The Hawaiian gazette., 1882-03-15

kESUNuNG the consideration Of the Ap-
preparation Bill. the first item that pre-
sents itself j. the army This expenditure
Is not one that commends itself to the
general public, by any means For tins
small kingdom. as was said last week. It Is
not an army that Is needed. it Is only a
force Of sufficient strength to put down
civil disorder: the Hawaiian army Is never
going to protect these shores from for
eign invader ANY power which meant
business in that line would be able TO con
centrate force which would practically
eat up anything we might attempt TO put
up against H. Indeed the matter l. not
worth argument; no one does. no one ofE
dream Of IT, The only valid reason for
keeping up "a military force in this country
Is TO have something 10 fall back upon in
case Of not or overt defiance of the law.
There isa necessity Of having such force.
but il has already been argued in these
columns that a far better organization
than the army can fulfil what Is desired.
The safety Of life and property demand a
liberal expenditure. Now taking the ex
penditure in the Attorney Generals de
uartment as being devoted entirely to the
maintenance Of civil order. and adding 10
this the vote for the army. which can only
be maintained for the same purpose. we
have the sum Of S239. 800 which was voted
al the last session Of the Legislature no
mean sum. but it has not been used to the
best advantage Insteadiof.being divided
It should be concentrated If more money
Is required more should be given. An ef-
ticient constabulaIy force should be organ
lied the men should be properly trained;
should have prospects Of promotion and
ultimate pension before them. Into the de
tails Of such a scheme it VIII be impossible
10 enter now. but such details 1t would not
bedificult TO work out This move however
would necessitate thorough reOrganiza-
ton. and this could only be brought about
by going to the root of the matter. There
would have to be a change in the present
appointing or dismissory power to the po
lice force At the present time the APP
poinments are in the hands Of the Coy
errors. the dismissals in those Of the
Sheritis.
Whether our next Legislature will feel
disposed TO make an effort in this dlreC-
ton remains 10 be seen. One member at
least seems TO favor some change Of the
sort If the leading article in last weeks
IFra7',a. Is any criterion. the desire for
administrative reform Is certainly right.
The roads ara perhaps the next matter
calling for attention During the biennial
period period closing March. 1882, If all
the money has been expended, no less a
sum than $3.50 viii have been paid I'M
der this head directly for roads $4,000
were voted 10y the last Legislature SO,
600 more would be raised by taxes, to be
used in the districts where collected
5000 were given for road damages, $1,000
for the purchase Of road stock, and $4,000
for the Pail Road. The latter grant has
not been drawn upon for what il was in
tended Throwing this $4,000 aside. we
may roughly say that about S256,OOOOught
% have been expended.on the roads in the
kingdom. Good roads are q vital necessity
% the agricultural interests Of this king
dom. Without them time and money are
lost IN getting produce to place Of ship.
ment Now for quarter Of a million dol
lars We should have something decent IN
the way or highways How does the mat
ter stand however. Constant complaints
are being made about the roads OF what
they may be on the other islands We have
only hearsay evidence. but il comes from
reliable sources. In and around Honolulu
we can form for ourselves a very fair and
by no means favorable opinion of theroads
we are daily using The trouble with the
roads Is not SO much that we do not spend
enough money on them. but that the
money Is badly spent. and Is month after
month getting washed into the sea. The
roads country roads are referred to are
not properly g07s in the first instance as
soon as rain falls upon them they become
soft and soggy. Heavy wagons come along
and soon chUTn the compost into soft
yellow paste here and there deep holes
are found washed ont by some ephemeral
stream. Then there Is an OutcTy. and in
rushes the road superintendent with gang
Of men. who pile on more soft earth, mix
ing in perhaps a few stones. There Il
relief for a brief space, and then during
the next rain storm away to sea goes all
the money that has been expended upon
repairs and the process has TO be once
more repeated only TO meet the same fate.
Fine weather roads we possess, but that Is
not what Is wanted we want roads that
VIII stand the rain. To have this will re
quire a large expenditure, Sl0O0,OOO or
perhaps even more. This money would
have to be most carefully expended. and
the work put under a thoroughly compe
tent and practical man but once done.
we should have a set of roads that could
be- kept in working order at a compare
lively small expense. and We could be sure
that these repairs would be Of some per
manent benefit The income of one year
or Of two wears would not meet the expen-
diture. but a small loan could be raised.
and would most probably be readily taken
up by people here.
Closely connected with roads are the
harbors and landings From recent sur
yeys it appears that two places might,
with some little expense, be made into ex-
cellent harb0rs: these are Nawiliwih and
hahalui The latter Is the more import
ant Of the two; Maui has now a direct
trade with San Francisco, and many valu-
able vessels put into that port. what Is
possible ought to be done towards putting
It into an efficient state for their prOtec
ton in any weather. and further greater
facilities should be offered for unloading
vessels: work of this kind Is terribly slow
and at times dangerous even IN such places
as the two mentioned. This matter would
CT course have to come IN as a separate
item Not only should something be done
at these two places. but of all the land
ings. buoys and anchors should be thor
oughly inspected: for this purpose the
sum Of $1,000 was voted II 1850. and II
Is said by a competent authority that It Is
by no means adequate: such are our coasts. /
that great expense has TO be incurred in
order to make good landings. At one
place in Hawaii. from which lately II has
been absolutely impossible to ship goods,
1t Is estimated that between 5000 and
$1,000 viii have to be expended before it