The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-07-24
PROF. BLAKESLEE
On HAWAII-NE|
1 Clark College Professor
Delivers a Good
Address.

Prof. George L. Blakeslee of Clark
College, Worcester, Mass, sends Pro
fessor Alexander report OF his lee
ture on Hawaii-one based in meas
ure on facts given him by the local
scholar. The quotation is from Wor-
cester paper:
Prof. George Fl. Blakeslee of Clark
College completed his course of lee
lures on his travels last summer yes
terday afternoon with the largest at
tendance of the entire series. He
spoke on Hawaii giving an inter-
esting description of the peoples in the
island territory and of the possibilities
for agriculture. Prof. Blakeslee said
in part:
s'Honolulu is New England city in
the Pacific. 1t has a population of AS
600, of which only 5000 are American;
| but these have stamped American
civilization on the community and Civ
en- it the impress of New England life.
It is an energetic as well as an attrac-
tive place. It has clean streets and
block after block of handsome bust
ness buildings. There are three daily
papers, stock exchange, seven banks
and twenty-four churches. There is,
further, an excellent trolley system.
Honolulu is connected by wireless with
all of the different islands of the ar:hi-
pelago.
fsThe New England character of the
place and the people is shown among
other things by the fact that of the
5000 Americans in Honolulu over 1000
are members of the Central Congrega-
tional church. Life among the hest
families is marked by elegance and
simplicity. They live, without osenta-
ton, in charming homes surrounded by
the foliage of the tropics-the banana,
the cocoanut and the royal palm. In
January in one of these gardens one
may pick oranges from the orange
trees and roses from the rose bushes
There are some $50 automobiles owned
in the city.
1.-THE climate is as delightful as the
people. It is always June in Honolulu.
The thermometer averages 70 for
the whole year. It never falls below
50 degrees and never rises into the
COS. Seven miles from Honolulu is
the far-famed Pearl Harbor. It is one
of the deepest, largest and most Sc
curely landlocked Ravens in the world.
It is as yet undefended, but it is ex-
pected that the United States will soon
begin Notifications which will make
it one of the strongest naval bases on
the Pacific.
cit was the missionaries who
brought Christian civilization to the is
lands. The first of them came in 1920.
They were from New England and
have given the New England character
to the community. They helped the
natives in many ways. In the first
place they had to make written Ian
guage for the Hawaiians. In a few
decades most of the people were able
to read. One of the greatest services
of the early missionaries was what
they did for the government of the
islands. They became the chief min
listers of state in this little ocean king
dom and in 1910 induced the King to
establish written constitution which
they had drawn up. This made Ha-
wall constitutional government and
led to its recognition by England, Uni
ted States and France. If it We're not
for the missionaries, Hawaii would be
English--not American-today. In the
early forties a British naval captain
seized the islands in the name of his
government; but such an able protest
was drawn up by the missionary who
was secretary of state that British
admiral was sent to pull down the Brit
ish flag and restore independence.
tThe prosperity of Hawaii depends
almost entirely upon the cultivation of
sugar. The Hawaiian sugar estates
give much greater yield per acre than
any other land in the world; but this
yield is obtained only by the expendi-
tnre of great sums of money, chiefly
for purposes of irrigation. Some of
the plantations pump water total
height of $50 feet. Some pump TO-
100000 gallons a day, which some
times costs as much as $1,000 a day. A
plantation has often thousands of
! acres; has its own railroad to draw
the cane, and its own sugar mill. The
largest of the mills cost about $1,000
900.
To make the plantations pay well,
| there must be cheap labor This labor
problem is puzzling one for the Amer
leans At present the workers unon all