American Hawaii [pp. 432-454]

Photo by Davey
KAPIOLANI PARK, HONOLULU
ple of Hawaii, and it has almost entirely fallen
into disuse, except with relation to the newly
impcrted imnmigrants and the securing of the
advan ies made to and on account of them.
So great has been this tendency that t!he
cenis.S., of I896 shows that of approximately
35,o000o laborers only approximately IO,OOO
were working under contract, and these al —
most exclusively under contracts made
abroad.
\Ve do not expect and do not ask that the
penal contract system be perpetuated and have
recited the foregoing facts, not for the piipose of bolstering up or continuing that system, but for the purpose merely of illustratizi,
and showing one of the difficulties which the
agricultural industries of this country labor
uti der.
The tropical agricultutral industries of TJawaii have in the past, and must continue in
the future, to compete with the like industries
of other countries wherein labor is abundaini
and far cheaper than it is here.
Contrary to usual comment and undlerstanding in the United States, the ave-.rage
cost of labor in Hawaii does not vary muich
447
from the average cost of similar labor in the
United States.
The amperage cost of ordinary field labor
Hawaii counting in the lodgings, medical attendance, wood, water and land for cultivation, almost universally furnished to the
laborers, does not in any case fall below $i6 a
month, in most cases comes to as'high as $iS
a month, and ranges upward to $2o and evenc
more a month.
INCREASE D NEED OF LABOR.
Under the stimulus of stability of the Governmrent and certainty of a market, it is a certainty that the agricultural industries of the
country will greatly expand if laborers can be
obtained.
Three large and several smnaller sugar plantations are now being organized which will
probably require not less than five thousand
more laborers, and the coffee industry yet in
its infancy, will soon require many thousands
more.
Either these laborers must be obtained from
beyond the borders of Hawaii or the developmen,t of the country will be cdecked, and ex