The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-11-09

work.
Surely your reward awaits you and
your work shall live after you. What
if there should be a few croakers, street
corner orators, a NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
who could not make a success of any
thing in life, unless they were born
with silver spoons in their mouths? I
the soil for the past thirty years, and
have all these years taken lively and,
I hope, a practical interest in the well
fare of the islands by introducing and
cultivating tropical plants and trees in
ample variety.
AS 1 am we'll advanced in years and
am amply provided for my only object
is to do what little good / can on my
way; to have homes for the landless
and to protest against any and every
attempt to restrict the settlement OF
our public lands. My object is to pre-
vent the mass of the people who own
| no land from becoming serfs.
Intelligence is the quality needed by
the soil-workers, and when you find
successful farmer or sugar planter you
will find an intelligent man. Science
is a better guide than what has seemed
to be successful practice. Small farm
ing requires talent, devotion and a
spirit of content but there must be
something wrong in the condition I'M
der which it is pursued in these islands
Being a pioneer OF the State of Cali
fornia I remember we'll and no doubt
Judge Dole, Mr.. Horner and others re-
member, when it was said that moth
i
the dry hills You will see thrifty or
chards there today. Then California
imported their flour, sweet and irish
potatoes, eggs, chickens, turkeys and
vegetables. fruit. ETC., from the Hawai-
ian Islands and from South America,
the same as we do today from Califor-
mia. No doubt but you, Mr.. Editor,
remember when most of the southern
counties of that State were vast cat
tie ranches, owned by San Francisco
capitalists and spectators, till immi-
grafton set in from the East and the
one-man one-vote principle busted up
the great monopoly in land, and as the
result you have a number of cities
and thousands of citizens and small
| farms with their beautiful vineyards
and orchards. We could have all these
beautiful things in Hawaii if we chose.
What is a more beautiful sight than a
large coffee field with it's hundreds of
evergreen bushes, resembling hlacs in
bloom? The air is impregnated with
| a sweet aroma like that of the orange;
| the small white flowers with rich fra
grant odor are much like the jessa-
mine.
A Hawaiian farm is evergreen. It
admits of succession and rotation with
in the year, so that a twelve-month is
the producing equivalent to six or
seven it's duration in wintry climate.
Il our business men would turn their
eyes to our rural districts, as Mr.. Ir-
win and Damon have done, as they
achieve fortunes from the activities of
business life, many a fine farm and
garden could be developed in our neigh
boring valleys. Were our men of
wealth to show desire to excel in one
direction of agriculture or animal hus-
bandry, fruit or fiower-growing, they
would find boundIess satisfaction and
such rest as they scarcely had thought
possible until they had found how
bountiful mother earth really is and
how she responds to the loving touch
Of her children.
In one of your late numbers of the
Advertiser you say: Think of import
ing lines from Acapulco when lines
grow here as readily as kukuf nuts.
1t is one of the drains on the country
| which the small farm movement is de-
signed to check" No, the small farm
movement will not check the importa-
ton of fruits and vegetab so long
as our property tax puts a premium on
ldleness and speculation and a penalty
on industry and improvements. Alb
| sentee landlords and foreign CORPORA
tons have grown rich with unearned
lncrements. There are absentees and
| corporations that have not put = stroke
| OF living work in these islands.
The man clearing and building on his
little holding finds that for every wear
| of hard work his tax is added To a.
the next assessment, while the snecu-
lators tax remains the same This
| mans labor and improvement adds
Value to his .neighbors' unimproved
land. 1t is the same with the small
| business man if his venture is not
success the taxes will ruin him.
Our public land system and our mi
Hate large estat ties are obstacles to in
uustry and a barrier to progress. There
Is no provision to compel subdivision
our lnhuman methods of tax gather
| lng' and our land system are graa+
oetrlment to our small settlers.
rms Territory has lost population
one of the greatest caIamities that
| could befal tin the past few wears
thousands of our vigorous. industrious
| laboring class have left for good NOT
| only Portuguese but skilled laborars
| from the plantations. Look at the red
| flag at the sheriff. Office every week.
If the United States Constitution
would permit us to adopt such laws as
| they have in New Zealand we could
| have in FIVE years or less 5000 small
| farmers who, with their families. would
| bring from $500 to $4,000 each. The
| object of the new law in New ZAa land
| is TO tax according to the ability to
| nay: to free the small man and tax
| n1enopolies.
The New Zealand graded tax for