The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1906-03-02

ent government; and they can not be
altered until such time as the leaves
expire
Mr.. Lloyd OF the committee. Would
It bother you IL 1 interrupt you?
MIR. Gait. Not at all.
Mr.. Lloyd. / notice that the Gov
ernor in his reports. both in 1904 and
IN the present report, recommends that
the lease period be extended from five
to twelve years.
Mr.. Gait. Yes. sir: and I will be
very glad to recommend the same
thing; and l had in mind touching
upon that In just a minute or two. I
would be glad to answer it now IL you
desire. Do you wish to know the rea-
son why that is recommended?
Mr. Lloyd. I understand the reason
the Governor gives But / want to
know what you have to say about it.
Mr.. Gait. AS these old leases expire.
Of course, the most valuable of those
lands are lands that can be cultivated
for sugar. Under the organic act, as
1t now exists the government can not
make lease OF any of those agricul-
tural lands for a period of longer than
Ave years. The sugar corporation. fac
ing the large expenditures which II has
to make in order to produce the sugar,
and facing the fact that 1t takes .lgnt-
cen months to two years to secure a
crop Of sugar, can not be expected to
give high prices for those lands for
period Of five years, at the end of
which time they have not the faintest
60
get a renewal of the lease even Oh the
same terms as before, IL at all.
Mr.. Webb. Do you know what Is
about the average future life of these
Crown leases? Some expire in FIVE
some in ten, some in thirty years?
Mr.. Gait. l do not know. / should
| say as a guess, that they run up in
| the neighborhood of twenty years
| the most valuable Crown leases.
Mr.. Webb. Do you thing after that
| you will get sufficient money to run
the government all right?
Mr.. Gait. 1t seems to me that the
revenues from those old leases as they
expire will make a big difference in
the financial condition.
| Mr.. Webb. You will Lease the land
at higher price and thus get more
revenue?
Mr.. Gait. Undoubtedly.
Mr.. w. o. Smith. The policy is that
as these government lands come in,
as the leases expire, they do not wish
to rent the lands to the present en-
terprises, but so far as they can they
wish to have them divided up into
smaller holdings for immigrants. 1t
will be taken up on low valuations,
| IN,tt tl,a toni Of n mr.
cultivation. That will not add to the
revenue EXCEPT through taxation and the
generally improved conditions; and
while we will get more rents as
the new leases are made a number OF
things initiate against 1t.
Mr.. Lloyd. 1 remember distinctly
that when the organic act was framed
the purpose then was to have the hold
ings divided up and to have private
ownership. At that time this COM
J mittee was very much adverse to the
idea of having these great tracts of
land owned by foreign corporations.
They considered that the whole prop
erty should be owned by Hawaians
and should be divided up into such
the property.
been in mind right along.
Mr.. Lloyd. / mean, of course, citi-
zens of that country, whether they be
native or white.
Mr.. w. o. Smith. The main industry
of raising sugar is only productive
when 1t is carried on on a large scale
The margin of profit Is small. 1t has
been almost impossible for us to COM
pete with California. The difficulties
of transportation, and the cost, have
made 1t almost prohibitive; but we are
trying to get in settlers of the right
kind to take up land for bona fide
settling purposes and not for specu-
lation. However, it is a very slow
process.
Mr.. Powers of the Committee. Tt
make sugar raising profitable you want
a pretty large output?
Mr.. w. o. Smith. You have to have
large output. Unless you have it will
not pay. 1t is only by having a large
output, with a small fraction of a cent
of profit on a pound of sugar, that any
profit can be made.
Mr.. Powers. l am told that in Cuba
the machinery on one Of the planta'
tons cost $250,000.
Mr.. w. o. Smith. We have a plan
tation where the pumping station fol
irrigation purposes cost 100000. or
the island of Oahu last year it cost fol
coal $780, 900 month for pumping water
to irrigate the cane fields.
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