The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-09-12
TO RUSH STATION WORK.

With the Navy Department urging
speedy action in the preparation of
plans for the improvement of Pearl
Harbor, directing the prosecution of the
work of the surveying of the lands
which have been chosen for the site,
and the settlement of the suits for the
condemnation of the property, the be-
ginning of the end of the quarter cen
tury's striving for a mid-Pacific navy
yard seems to be at hand.
While 1t is true that this work would
be of inestimable benefit to the islands;
in that there would be provided accom-
modations and defenses which are much
needed, the fact must not be forgotten
that in the suits for the possession of
Pearl Harbor acres there is a matter
which Is of prime significance to the
business interests The fact that the
lands selected are those which have
great value. to the plantations which
control them. must not be lost to sight
any more than that these acres were
allowed to lie waste for many years,
while the central government debated
what was to be done with the conces-
sion which was gained in the treaty of
1876. That they have been improved
since the aspirations of these options,
and with the honest belief that there
was q Sdisinel3nat4ons on the part of
many of the officials of the United
States, government to make the invest
ment of the millions necessary for the
creation of station, is apparent.
AS the case now stands it must be
that on the part of most Of the officials
Z p. IYyif a1 tot 90 har
there is full and complete understand
ing of the matter and a desire to see a
settlement of this case on a basis which
will be fair to both parties. The figures
given In the complaint are not fair per-
: haps In the estimation of the men who
will have the matter In hand from this
time. But on the other hand they were
the only ones which could be made at
the time and now stand as a basis for
discussion. 1t is certain that should
the case come to trial today that there
would be given to 1T the most careful
consideration, and that the result would
;embody the best thought of the legal
officers of the government. 1t is said
by many men who have looked into the
case, that there could be no decision on
the lines ef=the complaint, for the bur-
den Of the evidence would show that an
amount in excess of that sum has been
expended upon much of the land
AS to the need of such station here
since the growth of the nation and it's
participation in the affairs of the world,
there has come necessity for means of
national defense which were not neces-
sary some few years ago. Should there
be foreign war again this territory
would be an outpost which would de-
mand the services of as many men as
were in the standing army of the ma
ton before the last conflict. The neces-
sity for an outpost has been apparent
and now that the outpost has been Sc
cured statesmen see that 1t must be
protected. There will be millions spent
in equipping the stations of the Army
and Navy here, and they will be of the
highest efficiency. The fact that these
requirements are so patent will be an
assurance that there will be no snap
Judgment taken upon the owners Of
the property which the government
must have. for the carrying out of its
schemes of defense.