mainly,  the  best  community  of  the  native  Hawaiian  that  is  to 
be  found  on  these  islands,  having  large  families,  people  who 
are  healthy  as  a rule.  I say  that  the  question  of  the  protec- 
tion of  rainfall  is  something  to  be  considered  in  view  of  the 
interests  of  those  people,  the  small  landholders ; that  if 
possible  the  droughts  which  sometimes  occur  and  drive  them 
away  from  their  homes,  which  make  water  an  article  to  be 
supplied  by  the  quart  for  drinking  purposes  and  sometimes 
not  obtainable  even  then,  should  be  lessened — that  the  con- 
servation of  forests  there  in  that  region  reaching  from  North 
to  South  Kona,  Kau  and  in  the  Puna  district,  is  something  to 
be  considered  from  the  standpoint  of  the  small  landowner. 
The  same  condition  exists  in  Kula  on  Maui.  It  was  a terrible 
hardship  to  those  people  last  year  to  have  to  leave  their  homes 
because  they  had  no  water  and  had  to  drive  their  livestock 
miles  away  every  other  day  to  get  water  to  keep  them  alive. 
In  Kau  the  ground  was  strewn  with  cattle  which  had  starved 
to  death  for  want  of  grass  and  water.  For  the  protection  of 
the  graziers  this  policy  of  conservation  must  be  considered. 
And  with  it  goes  the  preparation  of  reservoirs  for  retaining- 
large  quantities  of  water.  I am  afraid  that  the  progress  of 
the  conservation  of  water  in  dry  regions  like  Kona  and  Kau 
will  be  slow.  There  are  no  streams  there.  The  soil  is  very 
porous.  It  takes  a very  heavy  rainfall  to  send  a stream  down 
the  slope  into  the  sea,  and  the  conservation  of  water  in  those 
places  will  mean  much  outlay  of  money  in  order  to  make  a 
reservoir.  To  make  it  water  tight  the  whole  area  of  the  reser- 
voir will  have  to  be  cemented.  The  expense  is  great,  and  in 
view  of  the  expense  and  the  time  which  will  be  taken  up  be- 
fore such  kinds  of  conservation  can  benefit  that  community — 
the  small  landholders — I think  it  is  most  important  for  the 
government  to  consider  the  relation  of  forests  in  that  part  of 
the  country  to  the  rainfall.  I need  not  refer  to  the  prosperous 
Island  of  Kauai,  an  island  of  wonderful  streams,  but  of  neg- 
lected forests,  however,  in  parts  of  it,  forests  diminishing 
steadily,  but  which  can  be  easily  protected  and  restored  with 
a little  expenditure  of  money  and  intelligent  care. 
The  Chairman.  On  the  opening  day  of  the  session  there 
was  introduced  in  the  Lower  House  a resolution  by  the  Hon- 
orable Mr.  Affonso  of  Hilo,  which  provided  that  the  Governor 
appoint,  as  soon  as  may  be  after  the  adoption  of  the  resolu- 
tion, a commission  of  three  to  look  into  the  question  of  farm 
products  and  the  marketing  of  the  same,  both  between  the 
islands  and  on  the  mainland.  That  resolution  was  adopted  by 
the  House  and  adopted  by  the  Senate,  and  was  signed  by  the 
Governor  a day  or  two  ago.  There  was  later  introduced  a 
bill  by  the  Honorable  Mr.  Furtado  which  called  for  an  ap- 
propriation— a subsidy — of  $50,000  a year  to  a steamship  line 
