Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1911-02-06

consent of the commissioner and APP
prevail of the governor, be subeased
subject to the provisions hereof to
any individual or corporation using
or desiring to use water from the wa
terways of such company.
Mr. Mcclellan: Yes. {
The Chaifmah; Suppose this com
pany should lease piece of land
which they had transformed from a
worthless. piece of .landsto. piece OF
land of great value and. then say
I'VE will mot suitcase This land"
That Transforms the irrigation CONT
pany, Of course, into holder of very
valuable hand which II may use as it
may deem best? II W
Mr. Mcclellan: Yes @,8St fsf%
The Chairman: Is there any dan
ger in that connection that the ,irri-
cation company may become the hold
er of very valuable land?
Mr.. Mcclellan. 1t is not in the con-
temptation of this company but l
think that that is one of the things
that might very wen be safeguarded,
Mr.. Chairman, by a provision that the
irrigation company should not be per-
mitted itself to use the land for ag-
ricultural purposes. In other words,
this bill ought to be drawn in such
form as to safeguard those points. |
do not see any reason why a pro-
vision should not be inserted that
would specifically prohibit them from
themselves cultivating or developing
the land, That is my first thought.
| do not know what Mr.. McCrosson
may think about that.
Mr.. McCrosson: There would be
no objection to any measure of that
kind, or any clause that you could
put in there forbidding the irrigation
company or q majority of the holders
of the stock in an irrigation company
from being cultivators of the land, or
owners of the land in any way inter-
ested in the land thai is watered from
the irrigation ditch. AS a matter of
fact in the license issued at the 9TH
or end of the same island about or
s wears ago to the Kohala Ditch
Company there is a provision especi-
ally forbidding the ditch company
from being cultivators of the land or
purchasers of the control from the
ditch company from cultivating any
of the land that is being irrigated
fom the Kohala Ditch; and any such
provision in this bill am sure, would
be entirely satisfactory to the Terri
torial officials there, and would be
so TO the irrigation company who
contemplate taking the water from
the windward to tho Toward side
of the island.
The Chairman: Now, take sue
cessful sugar plantation there in the
island of Hawaii as an illustration,
because we have that island before
us on the map. What is the value
per acre of the land under cultiva-
ton IS a sugar plantation, ordinarily,
per acre?
Mr. McClellan: | suppose i Irja3 in
Hawaii from $40 to $500.
Mr.. McCrosson: There ga 9 been
large areas sold on the uonokaa
plantation in the last II or Is years,
some Oft at-about $3S sper~acre, But
that is not land, however, which at
that time was irrigable land. a. That
is there was no water there to irri
gate it. and they had to trust to good
seasons to get fair crop. When a
season of drouth came along, as for
instance in 1901, the plantations now
irrigated from the Honokaa ditch
were so dry that it took three years
to get them back into position to
pay dividends
The Chairman: That land which
was sold at $3S an acre had not yet
been irrigated?
Mr. McCrosson: No, sir. The same
land today, with water on it, is worth
very close to 5000 per acre. l do not
believe the plantation people would
sell it for that with water on it.
The Chairman: Take sugar plan-'
tations on the Island of Oahu. Is
there any way of ascertaining what
those lands are worth per acre?
Mr.. Mcclellan: Some of those lands
on tho Island OF Oahu, Mr. Chairman,
are very exceptional lands. There are
some lands at Eva, Mr.. Chairman,
that are worth $3.50 per acre, They
used to be worth $35 an acre.
Mr.. Good; Getting back Ito this
bill, Mr.. Mcclellan, it occurs to me
that the power you have given to the
commissioner, in lines from to II
on the first page, would permit the
commissioner to lease lands that are
partly or wholly under irrigation
projects to irrigation companies, and
would thereby place an increased
burden on the homesteader when he
afterwards homesteaded the lands on
their being withdrawn from the pre-
vious lease. 1t says:
ANY or all such public lands as
|arc capable of being economically IL
rigated from the waterways of such
company"
| Now, it seems. to me that that, pow
err is broad enough to give the COM
missioner the right to lease amy lands,
whether they are now irrigated or
may be irrigated, from any waterway
from any company organized under
this act
| Mr.. McCrossoil. 1t fdoesf not yhow,