The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-01-12
JAVA SUGAR Industry
INTERVIEW WITH 4 PROMINENT
PLANTER NOW IN HONOLULU.
Labor Can Be Secured for $500
Month-The Output of Sugar-How
the Natives Live.

IN JOana, reSluency OF Japara, Java, Is |
at the Hawaiian hotel. lie arrived |
from the East on the Rio Janeiro o.
Sunday and intends leaving for Amer
lea by the Australia tomorrow. From
America he will go direct to his ma
tive country, Holland, IN his annual
visit to his people.
'This is my first trip TO Hawaii
said he last evening in The parlor of
the hotel. 81 was attracted 10 this
country by a number of thinps. Chief
among these was the sugar industry.
The progress made by the planters in
this line has been remarkable. | am
told, and / wanted to get glimpse OF
Hawaiian Sugar plantation for that
reason"
Mr.. van Vloten passed the day al
Eva, where he was shown everything
there is to be seen, by Manager Low
rie. The mills have just been started
up slowly and will be running in full
blast before the week expires.
"You ask that l tell you something
about the sugar industry in Java. Ii
1890 there was raised on that island
alone 443,436 tons of sugar. During
the season of 1894 the output was $780,,
403 tons. There is very little increase
in the output of 1895 and 1896. OF the
total amount of sugar raised there are
some $4,000 tons of sugar which are
consumed on the island annually. Be-
fore Australia started in to raise sugar
we had good market there. But now
we are obliged to ship to America,
England, Germany and Hongkong,
| "The conditions are all against the
sugar planter in Java. Instead of re-
ceiving a premium from the Govern
ment we are Obliged to pay an export
duty on sugar amounting to S1.50 y
ton. One of the extreme difficulties is
the matter of lands. 1t is impossible
to come into possession of lands on
Java for the reason that one of the
iron-clad laws of the country is that
they must remain in the hands OF the
natives. We are forced to lease the
lands from the natives. The life of
these leases are most generally one
year, although in few instances they
have been made for eighteen months.
Although a planter is certain to be
given possession of the land until he
has secured his crop, it is not posi-
| 4, Il
getting another lease on the same land
for second crop. This uncertainty
of securing soil has made it very un-
profitable propositions for planters to
improve soil on which they have a
short lived lease for sugar culture.
Java has now reached it's highest
limit in sugar raising. The lands that
cannot be used for rice fields are not
suitable for sugar plantations. Rice
and sugar are being raised on the
same lands all throughout Java. All
the soil in Java suitable for these pur-
poses is now being cultivated. There
lis an abundance of land on the other
islands of the Netherlands Indian
group, of which Java is a member,
which will undoubtedly be used with
good results as soon as the inhabitants
can be civilized. 1 speak of Borneo
| (of course you have heard of the wild
man from Borneo before) Sumatra,
Celebes and others. On Java all of the
sugar planters are Dutch people.
There are over 200 mills and sugar is
raised and made almost as cheap as
any place in the world, notwithstand-
ing the leasing of lands and Govern
ment export duty"
"Then your labor must be cheap?''
was asked of Mr.. Won Vloten.
"That's just it. We employ the ma
tives and find that they are perfectly
contented to labor in the fields for
three gold dollars a month and find
themselves besides. As they live on
nothing else but rice and small fish
they are enabled to lay aside a good
portion of their months wages. The
rice they grow on their own lands and
the fish are caught in the sea or the
streams flowing through the island
They are good workers in the sugar
fields, but upon experiment we find
that they are not as rapid workers as
the japanese. Two japanese can dc
work on the sugar plantation that II
would take three Javanese to do. A
good point in favor of the natives is
|, that there is never mutiny in then
camp. They are in total ignorance OF
what a riot or strike means, for such G
thing has never been known to exist
in the tribe. AS long as they received
wages which are something similar to