The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-09-16

that the sugar industry should be de-
throned, it ought to be apparent that
this dethronement should not occur I'M
til something has been provided to
take its place. The best way to help
sugar is to fill your Territory up with
homesteaders who are producing other
things. There is no room for conflict.
Sugar lands are sugar lands. They will
produce more value in this commodity
than in anything else. The homestead
lands are not the sugar lands and you
will be right in the majority of cases
if you suspect the motives of that man
who demands homestead slice out of
a growing plantation. The bonafde
homesteader can generally find land
better suited to his purpose elsewhere
Now it is a well-known fact that
homestead schemes have been tried
here repeatedly and have failed.
have visited the scenes of some of
those failures, and inasmuch as | am
guest here it would be impolite for
me to express my real opinion of some
of them. Others have been well con-
ceived. The one truly successful one
that / have seen, that at Kalaheo on
Kauai, is the one in which there has
been conferred upon the settler the
greatest amount of personal risk and
of pernicious soup kitchen paternal-
ism. The Kalaheo homesteader pays
for what he gets and it is up to him
to make good or quit. He has a mar
ket, chance to get his products
there at reasonable price, competition,
something to lose and something to
gain, and these are the conditions that
will create an outstanding American.
Among all the deterrent features
that have been encountered in success
full demonstrating, there is one which
persists throughout except in the case
of Kalaheo. This difficulty is confined
not only to homesteads but indeed to
every interest and industry in the Ter
ritory. The one great reason why so
many thousand acres of Hawaiian soil
remain unproductive at the present
time is lack of transportation facl-
tiles. You have heard this long ago,
but still lack transportation. Until
transportation is provided on a par
with other parts of the United States
and the world, the climate, the soil,
a worthy market and all the enormous
public spirit of the citizens of this
Territory will fail to produce results.
Hawaii can produce several distinctive
crops that can be raised and claim an
exclusive market on the mainland, but
the fact is of little value. The home
steader can make very little use OF
his crops if he can not get them trans
ported to market at price which VIII
still allow him a reasonable profit.
The first transportation difficulty Is
seen in the highway system, although
the highways of the Territory are
astoundingly good, yet they are usual
ly the main highways and do not ex-
tend to areas that are most favorable
for homesteads. This will be correct
ed in time, but the fact remains that
your highways should go ahead Of
yours homestead settlements
The second difficulty is the lack of
railroads on the islands. Each island
should be belted by a weli-equipped
road which sends spurs into the inte-
rior, and moreover, the construction OF
these roads must precede extensive
homestead settlement; especially will
this be true if the Reclamation Act
is extended to these Islands. 1t is not
likely that the Federal government will
expend vast sums of money to reclaim
homestead lands unless there is guar
anteed in some way suitable railroad
outlets to harbors. Right here we must
face the fact that the bonds of any
railroad constructed in advance of
traffic or terminal outlets are not
salable at. the present time. This diff
ficulty is a practical one so far as rail
road construction is concerned, but it
does not change in any degree, the
necessity for the railroad construction
in advance of settlement in this Ter
ritory 1t is plain businessllke
proposition that in order TO secure the
construction of such roads the interest
on the bonds thereof should be guar
anteed by the Territory. A socialistic
proposition is it not? l grant that it
is exceptional, yet in urging excep-
tional things, 1 am merely taking my
cue from the citizens of this Terri
tory. You are constantly urging that
the political and industrial problems
of this Territory should be interpreted
from the same point of view as similar
problems are in the States. In that
contention Won are correct, but l con
tend that the exceptional conditions