THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
THEIR RESOURCES AGRICULTURAL, COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL.
MAP of the HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.
| CONTENTS | |
|---|---|
| CHAPTER I. | 3 |
| CHAPTER II. | 12 |
| CHAPTER III. | 16 |
| CHAPTER IV. | 20 |
| CHAPTER V. | 37 |
| CHAPTER VI. | 43 |
| CHAPTER VII. | 52 |
| CHAPTER VIII. | 58 |
| OFFICIAL DIRECTORY. | 85 |
THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
THEIR RESOURCES AGRICULTURAL, COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL.THE COMING STAPLE PRODUCT.
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
1896.
HONOLULU:
Printed by the Hawaiian Gazette Company.
Printed by the Hawaiian Gazette Company.
CHAPTER I.
GENERAL INFORMATION.
The Hawaiian Islands are situated in the North Pacific Ocean and lie between longitudes 154° 40' and 160° 30' West, and latitudes 22° 16' and 18° 55' North. They are thus on the very edge of the tropics, but their position in mid-ocean and the prevalence of the northeast trade wind gives them a climate unequalled by any other portion of the globe—a perpetual summer without an enervating heat. In the Hawaiian Islands Americans and Europeans can and do work in the open air, at all seasons of the year, as they cannot in countries lying in the same latitudes elsewhere. To note an instance, Calcutta lies a little to the north of the latitude of Kauai, our most northerly Island, and in Calcutta the American and European can only work with his brain; hard physical labor he cannot do and live. On the Hawaiian Islands he can work and thrive.RAINFALL AND TEMPERATURE.
The rainfall varies, being greater on the windward side of the Islands, and increasing up to a certain elevation. Thus, at Olaa, on the Island of Hawaii, windward side and elevation of about 2,000 feet, the rainfall from July 1st, 1894, to June 30, 1895, was 176.82 inches, while at Kailua, on the leeward side, at a low level, it was only 51.21 inches during the same period.The temperature also varies according to elevation and position. 4 On the Island of Hawaii you can get any climate from the heat of summer to actual winter at the summits of the two great mountains. A meteorological record, kept carefully for a period of twelve years, gives 89° as the highest and 54° as the lowest temperature recorded, or a mean temperature of 71° 30' for the year. A case of sunstroke has never been known. People make no special precautions against the sun, wearing straw and soft felt hats similar to those worn in the States during the summer months.
WINDS.
The prevailing winds, as mentioned above, are the northeast trades. These blow for about nine months of the year. The remainder of the period the winds are variable and chiefly from the south. The Islands are outside the cyclone belt, and severe storms accompanied by thunder and lightning are of rare occurrence.HEALTH.
The Islands possess a healthy climate. There are no virulent fevers such as are encountered on the coast of Africa or in the West India Islands. Epidemics seldom visit the Islands, and when they do they are generally light. A careful system of quarantine guards the Islands now from epidemics from abroad. Such grave diseases as pneumonia and diphtheria are almost unknown. Children thrive wonderfully.AREA.
For practical purposes—and these lines are written for practical men—there are eight Islands in the Hawaiian group. The others are mere rocks, of no value to mankind at present. These eight Islands, beginning from the northwest, are named Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Maui and Hawaii. The areas of these Islands are as follows:| Square Miles. | |
| Niihau | 97 |
| Kauai | 590 |
| Oahu | 600 |
| Molokai | 270 |
| Maui | 760 |
| Lanai | 150 |
| Kahoolawe | 63 |
| Hawaii | 4210 |
| Total | 6740 |
HAWAII.
The Island of Hawaii is the largest in the group, and presents great varieties of soil and climate. The windward side, which includes the districts of North Kohala, Hamakua, Hilo and Puna, is copiously watered by rains and, in the Hilo district, the streams rush impetuously down every gulch or ravine. The leeward side of the Island, including South Kohala, North and South Kona, and Kau, is not exposed to such strong rains, but an ample supply of water falls in the rain belt. The Kona district has given the coffee product a name in the markets of the world.On this Island are now situated numerous sugar plantations. Coffee employs the industry of several hundred owners, ranging from the man with 200,000 trees to him who has only an acre or so. There are thousands upon thousands of acres at present uncultivated and only awaiting the sturdy arms and enterprising brains of the men of the temperate zone to develop them.
