Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 213, 11 June 1891 — PLANTOCRACY REFORM. [ARTICLE]

PLANTOCRACY REFORM.

Mr. Kd:U«r:—Thc one absorbing topic amongst the Planting Community sin; e tho New Tariff Bill on Sugār~ckine into oj»eration has been— u how to rwluce our "working expenses" so as to mcet the depresaion in the market. Tnis piohlem has been solvcd by some, by the proposition of introducing a eheaper eh of l«bor, such as East

IneHans; bv others, in rcdwcing the staff and supplimcnting »their plaeea by less proficient men at considerably less wagefe; and bv others in curtailing the C<Hrioiissariat of their contract Japanese. Doubtless, ,if the idea ofco'ntract eoolie labor ean be practicable, it wou!d mean a considerable . gaving in tbe pocfcets of tbe planters, as at presenf the rate of agreement for Japanese is $15 per month> whilst it has been claimpd by parties who have had considerable experience in couatries wbere eoolie labor has beea introduced, tbat they ean be einployed at the minimum rate of $.24 per day per man. How the working, expense ean be reduced, and any saving made thereby, by the "reduction of the j?taffand supplimenting their places fey less proficient men !" Is really a problem whieh would tax the consideration of any sane and praetical planter, particulārl} T , if he shou!d happen to have some vital interest in the Plantation it ean only be termed "financial suicide J ' and a system whieh must work v,'ith disastrous results to the parties who are thus blindly going in for such visionary reform. The questioa of the rediiction of a frw hundred 4ollars in the salarieis of a plantatipn staff is'a mere t%bagatelle" when compared with the loss by the greater cost of labor in inexpenenced hands. who are unable to handle their name, so as to enhanee a speedy and good operation at a minimum cost; and evēn should the salaries of those at present employed* be reduced, ean it be reasonably expectsd that those sanie. men will have the same. lively interest of the plantation at heart, and will not the resuit be. that, altbo' the work is apparently going on at the same rate, yet indireetly t there is a loss, .of not hundreds, but thousands of dollars during the cause of eaeh operation, whieh cannot well be explained until it is too late. \V r ould it not be mueh more advisable to make no radical changes whatever, but by dint of good management endeavor to get more and better work from their tried and experienced hands ? The next mode of reform | is by "curtailing the commissariat! of the contract Japs." The working of this plan has already vividly shown its disastrous effects.

Advices from Kealia, Kauai, last week announee that for one day all the contract labor had struck work, why ? becai*se, the usual habit ofhaving a eouole of men from eaeh gang told off to go for ! dinner, besides variaus minor details with regard to rations had been denied; the men are all expected to be at wōrk at 6 a.m. daily; and as most tliem -have to sTart from their locatiqns at lreak. of day.jjpdv4nffe<l many weary miles to reach the seat of their operations, is it then te be surpi ised at when thev strike ? indeed with the loss of only one days labor, whieh is in itself a great deal, the plantation may be considered as having got out of the dit!icuity well. Many complaints about the gross mi«management and irregularities in hand!iivg the Japanēse labor have heen afloat, and certainly, *w!ien the absentee or locaf proprietors begin to feel the linaneial <*ffect of such blundering, they wil! give their employers a letoon to leam at their coēt, that it"ls not policy 4< to spike the

sf>igot and at ibe bwr>g." The Japan«se may be consklered ās the haekhone of £grievutu?al labor on thlse islands, and as su<ib. particularly in the absence of any otber labor, ought to be dealt with kindly and leniently f aml at tbe ,same time endeavor to get the utmost possible amount of go«wl work out of them; ill usage, and sharppractice whieh is nothing short of bad management, _ifL_eyen wUli ill£tcrat men like Japs. cannot be worked wjthqut fatai result. Pollowing the old bnt yet trr»e maxim — i4 Experientia sapientiam doeet; 5/ the proprietors will soon feel by the weigbtof their coffers what is the best and cheapest means of reform, in order to make their current expenses meet on apar»wUh the market prices of sugar, whieh ean only be done by a recoursc to a cheaper class oflabor than Japs, or by using to the best possible advantage the labor at present m operation, but, certainiy not by such systems as bave alreadv been expiained, whieh they have not already must invariably reap fatal and disastrous results: ' * •* *