The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-01-06

tens of thousands of acres i'm extent,
the bulk of it being in the form Of
lofty mountains, but slightly. tillable,
and of fields Of lava, the result Of
ancient and modern eruption from
the twin volcanoes, one of them now
extinct, of Mauna LOa and Mauna
Kea. One of the assets of the estate
is the active volcano of Kilauea,
which is leased to hotel proprietor
But there is enough arabic or sus-
ceptible land to make the estate 9
large factor in the present and cs-
pecially in the future agricultural
development of Hawaii. 1t is hard to
find out just how much land is in
cluded, Mr. Bishop himself not re-
membering, and needing statistics
which are i'm Honolulu.
Held by Chiefs.
How was this estate acquired? It
was the original holding of various
high chiefs, the heirs of island kings
lreigning in each subdivision of the
group before Kamehameha made
/ the conquests which welded the
islands into one political system. In
! time ownership conferred in Kama
malu, sister of Kamehameha ", and
| Kamehameha V, and Kekuanaoa,
father of both kings From these
dignitaries title passed to the Prin-
cess Ruth, and the latter made her
cousin, Mrs. Bishop, her heir. Be-
sides this splendid heritage Mrs.
Bishop also received from her par
ents and her aunt property of consid-
cradle value She was then the
| largest and richest property owner
in the kingdom. She could look at
| the map of the islands and see on
almost every hand land of which she
had sole title; mountain uplifts, pierre
| ing the clouds and clad with virgin
forests, smiling fertile vacancies in
the valleys and along the coasts; wet
taro lands where the natives made
their humble living; fish ponds,
streams and waterfalls, and even the
lake of everlasting fire" where the
superstitious of her race paid tribute
to goddess of destruction; happy
villages and urban. homes and fields
all hers, hers to do with as she
pleased, but which in her simple
piety and benevolence she regarded
as a trust with which to serve the
higher interests of her people. To
! this wide-reaching estate Mr.. Bishop,
when his wife had laid out her ben
Efficient plan to educate Hawaiin
! youth with its income, added some Of
| his own property belongings in the
agricultural districts of the group
including stocked ranch on Molokai.
In searching for information about
this estate, the writer called upon
Mr.. Bishop at his office in the Clunie
building. Mr.. Bishop is retiring
man, a reticent one as concerns mis-
own affairs, man of no liking for
publicity; but he felt that here was
so much misrepresentation about the
estate that he ought to do what he
could to clear it up.
Kept for Schools.
The estate is spoken Of" he said,
lin a way to give the impression that
great deal of valuable land is arbi-
trarily held from those who would
make better use of it than we do.
They say that we prevent distribution.
1t is natural that, holding the estate
as a trust for the Kamehameha schools
We should not rid ourselves of it. No
better security for the school endow-
ment could be found than the arabic
lands we hold; but if we do not, as a
rule, sell these properties, we lease
them on liberal terms and thereby en-
courage agriculture. From this bust
ness our income is derived; and the
amount of that income shows how
many have availed themselves of the
| leasing privilege all over the group.
Unfortunately a very large part of the
land is unsuitable for farms-cliffs,
lava fields and holdings above the
snow line.
I'VE have sold land for school es-
adjustments now and then, and we
have bought land to increase hold
irgs that needed expansion and to pay
for fencing and other betterments,
but for the greater part the estate is
kept intact Yet, as | say, we encour-
age home-making, and have been very
successful in that effort. Our terms
are never hard; the opportunities we
offer are attractive. We also take
pains to protect the forests on our
land and preserve the watershed"
Mr. Bishop was asked as to the
value and income of the estate. He
looked for the last report he had on
file and said;
The estate, including real and per.