The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-01-09
MAKES PORT AT last SHE COULD SWEART
THE PRICE OF SUGAR
$50 A TON MINIMUM FOR NEXT
FORTY YEARS.
Plantation Managers Give Interesting
Estimates-Cuba, Porto Rico and
Philippines Will Not Force it Lower

Oahu sugar plantation managers ap-
pear to have great confidence in enough
stability of the sugar market for forty
years to come to insure good profits to
Hawaiian plantations, as shown by
their testimony as experts in the suit
Of the government against the Homo
lulu Plantation company. At the close
of the testimony yesterday afternoon,
the question was gone into more fully
than It has been before, even the pos
slble free Of admission of sugar from
Cuba, the Danish West Indies and the
Philippines being gone into, and still
it was contended by the experts that
sugar would not go below $50 a ton,
and that Hawaiian planters would be
able to make 500 per acre per year.
Managers Renton, Low, Goodale,
Ahrens and Meyer have all testified
that 80 years leasehold interest in the
342 acres of sugar land being condemn
ed Is worth either $275,000 or 5000, ,O00
Yesterday United States Attorney
Dunno inquired into the reasoning by
which the figures were reached. He
| found that the managers had been fig
uring on the price of sugar for 40 years
| to come, and though he had the evil
dence stricken out, except the bare
! figures, he got some interesting testi-
mony.
"How do you arrive at that hgure?"
was asked of f. Meyer manager Of
Waianae in cross-examinatiOn, after he
| had given 100000 as his price.
/ well, the land-according to my es-
/ timate-the land should produce tons
/ of sugar per annum. At a profit Of $40
| per ton this would make the land yield
/ a profit of 800 per acre per annum and
| for 80 years of course it would produce
SO times that, and there being 342 acres
there would of course be a good deal
mOre-and discount that at five per
cent 1t would make 100000"
80 that If the land raised tons of
cane and II that tons of cane brought
a certain profit and If that profit was
| stationary for 80 years than you think
: that possibly this estimate of 100000
would gO?"
! Yes, SIR
Now on what principal do you pre-
| tend TO say that the profit on sugar
| for 80 years per annum would be the
| same as the profit on sugar now?"
II am not able to state positively
I what will be the price of sugar, but for
! the last ten years the price has been on
! an average of $62 or s63 and we have
! every reason to believe and think that
II will be as good as $50 for some time
| to come"
"Since you have been dealing In ifs,
1 would like to deal little in ifs.
will ask you if sugar from Cuba is put
upon the free list would that affect the
price of sugar, or the profit upon this
| estimated tons per acre?'
! 81 don't think it would, no sir
"If Congress should take over the
| Danish Indies and take in their sugar
| free would that affect the price of su-
gar or the profit on this estimated .
tons per acre?"
mo, 1 don't think 1t would"
"Supposing the same thing,-if Porto
Rico or the Philippines should get their
! sugar free-that it should come in free
from all of these sOurces,-still you
think that would not effect this hypo-
thetical figuring of yours?'
mo sir. 1 have allowed a very big
margin, placing sugar at say $50 ton
Renton of Eva placed the value at
| $275 ,OOO figuring in the same way, only
estimating that the land would pro-
duce A tons per acre per year, instead
of tons On motion of Dunno his
reasoning was all stricken out, Sillimar
strongly Objecting, as too speculative
but the court refused to strike out the
figures he gave.
How are we going to prove valueY
asked Silliman.
'I don't know" said the court. THE
court has ruled six or seven times tha'
estimates of the probable production
of the land cannot be admitted as evil
dence."