Ke Aloha Aina, Volume XXXIV, Number 35, 19 September 1919 — The New Freedom [ARTICLE]

The New Freedom

To the Editt>r of The New Free<Joni. .. ' : *: appeared in the issut of"the Pacific Advēsrtiser un<W date of Aug. 30, 1919, an editorial lieacfea, Sow , m Mr. Edwin_ respōnsibih. Tne fi|ī||pn queBtibrirjS&jts usua%jijĒiowed. fot editotiaJ mud-slinging and and is so k gr<)ssly false and in character tbat itbe§Qmes, a j>ubfe branl |or jt reklly is'. To ipdufe .V such hysterical agitatiuu £»Ca serioUs m not only integrity and but as to his IdV«rtfy and genu!ne Americā.aisra. As !ie state« ( the Espionage in foree, as well as the loeal Hioe Law, and there jure $*o>lgitreif)es of Boldheviara and There is a strong tNftfeffi&nt in the coftumunity that he and his type represent one extr«pe and as eueh constitute ft..gprave public menaee. . „ stateroent of the posit.ion the strikera iwaume, m§de in paragraph is gubstaiifci&l!y correct. As stated by Mr. another eolumn of ,the same issue, "The tirae should be a nmn.ean and deported without eauae by a powerful combination of corporations." It is to put an end forev<* "to such practices that labor is being organized in these Islands, and the strike that has been instituted is for the purpose o&provi&g finally that an employer has not the right or the power to de|jrive an employee of his livelihood or curtail his liberty of any cause that is not connected with hi§ industrial effi<āen<sy. The discusaon of this issue, however, he is very careful to avoid in his edito|;ial, for he/?ertainly ipust be aware that the whole civilized wprld.hap a4readjLen.dorsed &is fundauientsl of labor, and txx deiiy Ae facts would brand him as either groBs!fr ignorant or stupi<ily m^ndaciouB. The article then proceeds to raise a "point" whieh he attempts to use in order tostst- up race antagonism and prejudice. This 18 recognized _§inong^all cfvilized peoplea as the most danggirous and pernicious form of "agitation". It is playing with somelhing far moi'e daftg©fOūs than fire, and cannot be tolerated in a community whieh represents, as this does, so many diverse racial elemente. — - , In jparagraph ®bc he sftys, "The point is that, if union men carry their point and succeed ip unionizing the sjhops it will be practsally impossible for Island boys to heeome mechanics." statemept,iB ujitme v As a matter of fact the union men succeeded in uniQnizipg the shops. The contracts that wa-e ūnder negotiatiqp between fhe unione and the emp!oyers at fche tfene of the strike did not s®k fcr increased pay or favors of any I3nd for the first class The effbrts of Mr. Kerwin āhd the whole fowe of were directed toward bettering ttie wag§s ānd~ working conditions of the lower cla®ification of emp!oyees aa thē helpers ; apprentiees and specialists. rt lsland boyß'' were the ones who needed help, and the ti&ions were str!ving to eompel the employers to recognize as mae§ianics all who were qualified to do meehaniea' work. Under |2ie old conditions it was pr«wjtically iu]tosBible for the Island hpys to leam a tra4e or to get recognition as mechanics after they Jearned it. One of the employers stated to the Committ«® ffi£?iti}e waa upder discussion, "The are 'riun-4urns'; they can't learn a trade|." And the ou don't give them a ci**ce when you keep them on"oneyijti3e . ' Pa*|tgraph Un6rue: "Union rules'say that a eommon la^Q?^ |) for ins^^^ghall i not do the work of a full-fledged meehanie. Itmakes )ffopĒfe9renceif thelacorer is fu)ly qualified to do the Wwk, nor li paid the full wages of the meehanie who'se work he is a*&ed to do." > Nowlf the editor Were a member in good standing of anything ex6ēpi ihe editorial staff of a paper, he wou3d know better ihm to makeāueh a stateraent. Article 1 of the Platform of he <f Th» lßt«rnational Association of Machinists.aims: 1. To l»ing withln tEe folds of this Agsociation a3l machinists, male or female„ who aee actively engaged in the trade or otherwise eon- .. ... Angl A. pf M. contrj|ct.specifies: pi a maehioiaK A machinists includes any person wh&jjss.served p apprenticeshjp of four