Evening star., 1920-02-29
HAWA||AN|Sl.ANDS
boil WITH D|SCORD
Sugar Harvest Halted by
Stfike-Japanse ln1H-
ences Are Charged.
BY ytNIUs b. WOOD.

HONOLULU, Hawaii. February 20.
These little islands. once the happy
haven Of all creeds and colors, are
rapidly becoming boiling pot Of
racial discord. Hawaii is echoing with
the struggle between capital and
labor. While the 100000 tons Of sugar
the islands produce annually have
a Comparatively small effect on prices
or the worlds supply. the conse-
quences; liable to follow from the
conflict are vastly more important.
The seeds Of discord which the local
leaders are, attempting to SOW be-
tween America and the. japanese in
the islands, are likely to produce a
highly undesirable harvest.
Members Of the, Hawaiian Sugar
sse s eeSnd Rha ne
pears to the immortal observer to
be merely another Of the unending
conflicts of capital and labor is the
sinister :" shadow Of the japanese
military party WORKING through
More patriotism" are the rival rail-
lying cries.
The; workers allege that the plan
talon owners are worSe despots than
those Of the middle ages. The en-
ployers charge that the labor unions
are comparable with the Spanish in
qutsition.
Strikers EvicteA From Houses.
flames even higher. and even a spar.
as shown by the history Of the Cuban
sugar strike, is dangerous thing on
sugar plantation. Striking work.
ers were evicted from thousands Of
modest homes in Oahu. Trunks.
do ND
household goods were scattered in
front Of each little frame house. with
its porch shaded by purple clusters
of bougainvilla and groves Of papaya
and banana trees. Later in the day
creaking carts and heavy automobile
sessions were coming into Honolulu,
the Japanese families trudgfng in
the dust behind
Another. significant event is the
fact that there have been several
fires on the smallest plantations on
the Island of Of Kausi. Kausi's single
railroad train ~ held up last week
in approved wL&ern style. The ffres
according to the territorial officers,
were started by discharged employees.
Out of $4,000 sugar plantation Ia
anese and $4,000 Filipinos. These are
organized into the Federation of
Japanese Labor and the Philippine
Labor Union. The remaining workers
are Porto Ricans. Portuguese, Span
iards. Chinese and Koreans.
Strike ON Eve Of Sugar Harvest.
The strike started on the owe of
harvesting the sugar crop with q
averaging 81 per cent. The planters
declared that it would ruin them and
that they would fight tho demand
even il they had to lose the whole
years crops. While the wage scale
has not been changed in ten years
on account Of the complicated system
OF computing the wages, the pay has
practically been trebied on account Of
the increase in sugar prices.
1t requires a textbook on compound
fractions to understand the method.
The ordinary laborer is certainly
obtain secretary to compute the
amount Of pay that Is coming to him.
Briefly. the laborer is employed at a
stated price either per day or per
ton when the crop is harvested. In
addition, he receives two bonuses.
average monthly price of sugar and
applies to 70 per cent Of his pay.
The other is an annual bonus based
upon the average yearly price of su-
gar and applies to Is per cent Of his
pay. Men are required to work
l"oHty udyS d IHOuLn ana women nj.
teen In order to qualify for the bonus.
When sugar'is 4.25 cents a pound the
bonus rate is Is per cent. It in
creases to 3.24 per cent when sugar
is IS cents pound. The bonuses
for six successive years have been
1871. 5 per cent: 1915: 20 per cent;
1915. So per cent; 1917. 7s per cest:
1918. 81 per cent and 1919, 81 per cent
This year the percentage promises to
be greater than ever before. The
| monthly January bonus rate. based on
81 cents a pound. was 1915 per cent.
and this month, based on 12.7 cents.
it is 2b6 per cent.
The minimum day wage is II cents
and the average $1.25. The s125 man
| would receive S32.52spay with $373S
bonus for January and 1885 bonus
for February. At the end of the year
covering the same months. In addi-
tion he receives free quarters, water,
fuel. medical and hospital attention
The unions say that the living ex-
penses per month Of a single man
;5s.os' ST. ss'''' and OF a married man
The unions agree that the bonus
system keeps the itinerant workers
| on the job They want the minimum
wage made $1.25. with fifteen days
bonus and ten days for women. Tho
latter arc to be given two weeks va
cation before and six weeks after
childbirth with pay, while everybody
should get double pay for Sundays.
holidays and overtime.
japanese Petition.
The Japanese Merchants Associa-
tion petition on behalf of the unions
it was Impossible from the owners
standpoint to grant the demands.
The letter was signed by Royal D.
Mead. secretary of the Hawaiian
Sugar Planters: Association. He says
about BY the conditions Of employ.
ment The letter continues: =
From the statements Of Japanese
plantation hands I know that the
majority of the men want to return
to work Immediately. The movement
and agitators aided and abetted by
japanese school teachers and priests.
The federation has appealed to the
Japanese national spirit and Is work
ing on the well-known feelings and
characteristics Of the Japanese. The
man, woman and child in this ter
ritory, Of whatever nationality. The
bylaws Of the federation provide
that members failing to obey its or
ders will be reported to the officials
at their homes in japan, where their
16m1leS Will DC ScoTHeu, rioiCuleu anu
ostracized. No more powerful weapon
for eeping the japanese laborers
in line Is devisable. We find that
an alien race has set up its own tri--
bunal for the purpose of dealing with
its own people,"
Only one >of the fifty-fve Of the
sugar plantations in the islands is
owned by japanese interests. Since
the German interests were sold out
the Americans have been in control
of 90 per cent Of the industry and
the British Of the remainder.
Tho Japanese form three-dfths Of
the population and the American