1 - American Memory

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legislation that will keep our two lifelines open? Is It any wonder that we are
dismayed and disheartened when, faced with one of our lifelines being cut, our
pleas for help go unheeded? Is it any wonder that we feel discriminated against
when other states of the nation are declared disaster areas eligible for special
help as a result of heavy rains or heavy snows while we endure worse disasters
with no relief? Put bluntly, we ask: How come our fleet of Islands can be block-
aded with nobody caring?
The purpose of this study is to contribute to public understanding of this prob-
lem in the hope that it can be corrected.
JOHN D. BELLINGEB,
President, First Hawaiian Bank.
CHAPTEB I—HAWAH'S VTrLNEKABrtiTT TO TBANSPOBTATIOK STRIKES
Apart from her uniquely isolated location, which has already been discussed
ij> the Introduction, Hawaii is particularly vulnerable to transportation strikes
because her economy is preeminently an export-import economy.
Were we largely self-sufficient based upon producing locally the things we con-
sume, then the situation would be different. But it is obviously not economically
feasible nor physically possible for the islands to produce a complete range of
goods for a population of only around 800,000. With the exception of bauxite,
which has never been mined commercially, Hawaii has no metal commercially,
Hawaii has no metal resources. The Islands have few nonmetallic minerals and
no deposits of oil or coal. Land suitable for agriculture is limited and its avail-
ability is shrinking with increasing urban demands. Thus about 80 i)ercent of
all physical commodities purchased by residents of Hawaii come from overseas,
mainly from the Mainland states of the Union.
Let us look at this situation item by Item.
FOOD
Aside from sugar, pineapple, and a few other export crops, agricultural pro-
duction In Hawaii is on a fairly small scale. We depend on imports, mostly from
the Continental I'.S., for a large proportion of the food we con.sume.
Imports account for 52 percent of the beef consumed in the State, 64 percent
of the pork, 75 percent of the chicken, and all of the lamb, mutton, and turkey.'
Although we are largely self-sufficient in fresh milk and eggs, we bring in all of
our butter and margarine, most of it from the Mainland. Even the meat and
dairy products produced locally are ultimately dei)endent on Imports, since
nearly all of our livestock feed comes In from other states.
Some 58 percent of the fresh vegetables marketed In Hawaii are Imported
(nearly all from the West Coast)—including 99 percent of the potatoes, 89 per-
cent of the carrots, 58 percent of the lettuce, and 44 percent of the tomatoes.
And this doesn't include frozen and canned vegetables, all of which are brought
in from outside. The State does produce a variety of tropical fruits, but its im-
ports of such Mainland fruits as oranges, apples, pears, and grapefruit total
more than 31 million pounds a year.
With the exception of corn, no grain Is produced locally for human consump-
tion. Rice occupies much the same position in the Hawaiian diet as potatoes do
In the typical Malnlander's diet. About 55 million pounds of rice are brought
into Hawaii annually, mostly from the Sacramento area. Yearly imports of
around 68 million pounds of Mainland wheat are milled locally to produce 90
percent of the flour consumed in the State, while another 6.6 million pounds of
Mainland-milled flour make up the remaining 10 percent.
In addition to dairy processing and flour milling, food processing in Hawaii
is concentrated largely in the production of sugar, canned pineapple, fruit
juices and preserves, canned fish, bakery products, and some ethnic foods—and
even these industries rely to varying degrees on materials, machinery, and
containers brought in from out.side the State. We are entirely dependent on Im-
ports for such things as cereals, baby foods, soups, cheese (except cottage
cheese), TV dinners, pet food, wine and most hard liquors, cooking oils, most
salt, and an endless list of other food items.
' Figures are for 1970. the mo»t recent year In which Rhlpplng was nnlntermptea.