The Washington herald., 1908-05-12

Special Correspondence The Washington Herald
honolulu. March 29.-Sugar is king. |
To Hawaii he is most indulgent mon /
arch for he has brought this little /
group Of islands 10 the point where il is /
the greatest exporting country Of its pop /
ulatlon on earth. This year the Hawaii
sugar crop will sell for between $4,000
0oO and S500O1OO0 The price is higt on
account Of great shortage IN Cuba, Java,
and elsewhere. The crop here IS larger
than ever before. Last year it was 440
OF tons. This year it is estimated at
from 10000 10 10000 tons
Hawaii has been growing sugar for
nearly a century. BY 1870 the production
had increased until the annual crop was
1880 tons Then something happened.
The United States made a reciprocity
treaty with the kingdom of Hawaii and
the sugar from the islands was admitted
to America free Of duty. Immediately
the sugar business began TO take on new
life. although the crop returns did not
show an enormous Increase for some
time. Sugar cane cannot be grown over
night. Each crop grows two years in
.
not the beginning Of the greater day,
for all great businesses must grow. Mod
ern methods of agriculture have brought
the Hawaiian cane fields 10 their present
productivity, but il was the abolition of
the duty on sugar entering the United
States that made this development pos
sible.
Twenty years after that treaty went
into effect Hawaii became frightened lest
4 the United States might abrogate ii, as
/ it lad the right TO do upon one years
notice. Hawaii was clsmoring for an
nexation. The war with Spain came up,
/ Hawairs great strategic value was Inn
! pressed upon Congress. and annexation
came Free sugar was made a fixture
I by that act, for Hawaii was annexed
/ and made a part and parcel of the Unit
ed States before the "insular possession -
/ tn which the Constitution does not fol-
/ low the flag. was invented.
The treaty OF 1879 was made before
there was any beet sugar interests in
1 the United States or 1t would never have
/ been made az all, If the American beet
sugar industry had been as great in 1898
as il is now, Hawaiian annexation prob
!
Hawaii, having benefited by these
things. is now a unit in opposing the eX-
tension of like assistance to the Philip
pines. The worst nightmare that can
come 10 a Hawaiian planter is the dream
of Cuban annexation Hawaii has the
backing of the powerful beet sugar in
terests in this, and the beet sugar people
have the backing of the entire stand
pat" party on principle, so its danger is
remote.
It is interesting to take retrospective
glance at the industrial history of
Hawaii to show what King Sugar, with
an American free market, has done. Just
twenty-five years ago a pamphlet was
published in Honolulu reviewing the
sugar industry of the islands. Maps Of
the various islands were given with the
plantations marked on them in red.
Tables showed how much land was plant
ed in sugar cane and how much more
there was available for that purpose. At
that time. 1882, there were 5000 acres OF
cane. and the estimate Of the maximum
possible" acreage was 1880. AS a mat
ter Of fact the present acreage is 213, 400
or nearly three times the maximum pos
sible" of twenty-five years ago. The
same authority said that on the Island
of Oahu. where Honolulu Is situated, the
acreage was 5000. and that its maximum
extension would be $500. The sugar
acreage Of Oahu now is S6.5S2
The statIstician Of 1882 was honest and
painstak!ng. and his estimates of tbs
maximum possible extension Of the IN
dustry were not made by guess but BY
careful surveys. But he did not, anC
could not, take into consideration the
present methods of irrigation and steam
cultivation.
: The irrigation plants now IN use OF
Hawaiian sugar plantations cost ovel
S14.0o0.0O0. AS there are only fifty plan
tations Of considerable size, this indi
Gates a great expenditure for individue
plants. In fact. only twenty-six plan
tations have irrigation systems at all
the others depending on rainfall Si'
plantations have plants which cost owe
81 100000 each A good rain that vii
fill the reservoirs means saving of $1.00
a day for pumping on more than ont
plantation.
This kind OF agriculture requires cap
itaI The sugar plantations Of Hawai-