The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1858-05-20
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
THURSDAY, Nay 20.

nolulu, as we have frequently had occasion Z
observe, involves the prosperity of the countr.
at large. We have ever, since its commence
ment, looked upon the improvement of Waika
halulu with a great degree of interest, as ,on'
that, if properly and judiciously managed, woulc
|, prove of untold advantage to the rapidly grow
ing commercial interests of these islands. But
at the outset we looked upon the plan of gov
eminent itself doing the work of filling in the
lots with disfavor, for as the history of all SINH
lar enterprises proves, and as common sense will
convince any one who reasons upon the matter,
the most expeditions, as well as the most econo-
mical, way of accomplishing public works of any
magnitude, is to let them out by contract to pri-
vate parties. The government of Europe and Anne
RIGA, with their great facilities, to which however
ours bear no comparison, invariably pursue the
contract system in public improvements. Even
the autocrat of Russia, whose teeming serfs and
overlooking treasury might be supposed to enable
him to do wonders without going abroad for aid,
we find publishing TO the world for contracts to
build his ships, his railroads, his canals-in fact,
for every national work of Importance. But our
little government, with more originality than
wisdom, chose another course. Instead of widely
advertising for proposals in the countries where
the men CoulQ &c IOuDu dDle 10 ptTlOTm I'LL
ready to compete for the work on advantageous
terms, it preferred to undertake the job itself,
thus installing its avocation and entailing a
heavy burden upon an already depleted treasury.
Even had not a proper person been found to I'M
dertake the work by contract. government would
have done better had it accepted the offer once
made by private parties of 800, 900 for the tract,
as it lay, unimproved.
In regard to the policy to be pursued in dis
posing of the lots thus reclaimed from the shall
lows, by lease, the failure to get a single bid on
Thursday last, was a decided proof of the cor
rectness of the position assumed by the Advertiser
last October, when the first plan was pub
lished. That plan was a grave mistake, a con-
sciousness of which led to its abandonment,
though the public was not made aware of the
fact until it was rumored 90 from the government
house - two days before the time fixed upon for
the sale. 1t having appeared that this second
plan was not likely to give satisfaction, plan
number three was gotten up, but kept a profound
secret until it was announced at the hour Of sale
by the auctioneer, giving would-be purchasers
say two minutes, in which TO weigh its provis-
ions and decide. As a natural consequence,
though quite a number of parties were on the
6AOhoa VIZ ~ 2ONSs liz
sale was a nullity, not a dollar having been
offered. Having thus made three failures in
its self-imposed task of land specializing, gov
eminent changes its policy and advertises for
proposals.
In the Polynesian of Saturday last we find the
following announcement under the head of "By
Authority -
'THr WHARF LOIS, which were offered at Public
Auction on the 18th instant, not having been disposed
of on the day of sale, His Majesty's Government now
offer the said lots to the public for Sale or Lease, on
private terms
Applications will be received at this Department
for either a Fee Simple Title, or n so years Lease, of
any of the lots as laid out in the plan submitted to
the public on the 18th instant
"No buildings Of combustible materials can be
erected on any of those lois.
"L. kAMEHAMEHA,
minister of the Interior.
interior Office, May Ii, 1885"
Thus 1T will be seen that His Maiesty's Gov
eminent propose either to lease or sell the Wal
kahalulu property on private terms, and this We
consider as the great concluding mistake in this
singular succession of governmental plumbers. 1t
declares to have adopted u course which will be
in direct contravention of the Acts of 1854 and
1S55,-K. IV.,-which expressly provide that no
disposition of this property shall be made until
the same has been advertised for a certain period.
Section 4 of the Act of 1851, says:
"The Minister of the Interior is hereby authorized,
with the appreciation of the King and Privy Coun-
Gil, to lease the above property or any portion thereof,
at public auction; provided, that no such lease shall
be made until three months after the same shall have
been advertised in at least two newspapers PUBLISHED
in Honolulu. nor until six weeks after the same shall
have been advertised in at least two newspapers pub
ished in San Francisco; and no sale of the above prop
erty shall be made without the previous consent of
the Legislature"
In the session of the following year, an Act
passed to amend the previous one, section 2
of which reads as follows
:. The Minister of the Interior is hereby authorized
to sell one or more of the lots of waikahalulu in like
manner with all other real estate belonging to the
after giring The notice required in Sec
4 Of the said -act"
Has such notice been given? And until it is
given can any sale or transfer of the property be
made? 1t may possibly be said that the
required publication has already taken place.
tho question occurs, what was the intention
of the Legislature in providing for a previous
publication, if it was not that the terms might be
made public, in order to invite competition and
thus secure the most advantageous disposition of
the property? Should any sales or leases be made
under this last published programme, it is barely
possible that the Legislature about to meet may
Iake II TITO tucII Eau ttIht the tcrmS nave Deen /
too private-that the transactions have
been hurried through too hastily, and that the
Iaw not having been complied with. all convey
lnces which may have been made in defanceofit
ire utilities. There have been such things as
legislatures proving strong-minded, and should
,uch a case occur here, a refusal to pass an in
iemnity bill by which to enable purchasers to
hold their property, although acquired under
governmental seal, would result in serious embar-
assment to ministers. We do not anticipate any
uch contingency, but the exposition which we
made only serves to show the singular jum- I
lie Of loose policy which has been followed
throughout in this first public improvement by l
he Hawaiian government. As yet, however, we q
ave heard of no sales having been effected, al Q