The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-05-25
THE HAWAIIAN EXHI3Ir Al
OMAHA.

can Exposition TO be held at Omaha
during the year, is an excellent one,
SO far as it shows to our fellow-citi-
zens of the Mainland our natural re-
sources, and gives them proof that an
nexation has not added sterile terri
tory to the national area. But we are
now in a position to deal very honest
ly with our fellow-citizens, and mis-
leading exhibitions and statements
should not be made. 1t is neither
honest nor polite to attract immigra
tiOn by any misrepresentation of facts.
What success may be had here by the
small farmers, aside from mere labor
ers on plantations has not yet been
settled. 1t is neither fair nor honest
to suppress information about the diff
fculties of developing our small indus
tries, at a time when we are depending
largely upon the Mainland for vegeta-
bles, hay, grain, fruits of several
kinds, butter, poultry, and even meats.
An exhibition of our products carries
with it the presumption that they are
raised here with profit, and it is an in
vitation to immigrants to share in that
profit. What are the facts? The high
rate of inter-island transportation for
bids the consignment of many agricul-
tural products from the other Islands
TO this place, and seriously prevents
the development of small farming
The cost of the freight on many per-
iShable articles carried from Maui to
this place is higher than it is from this
port to San Francisco. There may be
a good reason for these high charges
but the fact discourages small farmers
on other islands. There will in due
time, be a lessening of these rates but
as they now exist they seriously dis
courage the farming of small areas.
The profits from the cultivation of
coffee seem to be doubtful for many !
reasons, although there is little doubt |
that in time it may be made profitable |
Owing partially to the scarcity and |
the enormous prices of land adjacent |
TO the city, fine grapes are not raised |
by the Portuguese in considerable
quantities. While we tell the tourist !
that "Cabbages grow anywhere" he
sees California cabbages in the mar
ket, and wonders why we ask him to
put his money into producing fruits
and vegetables, when we 40 not do it
ourselves.
If $4,000 had been put five years
ago into an experimental farm of ten
acres, and the results of it's cultivation
been satisfactory map of this small
farm. the story of it's products and it's
net profit presentedto the farmers of
the Western States. meeting at Oma-
ha. would take our case out of the
miserable booming business which
has caused more sorrow to women and
misery to men in America than war or
pestilence.
We must get beyond the Col. Sell
ers age We can we'll afford to make
a handsome exhibit at Omaha, but we
cannot afford to mislead any person.
We have already had one exhibit there,
and, so far as it is known, there were
not results from it beyond that Of Sc
curing the admiration of a vast null
titude of people in America for our
climate and exhibits.
The report made to the Chamber of
Commerce last week states that the
Omaha Exhibition is the place for the
farming and labor question: to be work
ed out to the best advantage to these
Islands" Why was nothing worked
out by the last Exposition?
The city authorities of Lincoln, Ne ]
braska. the capital of the; State, have
for several years published in the best {
/
tages of living in or near to that
city The representations are oonserv- |
ative, and, if true, any farmer who {
abandons that State, with such oppor- {
tunities before him, is a fool The {
prices of land and of produce. the. num- G
Der and character of the schools and .
colleges and libraries are given. and :
the outlook is most attractive.
How can Hawaii compete with these
tempting offers made in the very heart
of the great republican empire, with
it's boundless area of soil to be had for
the asking? Only by creating con- {
dition OF things which on a careful c
and exhaustive test will make the G
farmer more prosperous here than q
there. In seeking for immigration 4
from the Mainland, and it should have
been seriously sought for years ago, it
must not be forgotten that the stand
ard of comfort and wages and profit is
that of nation with boundless re- {
sources hardly yet touched. We can
easily start flow of immigration COM
posed of the idle, the discontinued, the {.
seekers of fortune. They are not G
here La
The contribution to the Omaha EX- n
position should be cordially supported
because it shows that we have pro-