The 1960s
The 1960s marked the end of the Hakalau Plantation Company as a separate corporate entity when it became part of the Pepeekeo Sugar Company, and later part of Mauna Kea Sugar. On the positive side, stockholders received their first payment of dividends since 1948. Pressures to reduce costs continued, with some success achieved through reduction in harvesting costs. As a consequence of the merger, capital improvements to the Hakalau Mill were not made and mill performance declined. Camps continued to be vacated with homes sold on a removal basis. In addition, the Hakalau Theater closed and worker anxiety increased. By the end of the decade, International Utilities Corporation achieved controlling interest in C. Brewer. Abandoned or underused properties in Hakalau and Ninole, i.e., Hakalau School and John M. Ross School, served as training sites for the Peace Corps.
Included in this detailed timeline of the period 1960-1965 are excerpts from the annual reports. Annual reports provided courtesy of the Edmund Olson Trust Archive. Annual reports after 1965 are not available from either the Edmund Olson Trust Archive or the Lyman Museum. In addition, select newspaper articles from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the Hawaii Tribune Herald are included, accessed via Newspapers.com. Articles from Hakalau Plantation's newspaper, The Voice of Hakalau, also provide insights into this period. Finally, photos contributed by individuals contribute greatly to our understanding--seeing is believing. Many thanks to Cal Motoda, Robert Nishimoto, Ph.D., and Howard Koons (former Peace Corps volunteer).
Included in this detailed timeline of the period 1960-1965 are excerpts from the annual reports. Annual reports provided courtesy of the Edmund Olson Trust Archive. Annual reports after 1965 are not available from either the Edmund Olson Trust Archive or the Lyman Museum. In addition, select newspaper articles from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the Hawaii Tribune Herald are included, accessed via Newspapers.com. Articles from Hakalau Plantation's newspaper, The Voice of Hakalau, also provide insights into this period. Finally, photos contributed by individuals contribute greatly to our understanding--seeing is believing. Many thanks to Cal Motoda, Robert Nishimoto, Ph.D., and Howard Koons (former Peace Corps volunteer).
1960
The President’s Report (Boyd MacNaughton)
Hakalau produced a total of 23,287 tons of 96° sugar in 1960, of which 8,513 tons were process for growers. This compares with a 29,614 ton crop in 1959 and a 17,750 ton crops in the strike year of 1958…
Net loss for the year totaled $465,004, compared with a net loss of $113,515 in the previous year. In all, during the past three years, Hakalau has suffered an aggregate loss of $990,000...
The contract between your Company and the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union, Local 142…expired January 31, 1961. Negotiations for a new contract were begun in November and have continued to this writing. It is hoped that these negotiations will result in a contract without a strike by the employees. There is still a wide area between the union’s demands and management’s offers on wages and other sections of the contract after almost five months of collective bargaining.
Report on Operations (Alexander T. Hossack, Plantation Manager)
…Production was considerably below estimate, and the harvesting of cane at both over and under optimum age as a result of the 1958 sugar strike, is considered to have the greatest influence on the loss in sugar. However, unfavorable climatic conditions during the early months of the year, and damage to cane leaves by volcanic fume (Kapoho eruption), were factors contributing to the overall yield decline.
Harvesting and Transporting: Harvesting costs increased over 1959, partly due to a larger volume of hand harvested cane. Light yields, adverse weather, and poor cane deliveries contributed to the overall cost increase.
A marked reduction in harvesting cost is essential to the future success of the Company, and our employees must be made to realize that this will necessitate their fullest cooperation in all changes of methods that may be instituted to bring about this cost reduction.
Capital Budget: Capital expenditures for the year amounted to $127,100—the major portion ($80,000) being for road construction.
- The importance of the sugar industry to the State of Hawaii is clearly stated in the commentary below and establishes the basis for understanding the gravity of changes later in the decade.
Hawaii Tribune Herald, August 4, 1960, p. 6, accessed via Newspapers.com.
Hakalau Theater - Built 1940. Last film shown May 31, 1960. Currently serves as Hakalau Post Office.
|
The Voice of Hakalau, June 1960
|
Hawaii Tribune Herald, August 21, 1960, accessed via Newspapers.com
Hawaii Tribune Herald, September 2, 1960, accessed via Newspapers.com
|
1961
The President’s Report (Boyd MacNaughton)
…A net profit of $48,033 was realized in 1961, before extraordinary charges, compared with a net loss of $465,005 in the previous year.
…In November, the 5,000 outstanding shares of your Company’s preferred stock were redeemed through an exchange for common stock in the ratio of one share of $100 par preferred for five shares of $20 par common. C. Brewer and Company, Limited, was the sole owner of the outstanding preferred stock. This exchange also eliminated some $380,000 of dividend arrears on the preferred stock.
