The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-05-23

duction of duties on sugar imported
into the United States"
AT THE MERCY OF THE MARKET.
1T is often asked in our Congress
now treaty can be arranged so that
the trust will receive less and the
planters more benefit from it?'' 1 sug,
gested.
i don't see how that is possible"
replied Mr.. Skate. Your Congress
cannot fix the price of sugar: the seller
is always IT the mercy Of the market.
except in times of scarcity. when a
man who has a good crop makes big
prohts, for he can command the situa,
ton. But that is a rare accident
The buyer always has the call and the
trust is the largest buyer in the world
what kind of crop have you this
year,"
"On our particular estate ar Jati-
bonco we have an unusually rich crop,
both in volume and the quality of the
sugar: but everywhere else on the
island the cane is not yielding as much
as usual. 1t is probably the largest
crop ever gathered. but owing 10 the
drought the cane does not yield what
was expected"
Who owns your company
Ours is Canadian company. or
which Sir William Van Horne is presi-
dent, and our headquarters are in Mon
treal, but the stock is scattered in New
York. London. Montreal, and no one
knows where else We have about
5000 acres in cane and a large tract of
uncultivated land. 1t was covered
with timber when we bought it, ana
cost us about $50 an acre to clear. plant
our cane and harvest the first crop.
This is our second crop. We started
in to clear the timber January I. 1905;
we planted our cane in May. 1905; we
built our mill in record time that sum-
mer and the following fall. The con-
tracts were signed in April 1905. and
the machinery was ready to run Janu-
airy l. 1906 We cut our first crop in
NJ rch. 1906. We have beaten the rec
ord in several particulars.
EFFECT OF THE RAILWAYS.
The Cuba Company, which is owned
| by the principal stockholders of the
railroad, has a large tract of land and
expects to settle it with enterprisine
Americans. The railroads will civil
ize Cuba if we can have peace and are
given a chance. If the Spaniards had
built this road twenty-five years ago
there would be no republic. Independ-
ence would have been indefinitely post
poned. In the first place. it would have
developed the country, and in the Sec
ond place, it would have enabled them
to conduct a successful campaign and
move their troops where they were
needed.
''The Cubans are a peaceful people.
They don't want to fight. They are a
temperate people. The men who get
drunk and create trouble are invariably
foreigners, and we seldom employ for
eigners on this estate. With a good
government and honest courts this
would be a model republic. The in
surgent element represent a very small
class of the population, and are mis-
| lead by agitators. They want peace
and are willing to work and are
anxious to have their children educa-
ted, but the schools are primitive. the
| teachers are inexperienced and incom-
petent, and those who are eager to
| learn don't have much of a chance.
"A good many Americans are coming
in. buying sugar land and cattle
ranches if they have large capital. and
organizing colonies to grow fruit and
garden truck if they have limited
means. There are several Canadian
colonies also which are said to be doing
very well, but T do not know much
about them. There is no difficulty in
successful farming here for those who
understand the business. I consider
timber land the best, because the soil
is mixed with decayed vegetation and
covered with the deposits of ages"