New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-07-22
cANAL SURE TO BOOM
HAWA|TS COMMERCE
n |. ConkIing, Treasurer of
Territory, Says 1t Will Aid
Development.
J WILL CUT SHIPPING COST
planters Strongly Oppose Free
Sugar, Which Would Inflict
tremendous Damage
in the Islands.

nayid Lloyd Conkling. treasurer OF the
r.,r,,ory of Hawaii, who has been in this
~, ,or several days. has negotiated a
80 here of s1,5Oo.OoO which. with ST.
,ooao recently appropriated by the Ha-
''v.n legislature. will be used chiefly
: charging the docking facilities of the
tends with a view to meeting the in
-.oeed demands expected with the open
49, ~ the Panama Canal. Mr. Conkling
said yesterday:
vuben the United States fleet came into
,,nrnluu I'm 1875, on the long cruise, we
H HON. saccommodate only eight of the big
rims Since then the dock facilities have
IN so much increased that we could
vow accommodate twelve, and before the
ponama Canal opens, or by the last of
next year. we expect to have completed
aock facilities for sixteen big vessels of
us Wfe expect the Panama Canal to do
r-est things for Hawaii. and look for a
Raw Increase in our commerce. For In
nsarce. in the sugar industry, from which
me Islands derive their chief revenue, the
synense of shipment TO the Eastern coast
~ the United States ought TO be cut
Snun one-half. AS this sugar Is now
transported il has to bear the expense
~ bsing handled four times. II is shipped
20 saina Cruz, the southern point OF
.Ss Mexican isthmus, and there reloaded
srd carried by rail 10 the Gulf OF Mexico,
absre IL is reShipped TO its northern des-
,inaton. The shipment through the
cansi will make unnecessary these two
rsbandlings and will also do away with
he expense Of rail transportation.
THE sugar crop in the islands has in
creased from 100000 TO 100000 tons in
less than ten years" said Mr.. Conklin.
on Is a continuous crop. Labor is never
unsnployed in the fields. Its increase
has been due TO improved methods OF
hsndllng. and principally 10 the advan-
,sges derived from the close union OF
Hawaii with the United states. The
strides that We have been making in
methods Of handling may be recognized
from the fact that the sugar making ma
ehlnery which we have been making in the
Islands at the Honolulu Iron Works is
now being shipped TO all the sugar coun-
tries OF the Pacific. including Formosa
and the Philippines. and also, believe, II
n being sent 10 Cuba and Porto Rico.
There IS now in the islands young man
who purposes TO revolutionize methods
of handling raw sugar, combining the
crushing and refining operations into
single process by the use Of new machin-
cry The Eva plantation is testing the
process. but the experiments have not yet
gone far enough to indicate result%
Sugar Profits Not So Big.
Mr. Conkling said that the removal Of
the tariff on raw sugar would injure the
Islands tremendously and would be
strongly opposed by the planters. He
felt. also. that though 1t would take
considerable period for the islands to re-
cover from the loss thus entailed, their
rich natural resources would enable them
10 adapt themselves in time. 1t is true,
he said. that some of the profits on sugar
rlantat ions were very great, amounting TO
Is per cent on some of the smaller and
more moderate sized plantations. on the
other hand, he declared that among the
largest plantations there were some which
we're earning no dividends and when
could not live under reduced policy OF
free raw sugar.
"The second big thing that the Panama
Canal will do for the Hawaiian ISLANDS,
said Mr.. Conkling, us that it Will enable
US to put Hawaiian fruit on American
markets in the East as we cannot DO
now Transcontinental railroad shipping
s prohibitive in price. To ship across the
sthmus of lower Mexico is Impossible as
The transfer from ship TO train ana
aboard ship again in the heat OF this re-
ZION would ruin a shipment Of fruit. But
BY use Of the canal fruit shipments can
,e sent through TO destination III coiu
tOrage without change"
From this fruit trade Hawaii expects
,reat returns, says Mr.. Conkling.
Pineapple Export Grows.
In spite of the fact that transportation
harges for pineapple export are six times
he cost Of the pineapples In Hawaii, Mr..
'onkling points out that the industry in
AIMED pineapple has increased one hum
|r.d fold since 1903, until II now amounts
o an EXPORT Of 10000 pineapples annu-
lily.
THE first crop of Hawaiian tobacco is
low in Lancaster. Penn. being made into
.gars," said Mr.. Conkling. 1T is only
Tery small crop. that will make up into
,nly 5000 cigars. 1t is beginning, and
ought to be successful"
The fiourishing way in which the ISLANDS
Ire living their life of peaceful progress
md delightful ease and plenty is shown
BY the fact that five hundred new resi-
,ences have been built around Honolulu
IN the last two years. Part of the pro-
ceeds from the issue Of bonds that Mr..
conkling has Just placed here is TO be
used for the extension OF the water ana
sewer works of Honolulu, thus necessi-
tated by this large increase OF residences.
1t is another phase of the preparations
for the Increased activity already felt as
a.. a. k,,ildlpU If the Panama