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THE MAUI NEWS, FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 1015.
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THE MAUI NEWS
Kntered at the Tost Office at Wailuku, Maul, Hawaii, as second -class matter.
A Republican Paper Published in the Interest of the People
Issued Every Friday.
MAUI PUBLISHING COMPANY, LIMITED,
Proprietors and Publisher
Subscription Rates, $2.50 reu Year in Advance.
WILL i. COOPER,
FRIDAY
EDITOR AND MANAGER
TUNE f, I'"!'-
n
exploitixg the Portuguese
O. A. Steven's colonization enterprise among the Portuguese of
this Territory, turns out to have been nothing but a labor recruiting
ch- me in disguise. The warning given by the Maui News at the time,
vhi. h was taken up by the California State Commission on lmmigra
t: - :"! Housing, and thoroughly investigated, has resulted in a number
'' ti'.k'inir facts being brought out. First, the lOacre tracts of Cali-
i. ia land, which were to make the oppressed Portuguese of Hawaii
,u(i; pendent, are declared to be of very poor soil. Second, the price of
?W per acre (Steven seems to have boosted the price to $125) is too
; mi. li. It could not be made to earn the $' interest and $3 water rent.
i!,c I'niversitv of California expert says. Third, the men who own the
und diil not expect the Portuguese to be able to make a living from
their "homesteads," but expected to use the men and boys as labours
on the other work, while the women and children might be able to help
out with a little gardening. Fourth, while the land was supposed to
have water for irrigation, only a portion of it might use such water on
account of the lay of the land, and the water supply cannot be depended
upon after June in any event. Finally, Steven's interest seems to have
been soley "that of a labor agent. He is not bothering now about the
Portuguese for whom he had so much sympathy and aloha for a few
months ago, but has transferred his attention to the Filipinos of the
Islands instead. Incidentally he has not returned the $25 or $50 which
he collected as first payment on the California lands.
An unexplained feature of the affair, is the apparent full endorse
ment of the Portuguese consul in San Francisco. The impression is
very strong among local Portuguese that this official recommended the
Steven scheme almost without reservation. It was this attitude of the
San Francisco consul, moreover, that caused the local Portuguese con
sul not to interfere in what he really felt to be a questionable proposi
tion. As the Maui News stated before there are good lands in California.
Put unless a man has at least a few thousand dollars to spend for house,
and horses and other live stock, and to live upon for a year until he
can get some return from the soil, his chance of making a success are
not very bright. Most of the men recruited by Steven have no such
resources for the simple reason that men with sufficient capital are slow
to make radical changes. It is fortunate therefore that the real condi
tions in connection with the Steven scheme have been learned
before many families have gone further than to make their first pay
ments, which is a small loss compared with what they certainly would
have sustained had they gone to California.
xx xi xi n xx
U'AXTEDA RENAISSANCE IX HAWAIIAN ART
One of the features of the Maui County Fair on which a good deal
of effort is to be expended is the section devoted to Hawaiian arts and
crafts. It is to be hoped that the Fair may have some influence in
reviving an interest in this class of handiwork. This is particularly
true of the art of lauhala weaving. The demand for this work is
steadily increasing. A few years ago it was easy to buy lauhala floor
mats of almost any size or quality, and in almost any quantity, in the
shops of Honolulu. Today they are hard to find, and the price is
excessive. The same is true of the artistically woven fans, and to
some extent to hats. The younger Ilawaiians apjxar to have little in
terest in the industry, evidently thinking it something beneath them,
and the older natives are fast passing away. To the contrary, however,
it should be considered as a valuable heritage, for the product is one
that commands a market on its useful qualities, and not merely as an
ornament or curiosity. Some of the schools of the territory are wisely
encouraging their pupils to perfect in this remunerative accomplish
ment, but others appear to have taken the attitude that it is something
that does not set well with "culture," and are therefore ignoring
it in favor of various forms of needlework, which may be all right as
liainly accomplishments, but which at best are mighty poor mediums
l';r keeping the poi bowl filled.
Superintendent of Schools Kinney is authority for the statement
ihat there is at the present time but one liv ing kapa maker in the whole
territory. She works but a portion of her time, and makes an excellent
living. Put with her passing will pass also one of the arts of ancient
llaw.iii, never to be revived again. This is not Hkely to be so in the
.as of woven work, which will almost certainly be taken up by other
: ii v alities on account of the profits which it must always afford to
' .. w ;rker. The pity of it is that the native Hawauans, whose birth
si., t it is, should be willing to sacrifice it for a cheap substitute, just
,i ,.iey are everywhere sacrificing their own inimitably beautiful music
i or cheap rag-time and coon songs.
8 xx xx n
THE HYPHEX QUESTION AGAIN
Martin Grune, the Honolulu hyphenated citizen who told the na
tional guard examining board that he would refuse to light against
Germany, should war between the two countries ever occur, is to be
commended for his courage. It would have been comparatively easy,
and very much less embarassing to have lied about the matter. Aside
from this display of honesty, however, there is not much that can be
said for Grune. It is not clear how he ever became an American
citizen, but it is perfectly clear now that he should never have become
one.
It is this sort of misguided feeling of disloyalty to the land of their
adoption, or evidence of conditional allegiance on the part of a few
( ierman-American citizens, that has awakened the resentment of real
Americans. Is it really asking too much of a man who comes to Amen
ra of his own free will, and presumably because he finds conditions
more to his liking than in the land of his birth, that he be willing to
i.ear his share of burden, of a citizen even to figting against his native
land if necessary? Or rather would it not be the decent thing for the
man who finds he cannot do this, to re-affirm his allegiance to his mother
country and place himself at the disposal of that land? Our foreign
born citizens should not forget that the American nation came into
being, and continues to this day, to the fact the American colonists
felt it a patriotic duty to fight against their mother country on two
separate occasions.
II K M It M
There is a good deal of mush-talk being engaged in just now over
Duke Kahananioku s accepting an otter ol $2;0 jkt week on a 3-year
vaudeville contract, and thereby becoming a professional swimmer.
He would have been a fool to have thought of declining such an offer.
Amateur athletics may be all right for rich men, but there isn't much
in it for the man who needs the money that his special kind of abilitv
makes it possible for him to earn. A great baseball player isn't any
less great when he becomes a professional, nor is any other athlete less
great because a certain association refuses to recognize his existence.
A world championship title isn't especially satisfactory to the holder if
he knows some other man can beat him at his own game.
n xx xx li xx
A private is to be allowed to play in. a olo game with officers!
Such bally bad form don't you know !
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KAHULUI RAILROAD CO'S
Merchandise Department
Pipe
Lumber
rick
Valves Fittimfis
Window
Door
Steel
Coal
Cement
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Telephone No. 1062 Kahului, Maui, T. H.
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