of the eompIainU th *t have reached this side of the water >«*eins to be financial. A lakoui er’s pav is t« n American «loll >.r> a raonth. of whieh abont one h:*!f is required for foo«l and clothing, >o that uo very large >um ean be laid by in tbe conrse of a vear. There i> als<< > >au> i trouble apparently \\ itli respect to food. The universal cu>t<*m of tl.e conutry is tw<> meal> a <1 »y. aml emj*loversof Japane>e labour i conform, of cour.se, to this cnstom. But the Japauese like tbree, and sometiraes tour. meals a day, and though arrangomeuts have now been made whieh j*«*r | mit them to indnlge this j*ro-1 j*ensity their freqnent reconrse to l’ooU soems to have liscrediti<! them in the eyes of the natives. Cofi‘ee-planting is tue work upon whieh tho J:»pauese 4reemj*loyed The loealo is a plulean from tlnet to five thousau<l feet above >ealevel, so that thecliraate ofi’ers nol course foi comp!aint. The Jaj«aneso oome from Hawaii \\ ;tii a goo«l reputatiou whieh thoir couduct in Guatbmala has hitherto siis tained. Bnt there are evidently , 0 their transfer from the f*«nuer plaee to the latter. Thus,; geiit> throngh whose iutervention they are bronght over receive, it i.> said, in some cases a coinmission of as mueh as eigbty dolh»rs a head, aml moreover mako t\venty dollars out <f the sixtv whieh I thev c*hargo fur j>assagc raoney. j These large g *ius Lave so exite<l I their cupidity tha* they search | far aad wkle for Japanese, guing eveu as far as San Francisco t > find them. Mr. Chinda, iu his ieport, \varns Lis countrymen against being deceived by these ageuts, for it is not to their in terest to engage themselves a> | contract laborers in Guatemala. j I He thinks that there is a good j j*rospect for free labor, above all |if it be aeeompanie*! by caj*ital for although coffee-planting a> carried on there is profitab!e, ne 1 roturns ean be expected from a j>lantati<)QS uiHil five years atter it has beeu laid down. More over. the coffee-planters aj j*ear ; to mainiain severo competition among them>elve>. and any man settling in Guatemala must b<provided with means to work quite independently of his neighbors. In a wor«l, the conditions | ex*sting in Guateniala do not ; difier materiallv frora lho>o iu .Mexico. C«pital is nine teutbs of the battle.— WeeU.y MaU.

The street-sweeper, )ately imporledby Soper’s brotber iu-law, shouId be educated in ihe etbicof time at least. if not in plaee and opportunity. Tbe work of the ancient artic'.e cumes onder the bead of “deeds of darkue.--with nigbt-soil meu etc.