Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 195, 23 August 1894 — THE JAPANESE TROUBLE. [ARTICLE]

THE JAPANESE TROUBLE.

i 1 1 1 Tbe plaoUn fthould l«arn a . 1 lewon from Uie froqneot tronbles ; with their Japaoe«e labor* The : ’ Japaoee« make good working- ! men for • p)antatioo, and the j 1 f>lanters eaooot get along witbout them. Of cour»e we are eon- ! 9t»ntlv told that tbe laborerw are toblame for ail diser,sions aod never the emp!over» If how- | ever, the p!anters desire to avoid ao opeo aod dangeroos oat-bremk 1' one of tbtrse day» H will be advisable for them to remember | tbat both contr»cting parties to a j' labor agreemeot bave their rights aod tbat the laborer will ;osist io opholdiog bis rigbta as Jetermioedly as does the employer. Tbe plaoien bave the aathorities from J adge» to police-offieers on their side, and tbe Iaborers eau J hope for no redreas from the law. Thev are oot to hlame if tbey. aoder sach circamstaaces taxe the law into their owa handsand gain bv force wbat tbey cannot obtain by law. In their feverish anxiety to make money, the planters over- ; ! look the danger whieh is threateninp them, and they keep on squeezing and ballyiug their iaborers antil the enp runs over and the worm turns to sting. The tTOuble in Ewa was not created by tbe action of poliee- : officer, Lennoi altogetber. There has for some tiraes been a deeprooted dissatisfaction among the i Japauese laborers, a Dvi it was | bonnd to eome to hii issue some day. There are sevoral reasoafi for ibeir diāsatisf«ction aud the managemeut of the plautation is sole!y to th« fll-feeliug among the laborers 1 Tbe first pomplaint is that tbe | manager haa forbidden the lab , ', orers to have liqaor on the premises of tbe plantation. The Japanese resent a regulation whieh deprives them of their custoniaiy drink and they deny l the manoger s right to mterfere ! with their individaal liberty. | They are right. There is nolhinp 1 in their contracts whieh authorizes the mansger of a plantatiou • I in regulating the iuauner of Hv- » ing of bis employees. He is 4-anm inp a pow»r irfc:cll tll« 1»WS > do not g>ve him and he is raisiug trouble for himself and the stock ■ | holder». The manager of Ewu i ; would not like to have thedirect . , ors of the corapany issue an order prohibiting him from taki : ing his usual fit of brandy and lie i would consider snch action u i pieee of unw«rranted irapudence. ; The Japaneso take the same view Tbey are used to drink “saki and wme and they insist in getting it. If the go to excesses «nd some of them are unablo to go to work the remedy of the pluntatiou is in the law. And i the law is not preventative. lt i may cure it does uot prevent The J«panese know enouph to stand up for their rights and tuey are at liberty to import as mneh i Iiquor to their houses on the pl«ntation as they plense. > Sho«ld the manager or his i employees seize their liquor : or otherwise interfere with them ( l outside of working honrs tbey aro justified iu prosecuting the l i “bossu8,” and have them arrested i for larceny. highway robbery or i I wbatever tbe case may be. lt is i i i froro aaeh « regulation that yesterday's trouble occurred aud the ( i poliee officer aearly waa mobbed. At the investigation it was sbown i that the feeling agaiost officer Leunox simply was causevl ! i i tbrough his ©fforte to carrv out l { Manager Lowrie'sorderstocoufisi . cate tbe liquor belonging to tbe laboreis Another eomplainl seems to be equally well foonded The laborers are compeIIed to buy tbeir necessities at tbe plantatioa store wbere. they elaim, prices are i ; oharged tbem whieh are 25 per ■ cent higher than what is cbarged . I by the Japanese merchauts in I Honolulu. Tbey are not allowed : to make1heir own terms in mak- : ing tbeir paymeuts. They bave : ! to buy from the plantatioo store and the price of their purcbasea i» deducted from their wagēs on { «aeh pay dty. Thia is another iustance of anautborized iuterference whieh tbe laborers jastly resent Why oot allow them to | make their purchases io Hono- ; ‘ lulo from their coontrymenT

Ther will g«t good» whJth are : i more *atiftfactory to them, and they will feei like indep©ndent mee. and nol work nnder tbe honiiliating fee!ing lh*t they are mere maehioe» or i!»w withont a wil! of their own If tbe preeent system i* not cbanged in the very near fatare tbe »tockboldere in the piaotations whieh are worked ander similar systems will wake ap some morning, and find tbat tbey have oo planlations. bnt only a determined mob of savage Japanese. fighting for tbeir rigbts as men. A tbird complaint from tbe Japaoese at Ewa is tbe manoer in whieh th*y are docked. Tbe meo firmly believe that r»benever the p)antation wishes to retrench or is hard op for c»sh. dedacttons are made in their wages uoder the pretense tbat they h«vec t worked sufficiently. The evil featnre in tb s gystem is that the ’ roan<ger virtn<lly ac?« as pro»ecut >r, judge and jary. When ; other contractingparties d;sagree in regard to the fulfilment of their coutract a tbird party acceptable to l*otb contiactors is called iu, to act as au arbitrator. Not so on Kwa plautation; there the manager sinaply says to his laborer ‘ you ba>en’t wurked enougb, you are docked ’ Aod tbe laborer has no appeal. lt is from such reas<)ns that ; the dissatisfaction among the J«panese arises, and we lia\e no | donbt that the Jiploraatic agc*nt of Japan fnlly realizes that “Bobjects’’ are not altogether to hlame forstrikiug wbenever tbey are trod on and »ieuied their rights. The government aud its orgaus have beeu very anxious tu | get wbite labor iuto the countfv. I if any of tbe preachers for white , labor ever has visited an agricnl- i | tural dietrict in Europe, they will have realized that a very ; ditferent system prevaiis. and j | that althoogh, the stnrdy j peasant is willing to work. and work hard. he will insist in baving his rights aud his individuul Iiberty as soon as the work is ended. He will drink what he pleases. buy bi& goods wbere he sees fit, and have the authorities decide every serious dispute between master anil -ervant. If Hawaii is to get «ime laborers some day, the planlation svstera and the bosses will ! have to be refoimed radicallv—and they might as well start in now, aml be made to understand that a man is a man, eveu if he is only an unfortunate “contracte'i v J apaneso.