# 1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Hawaii

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HAWAII (see 13.83). In 1920 the pop., exclusive of military and naval forces, was 255,912, an increase of 64,003, or 33.4%, over that of 1910. It was distributed by race as follows: Hawaiian, 23,723; part-Hawaiian, 18,027; Portuguese, 27,002; Porto Rican, 5,602; Spanish, 2,430; other Caucasian, mostly American, 19,708; Japanese, 109,274; Chinese, 23,507; Filipino, 21,031; Korean, 4,950; Negro, 348; all others, 310. The distribution by islands was as follows: Oahu, 123,496; Hawaii, 64,895; Maui, 36,080; Kauai, 29,247; Molokai, 1,784; Niihau, 191; Lanai, 185; Midway, 31; Kahoolawe, 3. The pop. of Honolulu, the capital, was 83,327, an increase of 59.7% over that of 1910. That of the second city in size, Hilo, was 10,431.
Males numbered 151,146, or 59.1%, and females 104,766, or 40.9%, the corresponding percentages in 1910 being 64.1 and 35.9. The excess of males is chiefly among adults, but since the cessation of Japanese, Chinese and Korean labour immigration there has been a constant tendency towards normal sex and age ratios. The Hawaiians continue to decrease, but at a diminishing rate. The decrease for 1910-20 was 2,318, or 8.9%, as compared with a decrease of 3,746, or 12.58%, for 1900-10. The part-Hawaiians, however, are increasing more rapidly than the Hawaiians are decreasing. Their increase for the last decade was 5,521, or 44.15%, and for the preceding decade, 4,658, or 59.35%. The death-rate of Hawaiians and the birth-rate of part-Hawaiians are the greatest among all races. The Hawaiians apparently are destined to disappear through intermarriage with other races rather than by deaths. They intermarry chiefly with Caucasians and Chinese. Each of these crosses, especially the latter, produces a good stock. The Japanese and Koreans are the extremists in preserving racial solidarity.
Immigration has been occasioned chiefly by the rapid growth of industries since 1875. Much of it has been of assisted Latin and Oriental unskilled labourers. Many of these, under improved
conditions, become sooner or later skilled labourers, and their children, with the advantages of education, seldom engage as unskilled labourers. Hence the constant need of replenishing the supply. The last immigration assisted by the Government was in 1906-12, and consisted of 5,288 Spanish, 4,962 Portuguese and 2,056 Russians. Since then the only assisted immigration has been of Filipinos, introduced by the sugar producers. The number of these in the territory increased from 2,318 in 1910 to 21,031 in 1920. The increase in population, apart from this assisted Filipino immigration and a small but steady unassisted Anglo-Saxon immigration, is now mainly through births. There has been some emigration of Portuguese, Spanish, Filipinos, Russians and Japanese to California.
Chinese immigration, restricted previously, has been prohibited since 1898; the Chinese decreased from 25,762 in 1900 to 21,674 in 1910, but increased to 23,507 in 1920, indicating that this race has now established itself on a basis of natural increase, notwithstanding the abnormally small number of Chinese women and the tendency of Chinese men to intermarry with Hawaiian women. Japanese arrivals have exceeded departures since the “gentlemen's agreement” of 1907 between the United States and Japan, but the arrivals have been in large part women unknown to their future husbands, the so-called “picture brides,” and not only has the largest increase in any race in recent years been of Japanese through births, but this race now constitutes by far the largest element in the population. Their increase in 1910-20 was 29,599, or 37.15%, as compared with 18,559, or 30.37%, for the preceding decade. For the year ended June 30 1920 Japanese births numbered 4,963, and deaths 1,596, as compared with 5,202 births and 2,968 deaths for all other races. The rapid increase in the number of Japanese who are native born and therefore American citizens presents the most important problem for the future. Comparatively few of these have yet arrived at voting age. The increase in Portuguese was 4,701 for the last decade and 6,628 for the preceding decade. The increase in Caucasians other than Latins, and exclusive of military and naval forces, was 4,841 for 1910-20 and 4,290 for 1900-10. These were mainly Americans, but with a considerable British element, and in 1921 they constituted the dominant element in the social and industrial life of Hawaii.