years at the trade, or_ .a fundamental lcnowle:{ge of shaping, sizing, turning t fcoring'or fitting me|»al parts of mnchinery of any charHcter; , asV® tf pers6n» who may "have worked at the fcrftdelFor Tour years eiChef' as vice hand, lathe hand> er harid, "slptting %a<āiine hand, mUllna; maehine hand, horizonta! op vertīcal boring miU hand, etc. . . . , or general erector of madiinery; persons makirig or fitting together valves of all kinds> ftnd flange and high pressure piping provided maehine is neceasary ) and jpersons engaged in the repair of machiugiy, etc., etc. . . t 1 Under the preeent broad classification above quoted it would t0 find a single person in these īslands eapahle of *maehinist's work who would not be fully eligible to inemImMlhW Union. "oonwoion laborer" ,working in tihe to. do,the ,^prk'o|ji^Bkmed.meeh&nie, fnd is held down a laborer's pay, it is simply a good QPJ|t?9Bive. tactics, ,the insatiabls greed and .ofAiis will be done away *WJ>y the !abor whic| msist man be paid what nis serviC6B are w'ortn ftc<x>rmng to a scale agreed upon by eonv^ is y *Xn,,order to become a meehanie the Union reguires that a man serye an apprenticeship." m one .W jjf. a meehanie; Uiere above Hule Tlie ody pwaejit i'ol* ad|p|ssion to the Uaion is sufficieu,t i knowledge of tlie trade to hold a job and draw a mechanic*§ wage. The appiyitioesliip rules t«nd to !imit the number of «pprenW ver 3f' kßow§ at tiie W W & to prfiYeut flxe unscrupulous employers from filling their shops ,with boys (under twenty yeps of age, not %~dire(itiou 0f a few skiiled to 3o pracifcally aīl of the work at a wage of from three to sij do!krs a rceek t This has been Uieir systeni in againsf this eyil that $he Uaioaa have tMeen „ aSserimtg ihai' U is better for the men to get sir or seven dollars a d|>- than to have the work done by bo)*s at a kw MnB&tement N«. 4: "In otHer words, the Uni<* virtualV draws the ōolor line. It says to the Hawaiian boy, *Vo\4 shall

' fromlhe mftinUnd." as to q^pr 4 race ; sex ōr I tude! The only qualification £hat la reC[uired b thftt baiit aliaHhe a bon& flde me<oiftnio able tq do &o workjja|^H and iiiteaitJoaals misleadmg. lt is ueeleeia to dS§wuse p that f<)lIow, for tii§y have disproy|d by %e argiimente previousJy &dvaaced., every tfcftJL&e makesis untrue aad cai> true. T?h§ whole axticle forigLg a a|i4 iiaek upon .preaiiized l&bor, close to th&^B ceAyo tftqHawai}an3 auoH hatred. The |act that our tJmons have aheady, tal>cmiu pbere on aiī loo%ig_notonty guese, Ōhinese and Filijphio9 ou£ht to prove to the that tlie purpose of organiaiing the Unione is to promo3H mony and fellowship ainong the workerß, and to |man tliat labors tlje futt,bensfit of Kia Jabor, well as iIH jayment of those constitutiofial rishte of frē© speech iassociatiou whieh are the pricelesss of true ,4emocracy, &n d whieh the little 'group ofwillful men, |ing no opinion but their own' who /lile. these Islanda hav&|H .tofore deniedhim. J|H I Ia closing I wish to eall your attention to a ,the Survey of Amerxcan Indtmtrial Relatioris, by Basil m3M ley 7 Joint Chairman National War Labor Board. If iwou!d read £he authoritative artiftlfe appearing in th|9 lmost periodicals and magazinep it might at least show hijjH far behiiid the times he and his little group of mediaeval gH aiee have lagged. Of course it could not chapge his opiniraH fehe re&eiioiiftry a«d pemicious tone 4f hi§ but it might show him the danger of Jattemp,tipg to ait safety valve of a boiler, or playirig tdth fire in a magazine3| with dynamite and T.N.T. JH The quotation is as follows: J *American labor is more consciouß ever before|H power and its rights; It will demand thē aboīition of age-o J juatices. Labor haa been in the harness for untotd centuriea hamess haa become heavy and gattieg;, but tabor does not ask that it be lightened, or the share of oats enl? Labor now demands the right to climb inio tbe driver's sea, help control the maphinery whieh driyes ths lumbering c| of modera industry!" G. O. HILTO Laborers' Cases " • " - - 4 "- ' ' I i'ilipinoa to Hawau never coul4 be