The Hawaiian gazette., 1918-07-05
CALL Of DRAf1EES
H|tsPLA1lAFqVs..
INTERPRETATION
Belief That Laborers Would Be
Given Deferred Classified
tons Not Borne Out
FAILED TO ASK P0R ANY .
'AA EXEMPTION or M0hk ERS
LARGE Number Necessary To
Keep up Pro6uetltA / And .
Supply Source Dodbtfdf

kiep up ProauStlSA And 4
Supply Source Dodbtfdi
Each day the labor shortage on the
plantations of thei Iblands "a growing
more acute. With the cali Of the guard
into federal service the pinch was felt
but with the publication OF the lists
of draftees, now being called Into isep
vice each day, the shortage heeomes
more and more accentnhted. just how
great and serious il will became will
hardly be known before the first Of the
month when the Fegistrants win hav"
been mustered in and the, plantation
managers have the chance, to east mp
stand in man power.
1t is evident that the plantations
have misealeulafed Oh tho effect of the
draft. ! 1t would seem ~ IL they had
failed to take precautions that might
well have been taken, to somewhat
conserve the labor supply. This, seems
to have arisen through 3 misunderstand-
ing Of the draft lAw.tE 4 VS. -. -
Exemptions Waived
Before the calling of the draft aaeu.
eies generally believed Tie ,p1antatidhs
would be more serlousit Affected hy, tie
calling of the guard than by the draft
They knew that labor engaged in an
essential pursuit, such az producing sn
gar, was entitled to d defSrre6 slassi.
feation but it would seem SAs il; il had
been assumed that such classification
would be given BY The daft bon RI
whether asked or not. , Such Nas, not
the case. =. II the ,fegistrant claimed
exemption becaiise Of being engaged In
an essential Industrial Pnrstit he &1hld
have secured, it. 30, Jalso, a PlahtAtiolf
might have applied, for exemption ON
labor and would have ! ssshted
the deferred viessi fisssion. But they
dia not do this Hhd, AZ % retit the
draft viii, hit the plHnth tinhs ~ hard,
II not hafder, than ana the an OK M
guard There are men in deferred
classes whose labor il not 70 esbeufiRl
to tie Territory, the nation and the
w6rltl MS the plantation Fofkerss n De
too late now and al that ia left 70 be
done 10 70 seek to replace the 1draftees
With new workers. ., r... .tts'rH "
Where Is Supply ~.
And there comes The rub. What u 10
be the source 0f Supplyi The Shfpping
situation between the Philippines aRd
here, is such that an adequate number
Of Filipinos eahhOt be bfoukht, IN.
Labor might be brought from Porto
Rico but the exact terms are mot yet
known and again the shipping situation
hteryenes with. difieulties, There, il
no, source of supply in sight.
Plantation managers have been mott.
fed to send in reports on their actual
labor needs as soon as they can be So
cured but mis- can hardly be dohe un
til after the draft has been eompleicd
Some Of the plantation agencies have
asked for comparative staten ents which
win show number of laborers now on
the plantation, number employed OpS
year ago and number in service twt
years ago When such statements aFt
sent in the computation win be simple
ana II can readily be determined .jnat
how much labor must be secured from
one source or another.
P0ssfbfc Crop Losses
Meantime estimates Of the actua
shortage vary. 1t is said that a con
sentative estimate is between 1000 Apt
2500 Rborers below the last year.
FOSTER will be found close to the figure
Unless this shortage can BE made o.
the crops are bound TO suffer. This viii
not be the, case With this yeaT's crop
especially, but II viii be With the neki
and with the 1890 crop upon .Nhiel
much work will be required, Alread,
the 1920 crop ia seriously threatened b,
the failure of the nitrate suppiY an,
. combination of lack. of labor AMI
want OF fertilizer Would play really
sstions havoc. ..
Enroll Idlers 81,
One proposal that is heard, not fTon
plantation agencies but from stGdent
of economical problems il that, thu mex
Legislature could pass a law similar b
those passed BY West Virginia, Mary
land. New jersey and New York All
make idlers get into some useful 0ccal
ration. Those laws AFFECT me6 0dtsia
of draft age and if the fidlefsl p
Hawaii were forced to work eertaii
number of hours weekly of their owl
free will Or a. greater number on publ
needs there would be many Of then
Who wedld 10 10 the plantations fifth
eT than 80 TO Jail. .n., - ...lt
SO far as not claiming exemption
goes, Il is not STRANGE That Tie aver
age plantation laBorer has Dot done. g
IL Month & a.. sSPy nis BE tS Si' iii e e sst.
than ne has been !aecust0ibed 70: I'll
thirty dollars is practically clear +
him and "it looks good 10 him" J
D. 49, ". o, ,. 49, ." p"