1939: Hawaiian Islands

The Hawaiian Islands (formerly Sandwich Islands), a United States possession formally annexed in 1898, lie in mid-ocean in the North Pacific more than 2,000 miles from any mainland. Twenty in number, 9 of them inhabited, they stretch for 400 miles from northwest to southeast and comprise 6,500 sq. mi. They are volcanic in origin, the largest active volcano in the world, Kilauea (4,090 ft.), being situated on one. On Hawaii, the largest island of the group by far, is Honolulu, the capital.

The population in June 1938 totaled 411,485: Japanese, 153,539; Filipino, 52,810; Hawaiian pure and mixed, 62,135; Caucasian, 107,099; Chinese, 28,380; Korean, 6,707; others, 915. Thus, Orientals make up more than 2/5 of the population; the Caucasian element has increased more than 4 per cent over the 1930 census, and the Japanese has declined slightly.

The principal products are cane sugar (1,000,000 tons yearly) and pineapples (500,000,000 cans exported yearly). Molasses, bananas, hides, sisal and wood are exported in quantities. Total exports to the United States in 1938 amounted to $96,556,679; total imports, chiefly foodstuffs and manufactured goods, to $101,223,831.

The territory is administered by a governor (J. B. Poindexter, reappointed March 13, 1938) appointed by the President of the United States and approved by the Senate for a term of four years. The Legislature of Hawaii is composed of a Senate (15 members elected for 4 years) and a House of Representatives (30 members elected for 2 years). Its one Delegate (Representative S. W. King, reelected Nov. 8, 1938) to the United States Congress has floor privileges but no vote.

In 1939 two problems arose. The first concerned the maintenance of the quota of sugar exported to this country. It had been threatened by efforts on the part of American producers and refiners to induce Congress to lower the quota of Hawaiian sugar importable. In August Governor Poindexter protested the efforts to reduce the quota in favor of Cuba as discriminatory. The other problem was raised by the abrogation of the 1911 trade treaty between Japan and the United States. By this 'unfriendly act,' it was asserted by the Japanese newspaper Osaka Mainichi, the United States had forfeited the loyalty of more than 100,000 citizens of Japanese ancestry residing on Hawaii and the islands. Speaking for a group of Japanese Hawaiians, Wilfred Tsukiyama, Hawaiian City and County Attorney, replied on Aug. 2 that the People of Japan had no right to speak for Hawaiian citizens of Japanese blood.

On Nov. 17, 1939, new rules prohibiting Japanese warships from carrying cargoes of any nature from Hawaii to Japan and forbidding armed Japanese sentries on American docks there were posted.

1938: Hawaiian Islands

The Joint Congressional Committee, headed by Senator King of Utah, which was appointed to study conditions in the Territory of Hawaii, submitted a report on Feb. 15 rejecting statehood for Hawaii, on the ground that the 'present disturbed state of international affairs' did not warrant a change in status at this time. Its decision was not to be considered a permanent deterrent to the aspirations of Hawaii. In fact, the report suggested the possibility of a plebiscite at some future time. The Territory was to be assured of equality with the States in all Federal legislation and the same treatment as any other part of the nation for its products and industries. A desire for protection against discriminatory legislation at Washington lies back of the continuous request, over a period of thirty years, of the Hawaiian Legislature for statehood.

Questions of the allegiance and assimilation of the Hawaiian Japanese lie at the root of the refusal of statehood. The Army and Navy have disapproved of statehood status from fear of disloyalty of the Japanese portion of the population in ease of war with Japan. Japan's 'dual citizenship' laws, the foreign language schools in Hawaii, and bloc voting have been the central points of query with respect to the degree of Americanization of the Japanese element which, in 1937, constituted 38 per cent of the total population but whose proportion is declining, due both to migration and a falling birth rate. The truth of the charge of voting according to racial ties is highly questionable, and the other two factors, though tending to retard assimilation, are not so serious as the opponents of statehood have made them out to be.

But the fact remains that Hawaii is a powerful mid-Pacific naval base for the United States, and that important problems of national defense are associated with this question of statehood. Pearl Harbor is one of the greatest naval bases in the world, and the most strongly defended. Up to June 30, 1938, $127,479,557 had been spent on Pearl Harbor and the last Congress appropriated an additional $4,575,000. Hence, although the 'Big Five' sugar companies have recently declared themselves for statehood, in order to prevent anti-Hawaiian discrimination at Washington, the issue is likely to continue to be debated on the grounds of national defense.

The sugar quotas for Hawaii under the Sugar Control Act are: for raw sugar, 963,149 short tons; for refined, 29,616 tons. Like Puerto Rico, Hawaii would like to expand its refining operations and resents the application of the quota system to refined sugar. The growers receive about $90,000,000 annually in the form of benefit payments derived from the processing levy on raw sugar. The social welfare projects of the sugar planters for the 50,000 or so sugar workers in the Islands have been described as among the most advanced in the world.

In the calendar year 1937 there was a large increase in Federal tax collections, receipts from 11 sources totalling $14,863,500 as compared with $9,857,191 in 1936. The returns testify to a wide distribution of income in the Territory. See also NATIONAL PARKS AND MONUMENTS.