Industries and Commerce.—The remarkable prosperity which Hawaii enjoyed previous to 1910 continued during the decade 1910-20. The number of banks increased from 11 in 1910 to 26 in 1920, and their deposits from $13,324,305.54 to $52,783,114.04. The assessed value of taxable property increased from $150,268,467 to $287,006,792; exports increased from $47,029,631 to $145,831,074, and imports from $26,152,435 to $68,876,094. Trade is chiefly with the mainland of the United States, $142,246,003 of the exports, and $59,261,621 of the imports in 1920; while $3,585,071 of the exports and $9,614,473 of the imports were with foreign countries. The exports named in order of value comprised sugar, $118,998,848, canned pineapples, $18,869,449, fruits and nuts, coffee, molasses, hides, canned fish, rice, honey, wood, sisal and tallow. The imports from the United States comprised a wide range of articles while those from foreign countries were in large part food supplies from Japan, bags from India and nitrates from Chile. The sugar industry continues to be by far the largest. It grew rapidly until 1911, but since then comparatively little land has been available for further expansion. The largest crop, that of the crop year ending Sept. 30, 1915, amounted to 646,445 short tons. This industry is conducted mostly on a large scale by corporations, which own the mills and raise on land owned or leased by them most of the cane they grind. The capital stock is widely distributed. The yield per acre is larger than in any other country, about five tons of sugar per acre on the average, the irrigated land yielding about 70% more per acre than the unirrigated. On some fields a new variety of cane is yielding 12½ tons of sugar per acre. About half the acreage is irrigated by conduits from mountain streams, storage reservoirs and pumping from artesian and surface wells. The most recently constructed large irrigated project, completed in 1916, consists of about 25 m. of concrete-lined tunnels and ditches and steel pipe 6 ft. in diameter, the longest tunnel extending 2.76 m., for conducting water from the rainy windward to the arid leeward side of the island of Oahu. The employees, of many nationalities, on the sugar plantations number about 45,000. These, besides receiving house, fuel, water and medical attendance free, are paid a monthly basic wage and a bonus which varies with the price of sugar. In 1920 the minimum monthly basic wage—that is, for the lowest class of labour—was $20, and the bonus, extraordinarily large, was 276% of the wages. For 1921 the minimum monthly basic wage was $30. Much has been done to improve the living conditions of employees by replacing tenements with cottages and garden space, providing hospitals, entertainment halls and motion-pictures, playgrounds, kindergartens, social-service workers, and by improving sanitary conditions generally.
The canned pineapple industry has had a remarkable growth. It is an industry of the present century. During the first decade the pack increased from practically nothing to 544,968 cases per year, while during the second decade it increased to 5,978,064 cases, or 143,473,536 two-pound cans, valued at approximately $31,000,000, for 1920. One of the factories is the largest fruit cannery in the world and has attained a maximum output of 777,371 cans in a day. About 46,000 ac. of land are devoted to this industry.
While Hawaii exports and imports more of what it produces and consumes than most other countries, there is nevertheless considerable farming for subsistence, and several industries, such as the livestock and fishing industries, figure largely in local trade. Much has been done since 1895 to promote homesteading of public lands, but with small success. During 1910-20 2,650 homesteads were taken up, covering an area of about 55,000 ac., at prices aggregating about $1,500,000, which was probably about a third of the actual value. The most striking feature in Hawaii's industries as well as that which has contributed most to their success, is the extent to which science is applied, not only by the individual industrial concerns but also through such more general agencies as the sugar planters' association's experiment station, the university of Hawaii, the territorial bureau of agriculture and forestry and the U.S. experiment station.
Although Hawaii is essentially an agricultural country, the principal agricultural industries are such as require much manufacturing, not only directly, as in sugar, rice and coffee in mills and fruit and fish in canneries, but also indirectly, as in iron and fertilizer works and can factories of large size. The ironworks, while doing much work of other kinds, such as marine-engine and drydock work, have specialized in sugar-milling machinery to such an extent and with such proficiency that they receive orders from many countries and have established branch offices or works in several other countries. The principal can factory has a capacity of 100,000 cans an hour. There are many other kinds of manufacturing but on a small scale. Strikes have seldom occurred in Hawaii, but in 1909 and again in 1920 about 7,000 Japanese labourers struck, unsuccessfully, on the sugar plantations of the island of Oahu. Unionism has obtained little foothold. There is a growing tendency toward welfare legislation affecting labour. In 1913 a Compulsory Workmen's Compensation Act was passed and a public utilities commission was created. The railways were already under the Interstate Commerce Commission, and in 1920 by Act of Congress the telephone, telegraph and wireless utilities were brought under it.
