 It's time for the Lawn Jean Chronoscope, a television journal of the important issues of the hour, brought to you every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, a presentation of the Lawn Jean Wittner Watch Company, maker of Lawn Jean, the world's most honored watch, and Wittner, distinguished companion to the world-honored Lawn Jean. Good evening. This is Frank Knight. May I introduce our co-editors for this edition of the Lawn Jean Chronoscope? From the CBS television news staff, Larry LeSir and Winston Bridette, our distinguished guest for this evening is the honorable Joseph R. Farrington, Congressional delegate from Hawaii. Mr. Farrington, this is a great time of the year here on the mainland to be talking about sunny Hawaii, but I wonder if you, as the Congressional delegate from Hawaii, would refresh our memories a bit about what you refer to as the paradise of the Pacific. Hawaii is situated about 2,400 miles southwest of San Francisco. It is just inside of the tropics, and in the pathway of the trade winds, and that explains the very beautiful climate that we enjoy in Hawaii. In land area, it has something over 6,000 square miles. That's about equal to Connecticut and Rhode Island. And it consists of eight main islands, which are spread over a distance of about 350 miles. The islands are geologically rather new. They're volcanic origin, and because of relatively speaking recent origin, we don't have any minerals. We just have a very fertile soil and a very fine climate as a two great resources. Well, Mr. Farrington, what is the present status of the Hawaiian statehood bill, and what are its prospects at this session of Congress, would you say? The bill to admit Hawaii to a union as a state was passed by the House in the last session, and is now pending before the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. The latter committee began hearings last May and continued them through the summer and concluded them only last Friday. The committee, incidentally, was to meet this morning, but there was a heavy snowfall in Washington, and so they postponed the meeting to tomorrow morning, and at that time, they will determine just what the procedure will be. This is the time of decision on the Hawaiian statehood legislation. Well, do you think it's possible that Hawaii may become a state during this next second session of 83rd Congress? I hope that it becomes a state, and I think the prospects for winning statehood are far better than ever before. In fact, they're very good. The President, you'll recall, in the State of the Union message, asked for the enactment of the Hawaiian statehood bill, and the leadership of the Senate has placed it among the first three measures to be considered. Mr. Farrington, I ask, would there be any advantages to us in the United States, or to Hawaii itself, if you did become a state? The advantages to the United States are very, very marked, in my opinion. It will bring the people of Hawaii much closer to the people of the States, and will constitute the final step in the integration of the life of what is really our Western outpost with the rest of the country. We're closely integrated economically, spiritually, so to speak, and in every way, except politically. This is the final step. It will enhance our position from a defense standpoint, because it will give notice to the people of the world, and particularly to the Pacific, that the United States is not retreating beyond Hawaii. May I ask, is Hawaii defensible? We all remember Pearl Harbor, of course. I don't think there's any question about that. And I think that we're coming back to the thinking that existed prior to the war that there is a primary base. We have, of course, a perimeter of defense outposts far ahead in the Pacific, as everyone knows, but that hasn't at all weakened the importance of Hawaiian. On the contrary, it strengthened it. That was very well demonstrated during the Korean conflict, when the necessity of keeping the sea and airlines open between the States and Korea. Well, Mr. Farron, would statehood for Hawaii enhance our political position in Asia? I don't think there's any question about it, and that offers one of the greatest reasons for the admission of Hawaii to the Union as a state. The people of Hawaii are, for the most part, American citizens. I think today that probably less than 10% of them are aliens. But they're American citizens whose parents came there in large part from the Far East. There are more people in Hawaii of Japanese origin, Chinese origin, Filipino origin, and Korean origin than the rest of the country combined. And they have been united in the American tradition and intensely loyal to this country. And their parents and relatives in their home countries are watching to see whether the United States will fulfill the promise of statehood in order to... That would give them the same status of every other American. Mr. Farrington, do you think the people of Hawaii would be greatly disappointed if they were not to get statehood at this time? And would that have political effects? If I may say so, might they go