The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-10-24
JAMES S. M'CANDLESS
ON CHANCES IN
THE ISLAND
LABOR PROBLEM WILL PREVENT
TIE SUGAR INDUSTRY THEriE
FROM BECOMING A FORMIDABLE
COMPETITOR OF HAWAII.

wv. j. Lowrie is the manager Of
Aguire Plantation, on the southern side
of Porto Rico and expects to take off
$4,000 tons of sugar" said James S. Nc
Candless who has just returned from
an extended trip abroad which included
some time spent in Porto Rico.
The plantation is owned by the De
Fords of Boston who have large in
terests in Porto Rico. It is due south of
San Juan across the island from the
latter place, and reached by the cele-
brated military road over which Gen.
Miles passed with the American army
when Porto Rico became ours.
THE lands included in the plantation
stretch along the seashore for a good
many miles, and back into the noun
tains / should say twelve or fifteen
miles. All the land within this area
does not belong to the plantation. 1t
owns strips and patches alternating and
interpersed with the holdings of private
individuals, many of whom cultivate
cane which is ground either at small
three roller mills operated by oxen or
small engines, or at the central mill
owned by Lowrie plantation. There
was a report here that Mr.. Lowrie is
the manager of railroad; so he is but
it is a plantation railroad owned by his
plantation. 1t runs along the sea shore
for thirty to thirty-five miles, and will
be increased by the construction of
switches and laterals as they are need
ed for the development of the planta-
tion. The owners met with some diff
ficulty in extending the road to where
it is now. Under the present govern
ment of Porto Rico franchises are not
granted, nor can land be condemned
for railroad use. AS the company did
not own all the land along the seashore.
and some of the owners would not give
rfgrl Of NNr1NT ha 90 trst1p inr1 Nf 10
road was hindered. But the owners
found that under Spanish rule a franz
elise for a railroad along this route
had been granted to a French company
They bought this franchise, and then
had no difficulty about building their
road. 1t has gauge of meter, 30
pound rails, American rolling stock and
Baldwin locomotives
'Cane is grown without fertilizer or
with very little, is planted in hills about
five feet apart each way, is hoed a little
when young but otherwise is not much
cultivated; the weeds and grass are
almost as tall as the cane; it is not
stripped; ii is hauled to the mill large
ly on bullock carts which carry about
1000 pounds to the load, it takes fifteen
or sixteen tons of cane to make a ton
of sugar; the purity of the juice is very
low; there is a good deal of rotten cane
owing partly at least to the fact that
much of it is grown on low swampy
lands through which at frequent inte-
walls there are drainage bitches running
so that the land never thoroughly dries,
nor the cane thoroughly natures.
IT was told that cane ranged from
thirty to ninety tons to the acre, but
from what l saw l think ninety tons
is a high estimate and not very fire.
quently realized. But exact figures on
these things are impossible to secure
because sugar raising is not as syste-
matically and carefully carried on as
here, and these statistical features are
not known. They don't know how
much it costs to raise a ton of sugar
nor exactly how many tons of sugar
they produce to the acre.
THE labor is performed by Porto Ri
cans, called there poems or day laborers,
who get from 80 to 70 cents day, aver
aging, 1 was told about 80 cents. This
does not include food, houses, water,
wood, medical attendance, or anything
else. Labor is very ineffective. The
laborers l saw, the Porto Ricans gen.
orally We're about like those We have
here. / think those who came here
were about an average. We didn't get
the scum of the Porto Rtcans, nor did
we get the cream. Working as they
do there, do not think the Porto Rican
laborer is nearly as efficient as a Japa-
nese, in fact found that it took about
CONTINUED on page fiYe.)