The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1909-09-15
To MAKE CITIZENS
FOR HAWAII
Continued from Page one.)
than the casual inquirer would ina

er than the casual inquirer would ina
CINE.
l have introduced my subject in this
way because it is important that your
first impressions of the water resources
investigation now being started should
be those of a straightforward rock
bottom, business transaction, WORTHY
of your interest and support as Dusi-
ness men.
Even had not the need for informa-
ton concerning water supplies already
been felt in the Territory, the future
alone would render an investigation es-
sential. In the development of the
agricultural industry here, there has
been a fairly large amount of elbow
room. Only now and then have you
clashed into dispute over water sup
plies. If one man has not had sufii-
cient water for his crops, the reason
has not usually been that some other
man is tapping his source OF supply.
But the Territory is growing. You all
expect it to increase manifold in pro
ductivity. Every new field imposes a
new demand on the available water Of
the Territory, Questions as to the
most beneficial use of water will wax
acute. Information concerning the ca
pacity of sources of supply will be
worth a million-fold more than the
cost of procuring it. The point is,
however, that it takes time to procure
this information, and if the Territory
is caught without it on the day that it
becomes essential to industrial pro-
gress, then will the people look back
with regret on lost opportunity.
The investigation OF water resources
now being organized will consist OF
two broad divisions. First, the mea-
surement of river flow; second, the
investigation of underground water sup
plies. River flow measurement means
the daily observation of the amount OF
water flowing in a stream for a period
of years sufficient to determine the
habits of the stream and it's 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 during low
stages, or how great volume is vast
ed into the sea during floods.
In this Territory, you have some
unusually good ditch systems. 1 have
rarely seen better, but they do not in
any case use their sources of 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 running to waste in floods.
A flood is essentially a waste of wa
ter. In order to intelligently deal
with such a situation, it 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.
Finally all the facts must be assembled
to determine if it is practicable to I'M
dertake conservation, and if so to what
extent. The significance of the I'M
foreground water investigations is
equally great.
The investigation of water resources
here involves consideration of many
important public problems, some of
which are peculiar to this Territory.
For example, 1 hear on every hand,
the desire expressed for a great and
stable population that may be depend
ed upon for labor, production and de-
Tense. To this end you have been
trying to secure immigration of people
that would assimilate and become a
part of the body polite. A very good
plan but upon what are you going to
base that citizenship? There is no
sociologis principle more completely
demonstrated than that which requires
ownership of land in the making OF
a citizen. Bring out your social re-
needles, they will fail, they will all
fail, until each man has his feet some
where in the soil.
l don't mind confessing that l came
here with badly warped prejudice
against homesteads in this country
From that which 1 had faithfully read
and from the testimony of several well
informed men my preconception was
that this land was place predestined
for big estates to be operated by alien
labor, with the American flag kept In
its place only by the persuasion OF
rapid fire guns. l am going away
convinced that the flag can be kept
afioat here without the constant me-
mace Of armament, but sustained by
the stout hearts of Americans whose
homesteads stand out all over the land
The best part of this Territory or that
which is best suited for homestead
entry is the arid part. In fact there
is very little agricultural land here
that would not be benefited by lrri-
cation. Now if you are going to dot