The Hawaiian gazette., 1906-01-02

fuuhi that thia hirh rate VI fett va
not due 10 tht then crowded condition
lof The city on account "a anaepation
ahii,ipoiious hut that u had prevail.
"a for yeate one family 20 whom I
Afterwards cold house had paid forty
dollars rent Tor sixteen icara for a
mere she'll 81 house Tho cheapest
class ~ houses above mentioned cold
for from 5000 tn $1,000 according 10
locality. not including lot and from
$1,000 Ia t'ooo with the lot. when built
by white carpenters A. may be ina
einod. but few people with moderate
Income owned their own homes
! had come 60 Honolulu To build and
sell, expecting 60 introduce the install
ment system which Ia IN vogue IN
mainland cities. and find ready pur-
chascrs among people with small
means. but knew that II would be Inn
possible TO do business ON figures as
above quoted. The first two houses
which erected were OF imported mate
rial all prepared for construction. This
saved something I'm cost, but not
enough to Justify continuing this meth
cd unless on "A large scale. A vessel
ing material. but the scheme fell
through when the plague OF 1899 prac-
tically closed the port.
| then began the employment of
/ Japanese carpenters. This class OF
labor reduced the cost OF houses 25
per cent and by installing my own
mill for turning out mill-work. 1 found
that l could build house for about
two thirds OF what It would cost II I
employed white carpenters and bought
mill-work from mills employing white
hands. 1t was not wholly for the pur-
pose of lessening the cost that l be-
gan the employment OF Japanese la
Dor, but / was forced to do this be-
cause of the unreliable character of
the white men procurable at that time.
The Japanese have always proved re-
liable and honest hard workers and
tain classes of work they far surpass
white workmen.
Since employing Japanese carpenters.
white carpenters have several times
argued that the cost of construction by
them would be no more than by the
Japanese, but on all occasions the esti-
mates of the white carpenters were
three or four times as much. Today,
no investor can employ white labor to
build his houses and then rent them
at u profit, nor has II been possible to
do so for several years. This is not
wholly due to the fact that the white
laborer demands higher wages, but for
the reason that white men employed
to do constant physical labor in this
enervating climate can not keep up and
do a days work I speak from per-
sonal experience in employing white
men in my mill and on buildings when
first started in. In this | am speak
ing of journeymen. / employ white
men as foremen, which positions they
fill here as we'll as elsewhere. Person
ally, | have sold eighty odd houses to
investors, but l know of no contractor
who has built houses for investors and
employed white labor.
When ! first began TO build houses,
/ was often offered fifty dollars per
month rent, three and six months IN
advance, by clerks and other employees
in mercantile houses who were earning
from $3.50 to $3.50 per month. With an
nexation. however, and the hustling
Yankee, came keen competition and the
consequent reduction of salaries and
Incomes in some instances even to the
extent of one-half ] know of men
with families in DR.. Kincaid's church
who formerly earned nearly double the
salary they at present receive. Now
such men could not live in Honolulu
today were white labor employed to
build their homes. AS 1t is, such men
as these and many white mechanics
not only have become permanent resi-
dents, but, in some instances, have
been enabled to purchase their own
homes through money saved in the re-
duction of rent.
Incidentally / may mention that sew
eral white carpenters rent my houses.
OF the two hundred and more mod
ern, up-to-date dwellings erected by me
since my arrival in Honolulu, all are
occupied. About one hundred of them
have been sold on the instalment plan
and for cash to "substantiap' white
American citizens on terms but little
In advance of prices in our cities on
the mainland. I can think of but four
instances where the families were not
had arrived here after annexation. The
balance of houses built have been for
people owning their own land and who
We're induced to build on account of my
reduced rates of construction. The por-
ton / have sold to investors (mention-
ed elsewhere) pays a good rate of In.
trest from rents received, although
those rents, in some cases, are less
than one-half the rates formerly prev
alent. There are number of vacant
houses in Honolulu today, but were
these two hundred houses removed to-
morrow rents would be restored to
their old standard inside of a month
and thereby "crowd out" hundreds of
families now living among us. Not
over twenty OF these two hundred
homes would have been built had 1
not built them. A far greater percent
age of Dr. Kincaid's congregation, and
Of other congregations, would have
been crowded out" not by japanese
carpenters, but, as / have made evil
dent. by the high rents that woud have
prevailed.
People who criticise should be con-
siStent. Those who object Ia Jana