HAWAII 



2721 



HAWAII 



The Honolulu port has been dredged and 

 enlarged to admit the largest steamers, and 

 wharfage accommodations at that point have 

 been increased. As the city of Hilo, in Eastern 

 Hawaii, is an important sugar shipping point, 

 the construction of a large breakwater at Hilo 

 Bay has been found desirable. A breakwater 



A HAWAIIAN PINEAPPLE FIELD 



See, also, the article PINEAPPLE. 



has also been constructed at Kohuhui, the 

 principal port of the island of Maui,. and a 

 harbor for that point will be completed before 

 1920. 



Extensive improvements have been made by 

 the United States government at Pearl Harbor, 

 near Honolulu, for that harbor is a United 

 States naval station. A glance at the map on 

 page 2720, which indicates the position of the 

 Hawaiian Islands in relation to other world 

 powers, will show that the completion of im- 

 provements at Pearl Harbor will make it one 

 of the most important naval stations belonging 

 to the United States government. It will be 

 one of the safest and most attractive naval 

 harbors in the world. Improvement of all 

 harbors will increase the commerce of the ter- 

 ritory. 



Hawaii is connected by cable with both 

 Pacific shores. Wireless telegraphy affords 

 inter-island and Pacific coast communication; 

 in 1915 a wireless message was sent from the 

 naval wireless station at Arlington, opposite 

 the city of Washington, to Honolulu. There 

 are telephones on the five largest islands, and 

 the city of Honolulu is electric lighted. 



Cities. The principal cities are the seaport- 

 capital, Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, where 

 more than one-fourth of the entire population 

 is concentrated, and beautiful Hilo, on the 

 eastern coast of Hawaii. 



Education. Schools have existed in the 

 islands since 1820, when several were estab- 

 lished by early missionaries. Four years later 

 171 



2,000 people had learned to read, and a general 

 school system extended over the islands which 

 has been gaining strength continually. School 

 attendance is now compulsory for all children 

 between the ages of six and seventeen, at either 

 a public or a private school. Education in 

 public schools is free. Because of the mixed 

 population, pupils of many different nationali- 

 ties attend the same school. In 1914 there 

 were about 200 public schools, with an attend- 

 ance of nearly 27,000. At Honolulu there are 

 a high school, a normal school and a college 

 of agriculture and mechanic arts, as well as an 

 industrial reformatory for boys and one for 

 girls. Oahu College is well equipped and en- 

 dowed and offers higher education. There is 

 a seminary on the island of Maui. 



Institutions. In addition to the two reform 

 schools mentioned there is a state prison at 

 Honolulu, as well as a leper hospital and 

 homes for nonleprous boys and girls of leprous 

 parents. On a low peninsula extending north 

 near the center of the island of Molokai and 

 separated from the mainland by a rock wall 

 2,000 feet high, is located a famous leper set- 

 tlement. It is the principal public charity of 

 the territory and the people there receive the 

 very best of care. 



Government. As a 'territory of the United 

 States since 1900, Hawaii has a government 

 similar to that of other organized territories 

 of the United States (see TERRITORY). A gov- 

 ernor and a secretary are vested with executive 

 power, and are 

 appointed by -the 

 President of the 

 United States for 

 a term of four 

 years. A legisla- 

 ture of two 

 houses consists of 

 a senate of fif- 

 teen members 

 elected for four 

 years, and a 

 house of repre- SEAL OF THE TERRITORY 



sentatives of thirty members elected for two 

 years. Sessions are held every two years and 

 are limited to sixty days. A delegate elected 

 every two years represents the territory in 

 the United States House of Representatives 

 (see DELEGATE). 



History. Not much is known of the history 

 of the islands before, their discovery by Cap- 

 tain James Cook in 1778, although Gaetano 

 is said to Jiave first seen them, in 1542 or 1555. 



