Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-09-10

are IN TIE sugar anu seuSEdl cOWmlS-
sion business, ....
Il Mr. Iyers: Yes. a
| @. How extensively. .... =
A. Well, / am connected with one of
i the agencies here that represeiits
some Is sugar plantations and one
pineapple plantation. IL
/ @. How long have you been con-
tnected with the sugar business here?
A. About % years. ~ r
@. Have you been present at any
previous sessions? q (
j a. Yesterday. u. >- II.
! Q. You understand the general ques-
ton that / am trying TO get informal
ton upon wish you would, in your
own way. perhaps, tell me what you
1 think of the situations the homestead
] situation! Then more especially what
we ought to do with public lands here.
A. Ii is an extremely dificnlt pro-
/ posltion to decide. There has been a
/ great deal of homesteadihg done In
1 the Territory within the last two or
three years know on one plantation
represented by Brewer g Co, the Ter
lritory has-there. has already been
withdrawn about 1000 acres of cane,
Hand. "IR
| @. What has been done with that
/ land?
A. Over. 5000 acres of that land was
in cane in previous years. | think In
thee 5000 acres there was something
lin excess of 1000 homesteads. These
various holdings are assigned and with
the exception of comparatively small
area about which there is some dis
tpute, practically all of that land is
still. in cane. but none by the original
homesteaders.
%. What happened to them-when
they entered what did they do?
"A. Well, some Of them did really
lcultiyate cane and q good many of the
Others, while ostensib1y chltivating,
really leased the land to others to do
the cultfvating.
@. Were. the homesteaders white or
| A. There were a few whites, but
most Of them were Portuguese and
Hawaiians.
20. Is there any distinction as to the
way in which the different nationaIi-
ties or races handled their lands did
they
"A. There was no distinction as a
general rule; that is, there are sew
Ieral Portuguese today who are still
cultiyating their lands.
O.. Were there some of them other
than Portuguese.
! :. "A. Yes, there We're
@. What happened to them
A. After they acquired title they
leased the lands to others who are
cultiyating the cane.
! @. Did they. before they acquired
title did they themselves work on.
/ the lands?
A. The white people.
@. The white people
A. They employed others; they
lived on the land but worked usdalIy
for the plantation and employed 9TH
ers to do their cuitivatfng.
O. Who I'D they usually employ?
A Japanese. Chinese or Portu-
guese, but usually japanese.
O. Now how did the Hawaiiang
handle their homesteads ini that re-
spect
A. We'll. the Hawafians. Of course
they cultivated a. less area until they
got, their titles, and then they dis
posed Of their lands.
@, They sold the lands?
A. Yes.
q. To whom did they sell?
(, A. In q good many cases to Japan
ese .4 ss.s.i. II So. B !.
s Q. The Japanese TO whom they
sold were they citizens or aliens2
AZ They were aliens. 9
b. @. Now. In order to bring that
result about, the homesteader would
have to have some adequate assur-
ance for fair payment in the disposaT
tof his cane? s...
A. Yes.
q. what assurance do you think
could be given? ss
A. Well, think all the planta.
tons think the majority of them
are willing to enter into fair con- i
tract I.
@. It was EXPRESSED by Mr..
Swanzy that he thought the pianta-
tons would be willing to enter into
contracts for ten or fifteen years and
take the price of sugar at Philadel.
phia, San Francisco or New York so
the homesteader would know that he
would be entitled to a certain fixed
percentage of tie raw sugar.
A That is very true, those Sort of
contracts are being made very often.
@. You think the plantation would
be willing to adopt that.sort OF CON.
tract? go
A. am sure. The physical fea-
lures of different plantations are very
different. On some plantations Guilt
walton is a comparatively small ex.
pense, while on others it is much
larger, especially. IN wet districts,
where the cultivation is a heavy ex-
pensee and the transportation and
manufacture are. lighter. Therefore
the plantation as a rule buys cane |
either standing or in the flGne.
@. There is no reason then, under
that system why the plantation would
not be willing to pay a certain fixed |
price measured on the price of raw