Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-09-10

Il
2 FEATURES TO-DAY.
u Hawaii labor troubles up.
= Ivers gives reasons why unus- :
y ual measures taken to hold labor :
= here.
la Homesteading on Maui dis ;
4 cussed. Z
j1 Land Agent Aiken gives Frear {
| = clean bill. .
I0 Says past administrations 8
Is is!dsd = !. . & 8 pGistsas ;! !. & !. ?sssssrs . Z
q few minutes after the session had
lbegun.
i Worth o. Aiken, land agent fol
Maui, was called forward as the first
witness. Aiken stated that there
were a large number of small ranch
es, or plantations. near his place.
About loo of these are Portuguese
who raise grapes principally. Their
holdings, of 10 to 20 acres each, &C.
Iquired largely by purchase, are not
devoted to any extent to the growing
Of cane.
Lands on the leeward side of Maui
are not well fitted to the, raising OF
cane, he asserted. He is fairly IA
miliar with all lands on the island, he
said, having served several years as
deputy tax assessor. and lately as
land agent.
He said 5000 or 1000 acres have
been opened to homesteading since
he has been q government officer.
The land was well adapted to coffee
culture, but when "the bottom fell
out Of the coffee markeA" the plant
'ers gave 1t up, the lands fell idle for
q time, and later sugar cane was
tried. This crop proving failure,
diversified crops have been tried.
Some are now trying rubber trees.
Few Of the original homesteaders
now remain on the land.
Why was the coffee culture a fail.
ure% Fished inquired.
The cost Of picking, with labor at
81 q day, and the cost of transporta-
tion over bad roads, were the prfn.I
cipal reasons, he said. The failure
in the cane experiment was due to-
climatic conditions, Aiken said.
He told of experiments In agricul-
ture tried in various sections of the
county.
One of the chief failures of our
homesteading In the past, has been
the yielding of the government tol
political pressure and opening upl
lands not fit or capable of supporting
homesteaders, he declared.
Another mistake. he thought, was
made in permitting girls less than 81
years old to take up claims He
thought they ought to be at least 21
years of age before being permitted
to become homesteaders, because
they are seldom capable of holding
and tending the land properly.
The principal transportation diff
culties of Maui homesteaders are
those of bad roads or none at all,
due, he said, to the fact that little
Of the money paid by them to the
Territory on right-of-purchase leases
and which is to be used on highways,
viii not be paid for or years. and
meantime the transportation situa-
ton is at a standstill. Rates and IA
cilities by boat, to Honolulu and the
mainland. are good, he asserted.
There are no government cane
ands on Maui, he declared.
II don't believe cane growing would
prove profitable on a small scale. The
small farmer would not be success
'ul," he said. In answer to Mr.. Fish
sr,s questions he admitted he
.hought cane was a far more profit
lble crop than pineapples. Land very
ertile and well adapted to cane might
lot prove at all satisfactory as pine
Ipple land. .
He said he believed there were
ieyeral hundred acres of land in two
racts at Hama, Maui, on which leases
would shortly expire, thus opening
hem for homesteading.
At Mr.. Fishers suggestion Attor-
lev Ashford took up the burden of
Iuestioning Mr.. Aiken. Ashford went
nto more detail in the matter OF the
california Settlement Association
which Aiken previously stated had
established a large colony on the isl
nd. He admitted he had taken an
ctiye part in the work of this col
niZation. l.
The question of showing discrim-
natioh in homesteading these lands
ropped up again, when Ashford
sked Aiken if it were true that he
Aiken) has given out that haoles
rom the mainland We're to be favor
d over residents of the Territory
.iken said it was not, and Mr.. Fisher :
hen said: ''Mr. Ashford, let me ask :
feo,tinued OF, page 81