The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-10-19
WHY LOWR|E
LOST HIS job
Castle Says He Gould Not Adapt
Himself to Conditions
and Hold Labor,

A long affidavit by w. r. Castle in
the Lowrie case was filed in The circuit
court yesterday. In this lie says he
does not remember nav g MADE the
| remark that he supposed Baldwin
wanted to be manager of tbs biggest
plantation in the world and 20 keep the
! job in the family but that if he die
! say it, it was a mere iocuIar remark
| Nor did he ever say to Sillimaa that
! he considered Lowrie the best plan
| tation manager that ever came to The
| Islands; but that he did believe at the
time of Lowrie's appointment that he
was the best available man they could
get. This belief was based on what
Lowrie had done at Eva in which
Castle was heavily interested, and that
for a long time after the results justi-
fed it he still supported Lowrie and
thought he was doing the best that
could be done for Hawaiian CONNER
cial & Sugar Company. Finally it was
brought to his attention that undec
Lowrie's management the company
had become practically insolvent Fl.
P. Baldwin had to pledge personal as
sets and property to keep the place
running. Castle himself had pledged
his own property for the purpose of
carrying the stock which he had agreed
to carry and in order to keep the pl&n-
tation within the control of the ma
jority that owned it.
Shortly before Lowrie was deposed,
it was brought to Castles knowledge
that the plantation owed $755, 900 above
it's bonded Indebtedness amounting to
s., 356, 900; that up to that time Lowrie
had spent $2,373,395 in permanent i'm |
provements designed to put the plan |
tation on the basis of producing $4,000 |
tons of sugar year, but notwithstand- |
ing this, much more was yet to be eX- |
pended before that end was reached. |
The 1901 crop was 24,371 tons when |
Lowrie had planned for ami promised |
crop of $4,000 to 10000 tons. The crop |
of 1902, planted and nlatucei by Low
RE but harvested by his successor, was
25,060 tons when l2,yJo to $4,000 was
promised by Lowrie. At the end of
1901 Lowrie was confess s3:y 1900 10 bor-
ers short of enough aud had unexr ect-
edly called for $500, 300 more than his
previous estimates. AT that time large
portions of the cane were choked with
weeds and physically the plantation
was in a bad way. This condition, |
Castle ayers, was due primarily to
Lowrie's inability to hold his labor af-
ter annexation and the end of the con-
tract system. And it seemed clear that
Lowrie was unable to adapt himself
to the change of conditions. Lowrie
was given ample time to show what he
could do in the handling of labor under
the new conditions, says Castle. Other
managers were meeting the conditions
md holding their labor. It was known
% the affiant during Lowrie's time at
1wa that he was hard on his labor and
hat the japanese, especially, We're
yrowing more and more hostile. But
Cast1e had hoped that at the Hawaiian
Commercial plantation LoWrie might
hange his attitude. But when it be-
anne evident that Lowrie could not
eft the required labor and that cult
alton on the plantation was far be-
lind what it ought to be, Castle be-
anne very anxious. So far from being
dissatisfied that Baldwin should take
he management, he was very glad
hat he did, but was surprised that he
ras willing to take the additional work
n himself.
Castle says that while he expressed
is own personal regret that affairs "
hould have turned out as they did,
nd his sympathy for Lowrie, he main r
aimed the justice of the change.
The argument on the motions now G.
efore the court in this case will be
tken up this morning before Judge "
and will occupy the whole
ly.
-.s.$.s-