The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1915-04-27
LEGISLA IRE NAY ASK WASHINGTON FOR FULL
/. INVESTIGATION OF CONDITIONS IN TERRITORY
Governor Pham Reads Special Message Setting Forth awa Debt and Land
Agricultural Problems AS Distant Isolated, By Nature,
Peculiarly Economically Restricted Island Group

! months and we ars satisfied that the
conclusions reached have not been
! drawn hastily or without cateful study
/ and much thought.
Sugar the Only Crop ".
E&HAt the present time we know Of no
crop, other than sugar, and, to lesser
degree, pineapples, which we can recon-
mend as n sound, economic industry
adapted to produce a staple on which
the population Of these Islands can rely
for maintenance.
"The following are the more import,
ant grounds on which this opinion is
based: |.ffg-,.f
"CD. From nm agricultural point of
view Hawaii is not a tropical country,
and the strictly tropical crops do not
find optimum climatic conditions.
+ "(2). Hawaii has not temperate
climate and the staple products Of the
temperate zone cannot be relied on.
"(3). Our distance from mainland
markets imposes a serious handicap, and
both inter.island and inter community
transportation is difficult and expensive
because Hawaii Is q group of compare.
lively small, mountainous islands, with
very few harbors. g.
4 "(4). Insect pests, accidentally intro.
duced, thrive because of our balmy elf.
mate and the absence of their natural
enemies PARASITES, birds, frosts, etc. }.
They not only injure the growing crops,
but, az in the case of the Mediterrarr-
can fruit fly, cause the imposition Of a
quarantine. The mere presence of the
Mediterranean fruit fly is enough In
itself to prevent the expectation Of Ha-
wall fresh fruits TO mainland markets
except bananas and pineapples.
Cheap Labor Needed a.
100. Practically all tropical indus,
tries demand a plentiful supply of cheap
labor, Labor In Hawaii is neither
cheap nor plentiful, In this respect Ha.
wall Is at a marked disadvantage com.
pared with nearly all tropical countries.
l""Not only must the above cited 'ad.
! verse conditions be met by any new
, industry, but II should be borne in mind
, that the area Of cultivated land in Ha.
wall is very srnall, the amount reclaim,
= able still smaller, and I'VE must meet
D the needs of growing population
. This means intensive cultivation and a
high average rate of wealth produc tion
: per acre. In the ten-year period, 1900
= 1910, our population Increased 24.6 pei
: cent and our AIRED of cultivated land
I $40 per cent The census reports also
: clearly show that Hawaii is cultivatinp
Q its land far more intensivcly than the
mainland states; for example, we are
, supporting twenty-five times as many
q persons per acre Of improved arabic
q land as the agricultural State of NORTH
P Dakota. Clearly the problem in Hawai-
:. is peculiarly dificulto one and it i,
!. not surprising that one after .anothej
4 Of, the suggested crops have proven nn
/ able to meet the conditions. Those fo
|. which perhaps the most has been hopeC
= are rice, cotton, tobacco, coffee ant
bananas. The status of these today il
as follows: 49,, ',.J.irt,
r Rice Is Handicapped "."~ 4,
b Rice-During 1914 Hawaii produce
e rice to the value of about $75U,0UU
t Extension of the industry, is prevente,
by lack of suitable rice land, and tn
n absence Of the Chinese labor requires
l. to produce the crop under Hawaiian
+ conditions. We understand that Ha
d waiian rice is unable to compete i
n price with Texas rice in the San Fran
cisco market. .t,..t.
l. HCotton-Experimcnt carried o.
4 several years ago with Carayonica coi
Q. ton, gave such promising results tina
% many believed that in long staple cot
IA ton we might have a now industry. A
that time about $50 acres were plante
q To this crop. The pink boil worm, how
,. ever, became so serious q menace tina
Ia in the absence of any practical metho
Il of combating it, cotton cultivation ha
h been practically abandoned. Not III
= til control OF, the boil worm can be ei
:. fected and the essential conditions o
locality, rainfall, soil and elevation ar
A determined will there be extensive col
!. ton planting in Hawaii When tn
- agricultural problem shall have bee
= solved, there will arise the problem o
establishing marketable grades
"TObacco-Duringt the, past ten year
several hundred thousand dollars hay
been spent in the effort to establish
tobacco growing industry, but withou
success. Difficulty has been encour
II tered in properly ctring the leaf. W
fear that even if this is overcome GU
u output will be insufficient to eomman
general market, so that Hawaiian t.
y bacco would depend on special patron
, age. This Is the hope of the fnancia
= interests behind the effort to overeom
the present failure.
Il Coffee Misfortunes ~
"Coffee-Coffee growing has existe
l. for a number of years as a minor il
d dustry and is successful in stian wa
Y, on a limited area Of land. Hundred
i. of thousands of dollars were lost b(
fore the limitations of suitable area
n were aseertained Our coffee Is no,
e produced mostly by independent Orient
l. growers planting on leased lands, an
e satisfied with very moderate return,
h wholly insufficient for an America
Is farmer.
h "Bananas-Bananas are grown i
n Hawaii and exported to some exten
}, from localities convenient to, trans
), Pacific shipping points. The chic
|. handicaps TO expansion are:
r. 81. The only present mark ar
e the cities situated on San Francisc
d Bay. u. ~
!. "2. Competition with bananas fro
the West Indies and Central Americs
e which are distributed hy rail from Gul