The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1878-08-24
SESSION LAWS, 1878.

Queer and consumer into easier and more speedy
communication with beneficial results TO both.
Time, which is money, is economical by their
use, and their effect is seen in the rapid growth
of prosperity of every nation which avails itself
Of their aid. These truisms are so universally
acknowledged that it is almost a waste of time
to express them.
The " Act to promote the Construction of Rail-
ways " in this Kingdom is one of great import
ance, as it will be sure to enhance the value of
all property in whatever districts a road may be
built. Real estate will advance in value, espe-
t-eiaffy lands adapted to sugar cultivation; and all
these enhancements OF value Will yield their tri-
butte to the general revenue of the country. The
Act comprises thirty-one sections, comforting
certain privileges and specifying certain condi-
tions, all of which seem fair to all parties whose
interests may become involved in the construction
of any works that may be undertaken. The first
section vests the authority to enter into contracts
with companies or corporations for building rail-
roads in the Minister Of the Interior, with the
consent of His Majesty in Privy Council, and
section two gives the Minister power, subject as
aforesaid, to grant a right of way through all
Government lands, and to grant such lands, with
the free use of water, as may be necessary for
buildings and other purposes of such railroads.
Section three grants numerous privileges, such as
entering upon lands adjoining the line of any
railway that may be chartered, and using ma
terials found upon the same, suitable to the
wants and purposes of the corporation, subject,
in the next section, to the condition that, in max
ing use Of the privileges conferred, it shall do as
little damage as possible, and shall make full
compensation to all parties for any injury they
may sustain from the exercise Of the powers and
privileges granted by said section three. Sections
FIVE and six regulate the amount OF land to be
taken, with use of materials found upon the same.
and section seven requires a notice of twenty-one
days to the owners of the land of the corpora
TONS intention to appropriate it for the use of
the road. Sections nine to seventeen provide the
mode of compensating the owners for land taken,
and also the manner in which any disagreement
as to compensation shall be adjusted. Sections
nineteen to twenty-five provide for the DISPOSE
ton of such lands as corporations may acquire,
but which are not necessary. for the purposes of
its charter. By section twenty-three the corpo-
ration is required to fence in its line with a good
and sufficient legal fence.
Section twenty four clothes the corporation
with the power of making necessary bylaws and
regulations for the management of the railway
and it's traffic, which bylaws, after approval of
the King in Cabinet Council, shall have the force
of law and section twenty-five prescribes the
penalty for any violation of such regulations,
approved as aforesaid. The penalty fixed is a
fine of $25 and costs, and in default of payment,
imprisonment not exceeding three months. Sec
ton twenty-six gives Police and District Justices
jurisdiction to determine all cases arising under
the statute.
BY section twenty-seven the Minister of Inte-
rior is authorized to guarantee to any corporation
a profit of not less than five per cent. per annum
on the cost of their road and its equipment. We
should have preferred the word " interest " to
81 profit > in this section and the wording of
the whole section, we think, was framed with the
view of guaranteeing an interest on the capital
invested, rather than a profit upon the road after
it is built. So much is dependent on the econo-
mical working of the road, which is a matter that
comes so entirely under the control and manage
ment of the directors and their agents, that these
alone are the parties to conduct its affairs SO as to
be profitable. If q road is built at a cost of say
81 900 900, and the running expenses exceed the
earnings by $50, 600, is the Government, by this
section, bound not only to make up this deficiency,
but to pay $4,000 more, as a five per cent.
profit on the total cost? We hardly think the
Legislature, anxious as it was to promote internal
improvements, intended to 60 so far as TO guaran-
tee an actual profit on the total cost of the roads
and their equipments. The same section provides
the mode by which the cost of the road shall be
ascertained and the following section specifies
the manner in which payments of profits shall be
made.
Section twenty-nine exempts the stock of rail
road corporations from all public taxation until
such time as the property shall realize ten per
cent. upon the amount invested.
Section thirty gives permission to any corpora
ton organized in accordance with the Act, to
issue bonds for the purpose of procuring money
for the construction of railroads, in such sums as
may be convenient.
Section thirty-one enacts that the aid contem-
plated by the Act shall be afforded only to roads
of public utility, and not to roads of private or
limited convenience. The Act was approved
August l, 1873.
An Act to amend Chapter 80, Section 1455, of
the Civil Code will be of benefit in a certain class
of cases touching the descent of property. 1t
provides that when, in the opinion of the Probate
Court, any particular piece of real estate left by
the ~intestate cannot be Hldiciously divided among
the heirs, the eldest son, or each in order of sue
cession, may keep the land, paying to the other
heirs their proportionate share of its value, as
duly appraised by the Court. The disadvantages
of cutting up a piece of land into fragments are
apparent. This Act was approved July so, 1878.
The Act amending Section GAO of the Civil
Code, relative to the filing of protests against the
issuing of passports, consists of an additional
clause, numbered six, and is of the following
nature: The written notice and request not to
grant a passport must be duly sworn to before
the Collector, and unless so verified, shall have
no effect against the granting of a passport nor
shall such verified notice have effect after the ex-
piration of ten days from the date of application
Tor the passport protested against, unless the
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