The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1910-12-24
The Letter.

The Letter.
Gas a resident of the fifth repre-
sentative district, | have been giving
much thought to the many problems
now existing in the town precincts Of
Honolulu west Of Nuuanu avenue, and
| desire to outline to you certain ideas
and to suggest if these ideas meet with
your approval that you take the mi
tiative in the program.
1.-The part OF town | refer to con
sists almost entirely of large blocks
of land with houses of various kinds
along the street frontages, but with the
interiors Of the blocks devoted to ag
riculture. Into the interiors access
can be had only by the use of narrow
and crooked lanes. 1t is in this part
of town where most of the tuberculosis
is located and where most of the large
tenement houses have been erected.
The sewer system takes care Of but
small proportion of the sewage.
There is a great deal of running
water in open bitches and drains.
"Mv suggestion is that through the
superintendent of public works there
be planned a comprehensive system of
streets from Nuuanu avenue to Moana-
lua. with sufficient data to enable the
legislative arms of the government,
both territorial and municipal, to de-
eide upon some definite policy of street
building.
"The social argument in favor of
more streets is that with a greater OPP
portunity for house lots near the cen
ter of town the patronage of the tene-
ments will diminish.
"The military argument for this
policy is obvious. There is only one
road now to Fort Shafter and to
Pearl Harbor.
Provides for Growth.
'sSome such scheme as above out
lined will have to be undertaken in
order to provide for the expansion of
Honolulu in the next ten years. and
particularly for the growth incident
to the opening of Pearl Harbor. [
believe that the people living in town
and working at Pearl Harbor, going
back and forth from day TO day, will
prefer to live in the western part of
town.
'The sanitary reason for this extern
sion of roads is. to my mind, the most
important one: for without streets the
proper disposal of sewage from this
part of town and an adequate handling
of the mosquito problem will be I'M
possible. The agricultural land to which
] refer would automatically be drained
and turned into house sites. with a prob
able benefit to the owners. The whole
sale condemnation of agricultural land
as such. in order to get rid of the mos
quito, would entail an expense too great
for this community to bear. 1t is
cheap to build streets.
Would Benefit All.
~ do not have to say that the part
of town I refer to is where the common
people of this city largely live. Most
of them do not know how to make their
civic wants known. For instance, the
Makiki district in Honolulu has cement
cutters along the rOadsides. In the part
of town ] speak Of there are no cement
cutters except in one or two places. In
the Makiki district cement cutters are
necessary to preserve the roads. In
the part of town | speak of cement
cutters are necessary to preserve the
health Of the city.
81 do not at the present time de-
sire to do more than to make an earnest
plea TO You that the preliminary work
of making surveys and estimates be in
augurated at once. If any person will
walk through the district | refer TO, !
believe one trip Of investigation Will be
sufficient to convince him that what |
speak of is a matter which concerns not
only The residents of the fifth district,
hut also Just as much every citizen Of
Honolulu and of the Territory
With public sentiment awakened to
the urgency of the situation. ] believe
the WAYS and means can be provided -