Hawaii Holomua, Volume I, Number 26, 17 ʻOkakopa 1893 — TOPICS OF THE DAY. [ARTICLE]

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Tbe St,ir ha» soTeml times encoQmged tbo e«t*blii»hraent of Knali fj»mis in Hawaii, and cate»l the part tion of the large lamU now l>eloogiog to tbe ! Crown anJ to tho GoTernment 1 into bnni(»U‘.i(1s. Tbeoretically, the Star is andoabted)y right. bat practically w p beIiero it to be wav off ihe rnark. Tho eompariaons whieh it draws heiween Fraoce. England and America on one »ide, and Hawiii ou the other cannot bear criticism. Hawaii u uot ;id»pt*d for the small fanner, siraply bocaose there is uo market for any products, except sngar whieh it is nn impo8sibiliiy to raiso profitably on a sraall scale. In Illinois and other states whero the smali fanuer thrives and djurishes. there is a roady m »rket for the products whieh he ean raisc. and whieh he does not use for honie consumption. The raeans of tn»nspirtation are veiy facile. The gr.»iu whieh he mises, the butter whieli he prodnces, the few heads o{ cattle or tbe pigs and poultrv whieh he desires to sell, ean l>e transported by rail to the grout rnui;.ifacturing cities witb their nuui* rous inhabit>mts and easilv disposed of Should the joined nnni »*rs of small farmers pro*luce tu« o than ean he eonsnnied bv IL-, inhabitants of the loeal murkets, the products will be carned »s easilv to more distant raarkets in udjoining states or if it shoald be necess;»ry exported from tha countiy to foroign iuarkets. Not so in Hawaii! \Vhat wouhi the Star pmpoae a smali farmer to do with a pieee of )and l»e it over f»o fertile. say oa the Isl.md of Hawaii? \Vhat pro»lnct-5 w.mld he ba supj>*sed to raise! \Vhere would.be bave a ehauee io sol 1 it' And i«st but not least, how should the white f*rmer be able to coraj»ete with his chine>o colle;igue? In the d:stnot ot Makawao in Kula i on Mam is the onlv j»lace where j we li!tvo uoticed soiali fanns j thriving i»nd soiuetiraes s»icce«Hl- j ing. There may be other plaeeaon i othor 1' »u.ls bnt Kal-» is a ' go«xl ex-»mple of what eau be ' dooe. T.»ero ure men who rent j lands fmm the Omwii or Gorern- j ment or evcu own them in fee, i but they are not ex »ctiv | farms but of a cons(derable ae- I re*ge T »e farmer wiU have. say ! from Qft. U» two. or three hundred hoad of eaule raoaiug jv»rtlv on his owu Uuds. aml part!y (for a considoration) over tbe lan.U of i his u« ghbors. He will sel«ct aome of tb« cattf« for carting purj*>ses. and m »ke a moe in- 1 eome by oarting wood lo the j adjoinmg j»laoUti >n. or freight. i i or wh itei*er use be ean find for • i his t«am S*»me of faiscwttle.be i will use for milki»g pnrposes, 1 au.i he will make butter whieh • 1 eau «ither lie sold in iho TĪoiuity < or«bij»j»ed weekly lo Honoiola ti