Communications.—The rapid growth of commerce on the Pacific, due to general causes as well as to the opening of the Panama Canal, called for the formulation and execution of a comprehensive plan, involving an expenditure of many millions of dollars, for the development of shipping facilities at this commercial cross-roads. To this end much has been accomplished since 1905 by the Federal and territorial Governments and private enterprise. Among other things, the harbours at Hilo on the island of Hawaii and at Kahului on the island of Maui have been developed by the construction of breakwaters and wharves and by dredging, and similar work is in progress at Nawiliwili, on the island of Kaui. At Honolulu the harbour was deepened and widened, and in 1921 was being extended at one end, while near the other end a smaller harbour is being made for small vessels. At Honolulu there were in 1920 two floating drydocks, two automatic coal-handling plants and the oil-storage tanks of three companies, connected with the wharves by pipe lines and electrical freight-handling apparatus. Practically all the new wharves are of concrete. From 1910 to 1920 the arrivals and departures of deep-sea vessels, mainly steamships, but exclusive of numerous naval vessels, army transports and coal-bunker vessels, increased from 864 to 1,069, and their tonnage from 2,601,676 to 5,430,976. A fleet of 12 steamers is engaged exclusively in inter-island traffic. There are approximately 350 m. of steam railways on the four principal islands, besides about 625 m. of private railways on sugar plantations. Road construction has proceeded rapidly for some years. Much of it is of concrete. Hawaii was the first country to establish wireless communication for commercial purposes. Besides a cable there are four powerful wireless plants for trans-oceanic communication, and smaller stations for communication between the islands and with ships at sea. The five larger islands are well covered with efficient telephone systems.
Administration.—In 1913 the territorial Legislature provided for open direct primaries in territorial and county elections. In 1918 Congress authorized the territorial Legislature to provide for woman suffrage, but before the Legislature acted this was brought about in 1920 by the 19th Amendment to the Federal Constitution. At the ensuing election many women failed to register. The total registration was 26,366, of whom 17,084 were men and 9,282 women. By races the registered voters comprised 11,219 Hawaiians, 3,460 part-Hawaiians, 5,336 Americans, 3,091 Portuguese, 1,142 Chinese, 658 Japanese and 1,460 others, largely British. The first territorial Legislature was controlled by the Home Rule party, whose slogan was “Hawaii for the Hawaiians,” but since then the voters have been divided mainly, and in late years entirely, between the Republican and Democratic parties, with the Republicans in the majority.
Finance.—The bonded debt of the territory was in 1920 $12,374,000, bearing rates of interest from 3½ to 4½%. Most of this has been incurred during 1910-20 for public improvements, chiefly wharves, roads, school-houses, and public buildings. Much current revenue also is expended on public improvements. The counties have no bonded debt except that the city and county of Honolulu issued small amounts of district improvement bonds payable in instalments by assessments on the property benefited, but $3,756,747.39 of the territorial bonded debt has been incurred for county improvements, for which the counties reimburse the territory in interest and sinking funds. The total revenue of the territory and counties for the year
ended June 30 1920 was $9,902,032.25 of which $4,845,416.29 went to the territory and $5,056,618.96 to the counties, as compared with $2,621,758.01 and $1,394,693.29 respectively for 1910.
Education.—The recent changes include the introduction of kindergartens in the public-school system, the enlargement of the college of agriculture and mechanic arts into a university, to which has been transferred the aquarium and the marine biological laboratory connected therewith, the establishment of a trade school and schools for the physically defective and the feeble-minded, the multiplication of high schools and the extension of physical education, music, industrial training and home-making in the primary and secondary schools. Medical inspection of school children is regularly made, and a dental infirmary for them has been provided for by private gift. Between 1905 and 1920 many large concrete school uildings were erected. Public-school buildings furnish community centres, and they and their grounds are used in evenings by private organizations for educational moving-pictures, mass singing, short talks and other special features. Perhaps the most striking feature in Hawaiian education is the diversity of races and racial mixtures, sometimes 40 to 50 in a single school, and the absence of racial feeling. The number of pupils increased from 25,537 in 1910 to 45,701 in 1920, of whom 38,295 were in the public schools and 7,406 in private schools. Noteworthy, too, is the increase of Japanese pupils in the public schools from 6,393 in 1910 to 17,541 in 1920. For some years the Japanese have maintained through the territory so-called Japanese language schools, which their children attended before or after the public-school hours, and at which were taught not only the Japanese language but also Japanese history, institutions, ideals and loyalty in spite of the fact that most of these children were American citizens by birth. In 1920 the problem was settled by the passage of a law, acceptable to the Japanese, subjecting all such schools to the supervision of the department of public instruction, limiting them to one hour in the afternoon, six days a week, and requiring the teachers to pass satisfactory tests in the English language, American history and institutions and the ideals of democracy, and to use only such text-books and give only such courses as should be approved by the department. In 1912 a territorial library was opened in a handsome building in Honolulu's civic centre. It now has nearly 50,000 volumes, a trained corps of librarians, and 232 stations throughout the territory which it supplies through “travelling libraries.”
