The foreign population is 5,366,
and it is INCREASING at the rate of 200 a year; and the number of
half-castes of all nations has INCREASED at the rate of 140 a year.
The Chinese, who came here originally as plantation coolies,
outnumber all the other nationalities together, excluding the
Americans; but the Americans constitute the ruling and the monied
class. Sugar is the reigning interest on the islands, and it is
almost entirely in American hands. It is burdened here by the
difficulty of procuring labour, and at San Francisco by a heavy
import duty. There are thirty-five plantations on the islands, and
there is room for fifty more. The profit, as it is, is hardly worth
mentioning, and few of the planters do more than keep their heads
above water. Plantations which cost $50,000 have been sold for
$15,000; and others, which cost $150,000 have been sold for $40,000.
If the islands were annexed, and the duty taken off, many of these
struggling planters would clear $50,000 a year and upwards. So, no
wonder that Mr. Phillips's lecture was received with enthusiastic
plaudits. It focussed all the clamour I have heard on Hawaii and
elsewhere, exalted the "almighty dollar," and was savoury with the
odour of coming prosperity.
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