A labor contract which provided for wage increases of 7 cents per hour retroactive to February 1, 1961, of 4 cents per hour on February 1, 1962, and another 4 cents per hour on August 1, 1962, was negotiated with the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union. The agreement covers a two year term ending January 31, 1963.
Report on Operations (Alexander T. Hossack, Plantation Manager)
Harvesting and Transportation: Improved efficiency resulting from favorable weather conditions was reflected in a marked reduction in harvesting costs. This is illustrated in the summary of harvesting costs for the past three years.
|
Cost Per Ton Net Cane
|
Good weather and attention to detail in all areas resulted in lower harvesting and transporting costs.
|
|
The Voice of Hakalau, January 1961
|
Capital Budget: Capital expenditures for the year amounted to $81,900—the major portion of which was spent for cane harvesting and hauling equipment ($63,600).
Labor Relations: Relations between management and labor were excellent…
Houses and Buildings: Yokogawa Camp, located at Honohina Mauka, was vacated and all houses sold to be removed to buyers’ properties.
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, June 12, 1961, pp. 1 and 2, accessed via Newspapers.com.
|
Hawaii Tribune Herald, March 15, 1961, p. 4, accessed via Newspapers.com
|
Hawaii Tribune Herald, 1961, accessed via Newspapers.com
1962
The President’s Report (James C. Stopford)
…Ordinary net income of $475,553 was realized in 1962, compared with a net of $48,033 in 1961 before extraordinary charges, and a net loss of $465,005 in the previous year.
Increased earnings were due in part to the larger crop and to an increase in the net return from C and H sugar refinery to $127.01 per ton in 1962 as compared with $119.87 in the preceding year.
As of midnight December 31, your Company ended its corporate existence and merged with its neighbor, Pepeekeo Sugar Company. Each share of the outstanding common stock of Hakalau was converted into and constitutes 0.4 of a share of the capital stock of the par value of $20 per share of Pepeekeo. Each of the 106,250 shares of the capital stock of Pepeekeo outstanding when the merger became effective continued as one share of the capital stock of the surviving corporation, Pepeekeo…
Report on Operations (Herbert M. Gomez, Manager)
Harvesting and Transporting: The combination of the unusually favorable weather conditions, the institution of one field harvesting, and a high level of harvesting crew performance resulted in a substantial reduction in harvesting costs.
Cost Per Ton Net Cane
|
Capital Budget: The capital budget for 1962 represented only items of an urgent nature. However, the development of plans to merge with Pepeekeo Sugar Company obviated the necessity for capital improvements at Hakalau Sugar Company. Houses to be sold on a removal basis: Lists of houses and their residents from the early 1960s provides a pretty clear picture of the actual houses to be sold, or potentially to be sold and identified as vacant or n/a.
|
The Voice of Hakalau, October 1962
|
|
Hawaii Tribune Herald, April 13, 1962, p. 1, accessed via Newspapers.com
|
- John M. Ross School in Ninole closed in June 1962 after consolidation with Laupahoehoe School. Potential use by the Peace Corps for training delayed scheduled demolition.
The Honolulu Advertiser, July 25, 1962, accessed via Newspapers.com.
|
|
1963 (Hakalau Plantation Company no longer exists, Pepeekeo Sugar Company now holds the assets of Hakalau)
The President’s Report (James C. Stopford)
Pepeekeo Sugar Company production for 1963 totaled 55,273 tons of 96° sugar of which 14,804 tons were produced by independent growers. This compares with approximately 57,300 tons for the previous year when considering the combined production of Hakalau and Pepeekeo. Earnings amounted to $911,700 compared with the combined Hakalau-Pepeekeo figure of $687,800 in 1962. The increase in income was due largely to the substantial return from C and H Sugar Refining Corporation of $155 per ton in 1963 as compared to $127 the previous year.
The first year of the merged operation has now been completed and the transition has been quite smooth as a result of fine cooperation between management and labor. The results of this first year permitted the payment of a dollar per share in regular dividend pattern and an additional dollar at the close of the ear, when it appeared earnings would be quite favorable. These are the first dividends paid by Pepeekeo Sugar Company since 1948.
Report on Operations (Herbert M. Gomez, Manager)
Grower Administration: The major project in grower administration undertaken in 1963 was the grouping and relocation of previously scattered growers’ lots into a centralized Pepeekeo Section area. This program will eliminate the problems of abandonment, encroachment, cane separation and aerial fertilization. The grouping and relocation project also reduced the administration-grower boundaries from a total of 38 miles to only one-third of a mile.
When the program is completed in 1964, a total of 522 growers’ lots will have been reduced to 360 lots. This consolidation is a step toward the ultimate goal of increasing individual grower lot sizes and easing cane segregation at harvest.