Part of his lanJ be will plaut with eoni for whieh there alw»ys is a demaud. aud j-art be will plant *ith Irish potatoos for whieh ue fiuds a readv market in s • Hoaoihlu. The neighboring but- | cher wfll yearly buy whatever beef-cattle he ean afiord to seli. and the torkeys aod pigs whieh are there in abuodanoe are always m demand. Hisliving exj»enses are small, because be oan raise everytbiug neces»aar}' for home-con.->amption aud bis househo!d necessaries. Isn't this a beautiful f actore of tbe small farm? Does it uot look more tempting than the picture of coffee planta- ! tious and Gnava jellies whieh I homtofore have been unrolle*I b*?fore the j>ablic by the Star editor and other home«teads promotere? And yet. who ever succeede.l of the foreigners who bave tried it. except perhaps a f«w ehiuamen aud one or two Portug’iese? The j»icture of these farms as drawn by us is not exaggeruted the le«st. and to the gaj»erficial raind it must be a perfect j»aradise. Bit the secret is that. it t »kes cnpital to start tho bnsiness, aud the man with capital ns a rolo doesn’t propose to pei uj» in the mount tins and haul w. or dig potatoes. or milk the cows and make tfae bntter, and as the resnlt of his eomhined eapiial and labor have jnst a bare living. and none of the eomforts of civilizatiou. By eapiial we do not mean a few hundred dollars, but rather a few thousand. and doesn t the Star thiuk that a man with tbat amount wonld prefer to live among eougenial surronndings cultivnting on»ngesand other frnits in California within a few days journey from San Francisco than loek himself an. f.»milv upinKula, District of Mukawao, Mani? f The Star oditor may snggest that if » nnmber of snch f»»nns w*8Btaiteda j»rosj»erons colony wonld bo founded, and the “eongenial” snrrouudings would uo long«r be missing. Yes, bnt i£ a number of such farms on a similar scalo were oj»ened np the loeil markets wonld be overstocked and the farmer wonld s*»on have to uudertake tho unprofitable task of eating lus own j»ot-»t<»es. This conntry ean never heeome a manufacturing country nor ean we ever hoj»e to successfully exjx»rt proiIucts whieh ean he raised teufold cheaper and equally goo<i in Cali!ornia. the only outl«t for our products that we have. A< it is now, the market for butter is overstocked. and the price is so low ibat it has ceased to be a paying industry. And the same wonUi soon be the case with all other j»nxlncts whieh ean be raised and gire retnrns wiihin a reasonable time. And if a man without eapiial shonld atUn»pt the exj»eriment of becoming* “small fanuer” (tbere are enough exvmj»les of them herei it »» a q.iestion of a very slu»it time when bis neighbor the mi!lioaair-pIanter—with his t»a eerUin niīnule oj>en eheekbook—w»ll gobbte up everytbing to be fuund on the farm. and change the bn»nd on the buiiocks. and cows. and j»»gs, and turkeys and eats. to tv.at nsed by the large dorks on his own broad The experiment h»s been tri#d oft»n enoagb, bni by »l) meaus. let us try it ag«in. Oniy »

if »cv m&n is to be induced to eome here »nd heeome • (•rmer ' let him to do so, uot under fal.se pretenses. bot with his eye« fully opeu. Tho St*r h*s | got the theory—we hare got the practice. In the present Govemment are a number of meo who have been ardent. ves. intolerant defenders. •nd advocates of the iempemnee caose, who have foojiht and agitatevi for total prohibition or for measures, whieh Tirtoally amooni to the same thsog. who have apj>eared on the rostrum in the Chorches and in the Y. M C. A.. and exhorted. and preached aud finally lifted their voices in choms with the old ladies. who trade in this kind of business. What must be the surprise then to the country to see these men who stamped Marsden's light wine aml l>eer ■ bill, as an infamons measure, and who talked to the reverend J. L. Stevens, with iudignation abont the liquor-rtng h-ave alone the drunken orgies of the monarchy, qnietly furnisbing tbe soldiers of their govarument with intoxicating driuks and allowing them to swill fifteen barrels of beer at Ihe taxpayers expense. M here is Sereno E. Bishop? M here is the W. C. T. U.f Wby don’t wo heur about petitions and protests from tliese two Christian bodies against a repetition of the outrage comraitted by tbe meu sporting tbe blue ribbon against tho principle of whieh that ribbon is a symbol? For sharne! Uave politics also entered the righteous souls of the temperance advocates in this town so in their eyes intoxieating liquor is allright when used bv the Provisional Governmeut aud all wrong when used by the opposition ? Is that tbe firrauess ond devotion to prinoiple of these ladies (male and female)? Where are the Waterhonses? Wlier« is W. I W. Hall? Alas: the later who wore the blue ribbon with snch a pride (while shipping aleohol to the whalers) is tbe Quarterraaster General of the fifteen-barrel-of-beer -drinking-soldiers and will foot the bill for the stutf. S«nd next Sonday all the seven companies to church and let theni be exhorted, «nd let all the old ladies exiH>nnd on the virtues of weak cotfee, and the nnspeakable evils of beer. Incousistency vonr uame is Waterhoose, and Hall Aleo, Hall A Son.