Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-11-24

| cent, even more IMAM tue eSlIIHdtS)
which upon the above figures would
represent, in addition to the regular
wages, some $1,000 per month: III
other words, then notwithstanding
the war, and notwithstanding the In
| creased cost of living, the bonus alone
! earned in 1917 by every industrious
| Japanese laborer should be sufficient
| to pay all of his necessary living ex-
| penses, leaving wages intact, as
against the conditions existing in
| 1915 or in 1914, where from forty to
! fifty per cent of the total earnings
of the ordinary Japanese laborer was
required with which to maintain him
self; and this applies not only to the
Japanese, but to every industrious
! laborer now engaged in plantation
occupations. 1t is not contended that
a loborer can not spend all he earns
and more II he so desires, but il such
be the case there is no necessity for
such expenditures, as $1,000 per
month will meet the actual necessi.
ties of the ordinary laborer 1t is
further wellknown that japanese fam
lilies upon plantations are not a drag
upon the husbands, but upon the con.
tary, by their industry, earn monthly
far more than IS necessary to support
them.
Bonus Equals Profits
For five years prior to the present
war, the average selling price of raw
sugar in New York was 5000 per
ton, but the average price realized
during this period for Hawaiian sugar
was S7S.27 per ton. The average cost
of producing and marketing this sugar
was 1861 per ton, and the average
profit thereon, S21.36 per ton. 1t
is extremely unlikely, in view of the
tax. program of the administration,
that the profit to Hawaiian planta.
tons upon the 1917 crop will exceed
this figure of $21.36 per ton by more
than $500 per ton, and the bonus to
laborers for 1917 will equal. it is esti-
mated, $500 per ton; in other words,
therefore, for every dollar per ton
of sugar Of excess or war profits in
1917 earned by Hawaiian plantations
the laborers will have earned an equal
dollar over and above his regular
wages, and in addition to his wages,
attention has already been called to
the fact that these laborers are also
provided with free houses, free fuel
and free medical attendance, and that
as rule these quarters compare
most favorably with any quarters fur
nished to agricultural employees in
any part of the world, and are only
eualed in a very few parts of the
world.
Prospects for 1913
What the price Of sugar will be
throughout 1918 is problematical. AS.
Stunning that It will be in the neigh
borhood of six cents per pound, the
average plantation profits cannot
equaled in very few parts of the
to exceed the average plantation
profits Of the five years prior 10 the
war. Every plantation in the Hama
kua and Kohala districts and at least
one in Hilo district of the island
OF Hawaii will be fortunate If it does
not operate at an actual financial loss
as a result of the unprecedented |
drought: the remaining plantations |
upon Hawaii, as we'll as the planta- |
tons located upon the island of |
Maui, have olso suffered largely from
the dry weather and look forward t.
a big reduction in their output next !
year. 1t was only upon Kauai and |!
Oahu, where better weather condi- |
lions have prevailed, that crops are
likely to be normal
Transportation Problem
1t is to be presumed that the mex,
crop can be marketed, but with the |
growing demand Of the federal gov.
eminent for tonnage, this is by nc |
means an assured fact. Six-cent |
sugar in New York will avail the
plantations little If Hawaiian sugar
lies stored in plantation warehouses
with no means of transportation
Still, the bonus to the laborer is
established by the New York price |
OF sugar, irrespective of whether Ha
waiian sugar receives this price Or
otherwise, and siX-cent sugar in New
York under the present bonus SEIZED
ule means bonus to all plantation
laborers of Is per cent.
Future Possibilities
The future may prove that the Ha-
waiian sugar industry has been far
more profitable in the past, with
sugar selling at four and half cents
per pound, or $50 per ton, and pos
sibly with sugar selling at even $50
per ton in New York, than it is ever
likely to be during the continuance of
this war with sugar selling in New
York at around 1920 per ton; the
additional selling price of anywhere
between $40 and $40 per ton being
offset by increased cost Of production
and marketing, from SIS to $50 per
ton of this increase being represented
BY the bonus, in addition to the regu-
ar wages paid to plantation en-
ployes. by additional taxes to the
federal government with which to
prosecute the war, by the additional
cost of all material entering into the,
of this sugar. and by the
additional cost of transporting to
market.
War Responsibility .. II
1t must be remembered that this
country is now at war, and in order
TO prosecute this war to a speedy
and successful end, has to provide
money In amounts heretofore unheard Il
If. To sucure this money, tax meas
ures unprecedented in their magni-
tude have ;lready been found neces-