The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-02-14
LARGE HOLDINGS
ARE NECESSARY
SUGAR BUSINESS ONLY POSSIBLE
TO LARGE CONCERNS

To LARGE CONCERNS.
Land Should Not Dee Sold to Corpora
lions which Already own Thou
sand Acres
Iu Attorney General DoIe.s opinion
as to the D1ustiuuouaIity of the thou
sand-acre clause in the Organic Act is
the following description of the land
conditions boo the Territory.
'lt seems To- me that whether the
thousand acre clause deprivos persons
.ol property without due process of law.
cannot Doe determined independently OF
existing local conditions which ar.
questions of fact
The capital and enterprise of this
Territory are concentrated in sugar
Most of the land available for sugar
raising is devoted to- that purpose. 4
great part of the sugar land. owing to
the enormous cost of obtaining water
Ton irrigation can apparently never bee
used tol diversified farming. This i-
true of large portions of the Islands of
oahu, Kauai and Maui but is not true
.ot the Windward coast of the Island of
IaWaii where there is % comparatively
reliable rainfall.
The evolution of the sugar industry
has made it as impossible to produce
sugar Independently and ON a small
scale, as il is for the hand looms Of our
observation-disclosures to compete with
the huge cotton and wooden mills of to-
day. a typical Hawaiian sugar planta-
ilon represents "a capital of from one
million to ten million dollars, and has
am area of from a few thousand to
elShJy thousand acres. averaging, per-
maps from ten thousand to twenty thou
U HH OF la.
the largest figure, great part of it may
| be worthless for any purpose. and a
great part of il is mountain forests.
available for the conserving Of water.
/ Below the forests are pasture lands
Where the hundreds of horses and mules
| used on the plantation are turned out
! occasionally Below the pasture lands
are the sugar lands. A man of such a
| plantation may be compared to a man
/ OF the United States. the different tracts
| OF land occupied under different patents
DEEDS and leases CORRESPONDING to the
several states of the union Here and
/ there are tracts owned i'm fee. Here ana
/ Iheie are tracts leased from the govern
mehL. Here and there are tracts
/ leased from individuals and from other
/ corporations. These leases run all the
way from five to ninety-nine wears.
Every now and then one expires. The
plantation may surround a native hui
/ OF Iahd association. almost yalueless on
4 account Of its numerous and unascpr-
tainable owners Here and there. also
/ scattered over the plantation and
| around its borders. are small holdings
/ occupied by owners i'm scveraItv. Alb
/ SorpJon of land is i'm obedience TO eco
monte law a small plantation cannot
| spend hundreds Of thousands of dollars
| To get water and hundreds of thousands
/ Ior up-to-date milling machinery Its
existence depends u.Dn farming ON a
gigantic scale
Except where ownership is essential
/ Tor conserving water supply the chief
/ industry of these islands is not absolu-
/ tely dependent upon large holdings in
/ fee. Although the product of a thou
sand acres of land will not Justify the
! cost of irrigation and of building and
| operating sugar mill, the corporation
! is free to lease lands and to make
/ contracts with neighboring owners to
| Irrigate the lands of such owners and to
! DO the work upon them requiring eX-
! pensive machinery, and to buy their
cane. Indeed, some sugar corporations
IOWn scarcely any land, while others own
| nearly all the land they cultivate. But
the rlght to purchase land without limi-
/ tation of area is of great value
In many cases an individual pro-
prietor whose land is surrounded by or
adjacent to a sugar plantation, cannot
cultivate it Independently and profit
ably for he cannot obta1,,' v,.ate,. TO-. ~
purposes of IRRIGATION The nIarta ti illo
cannot afford to sell him water, unless
its Drofits danand I,,,nr d1fr,,- I,I,-i,,+,(,L
on a large scale ana ono ,f it' aI,i %,
problems is incraaeing its 5,,.r' w..
suppIy for -.ricb II ma, baJ,a .I,,oslS !
aI,nanI,d -. ~, - -, 10 20 q aIIedUS
! of dollars. 1t is impossible for the
small land owner to con,Lirl VI. Lli.
neigbbors IN, lilya co,Iitia,, w ~" me
any. ana bring vrata, FROM ~, -,
tains. The ex1ensa of doing co H., 80
! Libitory. In many cases also n,It
worms and insect nasTs nal 49,
fed farming unproftabie A n1a1,s Ia %
may be worth ten or even brndraJ
times nc ,,,,cb fo,. s,,,-, .'' 4" Gu
other use to which If can he NM Tbo
owner NAV he sIIbstantiaii,, da,,ri,,,,I -, :
nearly ali of its tsaIaabIe vaIIia ,nIess
the plantation can INV - IN. re- ~. IS