Harvesting and Transporting: Wet weather and a high incidence of equipment breakdown led to many difficulties in harvesting and transporting operations during the year. Despite excessive overtime, the supply of cane to the factory was inadequate.
Approximately 180 acres of Kamaee Mauka were successfully harvested mechanically for the first time.
Factory Operations: Hakalau Factory operations were somewhat poorer than 1962…Much of the higher loss was due to the breakdown of the fourth mill engine, which caused exceedingly poor extraction until repairs could be made. The loss of our factory superintendent, Masao Mihara, who suffered a stroke was severely felt in overall operations.
Due to extensive repairs, the factory ceased grinding October 26…Cost per ton 96° sugar increased from $13.53 to $18.58 due in part to grinding difficulties, smaller sugar production and increased labor costs...
Houses and Buildings: The initial phase of an intensive beautification program was completed when the exteriors of industrial buildings in the Hakalau area were repaired and painted….
Labor Relations: …A lay-off in August reduced our work force by 25 employees. With the cooperation of the union, 19 early retirees and repatriates substituted for younger workers who were schedule to be laid off.
1964
President’s Report (James C. Stopford)
Pepeekeo Sugar Company production for 1964 totalled 60,337 tons of 96° sugar, of which 19,716 tons were processed for independent growers. This compares with approximately 55,300 tons for the previous year. Earnings amounted to $198,000, compared with the 1963 figure of $911,700.
The decrease in income was due largely to the drop in sugar prices and the resultant return from C and H Sugar Refining Corporation of $127 per ton as compared with $155 per ton the previous year.
Dividends totaled $1.50 per share of common stock compared with $1.00 per share in regular and an additional $1.00 in a special dividend in 1963.
A new contract was negotiated with the ILWU effective February 1, 1965, with a termination date of January 31, 1966. Hourly rated employees received an across-the-board increase of seven cents per hour and an additional paid holiday...
Report on Operations (Herbert M. Gomez, Manager)
1964 Crop:..Hakalau section produced a record crop of 32,282 tons of 96° sugar, from 3,488 acres, averaging 9.26 T.S.A, and surpassing the previous record which was 32,120….
Weather: It was a very wet year. Rainfall was recorded on 305 days.
Cultural Practices: The planting, replanting, and seed system planned at the time of the merger is taking shape. Although it will not be complete until 1966, some of the benefits are now being realized in lower costs and improved cane growth…
Harvesting and Transporting: As in 1963, this year was a year of wet weather and equipment failures in harvesting and transporting. More than half the year we worked six-day weeks to get the crop off, and still had to harvest 11 months of the year…
Factory Operations: Hakalau factory operations were worse than the previous year, as was the case in 1963….
Rising costs were again a factor this year, as the cost per ton of 96° sugar increased from $18.58 in 1963 to 19.25 in 1964 in producing 29,797 tons of 96° sugar. Because of the limited capacity of the Hakalau factory, 1,742 tons of 96° sugar were produced by the Pepeekeo factory from cane trucked over from the Hakalau section of the plantation…
Housing and Buildings: A total of 27 company-owned houses and buildings was sold during the year on a removal basis. Spanish Camp was vacated and the tenants moved into Wailea Village.
Labor Relations: Two unauthorized work stoppages marred a year of otherwise good relations between management and labor.
1965
President’s Report (James C. Stopford)
Production for the 10-month 1965 fiscal year when ended October 31 totaled 57,088 tons of 96°sugar, of which 15,271 tons were processed for independent growers. Production for calendar year 1965 totaled 59,540 tons, of which 2,452 tons will be credited to the 1966 fiscal year.
This compares with the 1964 total of 60, 337 tons.
Earnings amounted to $595,500. Increased profits this year were largely the result of better sugar prices which helped bring the net return from C and H Sugar Refining Corporation to an estimated $131 per ton, compared to $127 per ton in 1964.
Dividends totaling $1,00 per share were paid in the calendar year.
A new contract with the ILWU is under negotiation to replace the previous short-term contract which terminated January 31, 1966. Although preliminary demands by the Union are extreme, it is hoped that a new contract can be concluded amicable.
Report on Operations (Herbert M. Gomez, Manager)
Cultural Practices: Major items required for the planting, replanting, and seed system planned at the time of the merger have been received or are being fabricated. Benefits of the added capacity and quality are becoming evident in increased area planted, lower unit cost, and improved cane growth...
Harvesting and Transporting: The drier than normal weather conditions made harvesting and transporting operations easier. Almost the entire crop was taken off on a five-day week basis and with minimum field damage. The replacement of five trucks, seven trailers, and two cranes with new units improved equipment reliability from 60 to 75 percent.
