Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 190, 16 August 1894 — The Crown Lands. [ARTICLE]

The Crown Lands.

We are imlebted to Colonel C 1 P. laakea, Agent of Crown Lands ' for a copy of his hiennial report. The report whieh is gotten op in a verv neat aml coraprebensiTe : inanner farni>bes lots of a intor- j Chting iuforu«tion. Of cour»e it is writleu with a pen dipped iu tbe most roseate ink, aod the , opportonity to boom the lands i aml inviting settlers into tbe j de»erts Lave not been neglected. > Tiie Oiaa lunds are pictured m ! the most glo» ing colors. If the eolonel is to be believed »ettlers j will find a perfect e!dorado in j thnt district Dnring the rcign ■ of thc Queeu, Iho Olaa lands w*re 1 laid < ut in homesteads and especially designate<l to settlers. i 47 holdi;.gs »ere taken np eon- ; t:iining an aroa of 4B*2 14 ! »ilh Mi aonual rental of S482 11). TLe “republican” governroent whieh is not intcrested in Hawai- ! iana found the process too slow. j nnd ufter illegilly sequestring ! the crown lauds tbe governsnent j offered raore libernl tenus to i “st‘ttlcrs.” Cuder the new rcgime 8ō leases iu Olna have , bec>n gnmted comprising an aren ) of 11 478 1*7. The lease liolders ; ure raainly foreiguers who cannot, bo described as sctt!ers as they ; do not lire on tbe lands, but have thein cultivutcd by Japaue«e i eooliea or Portugue.se. To judge froin the names of the lcasebo!ders there nre 72 foroigners ' to niuo Uawaiiaus. Leases No. ; 58, 58 and 60, aro not described. i ll is noteworthy that several lols | havo been takou np by Jupancse. j Puukapu in Waimea is the i hobby of the crown laml ageut. ! Hoiuesteuds havo been laid out i and laken up at a uominal reutal, | but tho report is silent iu regard j to tho improveinents of these ; lands and gire no description of what tho sett!ers nre cultivating and the lauds producing. The eolonol »rites that they aro ehoiee lands—very ehoioe—but | if suitable for coti"oe, tro|)ical | fruits, other potatoes. fishponds i or stolen cattle, we aro not in- \ formod. From his description of the cro» u lands, »e learn what eaeh <raot is useful for and also what ; the estimated value is. Thelatter is not basod ou Ihe rent.«l re- j ceived, but seems to have been i placed nt random. The roport j doos nut suggest anythiog in j rogard to markets for tho pro- j ducts whieh it is olaiiued ean bc i raisod. If nll the lauds were settled aud cu)tirated according ; lo the report, we have ao uu- ; pleasant presentiment that our 1 future diet wouhl consist of; potatoes aiul corn. Thero ia no j market for the quantities now produoed of theso articles nud an , iucreaso of euUmiliou would simply be dis«slrous The “tropical” fruits about whieh, we read a great deal in tho report are not apecified. but we are in* ! elined to suspect that the eolonel j —like Thurston—has got jolly on Lis braius aud wants tbe settlers to “ean;” we fear they can’t. The total area of Crowu Lands 1 is placed at 971,463 acres whieh tbe eolonel values at $2,314,250. Tbe r«nUl is uow $49.268.75 a year, and wken the renU for tbe eoeeial leases recentiy issued fall due tho anuual rental will be ; $64,950.32, or nearly 3 percent. j of tbe supposed ralue. Tbis is an exceedinglr good showing j when compared witb landed in- I restments ia the most fertile I coontries in Knrope wbere to 2 per ceut on cipit>J inrested in , agricuitaral euterprises is eon- j sidered fair nod satisfacton*. When it besides is remembered 1 1 that these lands are at preeent i treated as govornmeut property, < and that the raluation placed on 1 Hiem is absnrdly h ; gb, Uie reanlts ‘ mnst be coosidered proper and *atisfactor>’, and we see no reason i wby tbe agent shoold regret tbat ( oeiiain lands are leased at too e «malla renUl. It is a pi«asare < h«re to noliee that some of ihe < o«. «liieh l»a eompUioa, I »;-■ ■ ■ - 'X', ‘ 'V. .• . j

are held by our higbly re*pecU»d tnīsaionary firm.«. and were s«jcar- » ! e»l un-Jer tb« nuiuaealale ref >rm I eahinek Tue leaaea of Kap«paU is dated Jnly 1887 (»fterth« revoI iulion) of \V«īobina. 1888. and of ’ Waiakea. 1880. A nnmber of very large lea«es whieu ha» oot expire<l h ive been extended by our I gra >t and goo>l r*.publican goT- » ernment to the year 1913 This was probably done for tbe enI cooragement of tbe proTerbial; amall settler. Tbe rents as a whule are appropriate altboogh ;in some insUnces an iocrease eouhl ke made with some sbow of ! justjge We noliee a lease of a Und called Welok, whieh bas 24 years to run and for whieh the * lessee ouly pays $100 a year. Th« eolonel will probably agree witb us tbat eueha rent is rldicnlously small.