Evening star., 1934-07-22
Is HAWAII AN OUTCAST?
ROOSEVELT VISIT VITAL
Chief Executives Trip Being Watched
and May Prove Turning Point in
History of the Island Territory.

Continued From First Psge)
AGRICULTURAL labor in Hawaii is better
paid than on the mainland itself. II
the President has believed all that he
has read. all the gossip he has heard,
ne will leave the island wiser and,
/ hope. . happier man, because they
are. after all a part Of the country
of which he is the Chief Magistrate.
Missionaries Were Poor Men.
This is no time TO attempt any his
tory of the missionaries and their
descendants in Hawaii, of their infiu-
ence on the life Of the islands 1t is
enough to say that this influence was
dominant for a long time and that
It was beneficial. When the mission
disbanded the remaining missionaries
were poor men. but their children
were already in business in the Islands
and some OF them were making money
They were all well educated and were,
in general an intelligent lot of men.
There is no doubt that they, along
with the children of early settlers who
we're not missionaries. dominated the
business and financial situation.
This is the reason for the legend
about missionary wealth" and sugar
barons" and many other picturesque
or horrible tales of the islands. Even
before annexation and with renewed
vigor thereafter, there came a flow
of individuals who thought to exploit
Hawaii They we're furious to discover
land where the people were educated
and alive to their own interests, where
agriculture was carried on under
modern conditions, where labor was
satisfied and well paid-and because
there was no place for carpetbaggerS
they blamed the missionaries for their
own disappointment. Their lies have
persisted and have utterly distorted
the reality.
Sugar Is Essential.
Without the sugar industry Hawaii
would be economically ruined. 1t is
not a place where all questions can be
settled by diversifcation of crops
Climate, soil and irrigation questions
have been thoroughly studied, and it
is clear that sugar is the one most de-
pendable and economical crop. The
raising of cane and the manufacture
of sugar we're started more than rs
years ago and have been promoted in
the most scientific manner until now
they are the mainstay Of industrial
life. There has been no selfish ex-
ploitation of the sugar lands, but. on
the contrary, sharing of the returns
of intelligent development of possibili-
ties and of labor that would make
this country very different place and
a finer place II it had been followed
everywhere on the mainland.
In addition to excellent wages, the
plantations provide comfortable houses,
gardens for the raising Of vegetables,
sanitary conditions of life, medical at
tention. Many give bonuses. Most
plantations are glad to rent land on a
cooperative basis. There is real CO.
operation, from the management to
the most unskilled laborer And the
dividends are widely distributed. Some
40 plantation companies have some
1900 stockholders who believe in the
future of the islands and in the future
of the American Government.
1t is true that recent sugar legisla-
tion, and particularly the quotas fixed
under this legislation, have shaken the
faith of the Hawaiians in the fairness
If the Government. The Hawaiian
sugar producers have never tried to
obstruct plans for the sane limitation
Of sugar production. When the bill
was introduced and the President sug-
gested certain quotas for the different
producing areas, the Hawaiian plant
ers agreed Immediately to go through
with it, although the quota given
Hawaii was by no means satisfactory,
as it meant the destruction Of many
thousand tons Of sugar.
Denied Membership in Union.
But the bill was amended; the beet
sugar people we're given an allotment
much larger than the President had
suggested and actually larger than the
amount they have raised in their best
years; the Southern States were given
their quota; but Hawaii was left to the
tender mercy of the Secretary of Ag-
riculture, was given no quota at all,
was apparently denied membership in
the Union.
Hawaii is a Territory, not a posses
sion. 1t pays more taxes into the
Federal Treasury than are paid by Is
States. 1t has turned over to the Fed
eral Government since annexation
some $50, 100000 more than the Gov
ernment has spent on the Territory.
But it was treated in the legislation
like an outcast. When the Depart
ment of Agriculture fixed the quotas