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Show Hawaii Seeks Admission to Sisterhood of States By WILLIAM C. UTLEY NOW just what would you do with another star In the American flag? Forty-eight is a nice, even number, all full of multiples; 4S white stars look mighty pleasing and regular, placed on their field of blue In a rectangle of six rows down and eight across, as you find them on Old Glory today.' But how would you arrange 49? Seven rows of seven each? Not so good, a square on a rectangular background. What, then? What did we do when there were only 46? Not In 23 years has there been a change in the number or the arrangement ar-rangement of the stars In the American Amer-ican Hag. The last was when Arizona Ari-zona was admitted as the forty-eighth forty-eighth state of the Union, completely com-pletely solidifying our western frontier, as we thought at the time. But If there Is to he a forty-ninth star. It will undoubtedly stand for a far-flung outpost that may he the base of an altogether new frontier, fron-tier, pushed 2, (MX) miles Into the Pacific ocean. It will stand for the Hawaiian islands. The principal motive for the present pres-ent drive Uncle Sam's Island citizens citi-zens are making for statehood seems to be to escape from the effects ef-fects of the Jones-Oostigan bill on the Hawaiian sugar Industry. Of course, the Hawaiians have for years been certain in their own minds that their islands would some day be a state, but they have been more or less passive about It until the last two years. They feel dent Harrison, but the treaty was later withdrawn by President Cleveland. It was finally admitted by McKinley In 1S9S, and in 1900 a territorial government was set up with Dole as governor. The present pres-ent governor Is Joseph B. Poindex-ter, Poindex-ter, appointed by the President. The islands have little mineral wealth, so the principal industry is agriculture. The sugar crop Is annually an-nually worth more than $75,000,000 and the pineapples $35,000,000. Civilization has developed to a high degree. Steam railroads run on regular schedules on all the eight islands. There are streetcars in Honolulu. Schools are excellent; in fact, it was in Hawaiian schools that early California settlers sent their children to be educated. Education Ed-ucation Is conpulsory. The University Univer-sity of Hawaii compares with many on the mainland. Hawaii and Texas are the only parts of the United States that have come into the Union by annexation. an-nexation. No purchase or conquest was involved. Hawaii's people are of the feeling feel-ing today that their territory has grown to a point which justifies its statehood; Americans In the states are perhaps inclined to feel the islands so remote from them that they care little. Yet a woman has flown from Hawaii to California Cali-fornia In only a few hours; there Is even now regular air mail service between the states and the islands. Hawaiians point out that their population is double that of Texas when Texas entered the Union ; the I " ' S ' I yMIWlWIIMMMMmMWllMMIllllMg' 3 1 '2 f ;p I v i,- V FJ if" eU : Cfhki? , f fef If1? Vn? General View of Honolulu, With Inset of the Territorial Capitol and a Hula-Hula Dancer. that this bill Increases American purchases of sugar from Cuba at the expense of Hawaii. The law could hardly have been passed were Hawaii a state. With virtually every Inhabitant of the Pacific paradise cheering for him, Samuel Wilder King, the island is-land delegate to congress, has introduced in-troduced a bill In the present session ses-sion petitioning that body of very busy ladies and gentlemen to let the people of Hawaii organize a state government. An Interesting State. And what an Interesting state Hawaii would be! It would be the only state where pineapple Is one of the principal products; the only state with an active volcano; the only state with Its own, distinctive native race of people, and the only state Inaccessible by railroad or motor car. It boasts some of the most beautiful resorts in the whole world; and it has a leper colony; its government and customs are as American as a model-T Ford ; and more than a third of its population popu-lation is of Japanese descent. Land of the hula hula and the ukelele, Hawaii boasts also some fine schools and great industries. The islands, which stretch out for nearly 400 miles, 2,100 miles southwest of San Francisco, were discovered in 15-15 by a sailor named Juan Gaetano. They were promptly prompt-ly forgotten, but were rediscovered by Capt. James Cook in 177S. "The Hawaiian islands first became be-came united under one strong, central cen-tral government in 1795, when the native King Kamehameha conquered con-quered Maui and Oahu. John Jacob Astor visited the islands in the interest of trade in 1S11, and France, England and the United States traded considerably with the people of the islands during the following years. The predominating predominat-ing inlluence since that time has always been American. The last remains of the monarchy mon-archy were completely overthrown in 1S93, and the Hawaiians set up 8 provincial government with S. B. Dole as governor. Dole negotiated an annexation treaty with I'resi- states are apt to retort that some two-thirds of Hawaii's population is not of the white race, but one-third one-third of it is of Japanese descent. Since annexation Hawaii has paid approximately $175,000,000 into the federal treasury in taxes, customs receipts, and so on, on an average of $5,000,000 a year. For several years Hawaii has paid more than any one of 16 states, including Oregon