The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1897-02-12

MS LlcuuSs GShilEs nov 90 you
think look?" This is characteristic
of every new country. and it sticks ont
everywhere snd among all classes of
this country. Hilo people are always
anxious to find out what the Honolulu
resident thinks Of them, because they
seem 10 feel that Honolulu has a spec
ial grudge against their town.
Hilo is town Of great possibilities,
and if its people were 10 so about the
matter in the right way the time might
be in the not far distant future when
the town might overshadow Honolulu
When 8 man starts in 70 find out what's
the matter with the town. why ii does
not progress as it ought to, it is like
getting into the labyrinths of an unex-
plored cave. Every man has an opin-
ion. He's all right and the other fell
low is all wrong II is strange, indeed,
that people so cordial. so hospitable,
so pleasant in every way, cannot when
it comes 10 a political or public i'm
provement proposition. get together
and hold together. If any town ever
needed wharf. Hilo does. but you ask
one man why the wharf is not forth
coming. and he says il is W. o. Smiths
fault; the next man tells You the Will
der Steamship Company doesn't want
ii. still another says the cause Of moth
ing being done is due TO disagreement
among the factions as 10 location, then
possibly in the next Is minutes some
one will say there are no factions in
the place. These opinions each come
from good. solid men. who can get to-
gether and talk business on private
propositions and verging their opin-
ions into a common plan of action
where all hands can meet, but in pub
lie measures they hold to individual
ideas with a tenacity that is really sur
prising. because it is injurious 10 the
town.
Then there is the water front. A
more disgraceful lot of shanties never
graced the back doors of an Hawaiian
hamlet. II appears as if all the dirty
Cinnamon in the place had been
scooped up and put down in the most
prominent spot, there TO do their worst.
The first thing that greets the eye TO
say nothing of the nose of the visitor
to Hilo is the back doors of lot OF
Chinese and japanese shanties. The
ownership Of, the land is yet in Ques
ton, but even if this question cannot
be decided the Board of Health might
meanwhile get in and do a charitable
act by demanding that the houses be
removed or replaced by more respecta
BILE looking buildings Should any
department of the Government be
Handicapped for any reason in carry
ing out the work of determination
along the water front and on Bridge
street, the only scheme that seems fea-
sible as a matter of last resort is for
the people of Hilo to import firebug
and order the fire department to go to
sleep for day or two.
A Hilo lawyer remarked recently
that he thought there was more indi-
viduality of opinion in Hilo than in
Honolulu. Possibly this is true and
probably if there were less individu-
ality of opinion, less of the disposition
on the part of one side TO condemn a
movement because it is set on foot by
the other side, the people of the town
would have less reason to grumble over
mueh-needed public Improvements.
Less individuality and more co-opera-
ton would work wonders.
Nevertheless, as was previously stat
ed, Hilo is a town of great possibilities
There is an immense tract of land in
and around the Hilo district which is
being rapidly developed by progressive
independent farmers. These men will
do their business in Hilo. and the ten
deney will steadily increase for Hilo
to do its foreign business direct with
the cities of the Coast. There is a
! steadily increasing demand for real es-
tate, and prospective home builders are
realizing more and more that it is the
best place TO look beyond the immedi-
! ate environs OF the Court House, where
long leaseholds are the rule. and branch
to districts a little further removed
The Bruce Waring Company has open
ed up tract, where lots have beer
quickly taken up at reasonable prices
The town is bound 10 grow. and PEG
pie generally have the good sense tC
look askance at the leasehold PROPOSE
ton. The tract in question has a first
class location, and when opened up
with good streets and dotted with pref
ty homes, will put new and brighter
phase on the section in the vicinity OF
the Waikiki River.
In the business section the leasehold
proposition crops up, and also more
difference of opinion. The Government
owns a great portion of the land, and
some say that a great injustice IS be
ing done the town by refusal to sell q
goodly section to men prepared to
guarantee the erection of substantial
buildings on the property. Still others
state that the Government is about to
make a grievous mistake by selling &c
these men. because the land might be
cut I'D into smaller lots and more peo-
ple given a chance at securing land
which will, in the course of time, be
of no small value. And there the mat
ter rests for the time being; the build
ings don't go up, and Hilo gets the
name of being a land of kiekers. In
many respects this is a misnomer, be
1 cause the public spirit Of the intelli-
gent. progressive men of the place viii
lead to,a more complete amalgamatior
of forces. less quibbling. less faction.
al dissension and more ground work
Common sense will gain the day. anC