The record-union., 1898-08-30
A FIELD IN HAWAII.

It is highly probable that one OF the
effects of the annexation of the HaWa-
iian Islands will be one not reckoned
either by the politician or the political
economist We mean an accession OF
| wealth of a character that is never
measured by either gold or silver-the
development Of educational and liter
airy mines.
Strange as it may seem, there Is
large proportion of the educated peo-
pie of the United States who are ig-
norant of the simplest facts Of Ha-
waiian geography More than eighty
per cent. of the people of the United
States imagine that Honolulu is the
principal city on the Island of Ha-
wall They probably think, also, that
Honolulu is the capital of the island.
It will not be many years before COM
mercial and political relations with
the islands will be SO common that
everybody will know that Honolulu
(Which is properly pronounced Homo
lulu, the first syllable pronounced with
the long sound Of the 'o'O is on the
island of Oahu. and that Hawaii is
ninety miles away, being the largest
of all the islands.
This and similar geographical real
tiles will soon become generally known;
but there are mines of historic lore yet
to be explore The entire series of
islands abounds in legends and historic
information of a character that will
prove most useful TO rOmancers, poets,
novelists and short story writer's. In
this age of rapid intercommunication
with political ties SO interviewer as
to increase the commercial importance
Of the Hawaiian group, it is highly
probable that the country will produce
the wealth and leisure that always
forerun the building Of a distinctive
literature Men and women of brains
and energy, Of wealth and ambition,
will be led to the islands, some wit /
their families. Many who go to the
famous Rainbow Land" will see in a
far more impressive way, and realize
with more stirring emotion than ever
thrilled the native (whether white or
black, that the islands have a wealth
Of raw material for good literature.
The field Of Hawaiian stories has
never yet been disturbed even by the
pIow Of literary pioneer. Tribes have
died and passed from memory, races
have conquered one another, Polynesia
has overrun Hawaii, and Samoa has
mingled her blood with that Of the
sons of Maui-yet the great word paint
ers have never entered the field, the
story tellers have never drawn from
the reservoir that awaits them.
It will be interesting to note the
growth of Hawaiian literature from
the date of the annexation of the
group. OF course this growth will not
be the affair of day; it may require
many decades, but literature is a plant
of quicker development now than in
the old days A writer with even one
tenth the versatility and fecundity CT
Sir Walter Scott would be able to pro-
duce the Hawaiian folk lore in the form
Of enhancing stories within a few
years. 1t may be, however, that 1t Will
require many decades of seasoning be-
fore the Anglo-S Saxon writer, trans
planted to the soil of the subt tropics,
will be able to sing their songs of life
and love, their dreams of hope and
ambition, in a way that will be under
stood by the restless men of action Of
Western civilization, and yet carry in
waiians