The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1892-11-08
COMING KING COFFEE.
He Wants Roads to the Ship
ping Points,
Talk with a Coffee Farmer Of KOna
on the Situation.

Mr.. George Clark of Kailua, Kona,
Hawaii, has Just been on visit to
Honolulu, returning home by the
steamer w. G.. Hall this morning.
A BULLETIN reporter learned from
Mr.. Clark that he owns 25 or 30
acres of old or wild coffee, and is
going to plant about so acres more
with the same article. Mr.. George
McDougall, neighbor of his, also
owns coffee farm with old trees to
which he will add new plants. Both
men have large amount of coffee
on hand ready for market. They
employ Japanese labor. Mr.. Clark
wanted to impress on the newspaper
man the necessity to coffee farming
of roads to the points of shipment.
1t is FIVE miles from his farm over a
rough country to the steamer land
ing.
"The Government built two miles
of road for us last period, when the
money gave out" said Mr.. Clark.
eyes, the money was wasted shame
fully. | wrote to the Minister of
the Interior last year that | would
superintend the making of that road
free of charge, but the Minister
would not hear of it. The man in
charge Moses Barratt) was employed
at $50 a month, and there was a
second luna at 500 or $40 month,
over ID men at the outside, the aver
age would be 10 men, besides which
there was a paymaster."
"The road tax for the district
amounts to only from 800 to $500.
think the new Appropriation Bill
gives us 5000 in the first section, and
$751; in the second"
"You won't get much out of the
second section this period" remark
ed the interviewer.
"No. If they haven't got the
money the road will stand still for
the next two years. There has been
$4,000 or $4,000 spent already on the
road, and it is only about half finish
ed.
cit seems to me if the Government
wants revenue it will have to spend
some money to enable people to
make a revenue. Roads will do us
more good than all the paper money
that can be made.
"Cattle are down and butter is
down, and it costs nearly as much
to transport our coffee to the steamer
as to grow it. Money is squandered
in ways it ought not to be when it
should be laid out for roads.
"The opening of roads would be
an advantage to the country, for
people could be induced to go into
coffee planting, or pineapple plant
ing, if given access to the market
where now people are afraid.
"The Government has gone to
great expense to open up home
steads, but the people who have
taken them up have no roads to
them. People have had to pay a
large price for homesteads. Seven
to twelve dollars an acre is a fearful
price for land in Kona. But what
is the use of it to people if they
haven't roads?
eff Mr.. Miller hadn't that road
which was foolishly built by Mr.
Thurston for the sugar company
that was sure to prove failure, his
coffee company would never have
succeeded. | thought the road was
very foolish, but since the coffee
company has been started | think
the road is beneficial. When it was
made nobody knew coffee planta
ton would be started there"
Mr.. Clark, in further conversation
expressed himself strongly against
all useless expenditure of public
money while the country suffered
for want of means of transportation
from farming lands to shipping
points. He considered the soldiers
and the band were luxuries that
might be dispensed with, at least
until the national finances are il
better circumstances. The Cabinet
last named Mr.. Clark regarded as
good one, and thought if the folly
of the past few months was con
tinued there would soon be no gov
eminent at all.
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