The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1909-11-15

much gratifed to see so many mem
hers present to participate In our
On behalf OF the Irus-
too, have rnncr pleasure III nVtanH'
ING 70 YOU all a very cordial welcome
and an appreciation OF your atCenu
ance. zoo.
at these annual sessions OF every
nIantation manager who can possibly
make ARRANGEMENTS to attend is
matter of special Importance. The
sugar business constitutes the main
source of the wealth and prosperity
of these Islands, and the success Oh
that industry lies very largely In tne
hands of the men in charge of the
executive branches of the work on
the various plantations, and L believe
no opportunity should be overlooked
by any one of them of extending anu
perfecting their knowledge In rela-
ton to sugar production.
This annual sugar congress IS in
tended to be educational in It's char-
acter. its cardinal purpose being TO
bring out by discussion new IDEAS
and the mutual exchange OF KNOW
edge and experience as to the best
and latest economical methods OF
handling sugar affairs, but trust
the meeting will not be without pronC
and pleasure to all of us.
The year just passed has indeed
been an eventful one in the annals or
the Association. We have produced
the largest crop which has, so far
been turned out from these Islands,
we have enjoyed good prices, espe-
cially in the latter part Of the season
owing to the expected shortage Oh
the European beet crop, the mucn
dreaded tariff legislation has come
and gone without affecting our indus
try in any way, and we have passed
through a prolonged labor disturb
ance. learning lessons thereby which
I firmly believe will make for bet
ter feeling on all sides in the future
CROPS. Turning first to the ques-
ton of our sugar production Tor 19US'
7 find that the year just closed mas
been a very successful one in every
resnect. 1t has been the record
wear of the Island sugar IN
drstrv our output being 5S5,156 tons,
an increase of 14,033 tons over las.
wears crop, our previous hienes'
record. And. coincident with pump
or crop good prices have prevalleu
the year, steadily lmpIoV-
inc as the season progressed. AS mas
bannened before, however, Win an
q scanding market the bulk OF our
crons did not benefit by the hignel
,,rices hut nevertheless the aVerase
price received for our product mas
been an eminently satisfactory one:
TARIFF. The results OF the tarln
1agislation are we'll known to all OF
YOU but a few words on tnls noSS
important subject may not De ouL "
Mace. In March Of this year COn
qress met in extra session called Ior
the nurpose of passing a new Iarln
Rir now known as the Payne BILL
The Bill did not provide Tor any re,
duction in the duty on either raw or
refined sugar, and as soon as the SUI
oar schedule came up for discussion
q hitter attack was made on the All
erican Sugar Refinery with view TO
showing that the larger portion OIL
the increased price paid by the con
SINNER on account of duties did not
go to swell the revenue of the coun-
trv but found its way into the pockets.
of the so called Sugar Trust. Partly
through the support afforded by the
senators and representatives from
the beet growing states, and partly
through his mastery tactics which
were apparent all through the hand
ling of this tariff measure, Senator
Aldrich was enabled to ward off all
reference to raw sugar in the bill.
with this one eXceptiOn-that 100000
tons of raw sugar are each year ad-
mitted from the Philippines free of
duty. The Importance of the result
achieved by the passage Of the new
tariff bill without any reduction in
the sugar schedule is almost incalcu-
liable as far as we are concerned. AT
any rate it has put the whole of our
industry on a solid basis, which is
not likely to be disturbed for some
time to come.
STRIKE. In the early part of May
the Japanese laborers on several of
the Oahu Plantations went out on
strike LabQrers were obtained from
various sources to take their place
and the work of the plantations was
continued as usual On August 5th
the strike was formally declared off,
and from that time on the Japanese
have been gradually returning to the