The sun., 1900-12-02
TIE POPULATION or HAWAII.

A census bulletin. Just issued. shows the
population OF Hawaii on June l to have been
i54,0Ol. which shows a growth Of az pei
cent over the population In 1885, when the in
habitants numbered l0ao?o The largest per-
centage of growth indicated by any OF the
twelve censuses taken since 1892 has occurred
during the past four years In fact there was
steady decline In population between 1850 and
1872 due IN the remarkable decrease In the
native element while the foreign immigration
was still very small.
The new census report does not give the popu-
lation nv nationalities, but there Ia no reason
to believe that the steady decline In the num-
Der Of pure-blood natives las been checked
In the forty-three years ending in 1895 they
decreased from 7i,olo to aa.5oi Fortunately.
the white incomers cannot be accused OF co n
/ tributing largely. to this phenomena Some
diseases introduced among the natives when
whalers rcsorted 10 tho islands were calami-
tous. but the preservative influences which
the whites have cSerted upon the natives have
far outweiched the bad
The causes OF their decline are those that
decimate many aboriginal peoples. They
are very susceptible to contagious diseases.
A fourth Of them died Of measles In is4s A
little later 5000 Of them perished of smallpox.
They have little regard for hygienic laws
though they have improved in this respect and
they are tho greatest OF sufferers from leprosy
but this terrible evil il now being held In check
and there ia some hope that IL may be stamped
out entirely. The largest cause for their de-
creasng numbers however, is the growing
frequency Of marriage with foreigners. Chinese
japanese. Portuguese Americans and Others
and the progeny Of these mixed marriages Rre
OF course. NOT counted among the pure bloods
Tho llawaans are destined 10 lose their identity
completely "a a distinctive branch Of the Poly
nesian peoples. The increase in population
is therefore due entirely to the influx Of for
egners from Asia. America and Europe and
the children horn 10 them in tho Islands
or the seven important islands. Oahu has
the largest population and just about two
nftts Of its $500 inhabitants live in Honolulu
Hawaii Island has l0.Si3 inhabitants. the lnree
expansion of the sugar industry having drawn
many Immigrants there since 1881 Maui.
whose industries have been revohtori2cd
10y irrigation and whose tlabe lands have
practically all been taken up. is third with
?j.i8 Kauai. which has some very rich sugar
and ric" plantations and good grazing lands
but almost NO native population, comes next
~" two leprr settlements are situated and
llttlc Lanai. -"nth II T., h.vc together ?.5ot
decreased in population since the ocnsus of
ism Siihan. to most western island If the
gr"dp. II ITacilCHly owned tY one white man
and H. population Is only L.?
All a." Important islands except Molokai
and Lanai have largely increased in popula-
tion IN he post ten years since the censiIs ~
isp. The largest rate OF growth is that Of
oahu, whose percentage of increase is s75
Hawaii and kaua! coming closely after The
Z porc"ntage Il Increase In the entire group is
III n other words, the population has in
Creased over seven -t@nths in the past decade
The great development Of cane sugar growing
has been the largest material factor In pro-
noting this rapid increase IN population. Tho
ISLANDS are IN" third largest producer 81 this
commodity in the world About 10000 tons
OF raw SUGAR are produced every year and
nearly oil the money invested IN agricultural
pursuits goes into sugar planting
lhr CENSUS report saws thai Honolulu ~ prac-
tically the only city in the Territory II has
now 393n6 Inhabitants and has very nearly
doubled IN pop ilaton In the past ton years
When the miSslonafes FIRST wont 10 Honolulu
eighty years ago, the only buildings were grass
nuts which sheltered about 5000 souls To-
day IL is the metropolis 81 tho central Pacific.
The great way station where converge the route-,
between Asia and Australasia on the one hand
and America on the Other.