Evening star., 1896-07-04
AN INCOME TAX
Proposed Feature of the Financial
System of Hawaii.
PASSAGE OF THE BILL By TIE SENATE
Supplying the American Market
With Bananas.
EXPAN SION OF TRAD Z
PASSAGE OF THE BILL BY TIE SENATE
EXP PANSION OF ADE
Correspondence of The Evening Star.


excess of s2.C0O. At his request. the su-
pren.e court has rendered to President Dole
their opinion. which is favorable. to the
tax being constitutional. The Senate was
divided on the passage of the bill by a
majority of eight to six. 1 am sorry to say
that the minority embraced the senators of
largest wealth. This was natural but not
good in the impression given to the people
as to the degree of public spirit in our men
of capital They are able and useful legs-
lators. and. a class, men Of munifcent
habit, and one does not like to see them
taking an attitude prejnficing their chances
of reelection.
An income tax, and a heavy one, is bound
to form part of our future financial sys-
tenn The present is only a first and ex-
perimental attempt, by way of seeing what
can he done in that line and learning how
to operate the system. Our people are ad-
vanciLS in their convictions that the
wealthy should bear a large share of the
burdens of the government which protects
them in gaining and holding their great es-
tates. The present law is likely to be fol-
lowed by a graded income tax with an in
Creasing percentage on the higher incomes.
Our Hawaiian community already feels an
influence from the example OF New Zealand,
which is a somewhat near neighbor. That
colony has made great advances in the
direction of graded taxation, not only Of
incomes, but also of individual estates in
land.
A leading object of increased taxation Of
large holdings of land is, of course, to dis
courage very large landed possessions, and
to make it desirable to their owners to part
with them to small holders. Our present
industrial system In Hawaii, while now pro-
ductive of wealth in a high degree. tends
in many districts to prevent the establish
ment of small farmers. the yeomanry who
constitute the most valuable citizenship in
any country. This evil will be more felt as
the immigration of white agriculturists in
creases. A sugar plantation Is apt to be
profitable In proportion to Its size. A mill
that turns OUT from fifty to one hundred
tons of sugar a day can be worked with
much greater economy than the smaller
mills producing from ten to twenty tons
daily. Thus the tendency is to consolidate
all neighbortng plantations into one, as well
as to absorb all available bits of land in the
district crowdtng out the small cultivators.
Where large plantation exists. 1t becomes
quite impossible for the small farmer to
obtain land at all. There Is no room for
him The community comes to consist Of q
white manager and half dozen white sub
ordinates. with a thousand or so Of Hitter
ate laborers, mostly Asiatics.
Large Land Holdings.
On the other hand 1t Is to be said of
the three largest plantations in the Is
lands. that they occupy no land which
could have become availa BILE for small
farmers at an near period. They are To-
Gated upon arid tracts. and depend entire
ly upon artificial Irrigation. which cost a
vast initial expenditure. 1t Is also true of
two-thirds of our sugar plantations that
they occupy lands reclaimed from unculti-
waited wilderness, used for grazing. 1t Is
very probable that in the near future.
when our expected annexation to the
United States shall have checked the
Astatic labor supply. and shall have set in
motion Il stream of white immigrants from
America of he 1oSS fo,-o hly, lo
Gated sugar estates will become unprofft-
able. and will be subdivided into small
holdings and sold. This will be greatly to
be desired. And the previous reclamation
or the land from its primitive roughness,
with its improvements In roads, fences,
and many buildings, will make such places
very desirable for settlement by small
farmers.
Really, though. there never need be any
serious difficulty in Independent farmers
finding an abt ndance of land on which to
locate to advantage. now that the govern
ment is embarked upon liberal policy of
road making to open up the districts hith-
erto practically inaccessible. During the
coming two years from 100 to 1D miles
of new roads of the best quality will open
Tor settlement over 100000 acres of virgin
coffee lands of the first-class on the Island
of Hawaii. These roads will place the cul-
tfvator in easy communication with good
seaports. enabling him to market not only
coffee. but periShabe products, which may
be in demand in the towns. The advan-
tage of such roads Is proved by the way
In which 10000 acres Of coffee lands along
the new volcano road have been taken up
during the past three years by white set
tiers Already branch roads are demanded
to penetrate the forest and reach the
tracts lying in the rear. The increased
taxes on these occupied lands already
more than twice pay the interest on the
entire S12D.OU which the whole thirty
miles of road cost
Trade With This Country.
As available for expectation to California,
one perishable product, easily produced
here by the small cultivator, is especially
worthy of mention. Bananas are already
exported from Honolulu to San Francisco
at the rate of 10000 or more punches
monthly, at rates fairly profitable to the
cuitivator- This business is capable of
great expansion; Your immense West
India banana traffic indicates what will yet
De done from Hawaii to supply the grow
Ing population of the Pacific coast With
this very popular fruit. Althoup,, onr ha-
.h nanas aIleady sufer froTrr oe.npetition with
the supplies sent by rsnway and steamer
from Mexico and ven from TeIas morris
we are Wen aruated for successfully meet
ing such Competition.
Ape present banana crop Is all raised
within few miles of this city upon scat
tered small patches. There is abundance
OF available land for such culture aIonr
the line of the Oahu railway. The largest
district soon to be made accessible to the
city. Is one of about 1900 acres of excel
lent banana lands, from seven to ten miles
from the city on the windward or rainv
side of the island. This is at present un-
available owing to a 9OO-foot precipice
Down this precipice. known as the Nunanu
Pail. wagon road Of easy grade Is i'm
mediately to be completed at a cost of
about $4,000. The effect Of this road will
necessarily be to make the occupancy of
those lands profitable for small cultivators,
especially for raising bananas. of which
bOO.OOO punches could easily be produced
annually in that section for export from
Honolulu.
All tourists to Honolulu know the Nunanu
PaH with its magnificent panorama of
mountain precipice. verdant rolling glades
and foamins reefs. That slope of the island
divided from the city by a vast mountain
wall. faces the northeast trade winds and
gets their moisture. while the Honolulu
s1de Is somewhat arid. so that nothing Is
produced on the shore without irrigation
Those Kaolan slopes receive about eighty
inches of annual rainfall to our thirty.
and SO need no irrigation for either sugar
cane or bananas. The contrast of that
green country to our brown hillsides IL
immense The coming road down the Pail
VIII be great boon. 1t will induce many
OF our people to occupy country seats ii,
that district. as q few already do. labor
1ously climbing the steep Pail trail on
mules or horses
The entire lower belt of the Hila country