The Hawaiian gazette., 1912-04-05
Wet Land Must Go.

Wet Land Must Go.
"The increasing knowledge of the
immense loss due to mosquitoes is now
putting wet agriculture to severe
test, :" said Carter. owe are beginning
to inquire, if against the value of crops
should not be set the loss due to mos.
quitoes and the easy spread of infec.
ton. Another serious defect in our.
method of wet agriculture within the
city, is that we permit dwellings to be
used which are surrounded with stand
ing water and without sewage disposal,
thus enhancing the danger of water in.
lection and the possibility of typhoid
or cholera.
"We can best abolish the danger
from standing water by making such
land too valuable for wet agriculture.
Money so expended has double advan.
tage, it brings an improvement to the
city and does away with a possible
nuisance.
Garbage and Water.
ga free garbage system here is i'm
practical. The proper plan would be
to name definite district within which
the municipality, under some proper
plan, will undertake the collection of
garbage. 1t is not necessary to under.
take to give free garbage service over
the entire area of the city.
"Epidemics arouse communities to
action as every day danger never does.
The danger of infection of our storage
reservoir in Nuuanu should not be left
to an epidemic of typhoid before it
arouses us. The unnecessary water sup.
piled to the people of Honolulu does
no harm to health except that its cost
deprives us of funds that could other.
wise be used, perhaps, for health mat
ters.
"The volume Of sewage depends upon
the consumption of water. With about
two-thirds Of our people served, our sys.
tenn is overtaxed. We are pumping
from two to three times the amount es.
timated for city of our present size
We are indulging in one of the most
extravagant bits of municipal folly pos.
sible, paying for pumping water ana
allowing it to be wasted, then paying
for pumping it away as sewage.
SIT is equally foolish to collect tho
sewage of our city and then dump il
on our reef in eighteen feet of water
for the tide to carry back and forth
or collect in banks of black mud, just
as it did in the estuary of the Thames
due to London g sewage. No seafood
taken within reach of this pollution Is
fit to eat, nor is it safe to wade OF
battle there, and time alone will tel
how far it travels.
New Streets.
"If Honolulu is to progress 1t mus
cease to expect the outside communi
ties (the counties) to contribute to the
cost of new streets. At present th'
whole Territory pays large proportion
Of these improvements. There is no
revenue sufficient to meet the require
ments and if we delay the progress thai
is being forced upon us by increased
commerce and population, we are moi
worthy of the opportunities vouchsafec
to us.
"The unwieldy size of so many
blocks is serious drawback. The caus,
of them is due largely to complicated
legal machinery now necessary to be
operated before highway can be open
led. This makes our growth slow and
accustoms us to conditions that should
not be tolerated.
|. Shocking Tenements.
Shocking conditions are to be found
IN some of our tenements, which might
more properly be compared to shan1bles
or pig pens than human habitations
Jour commission recommends the crea
ton of a special tenement house com
mission to study and report on these
conditions. The subjects for study
Ishould be protection from fire. lioht and