Governor Carter Talks Hawaii
Copyrighted, 1904. by Frank a. Carpenter.)
ABHINOTON. Auc. 4. (Special.)
A Correspondence of The Bee,)
V I "Uncle Bnm can well afford to da
something for the Sandwich lal-lands."
These were the words of Mr. Oeorge
Robert Carter, the young governor of Ha
waii, who In now in this country, where he
came to attend the national republican con
Ten lion and the St. Louis exposition. '
"Tea," continued the governor, "I say
that Uncle Bam cannot afford not to do
more for us than he Is now doing. We are
one of the best pieces of dividend-paying
property that the old gentleman has. We
are paying more Into the national treasury
In proportion to our numbers than any
other iart of the United States. We are
Betting the government aimoMt $7 per head
very year, and there are no deficits. Our
government taxes now amount to 8.53 per
capita, and the government spends upon us
only $1.62, so that there is a gain to the
national treasury of $8.91 for every man,
woman and child In the Hawaiian Island
very year. Here In the United States
proper the annual cost of government la
$7.97 per capita, a wonderful showing la
favor of Hawaii."
"But what the the Sandwich Islands cry
tng about, Mr. Carter? Do they not get all
tbey need In the way of government
funds?"
"No,' replied the young governor. "Wa
need new harbors and other public Im
provements. The United States , la now
pending something like $66,000,000 on Its
harbors, and it Is alleged that millions of
that money go Into dry rivers and creeks
In the back counties. However that may
be, none of It comes to Hawaii, one of the
places where it is most needed. We ought
to nave better shipping facilities at Hono
lulu. We have overtaxed ourselvea to sup
ply them, and from now on the money
should come from the national government.
Wo have deepened tiie harbor from year to
year, endeavoring to keep up with the great
steamers which wi.ih to enter It. It now
needs additional dredging to a depth of
bout thirty-five feet, for the great ships
Which have been recently built for the
transpacific trade draw thirty-two feet of
water. They would come to our Inland,
but they have to anchor outside. We need
also a breakwater at th port of Hilo, en
the Island of Hawaii, and there are other
places that should be Improved."
"I doubt If the people here appreciate
the commercial importance of the Hawaiian
Islands," continued Governor Carter. "We
already stand eleventh among our ports aa
to the tonnage of our American shipping,
and we are Increasing every year. We are
at too cross roads of the Pacific; at the
great station between Australia and New
Zealand and this continent and between
the United States and Asia, When the
' Panama canal Is completed our Islands will
be more Important than ever, and we must
have good harbors to accommodate the
trade."
"Just how far are you from Panama,
Governor Carter?" I nsked.
"We are 4, .40 miles from the western
and of the big canal and a little mora than
half way on the route between that canal
and Yokohama, Japan. We are 8,800 miles
from Auckland, New Zealand, 6,000 miles
from Hong Kong and a little more than
1,000 ml log from San Francisco. We are
the key to the PaclUo ocean and ship
from all ports of It now call at our
porta.
"The steamers of the Pacific are steadily
growing In number and else. The new
. boats of Jim Hill's line are among the
largest of the world, and the Korea and,
Siberia of the Paclflo Mail company,
which now call at Honolulu on their way '
from San Francisco, have each 13,900 tons,
and are as fine as any passenger steam erf
on the Atlantic This company will sooi)
add two other steamers equally large. Tho
Korea and Siberia have a speed or twenty
two knots and the Korea has gone from
Honolulu to San Francisco In less than
five day a These ships bring the Sandwich
Islands almost' as close to the United State
In point of time as Porto Rico."
"What is the condiUon of the Islands to
6ay, governor T" I asked. "Are your peo
pie prospering In a business way?"
We have, not been doing wall In tha
last year or so," was the reply. "Our chief
Industry la sugar. We have about 1100.000.
C0e worth of plantations and last year our
sugar product amounted to more than 400
tOO tons, valued at $25,000,000. Sugar hail
bean very low, so low, indeed, that upon
plantations capitalized at $9,000,000 the av
erage earnings according to my own fig
ures have not been more than three-tenth
of 1 per cent This Is estimated on the
actual expenses and earnings for one year.
Sugar Is now going up and we look for
much better times."
"Are the sugar plantations well man
aged. Mr. Carter?"
"Yes," replied the governor of Hawaii.
They are handled as carefully, as scien
tifically and as economically as any plan
tations of the world. They are equipped
With the finest of modern machinery. Tha
ana Is brought to the factory on rail
roads, and sows of the estates have miles
f 1 ' ' ii . i.... i ,IL , J, ,,
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GEORGB R. CARTER, GOVERNOR OF HAWAII,
Of railroad tracks. Steam plows are used
and the Irrigation works are of vast ex
tent. Connected with some such estab
lishments are pumps which lift millions
of gallons of water a day, often carrying
It over the hills from one valley to an
other. Reservoirs are built to hold the
water, and on one plantation there are
more than forty miles of flumes. The
soil of the sugar lands Is analyzed from
year to year, and Just the right fertilizer
Is added to make them produce to their
fullest capacity. The labor on the plan
tations Is organized under overseers and
foremen, and the cost of everything Is as
carefully estimated us in one of your great
American factoiies."
