Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-04-28
HAIKU FARMER INSISTS PRACTICAL
HELP FOR HAWAII TURNED down

/ iEg a practical way of getting this
gested a plan for cooperative agrts
cultural extension work that would
have cost the territory slb.950 a year
but would have put two men on Hawaii
and enc on each OF the other islands
| TO aid the farmers, and would have
allowed of several "coIiaborators" on
| each island. as well as director for
| the Whole work liut the governor
illed 4. .E.-
3. Aid the farmer in his financial.
business and marketing problems,
| The farm loan act TIL B. 24) was
! very carefully worked out act to meet
! the fist need. The house passed IL
spite OF the opposition of the finan
cie-s, whose claim as TO its conflict
with the orgsnic act was unsupported
! by any opinion from the attorney
general as far as I am aware. The
senate has not yet acted, it grows late
| in TIE session, and the governor has
announced mis- opposition to it in his
message Shall We call il killed?
Well, while there is life there is
hope" suppose,
TIE territory has done much,
through the marketing division, to aid
| farmers in marketing. The senate
would have killed the marketing divi-
SIGN IL IL could. II cut out its appro-
priation entirely. If Mr.. Shingle had
sick polo pony he would not cure II
| by killing 1t, but that was the easiest
way when il was the farmers pony.
often marvel that the marketing
! division has gotten along as. far as
it has in view of the opposition that
much less radical measures meet.
The army won't turn a finger to
aid the Hawaiian production of food
They win rot give any preference in
their buying to home grown stuff.
change from their inflexible rules, to
aid home production. have thrashed
it ali over with tXo quartermasters
and the result is just the same.
Has not the. utilities auditor shown
that the interIsland has made an
! average of IL per cent on its actual
| invested capital during the past ten
years? What has the government
done to see that the farmer gets q
fair rate for the transportation of his
stuff?
And finally the consuming public
will not buy the home grown stuff
unless 1t is equal In quality, price and
uniformity of supply to the imported.
They will make no allowance for the
opposition of the governor, the neglect
of the government, and the disadyan-
tages under which the local farmer
be ht,ty 10 ff1Ff fro
patriotic motives" The farmers are
today, by governors proclamation
and otherwise, being urged to plant
heavily to meet possible food short
age should communication with the
mainland be cut off, and yet are not
being given the slightest guarantee, by
the army or anyone else, that their
stuff will be bought and used in case
communication is not cut off and trade
continues as heretofore.
To sum 1t ali up-the governor, the
army, the senate, the financial men
in the house, have all turned down,
quite recently, practical measures that
would have secured the growing OF
food stuff by aiding the farmers al
ready on the land, and by putting
more farmers there, and that would
have facilitated the marketing of local
products. Under these circumstances
find myself rather Indifferent as to
whether the city man goes hungry fo-
a bit or not, and altogether ''out of
tune" with the effort to get farmers
to raise unusually large amounts Of
food crops that in all probability they
will not be able to ST..
r.. Very truly yours,
EDWIN C. MOORE.