The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1905-12-08

Honolulu Oct. IL, 1905.
The President: In your Message to
Congress last year you We're good
enough to accept n suggestion from
me- and as a result of the impetus
which your action gave, a small ap-
preparation was passed by the Federal
Government for the study of leprosy,
and l have yet to hear the first COM
ment of disapproval. Congressman
Hepburn visited the Settlement last
June, and / am sure that no act of his
in connection with legislation of any
kind could give him greater satisfac-
tion than the support he gave this
measure II the work thus undertaken
finally results in a cure, our great
benign Government will have lifted
curse from humanity the extent of
which few people in the Temperate
Zone realize.
To my mind, the two most important
problems in relation to Hawaii are con-
nected with immigration and finance.
So far as immigration is concerned,
am not yet convinced but what there
may be a solution of 1t without the
necessity of congressional action. There
are a few here who are making
splendid effort to work out our own
solution. For instance, a proposition
is formulating under which l may take
In one instance a very radical position
so far as our public lands are concern
ed, and force the cutting UP into small
homesteads of a large sugar estate,
the lease of which from the Territory
expires in the spring of 1907. If we
can successfully homestead this land
with three or four thousand Russians,
I It may mean the starting of a tide of
immigration which would work Won
ders in developing the future of the
| islands, thus in the end justifying the
| loss of money that would otherwise
be received If the land were put up
at auction, as well as the loss of
production and taxes during the period
involved in the change.
The second problem, that of finances
is the real purpose of this letter.
England's experience in handling de-
tendencies or non-contiguous areas has
demonstrated that wherever she de-
pended upon them for revenue and sc
burdened them she failed.
I have heard it expressed that Hawaii
| was annexed too soon: that the SUI
preme Court decision had not develop
ed the idea of a possession" and
that Hawaii should not have been a
Territory.
| Be that as it may, the fact remains
that taking the customs revenues alone
since annexation our $4,000 consumers
have paid into the Federal Treasury
| Sc, ,O59, ,171.51, half as much again as the
total debt assumed at the time of an
nexation. over one million dollars is
being taken out of this country every
year and placed in Uncle Sans cof-
fers. Is there any area of 6640 square
miles on the mainland (this is about
the size of Connecticut and Rhode Is
land together) which with only 155,OO'
people could stand up for five years
under such a strain? Were 1t not fol
our exceptionally productive soil, thu
high price of sugar and low price o
labor, it would have swamped us err
this.
Since annexation we have been de
MED additional cheap labor, the pric
of which has constantly increased: an
1 take 1t you deem 1t wise to maintain
such policy. Then how are we t
meet this strain? Something shoul
, be done to relieve 1t.
Sugar from the Philippines will 4
all probability be admitted to mainlan
. markets free. The price of labor !
the Philippines will be less than in Ha
wall, her margin of profit on suga