The story of sugar

In 1926, Kaua‘i’s 11 sugar plantations — Kilauea, Make‘e, Lihu‘e Plantation, Grove Farm, Kipu, Koloa, McBryde, Hawaiian Sugar at Makaweli, Gay & Robinson, Waimea and Kekaha — employed most of the island’s workforce.

And, as stated in series of newspaper articles written by the Hawaii Sugar Planters Association in 1926 titled “The Story of Sugar,” day laborers received a minimum wage of $1 per day, a 10 percent turnout bonus for working at least 23 days per month, and an additional bonus when the price of raw sugar averaged five cents a pound or more.  

About 95 percent of all sugar workers performed their duties under contract. A form of piecework called “short-term” contract enabled laborers who hoed, irrigated, fertilized, cut or loaded cane, and many others to earn from $1.50 to $4 a day.

Workers under “long-term” contract were given acreage already planted in cane. They would then perform all work necessary until the cane matured and were paid a rate per ton of cane produced by their field, minus cash advances.

Skilled employees included chemists, machinists, railway engineers, agriculturists, accountants, timekeepers, blacksmiths, sugar boilers, carpenters, veterinarians, mechanics, dairymen, nurses, physicians, electricians, clerks, civil engineers and storekeepers.

Individual workers and their families lived rent free in wooden houses of a standard design with at least three rooms and usually a small front porch, and many families planted vegetable gardens about their homes. Separate wash rooms were also provided. Several neighboring homes formed a camp.

Free running water was supplied to each house, and electric lighting cost the employee about $1 per month. Fuel (either firewood, coal or kerosene) was free.  

Staple foods and necessities were sold at plantation stores at cost. Medical attention was free for ordinary laborers and their families, while skilled employees paid a low fee.