The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-10-06
THE FUTURE
OF SUGAR
Will Production Cost
Increase?
FIGURES ON THE SUBJECT
Opinions Of Dr.. Harvey Wiley, Chem
ist Of Department Of
Agriculture.

f. taken from a report on the industry
IN Hawaii written By Dr. Harvey
Wiley. Chemist Of the Department o.
Agriculture q the United States. and
published In q report on the Progress
OF the Beet Sugar Industry IN the
United States" by order Of Congress:
Unskiled labor performed o. the planta-
tens and In the mills In the production
OF sugar on the islands IL almost entirely
done ~ four classes. as follows. Porta-
gcsse. Japansse. natives and Chinese. The
cesirability Of these different nationalitiss
for work On plantations seems 70 run In
the order which / have named them II
AIN be seen from the tab5s on page Il
that this IL the order according 70 wages
paid I desire 20 discuss under this head
the prospect for future rise IN the
wages IL will be seen b. the tables on
page Ii that the greater portion Of these
lsoorers are Asiatics. there being many
more japanese than Chinese Almost all
Of the laborsrs we're brought 20 the ISL
ancs originally under contracts A co.,
tract laborer - one who signs a contract
agreeing 70 work for his employer for
stipulated rum for q stipulated time. on
cCrcitfon that the employer pay the ex-
renses Of transportation and furnish him
q place TO live. be boarding himself. Usu-
alp the time stipulated In these contracts
II three year.. and the wages IL % SIS
per month. There are other conditions in
these contracts. and. IA addition. tn laws
race by the Hawaiian Government give
TIE planter almost entire control OF the
contract laborer's actions. He can be
pUnished ard imprisoned and made 70
Eork: and the planter has the power TO
decide whether or not he IL able 10 work
reading under TIRE jurisdiction Of the
Stars and Stripes. The contrset laborer
himself II known az a -cooiie--
Prom a moral OF an iateIlecfuas stand
point. he would not rank very high i
hsve seen them unioaded and ~corrailed-
b, the hundred IL L. hard TO imagine
that any country could furnish 30 many
human beings 30 My equipped for civil
lied life. These p~ople. as they arrive,
are usually dresstd n a single loose gar
rsnt without other clothing except some
form Of sandals. and possibly a blanket
II ey present themselves a. future wage
earners. possibly citizens. al least sery-
ants. 20 participate In the Island Affairs
LABOR WILL BE DEARER.
OF course these are crude worknsn-no
yordsr their pay - 40 Httie-but after
three carr apprenticeship they are sup
posed 10 become mere OF less skilled. free
nsss for themselves or return 70 the coun-
try they came from. Under the laws Of
the United States. which take effect June
IL 100. no more Chinese laborers can
come IN. no more contract laborerE can
cone. ard all that are there simply be-
crne day iatcrers. II any additional
Chiramen come 10 caa only be merchants.
students or travellers. ans. az an element
OF the popuiatlon. the Chi'ese viii gradD-
any become scarce. Some wil de and
some VII return 20 their native lard. II
any addifio1al Japarese Gene. q ccurss
q VIII Be such a. can pay Their own ex-
peTrfF-a better class. who viii demand
fieher wages. 20 that as these lower
clf 80 Cinnamon ard japanese decrease IN
numbers wage vii become higher. the
o. me az they id n California
This chang VIII hfg'n Immediately as
the fera1d for labor Of ali kiEds Il ex-
IarGirR az q wonderful rate in the Islands.
! he history ard cohdit ors in this case
are exacfiy the same a. those o. Caiifor-
ma. ard 10 VII be but q short time until
thty VII - paying IN the Hawaiian Isl
ards ne same wages FOR the sane kird
dzy.
A. business q an kinds Increases in the
y ancF, other Industries VIII compete with
IT, surar Industry in the demand Tor Ia
bcr II TIE cost % urskllled labor shall
ecme % 70 level with the cost Of the
1rne IN the States. then TIRE cost Of labor
- the faWaiiar sugar producer Will have
inefeastd about two-th.rds.
As TO CAPITAL STOCK.
IL II interesting IN tins connection 70
iffesusate some statistics which auDear
IN Thrum's Annual for The yaars 100
lhese statistics are used offcialIy n the
.s n making a comparison % the
NUMBER OF tons Of sugar 70 each lahore
employed extraordinarily and IN the manu-
icvinE: Ut
1877. Ia tons Of sugar 70 each iabo-s,
employed on the plantation or In tbe min
-. ~ IL tons or sugar % each laborer
On picyed on the plantation or la the r,uf
Tho same authority gives The avs-sge
WaEes pad on plantations a. SIS a month
or tzls per year.
suppose We take ten tons q sugar a.
the average amount produced Der nnsn
eorlng the years 1877 and 1see. then the
cost % producing one ton would eousi
f1s. divided BY 10. or mo
~ TIE average wages m California Ar.
~ per month. and the ayersKe wages IN
hawaii Increase from So 20 The Caifsov
MA level. the change viii Involve an In
crease Of 81 - per cent. The increaze In
tne labor cost OF ton Of sugar viii be
Htfo ana the labor cost Of a ton OF sugar
VII b f76 m the average total cost o.
pfcoucinr a ton % sugar I'm The Islands al
prssent T. go. the additional labor cost
or wv VIII Increase the total cost OF pro-
oucing surar IN the islands 10 ss48 uer
ten. and the Increase N the entire cost
OF production on ace mt Of this Increas-
cent
The tendency Of these companies 20 ex-
pand their capital stock TO the highest
limit furnishes another item OF cost In
rroducfion. which will not only make the
cost Of production higher than n has
been hitherto. but 10 win have a tendency
- m this item permanently for the fu-
ture. While the stock Of these companies
IL listed as all paid up." this does not
necessarily mean that an amount OF cash
equal 20 the face value Of the stock has
been Invested. n simply implies that the
holder OF the stock r. not liable 20 assess
mfnt. IN many cases-the amount Of tie
stick or a company In greatly Increased
b. new Issues which do not represent any
nsv Investment Of capital whatever. I
have already called attention 70 a concern
whose profits were 30 large that the COM
pnny called m the original capital stock
and expanded IL by issuing new shares
OF stock for i've times the previous
snount This IL probably the most radi-
raj move that has been made in this IL
'ection by any company. but as a rule the
tendency has been TO expand the capital