Charities.—Of all the departments of the territorial Government, none, except that of education, is of wider scope or expends more out of current revenues than that of public health. An unusual feature is the employment or subsidizing of physicians, so that all, however indigent or remote from centres of population, may have proper medical attendance. The principal territorial institution under this department is the leper settlement on the island of Molokai, with its auxiliary the leper hospital in Honolulu. Formerly emphasis was laid on isolation, with the result that the inmates of these institutions were regarded as outcasts and, although at one time they numbered over 1,200, it was so difficult to enforce the law that many remained at large and little progress was made in the eradication of the disease. In 1909 the policy was changed so as to lay emphasis on treatment, with the result that the lepers freely surrendered themselves, and the number of inmates, which at first increased, was reduced to 662 by 1920, and there were comparatively few lepers at large.
History.—During 1910-20 Hawaii grew in importance as the commercial cross-roads of the Pacific, as the military and naval outpost of the Pacific coast of the United States, which has called for an expenditure of vast sums on the great naval station at Pearl Harbor and the numerous forts and military posts on Oahu I., and as the friendly meeting place of East and West. In 1917 there was incorporated in Hawaii as the Pan-Pacific Union what had for some years previously been known as the Hands-around-the-Pacific Club, the objects of which were not only to cultivate further the spirit of interracial brotherhood which had already become a notable feature in Hawaii, but also to foster a similar spirit among all the peoples of the Pacific and promote cooperation among them for their common welfare. In 1920 it inaugurated a series of Pan-Pacific conferences to be held at Honolulu, the first of which was a scientific conference held in Aug. 1920, and the second of which, an educational conference, was set for Aug. 1921. While Hawaii was called on heavily and responded beyond her quota for men and money for the World War, she continued to enjoy great prosperity owing to the demand for her products. In 1909 President Roosevelt, in order to prevent poaching by Japanese feather exploiters, set aside as a bird reservation the chain of small islands extending for 1,200 m. to the N.W. of the larger islands, excepting Midway I., on which there is a cable station. This is the largest and most populous bird colony in the world.
In 1916 Congress reserved as a national park the active
volcanoes, Kilauea and Mauna Loa, on the island of Hawaii, and the great extinct crater, Haleakala, on the island of Maui, with their surrounding regions. The healthy climate and beautiful scenery are attracting tourists in numbers beyond the capacity of steamships to bring them and are making the tourist business one of great importance. In 1920 the centenary of the arrival of the missionaries was celebrated on a grand scale, reviewing a century of what has been called a great history in miniature. The governors of Hawaii between 1907 and 1921 were:—W. F. Frear, 1907-13; L. E. Pinkham, 1913-8; and C. J. McCarthy, 1918.
Authorities.—Consult, in addition to the list in 13.93, Preliminary Catalogue of Hawaiiana, (the most complete bibliography, 1916); The Centennial Book 1820-1920, (by 16 authors, 1920); H. H. Gowen, The Napoleon of the Pacific (1919); O. H. and A. E. C. Gulick, The Pilgrims of Hawaii (1918); W. R. Castle, Jr., Hawaii Past and Present (1916); N. B. Emerson, Unwritten Literature of Hawaii (1909); C. W. Baldwin, Geography of the Hawaiian Islands (1908); W. A. Bryan, Natural History of Hawaii (with bibliography, 1915); W. T. Brigham, The Volcanoes of Kilauea and Maunaloa (1909); J. F. Rock, The Indigenous Trees of the Hawaiian Islands (1913); The Ornamental Trees of Hawaii (1917); D. S. Jordan and B. W. Evermann, The Aquatic Resources of the Hawaiian Islands (3 vols., 1905); A Survey of Education in Hawaii, made under the direction of the U.S. Commissioner of Education (1920); Reports of the U.S. Commissioner of Labor on Hawaii (1901-3-6-11-16); Men of Hawaii, compiled by Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Ltd. (1917, revised edition in prep. 1921); miscellaneous publications of Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum of Polynesian Ethnology and Natural History. For current history and statistics, see particularly annual reports of the governor of Hawaii and Thrum's Hawaiian Annual.
(W. F. F.)