Sugar Water: Hawaii's Plantation Ditches

207 Pages·1998·10.187 MB·English

by  Carol Wilcox

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Sugar Water
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C A R O L W I L C O X
SUGAR WATER
Hawaii’s Plantation Ditches
A Kolowalu Book
University of Hawai‘i Press, Honolulu
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 1996 Carol Wilcox
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Paperback edition 1997
02 01 00 99 98 97 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilcox, Carol, 1943–
Sugar water : Hawaii’s plantation ditches / Carol Wilcox.
p. cm.
“A Kolowalu Book.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–8248–1783–4 (alk. paper)
1. Sugarcane—Irrigation—Hawaii—History. 2. Water resources
development—Hawaii—History. I. Title.
SB228.W55 1996
333.91’315’09969—dc20 96–23753
333.91’315’09969—dc20 96–2CIP3
ISBN 0–8248–2044–4 (pbk)
University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free
paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Council on Library Resources
Book design by Kenneth Miyamoto
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The Crop
No common grass, To thrive, I make demands.
I am the giant of my family. Paradise will suffice. My appetite’s voracious.
My Lordly lineage I require vast and rich acreage, deep soils, full
Presents itself: Size—a tree, not a sprig. Sun, but please, mild heat, a touch
Stalk—a solid scepter. Of evening cool, no cold.
My elongated leaf, bowing And water.
With slight condescension—a blade. All the water
Flower—a frivolity. The down—an armor You can find, dig, direct,
Of needles, for I secret my great wealth. Scrounge, divert, tunnel and hold.
Monarch monocot. I am Bring the water tribute to me, King Cane.
King Cane.
Raised vigorous and ripe, towering
I have always ruled by inspiration, And impervious, I defy harvest.
Causing people to crave You cannot squat or stoop to level me.
Desserts, confections, sugar plum visions, I am not picked or plucked, but cut
Fancies which, once tasted, addict. Slashed, grabbed, felled
Luxuries become necessity, a pinch By platoons of the strong and young,
Of sugar to sweeten the day’s drudgery, Mobilized from every corner of Earth.
And dreams of the good life, or the tolerable. Yet, having sweated tides
Dreams of profit To cut cane, you have no sugar.
From this potent fuel for man. Dreams Harness technology—ox to wheel, steam to rail,
As tangible as the seas, forests, mountains Gas to truck—and you move cane,
Of obstacles, strewing the distance But you have not made sugar.
Between you and those sweet, sweet
Dreams of King Cane.
(continued)
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You have to mill me. Use
Fire and machinery. Slice and press. Scald.
Boil. Strain. Extract. Still,
I only yield my crystalline jewels
To a few grains, the seeds,
Of myself. Plant a section of my stalk,
And begin again. I am sufficient
Unto myself. King Cane.
One last sea to cross.
Sell me. The rain, wind and sun, the cane borer
And the leaf hopper are more easily controlled
Than the market.
Politics are always in order: planning,
Intrigue, an arm twisted, persuasion. Times
Change, but the game remains. Despot
To democracy, slave to laborer, owner to stockholder,
Tariffs to subsidy: these are semantic
Distinctions, and you are still my subjects.
Because in Hawaii, I rule.
Suitable successor to the burnt haul
Of sandalwood and the quick killing of whales.
You may call me by my name:
Almighty, Lordship, His Royal Highness,
King Cane.
BERYL BLAICH
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
List of Standards and Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
PART I: Sugar and Water in Hawaii 13
1. Pioneers, Politics, and Profits 15
2. Water Use and Rights 24
PART II: Hawaii’s Ditches 43
3. The Ditch Builders 45
4. Early Efforts 54
5. East Kauai 68
Lihue Plantation and East Kauai Water Company 68
Grove Farm 73
Koloa Plantation 76
McBryde Sugar Company 78
Kilauea Sugar Company 84
6. West Kauai 86
Hawaiian Sugar Company (Makaweli Plantation) 86
Waimea Sugar Mill Company 90
Kekaha Sugar Company 92
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viii Contents
7. Oahu 98
Waiahole Water Company and Oahu Sugar Company 98
Waialua Sugar Company 108
Kahuku Plantation Company 110
Waimanalo Sugar Company 111
8. East Maui 114
East Maui Irrigation Company 114
9. West Maui 122
Wailuku Sugar Company 122
Honolua Ranch and Pioneer Mill Company 126
10. Hawaii 138
Kohala Ditch Company 138
Hawaiian Irrigation Company 148
Appendix 1: Letter from the Attorney General (1876) 163
Appendix 2: Hydroelectricity 167
Glossary of Hawaiian Words 173
Notes 175
Bibliography 181
Index 187
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Acknowledgments