MAUI.
Maui is also a very fine Island. Besides its sugar plantations, it has numerous coffee lands, especially in the eastern part, which are just now being opened up. The western slopes of Haleakala, the main mountain of Maui, are covered with small farms where are raised potatoes, corn, beans and pigs. Again, here, thousands of acres are lying fallow.HONOLULU.
On Oahu is the capital, Honolulu. It is a city numbering thirty thousand inhabitants and is pleasantly situated on the south side of the Island. The city extends a considerable distance up Nuuanu Valley and has wings extending northwest and southeast. It is a city of foliage. Except in the business blocks, every house stands in its own garden, and some of the houses are wonderfully beautiful.The city is lighted with electric light; there is a very complete telephone system, and tram cars run at short intervals along the principal streets and continue out to a sea-bathing resort and public park, four miles from the city. There are numerous stores where all kinds of goods can be obtained. In this particular Honolulu occupies a position ahead of any city of similar size. The public buildings are handsome and commodious. There are numerous churches, schools, a public library of over 10,000 volumes, Y. M. C. A. Hall, Masonic Temple, Odd Fellows' Hall and Theater. There is frequent steam communication with San Francisco, once a month with Victoria (British Columbia), and twice a month with New Zealand and the Australian Colonies. Steamers also connect Honolulu with China and Japan. There are three evening daily papers published in English, one daily morning paper, and two weeklies. Besides these there are papers published in the Hawaiian, Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese languages, and also monthly magazines in various tongues.
OAHU'S OPPORTUNITIES.
The Island of Oahu presents excellent opportunities for the investor. Acres upon acres of land remain undeveloped among its teeming valleys, the energies and wealth of the population having been devoted to the development of the sugar lands on the larger Islands.A line of railroad has been constructed which at present runs along the coast to a distance of thirty miles from the city. It is proposed to continue this line completely around the Island. This railroad opens up rich coffee and farming lands and affords ready means of transport for the produce, and an expeditious method for obtaining the necessary supplies, etc., from the capital. The management of the railroad offers special inducements for would-be investors to see the country, and special rates should they conclude to settle.
KAUAI.
Kauai is called the "Garden Island," it is so well watered and so luxuriant in vegetation. The Island is at present largely devoted to the cultivation of sugar. Rice also cuts a considerable figure in the agricultural production of Kauai. That it can produce coffee is undoubted, but there is a timidity about embarking in the industry, because some forty years ago the experiment of a coffee plantation was tried, and owing to misjudgment of location and soil, failed. Since then the cultivation of coffee has come to be more thoroughly understood, and there is no doubt that quantities of land suitable for such cultivation are now lying, like the sleeping beauty, waiting for the kiss of enterprise to make them awake into usefulness and profit for mankind.There is room on the Hawaiian Islands for at least ten times the present population. The climate, soil and social conditions all tend to make them a desirable home for those who are willing to work, and have a moderate capital to begin with.
GOVERNMENT.
The Government of the Hawaiian Islands is a Republic. Up to the year 1893 it had been a limited monarchy, but at that date it was felt, by the progressive party in the state, that monarchy had had its day, and that the friends of such a form of government should give way to more liberal institutions, assimilating to the institutions of the United States, and to become a part of which Great Republic is the earnest desire of all those who have the interests of the Islands at heart. The monarchy, in a bloodless revolution, disappeared and the Republic took its place.The Republic is a republic of progress, and under the Government thus established every facility has been given for developing and improving the country. The President is elected for six years. The Legislature consists of a Senate and House of Representatives, all members being elected by popular vote. The Senators are elected for a term of six years, and voters for Senators must have real property worth $1,500, or personal property worth $3,000, or an income of not less than $600 per annum. The vote for Representatives is based on manhood suffrage.
TAXATION.
