140 TUTTLE ENGINEERING NOTES ON HAWAII. 



used, but, after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893 and the appli- 

 cation for annexation to the United States, it was decided to shut out 

 the Chinese, fearing that an excessive population of this race might 

 prove an obstacle to the accomplishment of the desire. 



Upon the admission of Hawaii as a territory, in 1898, the Japanese 

 contract labor system was terminated, with the result of freeing Asiatic 

 laborers from a legal obligation to perform work, and materially reduc- 

 ing the rate of immigration. This at once caused a shortage of labor 

 and a demand for increase in pay, both of which conditions were 

 aggravated by the development of new and large plantations which 

 followed the assurance of a stable government. 



Assuming the area of the cane lands to be 200 000 acres and that 

 one laborer will care for 5l acres, it would appear that the present 

 total of 70 000 male Asiatics would be more than enough for the needs. 

 Allowance must be made, however, for the fact that the rice fields, 

 from which their chief food is obtained, must also be cultivated by 

 these men; that they are the general market gardeners; that, with 

 restraint removed, as it now is, and with cost of living for this class at 

 such alow figure that the wage of a day will provide support for several 

 succeeding idle ones, and that there is at present an undisputed 

 shortage in the labor supply, it is plain that capital is placed at a 

 serious disadvantage. 



To the fact that these races have a realizing sense of their position 

 the writer can tesiify after an experience with them which covered 

 over six months, during which interval, and notwithstanding that the 

 wages paid were higher than the men had ever before received, there 

 were no less than three general strikes when he was informed that the 

 trade-union idea and spirit was just as strong and far more unreason- 

 able than here at home. 



With all natural advantages for the chosen occupation of the islands 

 and practically all of the capital invested in it and dependent upon 

 its success, and with general conditions such that only Asiatic labor 

 can be successfully used, it would appear that we owe it to this new 

 dependency to open the doors to a sufficient amount of Chinese labor 

 to relieve what is rapidly becoming an "intolerable condition." Such 

 relief has been petitioned for in Congress, but from the present out- 

 look there does not seem to be any prospect of securing it at an early 

 date. 



