Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1909-09-15
Problem Of Future.

froblem OF lutufe,
Il havo introduced my subject In
this way because It was important
that your first impressions of the
water resources Investigations now
being started should be those of a
straightforward, rock-bottom, bust
ness transaction, worthy of your in
terest and support as business men.
Even mad not the need for infor-
nation concerning water supplies al
I ready been felt In the Territory, the
future alone would render an in
vestigation essential. In the de-
velopment of the agricultural indus
try here, there has been fairly
large amount Of elbow room. Only
now and then have you FLASHED into
dispute over water supplies. II one
man has not had sufficient water for
his crops, the reason has not usually
been that some other man is tapping
his source Of supply. But the Ter
ritory is growing. You all expect
It to increase manifold In product
ivity. Every new field imposes a
new demand on the available water
Of the Territory. Questions as to
the most beneficial use of water will.
way acute. Information concerning
the capacity Of sources Of supply
will be worth a millionfold more
than the cost OF procuring 1t. The
point is, however. that It takes time
to procure this Information. and II
the Territory Is caught without 1t
on the day that 1t becomes essential
to Industrial progress, then will the
people look back with regret on
lost opportunity.
THE investigation of water re-
sources now being organized will
consist OF two broad divisions. First,
the measurement OF river flow; Sec
ond. the investigation of under
ground water supplies. River flow
measurement means the daily OBJ
servation Of the amount of water
flowing in a stream for a period OF
years sufficient to determine the
habits of the stream and Its capacity
for service. You know that a river
will flow sometimes high and some
times low, but unless you have made
an investigation, you have no idea
how many acres It will irrigate dur
ing low stages, or how great vol
ume is wasted into the. sea during
floods.
Good Ditch Systems.
In this Territory you have some
unusually good ditch systems. I
have rarely seen better, but they do
not In any Ease use their sources or
supply with maximum efficiency,
Sometimes they run short OF water.
and some of the fields lying under
the ditch must go dry. Again, the
bitches are full and water is run
ming to waste in floods. A food is
essentially a waste of water. In or
der to intelligently deal with such
a situation, II is necessary to know
how much water Is wasted In floods,
how much can be saved by storage
and how many more acres could be
irrigated from such storage. Final
ly all the facts must be assembled to
determine II It is practicable to un-
dertake conservation, and II 10 ia
what extent. The Significance OF
the. underground water investiga.
lions is equally great.
"The investigation OF water re.
sources here involves considerat ton
Of many important public problems
some of which are peculiar to this
Territory. For example. ! hear on
every hand the desire expressed for
great and stable population that
may be depended upon for labor
: production and defense. To this enc
you have been trying to secure i'm
migration Of people that would IS
simulate and become part OF the
body polite. A very good plan, bu,
upon what are you going to bast
: that citizenship? There Is no socio
logic principle more completely dem
; onstrated than that which require
ownership of land in the making 0
| citizen. Bring out your socia
: remedies; they will fail, they will
all fail. until each man has his fee
somewhere In the soil.
Il don't mind confessing that
came here with badly warped pre-
! judice against homesteads In thi
country. From that which ha'
: faithfully read and from the testi
e mony of several wel!-Informed mel
e my preconceptlon was that this Liant
uan n Ialnna -Iarodact mad &or hI.r un