to make a pe>rmanent residence. One pf the many \ reasons for this is the fact that cpnditions pf living here ant treatment given them by their employers, especially the plai who recruited them from oui; country, are not #atisfactory n oomplyin£ with the contract. The £pecifie undersandings ' the cōntract provides for are that be furni good houeee, medical att®ndance (in case free i and water; but we are not afraid to say that t|xe houses» fumii to the Filipino laborera are too poqr in eoinpanaon with tha other nationalities. A room of about 10.x 12 6ccupied by t peraons, if a thorough investigation should b& condueted, w< be found in several plantations. Caees of QUs kind FUipino ; orers are §lways the viotims. From such circumstances oni , could judge tibat Filipino laboresrs are not treated accordii| With regard to medical attendance ae one of the provisionj the said contract, some individual piantations arebeyon4 iU| ecution. We know it becaujbe we possgss spme f§cts. Concerj . fu<ss, some plantations do furnish it a64.sQme r 4o not. Those, nishin#āt freely to the laborers are furniehing it in iogs or trqj In this casje a poor laborer after commg frqm .work, if he wj fuels, must use an ajce so that he wyjbe. abje t*>,usqit in cut some gmall pieces from the log or tnmk. It must be caref) ao.ted by our readers that to play the game with; an axe in cutt j a big lqg is a mighty hard game whereby a laborer or any per must use a certain length of time fuel fpr you. 1 case is abest reason why the laborers wdrkmgior the plantatl mu»t demand for shorter working hours o|. tiie Laboi must an hour or sofor himself in cjleaning his dw iag if he is so wishes to have a sanitāry condi.tion of living. E woul4 it be right that such time be d©ducted from their rest or from the long houjre they are a!lowed to work in a 3 w|ienby means of the long,working hours the capitalists are nJ mgjprqf*ts more than they ought to? The full privilege in | |Swering lhis question we ,give to the pknters. Regarding we| } aupply, laborers havo abundant of.it, but it is a pity to say U| | some of the plantations are always at the met~cy qf the rain. Tl| | adopt methods that are worth inentioning. They believe in p| I pafednesß, for in some c<|mps big waiee tanks. are installed I aect©d tp the £umes running aroun,d ine eaves of the houses in |Which, if it rains, runs the water that $*ash th.e roofs—into 1 j tanks. What of water is thisj Jt is up to the planters aj | to say whether such water is used for drinking. | Fihpmoß have nothing to say against the law of the Teii j tory. Ia fact we are contented with the statutes here. The reasj jior this is that we have been and are always & law-abiding peop we are against tiie practices of the planters toward tlie mi |Jfeatment arvd unfairness that they are eonducting he Filipll jiabqrea#», v If some of the plantations cquld not do any better |tr©ating tibe Filipino laborers as well as othef i |oould no reason why should e&gage Foipino !j-Work 6hem. In fact, ne&rly every Filipino immsgrated to tl aie victims of missepreeentation. Aside from wh ,the pjvvides for, the subordinates of the agonts in t for the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Aseoci&tion of Ii j waii, aa is always their sch«mes, must tell firs| to their eai j famous propaganda that is "living here» in Hawaii is v€ elieap, that houses to be furnished them are goqd," "that t 4 p]anters §hould be always at their aids, M "that work in t plantations is not hard," "that it would be to save monej Vy hich make them suooessful in eonv inchig Filipm^ s Tnrougli these influences even Filipinos of gix>d $tandiE I bound tq eome and ehanee to. see th® Pamdise of Uio Paeil l If there are some more reasonable »Wnarwl}> that , oould ask from eanployers whieh is ]ust and gound they aro we have menUgned herein. Above all it is to the j Uie eommunity that laborer iu tiiis Temt<3iy myst- be lcoUd a fon not as slam but as good citimis as as thc«e thai ivsai ineana regāMloss of creed, or st4adii\g in whAU*s respect for through Uiis we diff<wfuv.s ?° betwe» j