All males between the ages of 20 and 60 pay a personal tax of $5, viz: Poll tax, $1; road tax, $2; school tax, $2. Land pays a tax of one per cent. on the cash value, and personal property a similar rate. Carts pay $2, brakes $3, carriages $5, dogs $1, female dogs $3. From the above it will be seen that the taxes are not heavy as compared with other countries; moreover, there are no local taxes of any kind.METHOD OF ACQUIRING LAND.
Land can be obtained from the Government by two methods, viz.; The cash freehold system, and the right of purchase leases. 9 Under the first system the land is sold at auction. The purchaser pays one-quarter in cash and the rest in equal installments of one, two and three years, interest being charged at the rate of six per cent. upon the unpaid balance. Under this system the purchaser is bound to maintain a home on the land from the commencement of the second year to the end of the third. The right of purchase leases are drawn for twenty-one years at a rental of eight per cent. on the appraised value of the land. The lessee has the privilege of purchasing the land, after the third year, at the original appraised value, provided 25 per cent. of the land is reduced to cultivation, and other conditions of the lease filled. In this case a home must be maintained from the end of the first year to the end of the fifth year. The limit of first-class agricultural land obtainable is 100 acres. This amount is increased on lands of inferior quality. Under the above conditions the applicant must be 18 years of age and obtain special letters of denization. Land can also be obtained from the various land and investment companies, and from private parties. The full land law will be treated of in Chapter VI. of this pamphlet.
JUDICIARY, POLICE, ETC.
There is a thoroughly efficient judiciary consisting of a Supreme Court, five Circuit Courts in which trials by jury are conducted, and District Courts in every district. The higher courts are presided over by well trained, educated men. There is an efficient police force in every part of the group. The inhabitants are law-abiding and crimes of violence are very rare. There is very little petty theft, and even in Honolulu, the greatest center of population and a seaport town, many of the houses are left with doors unlocked at night.SCHOOLS.
There is an excellent system of free public schools taught in the English language, the teachers in many cases being imported 10 from the United States. The main plan of the system is modelled upon the public school system of the United States, modified to meet the wants of a heterogeneous population. The children are instructed in writing, reading, composition, arithmetic, geography, both local and general. The books are uniform and obtainable at the same price as in the United States. The schools are strictly non-sectarian. There is no district, however remote, in which there is no school. The only people who cannot read and write are those who come from abroad. Those born in the Islands are compelled by law to take advantage of the education offered. Besides the common school education, opportunities are given at various centers for a higher education equivalent to the grammar grade of the United States, and in Honolulu a high school and collegiate course can be obtained at a small cost.CHURCHES.
The various Christian denominations are represented and all forms are tolerated. The country churches of the Protestant denominations are chiefly conducted by Hawaiian pastors, the Roman Catholic by French and German priests, who are mostly good linguists and speak Hawaiian, English and Portuguese, besides their mother tongue. Wherever there is a large collection of English speaking people a Protestant church is usually supported by them. In Honolulu there is a large number of churches, Congregational, Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Methodist and Mormon. There is a Sunday law, and all work which is not absolutely necessary is prohibited on that day. Rational outdoor amusement is not prohibited, such as riding, boating, shooting, etc., and the Government Band plays at the public park at Waikiki every Sunday afternoon.PHYSICIANS.
In every district of the Islands the Government supports a doctor, who gives his services to indigent Hawaiians free of 11 charge—others have to pay. In many places there are physicians settled who carry on a private practice.TELEPHONES.
The Islands of Oahu, Kauai and Hawaii have telephones to every accessible point. The rent of the instrument is moderate, and a small charge is made for those who do not care or cannot afford to possess an instrument of their own. On Maui the telephone is at present established only in part.COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE ISLANDS.
Communication between the Islands is by steamer; of these some seventeen are constantly plying from port to port, affording weekly communication with the capital. The regular passenger steamers are well fitted with cabins, have electric bells and electric lights and all modern accommodations.POSTAL MATTERS.
There is a regular postal system, and on the arrival of a steamer at any main point, mail carriers at once start out to distribute the mail through the district. The Hawaiian Islands belong to the Postal Union, and money orders can be obtained to the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Portugal, Hong Kong and Colony of Victoria, as well as local orders between the Islands.CHAPTER II.
AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES.
