The Hawaiian gazette., 1907-05-17


as 10 points OF agreement. All Amer
leans should be. and | believe are, in
terested In getting to these Islands.
the substantial middle class OF which
you write There ls, however. diff
ference OF opinion as TO the way In
which this can be done.
The term small farmer as used by
you is. 1t seems to me, unfortunate. 1t
implies to the ordinary American mind
something different from that which
you advocate. From the examples
which you give. you evidently mean the
owner OF a small plantation as distin-
guished from large sugar plantation
requiring large capital. In this class
os industry there are, as you may say,
| instances of present success and prom
| ises for the future. There is the cul-
ture of coffee, tobacco, rubber, sisal,
ETC., open to men or companies with
moderate capital. But the term far
mer is misleading because in the Uni
ted States the farmer who has devel-
oped the country Is a man who with
the capital of his own manhood, and
| the addition of wife and children, a
team of horses, COW and few dol
lars, would settle down on a piece of
land and with his own labor and that
of his family, and the occasional help
of hired man, would make not only
a living, but could by industry and
frugality lay up money. When the
term farmer is used the American
people have in mind such men; men
who have largely made the country
what 1t is.
Now the question is this: Can we
encourage such men to come to Ha-
wall? / should be exceedingly glad II
we could. To put the matter fairly
and squarey: Could you or 1 conscien-
tiously encourage a friend, a farmer
in the States, who had capital of
from three to five thousand dollars, to
come to the Hawaiian Islands and en-
gage in agriculture in any line now
open to him? If you can ask such to
come, with reasonable hope of sue
cess, let it be known far and wide for
there are thousands who would come
| at once.
| 1 have put this question to men of
all kinds all over the Islands and the
answer has been: mo, unless I want
ed him to lose his money" And yet
you and and the rest of us want such
men to come.
| believe thoroughly in diversified in
|
cate, but regret your use of the words
| small farmer" because it is to the
great mass of people misleading.
1 believe that what we desire for the
Islands will be advanced by letting the
exact facts be known, and by using
terms not liable to be misunderstood.
The impression prevailing on the main
land which impression is working i'll
for these Islands is this: A number
of people in the Hawaiian Islands want
the American farmer to come, and op-
posed to them are number who, from
selfish interests, desire to keep him
out. This idea has been thrust upon
me in every part of the United States.
Personally, I have yet to find one
| American in the Islands who is not
desrous of getting here the class mem
toned by you.
The article which appeared in the
Independent was solicited. did not
want to write it. Before I sent it on
I handed it to we'll known men in Ho-
nolulu asking them to read it, and give
me their opinion. They advised me to
forward it. The men of whom 1 speak
were born here and as far as l know
they are not interested directly in
plantations. One of them said to me:
when read the article, at first / was
going to advise you not to, publish 1t.
On reading it again, / made up my
mind that 1t was best that the truth
should be stated"
Let us examine frankly the cases
which you cite as instances of the sue
cess of small farming. I know most
of the men named personally and have.
in the majority of cases, been on the
land. I believe that the Advertiser
wants the truth and / call attention to
what follows:
|. The Louisson brothers can scarce
ly be classed as small farmers. When
I was there one of the brothers told me
that they had at that time two hundred
Japanese employed. Through relations
who are bankers, and connections on
the mainland who handle coffee, they
are able to hold their crop three or
four years If need be until prices suit
them.
| 2. Mr.. Bruner of South Kona is a
coffee factor and in addition has his
coffee plantation and MILL besides hav-
| ing pineapple lands and a cannery
The coffee which he ships, and the
pineapples which he cans are largely
raised by Japanese on leased land at
their own risk
| g. The Wahiawa small farmer is
gone and a company with capital OF
$4O0, 900 has taken his place. The col
onist has disappeared.
4. Peter Lee who grows cane for
the Oaa plantation employs a large
number of Japanese. He is small
planter and not small farmer.
3. Mr.. Barnard of Laupahoehoe is
postmaster. has large general store
and conducts a liquor business. He is
also a coffee planter and roaster.
6. Mr.. Edwards of Napoopoo has not
succeeded in his small farming venture
and has now gone into the distillation
of okolehao from the root of the Il
plant.
I. The Kona Orphanage has "hand-
some returns" you say. l have been
there twice. Coffee growing has been
given up by the manager, so am in
formed, and the land leased to Japa-
nese. The only farming done is the
raising of vegetables and the keeping
t..e .