Nuhou, Volume I, Number 17, 22 April 1873 — "Human Beings Harnessed Like Cattle to a Plow." [ARTICLE]

"Human Beings Harnessed Like Cattle to a Plow."

! . T(iat'e a fact; and it \yas donc on Lan-ii ■{ t!i. J I »iwe our Shcplierd resit|ed on thc island , ;irri 1 whnt is more. it wa« doi?e hy Lis order, There jis rio de»siDg it. Thc' circumstance attracteJ I some attention at the time ; it wae spoken oflT in |a Honolulu journal, the P. C. and | tbe 6tory waa greatly ma£nifk*l in several Amerij ean bnd European newspaj>ers. .As we arc iiuw ) engaged in bringing to light varions littlc matj ters |of past hisfcory, we will tell what we know | about this "outrage upon humanity, ,? j When our Shepherd had established himaeli' j merely as a equatter upon the island of Mnai ( and in the valley of Palawai, in December t 1861; fhd had gathered around him a company of peo{We, who designed to |form under his direetios an Ibdustrial Organizatibn. He proposed to e&tablish a joint stock fari3q, a combination of labor and ektll without one dollar of capital; and m NeW Year's Day of 1862 approached, he dcbired to bbgin the year with some plantiug opcration. Butl when he enquired into tbe facilitieB tiiat might be at hand, he f4und that there were agricultural implements upon the island eseept an old plow share, used by a native as an anehoi for his boat. When he ibrmed this it waa New Year t e Eve, and as it was stormy, an(J a boat cou!d not eross th;e ehannel fco Maui where a p|*oper implemeni be procured, he reso!ved to do the best hej eould witli thp pieee of | old jron afc hand ; and fc|lfc the greater itabon to | do sk inasmuc!yis he and all of this lndustrial ! Assc|ciation did not have: among ihem in eash, all | enough to buy a gopd plow and an outiit ol j harpess. He eontrived p. rude stoek tor the old share, whieh was perfeet in fbrm; he had some ropes made out of hala, or pandanua root, and witi} straw he had horse eollars plaited somewhat to what are inadq in the Southern bukt out Jof shucks. And he ptherwise prepared to uo soru6 plowinii. ! i v - i | Wben thc Kew Ye;ir> usoru had dawned, he | liad | two eaught tcj hiieh iuto haruet« :<nd j sct tjo work. Hc was absolutelj so inexpcriui>.od ;in to praetietJ lif o that lit_ did l no ' ,cousider tbut hoisqs whieli utight bear a

j sa would not tolcrat| all at ouee a drag af , their taiit; go he CAiae ,ncar haviug a ruuaway and Josiug his plow. Bi|t he had a ehUd witL who liad becn reared bj a grandfathei' ou a plantation, and who laughed at his ineij<rieuecd venture, and advised liim to esjieriment lirst wiui j the Jjorecs, by makiug thcm drag a log arouud dtv j • ! j X|iis woulu do well tar as bi\\\kiug iu thi I \vas coucerued; lfut it wouid uot &ui6t> I his \jvish to do some plo>viug ou that vcr>- New , Vear's Daj, and lie did uot like the diteomtiiure j oi haviug to givc up thc job, thc moix> c«-pocialiv t o* A very large crowd of uatives had ,turued out , to witue® these first operadons. līe obscrved , that the grouud was,rcp- sott aud uieliow, aud j was quit«-6mooth, haviug bocu burut off, so that j ho tfiought it would nof uiueli lbrvx u. I brcak it up. Uc uiade fast oue cud of a roi« te j tlw Kvuu of Utc plow ; he took hold of Uw other I aud invitcd about a doteu of his native friends io (% l»old \vitli him. . Thej- did eo. llis child i hold| of tho buodlee, aud a\vay t,bev \veut, ti,v i t<hefjhord iu thc le-ad amid ihe shouis ar.d and |umuucut of the cwpvd of uauves hMkiug It w\s C !«y w r.a utq:c ihau a dojctt uieu pull au Eyk 0 plow. tl,.t ntvi;«w .-o:1

By-and-by a ,native iiameel Kaise, who had had j some lifctle farming expcrience on Maul took hold j ef the handles. and he worked his u human cat- 1 ! tle " whieh ineladed our Shepherd, all that day geeand hawing back and forth on tlie furrows i until he had plowed up about one quarter of an | acre whieh was eowed down in wheat. The | Sheplrerd, and Kailihune, and Limaloa and many j others who are now liv)ng, joined in a feast to j celebrate this eommencement of and • this we ean surely afHrm is the sole foundation for j tfae story about u human beings harnessed like a ! eattle to a plow." We believe that there are at j leaet a hundred living wilneeeee to prove this Btatement.