The mainstay of the Hawaiian Islands has, for the last thirty-five years, been the sugar industry. From this source a large amount of wealth has been accumulated. But the sugar industry requires large capital for expensive machinery, and has never proved remunerative to small investors. An attempt has been made at profit-sharing and has met with some success, the small farmer cultivating and the capitalist grinding at a central mill. Of late years, moreover, the small farmer has been steadily developing in the Hawaiian Islands and attention has been given to other products than sugar.Rice, neither the European nor the American can cultivate as laborers. It requires working in marshy land, and though on the Islands it yields two crops a year, none but the Chinaman can raise it successfully. A dry-land or mountain rice has been introduced, which will be treated under the head of Agricultural possibilities.
The main staple after sugar and rice is coffee. Of this hundreds of thousands of trees have been planted out within the last five years. This is essentially the crop of the future and bids fair to become as important a staple as sugar. Coffee does not require the amount of capital that sugar does, and it can be worked remuneratively upon a small area. It is estimated that at the end of the fourth year the return from a 75-acre coffee plantation will much more than pay the running expenses, while 13 from that time on a return of from eight to ten thousand dollars per annum may be realized.
On page 32 will be found an estimate of the cost of establishing a 75-acre coffee plantation from the first to the seventh year.
Fruits can also be cultivated to advantage. At present the banana trade of the Islands amounts to over 100,000 bunches per annum, valued at over $100,000, and the quantity might be very easily quadrupled. The banana industry may be regarded as in its infancy. The export of the fruit is only from the Island of Oahu, but there are thousands of acres on the other Islands of the group which could be profitably used for this cultivation and for nothing else. The whole question of the banana industry hinges on the market. At present the market is limited.
Limes and oranges can be cultivated and the fruit can be easily packed for export; at present the production does not meet the local market. The fruits can be raised to perfection. The Hawaiian orange has a fine flavor and the Hawaiian lime has an aroma and flavor far superior to that cultivated in Mexico and Central America. In the uplands of Hawaii and Maui potatoes can be and are raised. Their quality is good. Corn is also raised. In these industries many Portuguese, Norwegians and others have embarked. Both these products find an ample local market. The corn is used largely for feed on the plantations. The corn is ground with the cob and makes an excellent feed for working cattle, horses and mules.
In the uplands, where the climate is temperate, as at Waimea, Hawaii, vegetables of all kinds can be raised; excellent cauliflowers, cabbages and every product of the temperate zone can be grown to perfection.
Cattle raising in so small a place as the Hawaiian Islands does not present great opportunities except for local consumption. Pigs are profitable to the small farmer. In the Kula district of Maui pigs are fattened upon the corn and potatoes raised in the district. The price of pork, dressed, is 25 cents per pound in Honolulu and about 15 cents per pound in the 14 outside districts. The Chinese, of whom there are some 15,000 resident on the various Islands, are extremely fond of pork, so that there is a large local market, which has to be supplemented by importations from California.
Attention has lately been given to fiber plants, for which there are many suitable locations. Ramie grows luxuriantly, but the lack of proper decorticating and cleaning machinery has prevented any advance in this cultivation.
Sisal hemp and Sansevieria have been experimented with, but without any distinct influence upon the trade output.
The cultivation of pineapples is a very growing industry. In 1895 pines were exported from the Islands to San Francisco to the value of nearly $9,000. This has grown up in the last half dozen years. There is every reason to think that canning pineapples for the Coast and other markets can be made profitable.
The guava, which grows wild, can also be put up to profit, for the manufacture of guava jelly. It has never been entered upon on a large scale, but to the thrifty farmer it would add a convenient slice to his income, just as the juice of the maple adds an increase to the farmer of the Eastern States. Well made guava jelly will find a market anywhere. In England it is regarded as a great delicacy, being imported from the West India Islands. Besides the guava there are other fruits which can be put up to commercial profit, notably the poha or Cape gooseberry (Physalis Edulis). This has been successfully made into jams and jelly, which command an extensive local sale and should find their way into larger markets.
In point of fact, outside the great industries of sugar, coffee and rice, there is a good field for many minor industries which can be carried on with profit by those who know what work is, and are willing to put their shoulders to the wheel.