Factory Operations: Processing results at both factories indicate improvement during the 1965 crops when compared to 1964 results…Further major capital improvements in both factories are being delayed until a decision is reached on a proposed factory consolidation.
Houses and Buildings: All vacant houses in Akaka Falls and Chin Chuck Stable Villages were sold on a removal basis. The Akaka Falls area is already in cane and the Chin Chuck land will soon be plowed and planted.
Annual reports end in 1965; however other sources provide additional information about the 1960's.
1966
- Peace Corps trainees arrived in Hakalau and Ninole. The Hakalau trainees lived above the Nishiyama Store in Wailea and in private homes in the area. Their training took place at Hakalau School and in the field in such places as Waipio Valley. Ninole trainees were based at the John M. Ross School.
Hawaii Tribune Herald, November 6, 1966, accessed via Newspapers.com.
|
Peace Corps Trainees in Ninole. Photo courtesy of Robert Nishimoto.
Wailea-Hakalau Peace Corps volunteers at Hakalau School in 1966. Photo courtesy of Peace Corps volunteer Howard Koons.
Nishiyama Store, aka Wailea Hilton, home of the Wailea-Hakalau Peace Corps volunteers, Photo courtesy of Howard Koons.
|
1967
- The aerial views of both Hakalau Upper and Lower Camps show sugar cane growing around the camps. Pollution is evident in Hakalau Bay. Ten years later, these camps were gone.
Aerial Photo Hakalau Lower Camp, or "Down Camp", taken by Calvin Motoda in October 1967, courtesy of Calvin Motoda.
|
Aerial Photo of part of Hakalau Lower Camp, or "Down Camp" and the Hakalau Mill, taken by Calvin Motoda in October 1967, courtesy of Calvin Motoda.
|
- The Peace Corps is an active presence in Wailea-Hakalau.
Hawaii Tribune Herald, August 16, 1967, accessed via Newspapers.com.
|
Hawaii Tribune Herald, February 6, 1967, p. 1, accessed via Newspapers.com.
|
- Residents of Wailea and Hakalau welcomed the Peace Corps volunteers.
Luau held at Kolekole Park to honor the Peace Corp volunteers. Ann Yoshimura. Photo courtesy of Howard Koons.
Mrs. Shizue Arakaki (with hair net) helps cook at the luau for the Peace Corps volunteers. Photo courtesy of Howard Koons.
|
With food, of course! Photo courtesy of Howard Koons.
Peace Corps volunteers with Wailea residents, left to right: Jack Morita, Mrs. Yoshimura, Mr. Gen Yoshimura; boy on right, Reggie Morita. Photo courtesy of Howard Koon.
Red Yamamoto's garden as shown to the Peace Corps volunteers. Location on the Kolekole side of what is now Akiko's Buddhist Bed and Breakfast. Photo courtesy of Howard Koos..
|
1968
For some time, International Utilities Corporation had been the largest stockholder of C. Brewer
...in an appraisal of C. Brewer and Company, Limited, IU saw a firm that was one of the world's largest producers of cane sugar, with an annual output of more than 300,000 tons. It saw profitable subsidiaries, extensive acreage, and real estate activities designed to take advantage of the continuing surge of tourism...IU saw in C. Brewer a company that held more than 300,000 acres; a company planning to consolidate four of its sugar factories on the Big Island into one modern facility; a company conducting a feasibility study with Japan's Mitsui Company, that might lead to the construction of a pulp mill to process the wast bagasse from the sugar mill. "Venerable in years" ..."Brewer appears to be on the threshold of a new and exciting era of development and expansion." (Source: The Story of C. Brewer and Company, Limited, Scott C.S. Stone, Island Heritage Publishing, 1991, pp. 150-151.)
1969
International Utilities Corporation achieves controlling interest in C. Brewer
At that time [1969] there was an unusual accounting rule which prohibited consolidating the earnings of a subsidiary company unless the parent company owned at least 51 percent of that subsidiary company. Therefore, Howard Butcher III, who was Chairman Emeritus of IU, urged IU to purchase enough additional shares of C. Brewer so that their ownership would exceed 50 percent...thereby enabling the company to consolidate C. Brewer's earnings into those of International Utilities. Nine years later, IU increased its ownership to 100 percent. (Source: The Story of C. Brewer and Company, Limited, Scott C.S. Stone, Island Heritage Publishing, 1991, p. 150.)
International Utilities Corporation (IU), long a major stockholder of C. Brewer and Company, Limited, bought more shares giving them 53.7 percent of the Hawaii Firm. (Source: The Story of C. Brewer and Company, Limited, Scott C.S. Stone, Island Heritage Publishing, 1991, p. 224.)
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, January 25, 1969, p. 2, accessed via Newspapers.com.