The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1891-09-29
Sugar, Rice and Labor.

Mr.. EDITOR The production of sugar
is our great industry. But the peril of
country depending almost entirely upon
one resource is now illustrated. The
action of the United States has resulted
in reducing the price SO low that sugar
must cease to be profitable unless the
cost of production can be much de-
creased. The evil results are already
becoming visible. Business is depressed,
money hard to obtain because nearly
every class of security which the country
can furnish IS deprecated. There is
money, but those who have it are afraid
to invest. If we only had several great
industries, onel blow would not hurt us
80 much. Our next industry is the cult
walton of rice.
There is a cry on all sides for some
means to reduce the cost of raising
sugar. It must be reduced, there is no
doubt of that; but how? No doubt the
price of low class labor must be very
materially reduced. This labor enters
into the cost of producing sugar to very
high per cent. While we pay over 500
per month for most of our field labor,
other great sugar-producing countries
pay from Sd upward. We cannot COM
pete with that. There has been a good
deal of talk about cutting down the cost
OF material. Among other things, it has
been proposed to reduce the cost OF rice.
How? By removing the duty which now
protects our rice industry, the result of
which will be to let in an endless supply
from Japan and China. The effect will
be to make rice q cent and half lower.
An average price of rice to the consumer
for, say ten years past, has been some
thing less than Az cents per pound. 1t
has been higher, and little lower.
Reduce the price to or 81 cents, and
important results follow. The laborer
on the sugar plantation uses from one to
one and half pounds of rice a day. It
will reduce the cost of food for that
laborer say three cents day or dollar
a month. A large plantation will save
from $500 to $3.50 month, or from $4,000
to $4,000 year. It looks considerable.
It looks as if something ought to be
done. But let us see-saving one
dollar month out of twenty dollars as a
cost to the plantation of a laborer's
wages and feed is not much of step on
the road to get down to ten dollars or
less per month, and is it worth the cost
"Cost?" What cost? some one says.
The cost, is the ruin of our second great
industry. The ruin of the rice industry
viii hit great many people. First and
foremost, the common native kuleana-
holder will be Frustrated. To-day he
gets very high rental for his land. He
gets from twenty to fifty dollars an acre
for his little holding every year, and it
means to him the difference between
want and comparative comfort, for his
wants are few. 1t means the loss of
revenue to the owner of larger tracts of
land, and that class is large one. It
means very serious loss of income to
the Government, for in many parts of
the rice-producing areas of the country
the tax amounts to 81 per acre. besides
the tax on mills, outfit and other para
phernalia of rice plantation, and the
large personal tax of the many laborers
It means loss of business for our lumber
merchants, some mechanics and traders,
for the wants of a rice plantation are not
altogether supplied by the Chinese
grocer. 1t means all this, because
if rice goes down to much below four
cents the industry will perish. The
margin of profit, after paying rents and
the cost OF production, is very small, and
none but the Chinese, with their econo-
mical living can make it pay now. Even
they cannot, if the land is not rich and
the season good average. The ruin of
our second great industry is large price
to pay for reducing the cost of producing
sugar so very little, Mr.. Editor, and a
halt should ne called before the step is
taken.
w. r. CASTLE.