In 1983, I was commissioned by the Historic Sites section of the State
Department of Land and Natural Resources to conduct an inventory of Hawaii’s
surface water development systems undertaken by sugar plantations. These
were more commonly referred to as “ditches.” That survey was completed in
1984 and is on file, along with a photographic record by David Franzen, at the
DLNR. It serves as the foundation for this more comprehensive history of sur-
face water development in Hawaii.
The subject of sugar ditches spans the four major islands and a broad
cross-section of Hawaii’s people. Throughout my research, nearly everyone I
spoke to shared a willingness to help. This was particularly gratifying as all
were aware that water can be viewed from many perspectives, and that, when
all else is said, water is potentially an emotionally volatile and highly political
subject. My own background, with its roots in the plantations and its maturity
in the environmental movement, has helped me see the history of water devel-
opment from many different perspectives. One of the most sensitive (and diffi-
cult to research) of these is from that of the Hawaiian people. There is clearly
much work to be done in this area. I have tried to interpret events in the con-
text of their times, not our own. To the degree I have succeeded, I credit the
wisdom and patience of the many who have assisted me. Any failures are
entirely my own.
I especially wish to thank the dedicated men and women of the sugar
plantations and sugar factories who allowed me access to their files, the ditch
systems, the hydroelectric plants, the pumps and fields.
My thanks to the following plantations and factors for allowing me to
look at their files: on Kauai—Kikiaola Land Company and McBryde Sugar
Company; on Oahu—Amfac, Alexander & Baldwin, and Castle & Cooke; on
Maui—East Maui Irrigation Company, Maui Land and Pineapple Company,
and Pioneer Mill Company; on Hawaii—Hamakua Sugar Company.
ix
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x Acknowledgments
Sugar company records are bulky and their conservation is a difficult task.
Many plantation records are housed in archives. My thanks to the following in-
stitutions who made their collections available: on Kauai—Grove Farm Home-
stead and Kauai Historical Society; on Oahu—the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’
Association, Bishop Museum, Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society, Hawaii
State Archives, and the Department of Land and Natural Resources; on Hawaii
—the Lyman House Memorial Museum.
David Franzen’s photographs of the ditches were taken in 1983 and 1984
courtesy of the following: on Kauai—McBryde Sugar Company, Kekaha Sugar
Company, Lihue Plantation, Olokele Sugar Company, and Kilauea Prawns; on
Maui—East Maui Irrigation Company/HC&S, Wailuku Sugar Company, Pio-
neer Mill Company, Maui Land and Pineapple Company; on Hawaii—Hama-
kua Sugar Company/Hawaiian Irrigation Company, Castle & Cooke; on Oahu
—Oahu Sugar Company/Waiahole Irrigation Company, Waialua Sugar Com-
pany, Koolau Agricultural Company, and DLNR.
Many people were generous with their knowledge and time. I wish to
extend special appreciation to the following: Bill Balfour, Edward Beechert,
Stephen Bowles, Dick Cameron, Mary Moragne Cooke, George Cooper,
Richard Cox, Richard B. Cushnie, Bill Devick, Sallie Edmunds, Lindsey Faye,
Jr., Mike Faye, Roger Ferguson, Dick Frazier, Guy Fujimura, Mike Gomes,
Bert Hatton, Randall J. Hee, Jack Hewetson, Don Hibbard, Arnold Hiura,
Alan Holt, John Dominis Holt, John Hoxie, Bob Hughes, Charles Huxel, Tak
Inouye, Irving Jenkins, Poomai Kawananakoa, Lefty Kawazoe, Marion Kelly,
Damaris Kirchhofer, Tom Kunichika, Brud Larson, Kelly Loo, Ann Marsteller,
Bill Meyer, Tom Nakama, Franklin Odo, Bill Paty, John Plews, Jack Poppe,
Charlie Reppun, John Reppun, Monty Richards, Barnes Riznik, Barbara Robe-
son, Phil Scott, Pat Shade, Earl Smith, Bill Sproat, Bill Tam, Fred Trotter, Pat
Tummons, Robert Vorfeld, John Wehrheim.
Thanks for historic photographs are extended to: Kathryn H. Darling for
Waiahole Ditch pictures taken by her father, Ralph Heath, Oahu Sugar Com-
pany for Waiahole Ditch pictures, Maui Land and Pineapple Company for
Honolua Ditch pictures taken by David Fleming, and Bishop Museum. (Origi-
nal captions associated with these historic photos are set off by quotation
marks.) Unattributed photographs are from the author’s collection.
That this book was published at all is due to encouragement and advice at
critical junctures over the last ten years from Donald Worster, Richard Cam-
eron, David and Juliet Lee, Gavan Daws, and Iris Wiley and her colleagues at
the University of Hawai‘i Press. Thanks to Beryl Blaich for her poem. Thanks
to my family, and especially to Gaylord, for endless patience and support.