90 
ing  part.  The  mere  fact  that  Hawaii  was  represented  at  all 
aroused  interest  and  Mrs.  Knudsen  presented  the  interests  of 
Hawaii  in  a very  able  manner. 
In  the  comprehensive  plan  advocated  by  the  National  Con- 
servation Commission  and  the  Rivers  and  Harbors  Congress, 
the  idea  is  that  the  rivers  shall  be  deepened  and  the  harbors 
improved  as  a part  of  the  great  scheme  of  improving  the 
navigation  facilities  of  the  nation.  This  involves  the  exten- 
sion of  American  commerce  as  well  as  the  development  of 
the  Inland  Waterways.  Hawaii  is  fortunate  in  being  in  a 
position  to  take  advantage  of  this  development.  With  the 
completion  of  the  Panama  Canal,  the  deepening  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  and  the  improvement  of  the  harbors  in  the  Gulf 
States,  the  Mississippi  Valley  will  be  brought  into  direct  con- 
nection with  the  Orient. 
Here  in  Hawaii  we  have  no  inland  water  ways  to  develop 
but  we  do  need  harbors.  Already  the  harbors  of  Hawaii  are 
being  developed  by  Congress.  The  intention  is  to  have  at 
least  one  good  harbor  on  each  of  the  islands.  When  this  is 
done  Hawaii  will  be  able  to  take  advantage  of  the  increasing 
commerce  on  this  ocean. 
While  we  have  no  rivers  in  Hawaii  to  develop  for  purposes 
of  navigation  the  waters  of  our  rivers  have  many  other  uses. 
Our  main  natural  resource  is  the  soil,  the  land,  hut  to  develop 
it  properly  water  is  needed.  The  rivers  should  be  utilized  in 
this  way,  to  enable  dry  and  arid  lands  to  be  reclaimed  for, 
without  .water,  many  of  our  lands  cannot  be  used  for  cultiva- 
tion. The  streams  can  also  be  used  to  develop  power,  but  we 
cannot  have  the  requisite  supply  of  water  without  the  forests 
are  protected.  Consequently  in  dealing  with  the  subject  of 
conservation  we  are  not  able  to  get  far  away  from  the  forests. 
In  Hawaii  the  relation  between  the  forests,  streams  and 
lands,  are  closer  than  in  most  other  countries.  The  different 
forces  work  in  such  clear  relation  to  each  other  that  we  can 
easily  trace  cause  and  effect.  There  has  been  much  wasteful- 
ness in  the  handling  of  forests  in  Hawaii.  Much  of  this  has 
been  unintentional  and  perhaps  we  do  not  realize  to  what  ex- 
tent it  has  been  going  on  in  the  past.  A few  months  ago  I 
went  over  the  Islands  of  the  group  with  Hon.  F.  H.  Newell, 
Director  of  the  U.  S.  Reclamation  Service,  with  the  especial 
purpose  of  looking  into  the  question  of  the  reclamation  of  arid 
lands  and  of  studying  the  local  water  supply.  In  traveling 
with  him  as  I did,  I saw  more  clearly  than  I had  ever  seen 
before  the  results  of  continued  neglect  and  wastefulness  in 
the  use  of  the  forests.  Especially  was  this  true  of  the  Island 
of  Kahoolawe  which  at  one  time  was  heavily  forested.  We 
were  told  that  formerly  this  Island  supported  15,000  sheep 
and  1000  cattle.  During  the  last  few  months  the  sheep  have 
died  off  in  great  numbers  from  starvation.  Kahoolawe  was 
