The daily herald. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1886-1887, 1886-11-02
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1885,
THE HARBoR QUESTION.

Last Saturdays Ad0tr.fSer rushes
into the harbor question again with a
terrific splash of language, but without
making ripple from any intelligent
idea dropped. As whole its article is
a specimen of that mental obiquity
usually employed by that paper when
it views the opinions of others for the
sake of confounding them. There is
not reference to the position assumed
by the HERALD which is not united
with Misrepresentation. Moreover,
there is not an expression of our con
temporary's own views which is not
marked by ignorance of the matter at
issue.
Take the latter proposition first.
The advertiser says sits remarks were
confined to the necessity for conserving
the deep water of Honolulu harbor,
and to an expression of regret that the
space available for sea going vessels
had been greatly and unnecessarily
lessened by reclamation works. And
we further suggested" it continues,
''that it might yet become necessarv to
increase the water space, instead of
continuing to make land by destroying
the harbor." The author of this quo
tation either does not know what he is
talking about, or is misrepresenting
things for the purpose Of obtaining a
little revenge against those with whom
he was recently in close political
league. In any other case, let the
Adverfiser point out where space avail
able for sea going vessels has been
greatly and unnecessarily lessened by
reclamation works. Let it tell where a
foot of navigable water in the barber
has been destroyed to make land. If
there has been foot or few yards OF
water deep enough to take an ocean
vessel, encroached upon in the harbor
works referred to, it has been given
back with interest. AS this bears upon
the point where we took issue with the
BNl7etin, it rs a question that calls for a
little further discussion.
There has been no deep water filled
in to make land. A rocky ledge ran
along the margin of the harbor, and
within the outer edge Of that ledge
there was depth of about two feet al
high water. 1t was upon this ledge oi
reef that the new land was made. TIC
make a scientific frontage protuber
ances of the ledge into deep water were
cut away, which enlarged instead oI
lessened the space available for sea
going vessels The bulk of the ledge
reclaimed to land would require, in
order to be excavated for the accom-
mediation of ocean craft, more than
"any sum of money the Hawaiian Gov
ernment could possibly command" tc
use phrase adopted by our contempo
rary in another connection. "Make
land by destroying the harbor" Die
our contemporary not know that fol-
every cubic foot of land built on the
useless reef a cubic foot of watel
was gained to the space available
for sea going vessels7 If not, it was
simply talking at random for some OBJ
ject apart from the welfare of the port
The reclaimed land was all formed
Of material obtained in deepening an6
extending the harbor. Our contem
poraries make it appear that the Homo
lulu harbor works going on since away
back in the fifties represented freak OF
landlubber politicians. They ought tc
know that the improvements effected
are the result of painstaking calcula-
tions by the best marine engineers
whose services were procurable. That
their plans were we'll conceived has
received the unsolicited testimony oi