'How do you get along with your labor?"
I asked.
"We are doing very well," said the gov
ernor. "But we should be fur better satis
fied If the people here would not Insist
upon the same labor laws for us as for
the United States. The conditions are dif
ferent, and what Is good for one place is
not good for another. This will be found
to be the, case sooner or later as to the
moat of our outlying colonies. White men
cannot do the every-day labor of the
tropics, and our conditions are such that
labor of certain classes is best performed
by Chinese. We should like to have a
limited number of Chinese. We want
enough to develop the islands to their
fullest capacity, and no more. The num
ber should be limited, and when the sup
ply falls off through death or immigra
tion wo should have tha right to Import
others to take their places. As It Is now
we can Import Japanese, but not Chinese,
and we have now about 60,000 Japanese
lu the islands. They do not make as good
laborers as" the Chinese. They are not so
reliable, nor do they make as good citi
zens." "Do you have labor unions among your
celestials?"
"Not in the sense that the word Is used
In the United States," said Governor Carter.-
"The Japanese always go together.
They may be suid to have one great union
of their own. The Chinese have their or-
gunizations, but these are more like social
clubs than our trades unions. There are
now and then strikes among the people
of both races, but we have, on the whole,
fewer labor troubles than you."
"Id there any chance for the poor white
man in Hawaii?"
"Not much for the common laborer,"
replied Governor Carter. "The Japanese
and Chinese will work more cheaply than
he and almost equally well. Indeed, the
white man can't work as well In the
tropics as either the Chinman or Japa
nese. We use white men for our super- -lntnndents
and clerks. We do not want
them to do the hard work."
"What are the chances for young Ameri
cans in the Hawaiian islands, governor?"
"There are opportunities for young Amer
icans everywhere," was the reply, "and
there will always be places for the right
men in our Islands. Nevertheless, It must
be remembered that the country there 1
about as well taken up as In any part of
the United Statea The Island hare bet
- settled for many years and the opportune
ties of a new and rapidly developing coun
try are lacking. We prefer to have a few
high-priced good men rather than many;
poor men to do our work, and the wages)
are, I think, higher than In the United
States. Overseers and foremen are now
receiving $100 and upward per month. Sugar
boilers and engineers $100 and upward,
while the plantation carpenters and black
smiths are paid from $50 to $100. All tha
high-priced men on the sugar plantation
have their houses and firewood furnished.
There is good demand for mechanics in
Honolulu, but even there the Japanese and
Chinese compete. As to clerks and book
keepers they are easily gotten, and tho
wages are not much higher than In tha
United Statea"
"How about men with money? Are thera
many opportunities for good Investments?
"Yes, but the conditions are not far dif
ferent from those, of other parts of tha
United States. It takes large capital to
opetate a sugar plantation and the best of
the sugar lands are taken up and in culti
vation. There are some opportunities In
coffee growing and in raising pineapple
and other fruits for shipment to the United
States. The available lands are compara
tively few. The Islands all told have an
area about one-fourth as large as the stato
of West Virginia and a very large propor
tion Is mountainous and uncultlvable. Such
of the soil as can be used is, in many
places, exceedingly rich; but, as I have
said, the best lands are already owned and
have been so for many years." .
"Are there not some government lands?"
"Tea, there are altogether about 2,ono,000
acres, but muc'i of It Is sterile or Inacces
. Bible or covered with lava. There are per
haps 600,000 acres that have some value,
and half of that amount is good land. The
government is anxious that its lands should
be taken up by small planters, but, at 100
acres to the man, they could accommodate
comparatively few people."
"What are you doing with your leper
colony governor?" .
"We have our lepers on the Island of Mo
lokal, situated north of Lanal Island, on
the other side of the Pailolo channel. Mo
. lokal . Is a narrow strip of land about seven
miles wide and thirty-nine miles long. It
Is of volcanic origin, the eastern part of It
rising more than half a mile above the sea.
The leper settlement Is on a low peninsula,
on the south side of the Island. It ha
some fertile lands connected with It. Includ
ing a few thousand acres upon which sugar
might be grown. The lepers are supported
and cared for by the people of the islands.
We think that they should be In charge of
the United States government and directly
under the marine hospital service. Our
leper colony should be made an experi
mental station for the study of leprosy and
Its cure. There Is a government leper
colony on an island off the coast of Porto
Rico, and other lepers are supported by tho
government in the Philippine Islands. The
disease is a terrible one and congress could
not do better than make an appropriation
for a leper hospital on Molokal, and for a
laboratory here at Washington where tho
disease might be studied. It is, you know,
a bacterial disease and a cure might pos
plhjy be discovered. It would not need a
large appropriation. I should think $3,000
a yenr might be sufficient to carry on the
investigations; they might result In vast
good not only to Hawaii, but to the whol
world. You have lepers in almost every
city of the United States and there Is a
leper colony not far from New Orleans. W
do not absolutely know that leprosy 1
hereditary. Indeed, the doctors now say
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HARBOR AT HONOLULU.