democratic? There's no question that they would be very greatly disappointed. Being a Republican, I trust that they won't turn to the Democratic Party by way of expressing their disappointment. I think that you can't, you're not likely to expect any immediate ill effects of the failure of that statehood legislation. But in the long run it will do an irreparable amount of damage to one of the great experiments in American democracy. Because the only alternative to statehood for Hawaii is colonialism. And we know from the record of recent years that ultimately colonialism holds the seeds of its own destruction. Mr. Farrington, how do the people of Hawaii feel right now about the prospects for statehood? Are they pessimistic or optimistic after the long history of the campaign for it? I think they are. They're very hopeful, but underlying that is an element of skepticism. They're waiting very watchfully, so to speak. Mr. Farrington, there seems to be criticism from both sides of the political spectrum against Hawaiian statehood. And one of the criticisms that I've heard is that to make Hawaii into a state would be turning over too much control to the five great missionary families who founded it. Then there are other critics who contend that it might be giving control to the Longshoremen and Warehousemen's Union, which I believe was expelled from the CIO as read. That's right. Of course those two elements in the population represent the two extremes. The so-called big five, who are the factors that represent the basic agricultural industries, represent management, the leadership, incidentally the influences that have effectively developed the resources of the islands. On the other hand, the International Warehousemen's and Longshoremen's Union represent an extremely militant union and one whose leadership has been described as communist and whose leader, of course, hybridism has been tried on charges resulting out of his alleged communism. Well, Mr. Farrington, since the bulk of Hawaii's population is of mixed race, as I remember, wouldn't the senators and representatives who would represent Hawaii in our Congress reflect that mixed population? I think that's altogether possible, as that's what has happened in our legislature and in our government generally. For 20 years, for instance, Hawaii was represented by Prince Jonah Kohio Kalanianole, who was a Hawaiian prince. The present governor of the territory of Hawaii, Sammy Wilder King, is very proud of the fact that he is one-eighth Hawaiian, descended on the one side from a Scotch sea captain and on the other side from a family of Hawaiian chiefs. Mr. Farrington, you said earlier you were quite optimistic with regard to passage of the statehood bill at this session. What basis do you have for being especially optimistic this year? There are several reasons. One of them, and I'd say this is the primary reason, is that the administration and the leadership of Congress is strongly committed to the enactment of that legislation in this session of Congress. It was promised in the Republican and Democratic platforms of 1952. And another reason, board, is the rising tide of public sentiment in favor of statehood for Hawaii. The last Gallup poll, for instance, shows that 78% of the people of the country favor statehood for Hawaii. I think the force of public opinion will inevitably make Hawaii a state of the union. Well, Mr. Farrington, I'd like to bring up just another point regarding the objections to Hawaiian statehood, and that is that there is some fear in ourself that this might make precedence against segregation. Is that right? No, I don't think so. I think the attitude of the people of Hawaii towards race is in the traditional American pattern, as distinguished from that in those areas of the country where they do practice segregation. We do not have segregation in Hawaii. On the other hand, I want to say this, that we in Hawaii believe the problem of race should be dealt with on a local basis, and that the people of Hawaii should be allowed to work out their program themselves, and the other and the people in other parts of the country should do likewise. It's a problem that has got to be met by education and social adjustment rather than by law. We ask that our position be respected in that regard, and we respect the position of others also. Thank you very much, Mr. Farrington. It's a great pleasure to have you here in the studio tonight. The opinions that you've heard our speakers express tonight have been entirely their own. The editorial board for this edition of the Lawn Jean Chronoscope was Larry Lisser and Winston Burdette. Our distinguished guest was the Honorable Joseph R. Farrington, congressional delegate from Hawaii. A priceless attribute of every Lawn Jean watch is pride of possession. It brings to its owner the satisfaction of knowing that he owns the watch of highest prestige among the finest watches of the world. Yes, a Lawn Jean watch brings to its owner more than the delight of a beautiful possession, more than the unsurpassed timekeeping of a remarkable watch. 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