The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1886-02-01
ThF 9ailg 8mlletin,
MONDAY, FEB. /, 1886.
IRRIGATION.


matters receiving most earnest
attention in Victoria, Australia, at
the present time. Recently dele
cation from the Victorian Irrigation
Convention waited upon Mr.. Ser
vice, the Premier of the Colony,
and asked him to proceed with the
erection of weir and canals, which
would water something over n
million of acres comprised in three
adjoining localities. 1t was pro-
posed that "the State should pro-
vide the necessary capital, and that
interest should be levied in pro-
gressive manner, beginning at a
nominal rate, and increasing as the
works developed, until the early
arrears could be paid off and a
sinking fund established. Mr..
Service, in replying to the deputa-
ton, expressed thorough apprecia-
ton of the Importance of the work
of irrigation and water conservation,
and said that, although nothing
could be done this session, the Gov
eminent proposed to make a bill
for those works their principal
measure in the next parliament.
An anonymous contributor in the
As.stralaSian ably discusses the
feasibility of irrigating the province
of Riverina. His arguments to
show the immense Importance of
bestowing water upon dry but
fertile soil, also many of the points
he establishes as to the practicable
lity of comforting that boon upon
his own country, are closely appli-
cable to the case of these Islands.
When he laments the wealth running
in waste from the mountains to the
sea, our people have equal grounds
for joining in his complaint. His
demonstration of the feasibility of
irrigation works on the streams and
mountain gorges of Riverina can be
paralleled, we are assured, by the
promoters of the Oahu colonization
scheme in respect to the lands they
have placed in the market. TO
show that water conservation is pos
sible, where the conditions are
present, without costing more than
it is worth, this writer adduces the
case of reservoir just completed
in Tasmania at cost of SAP, 800,
the cost of storage being only S5.62
per million gallons. He cites
another Tasmanian instance, where,
by the cooperation of a few land
proprietors, water storage has sup
piled a large area with irrigation
for half century. Applying these
and similar examples to the case of
his own country, he says, I" If by
the construction of such works on
the Riverine streams a moderate
portion of the province could be
partially irrigated, the benefit
derived by the country would be so
great that all the gold ever dug
from Australian mines would be in
significant in comparison" Refer
ring to the means to be adopted, he
concludes that, "however per.
formed, there is no doubt the opera.
ton would be a financial success, as
all such works have ever provet
where water is supplied to fertile
soil in warm climate" Great
stress is laid upon the vastly superior
advantage of agricultural as com
pared with merely pastoral com
munities as the environment OF
towns. Old-established towns are
mentioned which, surrounded by
sparsely populated pastoral lands
are half-dead and altogether dreary
while infant towns, in the center o.
well-peopled agricultural districts
are hourishing and making rapic
progress. This testimony should b.
thoughtfully considered and remem
bered by the capitalists of Honolulu
1t affords support to the argument
this journal has put forward, frol
time to time, in advocating tn
supreme importance to the city an
the kingdom of having all availabl
and reclaimable lands on this islam
and the group settled with an il