The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-02-28
SANITARY CONDITION OF THE CITY.

SANITARY CONDITION OF THE CITY.
Honolulu is healthy city, but that
is no reason why sanitary precautions
should be neglected. What is needed
is an adequate water-supply and a
drainage system which will discharge
the sewage outside the reef. Without
this relief the outbreak of an epidemic
Is only q question of time. The soil,
naturally porous, absorbs fluids which
are gradually filtered towards the sea
but it must be evident to any person
giving the subject a thought that
there is limit to this capacity of
absorption and natural drainage.
Population is steadily increasing, and
there must come time, and that not
very distant, when the soil will be-
come wholly impregnated with sew
age matter. A very dry season, or
succession of dry seasons, would
suffice to arrest the natural process of
sub-drainage and fiji the air with
poisonous exhalations, spreading dis
ease and death among the people.
s--eh an outbreak would be fatal to.
70 coh."'ress of the Islands "Oroau
tnaS they aAslse il WoII5| Inc salu-
brity of the hawaiian climate is
proverbial. It is part and parcel of
our national capital, and its preserva-
ton is of the utmost value to the
community at large in a money point
OF view.
The objection to this proposal is its
cost. It will take a great deal of
money to furnish an adequate water
supply and construct comprehen-
sive drainage system and where is
the money to come from? OF course
it will cost money; but it will be
money well spent. There will be
something to show for it when it is
finished, which is more than can
be said of Government expenditure
as a rule either here or elsewhere.
It is not our duty to finance
for adrainage-Water scheme, although
we do not think it at all difficult
task. Suffice it to say that when a
well-considered scheme is submit
ted and approved, ways and
means will be devised for carrying it
into effect. Our duty primarily is to
direct public attention to this matter
and to enforce the necessity for inn
mediate action. It cannot be done In
8 day or a week. It will take time
and scientific investigation to deter
mine what is best to be done-what
is best for property owners and
the people at large. There should be
no cut-and-dried scheme of improve
ment works adopted; however respect
q BILE the source from which it eman-
ates. The best, all things considered,
should be approved, after careful in
vestigation; and the plan, once ap-
proved, should be scrupulously ad-
hered to.
We are now speaking generally,
and not discussing any particular
plan. Matters OF detail cut no figure
at present. Public interest must be ex-
cited. and public opinion directed to
the one point that a water supply and
drainage scheme should be inaugur-
ated simultaneously and carried out
together. One is the complement OF
the other. Of course it would be an
advantage to have an unfailing water
supply alone; but abundance of
water under existing drainage con-
ditiona would simply tend to
hasten the inevitable outbreak of
disease by more rapidly saturating
the soil with waste water and sew
age seep. We insist that this
question does not admit of indefinite
delay. And for this reason: Tourists
are steadily increasing in numbers,
and if the sanitary condition of the
city is put upon a satisfactory footing
there will hardly be a limit to the
expenditures from this source. AS
q business investment, therefore, we
hold that it will pay to construct a
perfect water and drainage system.
We hope that property owners, and
our business and trading classes will
take concerted action to bring this
about. It will not do to depend alto
gether upon the Government, and to
hold them responsible whether they
have available funds or not. The
people must help themselves if they
are to make the city what it should
be-the healthiest and most attractive
sanitarium in the North Pacific.