In the Hawaiian Islands a simple life can be lived, and entering gradually upon the coffee industry, a good competence can be obtained long before such could be realized by the agriculturalist 15 elsewhere. However, it is useless to come to the Islands without the necessary capital to develop the land that can be obtained.
Between arriving and the time that the crops begin to give returns there is a period where the living must be close, and cash must be paid out for the necessary improvements. The land is here, the climate is here; it only requires brains, a small capital and energy to realize such comfort and independence as can not be realized in old countries, in one-fourth of the time.
CHAPTER III.
COFFEE.
The most promising of all the Island products, outside of sugar, is coffee. No finer coffee in the world is produced than that of the Hawaiian Islands. It requires care and does not produce a crop until the third year, but it remains till the fifth year to make a proper realization upon the investment. It is evidently necessary to give a very full description of the coffee plant and its method of culture to assure intending immigrants of what is before them.Coffee is a shrub belonging to the family of the Rubiaceae. Botanists divide it into many species, but it can be practically divided into two sections, Arabian coffee and Liberian coffee, or in point of fact, Asiatic and African. In the Hawaiian Islands coffee grows best between 500 and 2,000 feet above the sea level, though there are cases in which it has done well close to the sea. It requires a loose porous soil and does not thrive well in heavy clayey ground which holds much water. Of such heavy land there is very little in the Hawaiian Islands. The soil is generally very porous.
It is very evident that coffee will thrive and give good results in varying conditions of soil and degrees of heat. In these Islands it grows and produces from very nearly at the sea level to the elevation of 2,600 feet. The highest elevation of bearing coffee, known here, is twenty-five miles from the town of Hilo and in the celebrated Olaa district.
With such a range it is evident that, in a tropical climate, the cultivation of coffee presents greater opportunities for an investor than other tropical products.
For years it was thought that coffee would only grow to advantage in the Kona district of Hawaii. Practical experiment has shown that it can be grown with success in almost any part of the Islands.
The opening up of the Olaa portion of the Puna district, by a well macadamized road leading from Hilo to the Volcano, may be regarded as the commencement of the coffee industry on a large scale on the Hawaiian Islands. There are now over fifty plantations where six years ago there was nothing but tangled and dense forest. The Olaa land is Government property and can be acquired under the land law. There are still 10,000 acres not taken up. The location is very desirable as there is direct communication with Hilo by an excellent road and the crop can be readily taken to the shipping point. Indeed it can not be long before a railroad will be built; when this takes place a far larger extent of land will be available for coffee growing in this section of the country. The soil in the Olaa district is deep and wonderfully prolific.
Other portions of Puna also present many fertile lands, and coffee plantations in those parts are coming to the front showing excellent results. A considerable number of investors have opened up coffee plantations in them, all of which are doing excellently. These plantations, to the knowledge of the writer are, many of them, carried on out of the savings made by workers in Honolulu, who are thus preparing for themselves a provision for their early middle age. On the Island of Hawaii are the great coffee districts of Olaa, Puna, Kona and Hamakua, in each of which thriving coffee plantations are established, while tens of thousands of acres of the very finest lands are yet undisturbed. Government lands in these districts are being opened up for settlement as fast as circumstances will permit.
On the Island of Maui there is a large area of splendid coffee lands. The extensive land of Keanae belonging to the Government will be opened for settlement as soon as the preliminary work of surveying is completed.
On the Island of Molokai the industry is making progress and there are several plantations along the leeward valleys.
So also on the Island of Oahu there is much good coffee land, which is being experimented upon, and considerable capital invested in the undertaking.
As the case now stands for the investor, land can be obtained for coffee growing in:—
- Island of Hawaii.
- North and South Kona,
- Hilo,
- Puna, including Olaa,
- Hamakua.
- Island of Maui.
- Keanae,
- Nahiku,
- Lahaina,
- Kaupo.
- Island of Molokai.
- Island of Oahu.
- Island of Kauai.
That areas of land, for the establishment of large coffee plantations, can be acquired is reasonably certain as large owners are evincing a disposition to sell and lease their lands.
There is no agricultural investment that offers better opportunities for the profitable employment of capital, than a well managed coffee estate.
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