and Alabama, which have three and seven times its population, popula-tion, respectively. Hawaii's trade relations with the mainland have Increased mightily since she became a territory. From quite modest beginnings the sum total of imports and exports rose to $207,000,000 in 192S; they maintained main-tained nearly as high a level even after the crash in 1932 they totaled to-taled $192,000,000. Hawaii has been but little affected affect-ed by the depression. It is one of the few places on earth where a man who wants work can get it overnigh t. Honolulu Is American. Honolulu, the capital city, Is truly American. It has compulsory education, like all the islands, and it has more endowed Institutions than any other city of its size In the United States. It has no billboards, bill-boards, and is un-American In that way ; it preferred to keep its roadsides road-sides beautiful instead of commercial. commer-cial. Hawaiians are interested in their government. The average vote In an average election is approximately approximate-ly SO per cent of the total registration, registra-tion, a record for the United States. The islands are governed by a senate sen-ate of 15 members elected for four-year four-year terms and a house of representatives repre-sentatives of 30 members, elected for two years. The governor serves a four-year term. For efficiency Honolulu city and county were combined under one civil government in 1909. The city proper is about the size of Albany, N. Y., Long Beach, Calif., or Norfolk, Nor-folk, Va,. but its government includes in-cludes an area of 2,200 miles, stretching from Midway Island to Palmyra Island. Centralization has been the trend of Hawaiian government all along. In the present session of the territorial ter-ritorial legislature serious consideration consid-eration is being given the proposa) for consolidation of the two legls latlve houses. Hawaiians are proud of their climate; cli-mate; It Is said that no temperature tempera-ture has been recorded below 56 or above SS In Honolulu. Even prouder proud-er are the Hawaiians of their pa. triotism. During the World war, Hawaii exceeded its quota on every f Liberty and Victory loan. Enlist- nients were so heavy that the territory was exempted from the first draft. Delay In realizing the dream of statehood was of little consequence to Hawaiians until the Jones-Costi-gan bill made them feel that they were being subjected to the whim and will of congress. Champions of statehood see the Increasing of the Cuban sugar quota at Hawaii's expense much as a Milwaukeeao might see a similar law restricting enormously the production of cheese in Wisconsin so that American purchases pur-chases of Holland cheese could be increased. Hawaii wants statehood for the protection of her agricultural agricul-tural interests, in which hundreds of millions of dollars are invested. Race Problem Misunderstood. Hawaiian citizens claim that mainlanders misunderstand her problem of races. Hawaii, they say. is not, as many persons in continental conti-nental United States believe, overrun over-run with alien orientals who are nonassimilable into western culture and modes of thought, and who-would, who-would, in the event of statehood, control the politics and government through a tendency to vote according accord-ing to racial blocs. There is fear sometimes expressed ex-pressed that in the event of wnr the Americans of alien descent in Hawaii would constitute an anti-American anti-American group in an American, community. Logically, the Hawaiians Ha-waiians claim, this criticism would hold as true of Hawaii the territory as of Hawaii the state-. There are-more are-more persons of Japanese descent than any other; Americans and other oth-er whites, Hawaians and part-Ha-waiians are about equal to each-other each-other in number. There is also a large number of Filipinos. Delegate King answered the racial ra-cial argument in a recent address as follows : "To those who are concerned: about our racial set-up, let me say that no unprejudiced person doubts for a moment the loyalty of our citizens of whatever ancestry, anymore any-more than one wojld doubt those in many communities on the mainland main-land that have as great a diversity of racial strains. In a population of over 3S0.OOO people, perhaps a third are aliens, ineligible to citizenship. citi-zenship. While an important ele-. ment industrially, this group does not participate in governmental affairs. af-fairs. The citizen group, about, two-thirds of the population, comprises com-prises in round numbers 50,000 ITu-waiians ITu-waiians and part Hawaiians. nearly as large a group of Anglo-Saxons., and a somewhat smaller number of Latins, in all about 150.000 of Caucasian Cau-casian and Polynesian peoples whose Americanism Is above question; ques-tion; and about 12O.000 citizens of Chinese and Japanese ancestry, concerning whose loyalty we of Y Hawaii have no doubt. The Chinese Chi-nese group came originally to Hawaii Ha-waii nearly sixty years ago. Its descendants de-scendants are now completely identified iden-tified with the country of their birth. The more numerous ami more recent citizens of Japanese ancestry, many of them still children, chil-dren, and all of them nocessarilv Hawalian-born to be able to qualify as citizens, are showing every Indication In-dication of their desire to be Americans Amer-icans In the fullest sense, and to one who has lived among them and 1 observed their progress in this ambition, am-bition, there can be no doubt as to their sincerity nor their capacity for citizenship." . Woatcru Newspaper L'nlo- |