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  • Home
    • Upcoming Events
    • About hakalauhome
    • Contact Us!
  • Yesterday
    • Timeline
    • Camps
    • Schools >
      • Hakalau School
      • John M. Ross School
    • Churches & Cemeteries >
      • Churches >
        • Hakalau Jodo Mission
        • Honohina Hongwanji
      • Cemeteries
    • The Voice of Hakalau
    • Sugar Production >
      • Hakalau Mill & Other Buildings
      • Wailea Milling Company
    • Infrastructure and Transportation >
      • 19th Century Hamakua Roads
      • Bridges
      • The Railroad
  • Today
    • Hakalau Farmers Market
    • Hakalau Jodo Mission Today >
      • Obon Festival
      • Memorial Day
      • Celebrations at Hakalau Jodo Mission
    • Honohina Hongwanji Today
    • Hakalau Reunions
    • Wailea Village Historic Preservation Community >
      • Cemetery Stewardship
      • Reviving Hakalau School
      • Senior Luncheons
      • Mochi Pounding
  • Tomorrow
    • Arsenic Remediation
    • Cliff Failures
    • Hāmākua CDP & the CDP Action Committee

1919 - The Emergence of the Wailea Milling Company

The press coverage of the Hakalau sugar industry in 1919 focused on the battle between the Wailea Milling Company and the Hakalau Plantation Company. Nearly 75% of these articles appeared in articles in June, July and August. The themes are common even today:
  • some newspapers consistently favored one side over another;
  • intense emotions on both sides interfered with achieving common ground;
  • "business analysis" stoked fear versus the perception of unfair treatment; 
  • the small farmer (homesteader/independent grower) versus corporate agriculture (Hakalau Plantation and C. Brewer & Company) where the small farmer perceived he was being not being paid a fair price;
  • the small farmer wanted control over production and payment and corporate agriculture did not intend to give up any control.
  • legal issues in motion: independent growers sued Hakalau Plantation, land swap for Wailea Mill site questioned
  • Hakalau Plantation, having born all the overhead costs, explained that these costs impact what was paid to the independent grower.
  • Hakalau Plantation included disincentives for independent growers to align with Wailea Milling Company. Independent growers signed up with Wailea Milling Company anyway.
​The Wailea Mill was erected and served independent growers until 1944 when the Hakalau Plantation acquired it and closed the mill. 

May

  • The first brief notices appeared in May.
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Honolulu Star Bulletin, May 27, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.

June

  • From the beginning, varying opinions are published, often questioning the financial wisdom of building a mill instead of using existing capacity [at Hakalau Plantation] or highlighting the difficulties faced by homesteaders.
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Honolulu Star Bulletin, June 16, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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The Daily Post-Herald, June 18, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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The Garden Island, June 3, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.

July

  • Moving ahead quickly to take on debt and order machinery, homesteaders expressed optimism about their financial prospects for the following year. Meanwhile, the Hakalau Plantation was either not contracting with these homesteaders or the proposed terms of a contract were viewed as disadvantageous. C. Brewer and Company explained their terms as the best possible compromise.
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Hawaii Daily Tribune, July 20, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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Hilo Daily Tribune, July 25, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com
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Hilo Daily Tribune, July 26, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.

August

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Hawaii Herald, August 1, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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The Honolulu Advertiser, August 2, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
  • Homesteader support of the Wailea Mill was substantial. Agreements with Wailea Mill documented in the Territory's Record of Convenances as of August 2, 1919 and reported in the The Honolulu Advertiser on August 5th cited 86 agreements with independent growers:
​
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Hilo Daily Tribune, August 5, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.

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Hilo Daily Tribune, August 7, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com
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Hawaii Herald, August 8, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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Hawaii Herald, August 8, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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Hawaii Tribune Herald, August 8, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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The Honolulu Advertiser, August 12, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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The Honolulu Advertiser, August 18, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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Honolulu Star Bulletin, August 29, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.

September

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The Honolulu Advertiser, September 2, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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Hilo Daily Tribune, September 9, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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Hilo Daily Tribune, September 10, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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Hawaii Daily Tribune, September 12, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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Hawaii Tribune Herald, September 16, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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Hilo Daily Tribune, September 17, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.

October

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Honolulu Star Bulletin, October 1, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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The Honolulu Advertiser, October 2, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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Honolulu Advertiser, October 3, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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Hilo Daily Tribune, October 8, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
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Hilo Daily Tribune, October 10, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.

November...nothing

December

Moving right ahead...
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Hawaii Tribune Herald, December 9, 1919, accessed via Newspapers.com.
For the Hakalau Kuleana, our responsibility is to care for the land, the people, and the culture. We are guided by cultural values of YESTERDAY: Engage in collective effort. Look out for each other. Honor hard work. Show respect for those who came before us. Aloha and Mālama `Aina. In 2021, Akiko Masuda added two more values to the list: Consistently show up. Whatever has to be done, jump in and do it!