Hawaii Chronicles III: World War Two in Hawaii from the Pages of Paradise of the Pacific

OPA—Hawaiian Style

OPA—Hawaiian Style E Uncle Sam’s bulldog effort to stabilize the cost of living, and to distribute fairly and equitably those things that war makes scarce, definitely has reached these out-post islands in the Pacific. OPA, which in the past year has become a household word on the Mainland— affecting, as it does, every single one of America’s 134 millions—is rapidly becoming a real, tangible something to those of us who saw the American-Japanese death struggle unfold in our own backyard. The history of Hawaiian price control differs radically from that of its counterpart on the Mainland. It was the military government—not OPA—that swung into action against inflation when war suddenly came upon us.There just wasn’t time, equipment, or trained OPA specialists available to carry out the functions for which the Office of Price Administration is responsible on a national scale. Lt. Gen. Delos Emmons, commanding the Hawaiian Department in his capacity as military governor, delegated to the commanding officers of the various islands the task of administering price control and rationing within their own jurisdiction. The men chosen to perform these duties were young, energetic officers whose civilian background fitted them for the job that was to be done. Starting from scratch, and with only one thought uppermost—that of immediately curbing the disastrous rise of prices they knew was sure to develop in an area suddenly peopled with thousands of defense workers making unprecedented wages—they went into action. Taking only those Mainland OPA regulations that seemed applicable to the economic structure of the islands, they adopted them in principle as “military orders.” In instances where Mainland regulations did not cover a specific problem, the military quickly and effectively adopted its own “rule-of-thumb” measures. The army had a man-sized job on its hands preparing the islands against another possible return of Mr. Tojo’s henchmen—but it 132 First published May 1943. wavered not a whit in its determination to carry out as efficiently as possible this civilian task that the fortunes of war had thrust upon it. Happily, this army-administered price-control unit did a fine overall job. Prices, generally, stayed in line. Of course, there were chiselers and “I-can-get-away-with-it guys,” but many of these, the records reveal, soon felt the quick, precise, and uncompromising power of the Provost Courts.Violators learned that the army “wasn’t fooling.” Fines often in excess of those imposed on the Mainland for comparable offenses were levied with dispatch. Gradually, though, the ever-changing trend of Mainland prices, together with the critical shortages of most commodities, resulted in an abnormal, complex, market condition that, in itself, permitted a field-day for certain types of opportunities. On one hand, legitimate merchants were being “squeezed” on fair profits; on the other, some items—cheap jewelry, for instance—were selling for three, four, and five times their true values. General Emmons’ “price boys” had fought a valiant “holding battle” against inflation, but now, it was generally agreed, the time had come to relieve the military of this highly specialized job of price control. Thus, on March 10, supervision of price control and rationing officially returned to OPA, to be administered by a civilian war agency under the same general pattern as that developed for the Mainland. For several months prior to the date of transition from military to civilian agency control, General Emmons had had the assistance and advice of Karl Borders, a seasoned OPA executive from the Washington headquarters. During the later period of military control, Mr. Borders served in the dual capacity of territorial representative for OPA and as officer on the staff of the military governor. On March 10, as Territorial Director for OPA, Mr. Borders assumed full responsibility for the program. The turnover, from military to OPA, was accomplished with astonishing smoothness and a minimum of inconvenience to the general public. Gradually, Mr. Borders built his organization by retaining most of the civilian help who had served under the army officers and supplementing this structure with price and rationing specialists from Mainland OPA offices—men whose actual experience in this unprecedented profession has contributed immeasurably to the operation of the program throughout the territory. War!—1943 133 Mr. Borders, it is told, had one standard speech of welcome ready for these malihini OPA workers. It went something like this:“You...