Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 214, 12 June 1891 — THE PLAN. [ARTICLE]

THE PLAN.

Thc plantera sav they are in ptraights now they have to c »m]>cte with other sugar producing cr.T;>tries. The cause of this we - have already discussed. . It is due to. t)ie verv low wages that prevail inother countries ; It is plain tliat planters cannot pay $15 per month l coinpete with tbose who pay Isow, we propose to make reu::irks on the remedy. We may n •: put it in the most, delicate or p.">Msh'nl way, but we will meet the ]>roMem squa'rely. i The sugar industry on these is-1 . 1 ;mdf? has been stated to be the' of our prosperity. The in-1 creasc m land vaJues has e'nriched many of our people. The trade in sMpplies and increased demand for c:mimodities due to general ity has built up Honolulu and our | Liierchants. The mechanics, the only partly - independent class wē have are here because of the demand for their services by the plantations and concurreut industries. The talk about a diversity of industries is all very proper and the effort to be as«' 4 ted and encouraged, but that is experimental and in the future and offers no immediate adequate solut:on to the industrial problem. Coffee is in the same position as regards eheap labor as sugar. lt is cultivated in Braxil with wbat was and is practically slave labor. In. that and other coifeecountries labor is even cheaper than that of elaves, for the people of the country are employed during the season at almost nothing a day, and for the rest of the year they provide for themselves ; something noi domesticated animal will do. In coffee growing a very large number ©f hands are required in the picking season and few at other times. This renders it irnpossible to employ |.roiitably contract labor that must be paid all the vear. Fruit cannot be shipped from our position in mid-ocean to any great extent. Practically, for the acquisition of wealth, there is only one thing that the country ean depenu on. If the plantations were to be shut down not -ouly would there be a lot of people out of office but out ©f a job and out of any means of living. Land wouhl be of no value ; and thō country Avould lapse into pover-ty-fctricken, aecrH>titudē. Thoie arg.two possible remedies: To getliabor us eheap as other sugar growing countnes, or to gain some advantago as to market, or bounty such as the rrciprocity gave us. An v such advantage is artificial and ean never be r.s cert;iinly pernaaaent atf eheap production. We n»ight Becure a treaty with Cunada, but there would iiHturally be a very great reluctance tu break with a great and generous nation like tho L T nited Btates to attach ourselves ae a dependent province of Great Brittain rs Canada ia. If the United $tntes should drop ub it eeema ceratiu «r.e Wouid n*jt atund long alone; we wotild be piJ:ked up by eoine aggre«sive powei<—gobblcd up ai»d

I swaltowed whole. We would find | oursolves touching our hats to Btnp--1 Dlings sent out bv a ioreign gevern* | mcnt to rule over us. | To be annexed to the United { State« inight be a seiitimei3tal loss, but imaginery. The ehaneea for a bounty or a protective tariff wuulti l>e extremely good for naany ycars to eomo, together with nui«erous ineielenkil advantages. The princii»al internal diiliculty in tt}e road lo annexation nas been p]aoed there by politieians, of one party seeking from self-interest tu make capital against another party by the cry of independence and Hawaii for Hayaiians, and by the opjposite side m;iking tlireats that thē eountry would lose its independence and holding up annexation as a kind of bug-a-boo before the native j>eoplc. Between these -two fictitiouB posi-. tions the people have becn mislead, and there thcv have taken tnere jstand. - But a reasonable and eon|scientioiis discussion of our present j ! co:idition, may even lead the Queen | i and her people to accept a change for the better for the wholccountry. Ilowever, an advocacv of any kind for the purpose of improving our welfare : should never be urged by force and only by reasoning uivtil the people and ruler are convincod it is to their interest to aeeeoi an inevitable destiny . The question of eheap labor is difiicult and antagonistic to the principles of a free peopīe. It is at this point that relief to tne main industry of the country through a system of involuntary servitude is justly opposed by the people. This however. ean readiiy be settled by judicious 1 egisl ation. The trouble ie in the constant addi- ; tion of eheap labor thrown at large upon tho commumty, who after a term of involuntary servitude becomes a eompetitor wilh free lab©r. The plantation imported peon labor of anv kind should never be allowed to remain in the country, except it be upon a rene\val of their service unaer contract other wisejthey should be reshippēd out of the country either at public expense or between the government and employer.

No native nor white man will ever fill the requirements of plantation labor, and in that respect no objection ean be made against even eoolie labor. In our anxiety to help ourselves we should never forget to treat those we do"have as laborers justly.