The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1878-08-17
SESSION LAWS, 1878.

SESS1UN LAWS, 1878.
For the information of the public generally we
propose to give the principal and more important
points of the laws passed at the late session.
and which are not printed in full in these col
umns.
One of the Acts Of the session of 1870, known
as the Phillips Divorce Act, has been on
several occasions examined and criticised in the
columns Of this journal, and the views we have ex-
pressed as to its unfitness and want of application
to the past and present state of society here, seem
to have been recognized by the late Legislature as
sound, for the amendments now made will render
the Act less burdensome to those who may have
cause to seek relief through its provisions from
wrongs they cannot longer bear. 1t is of course
to be regretted that cases should arise in which a
severing of the marriage tie would be advisable.
No one can have q greater reverence for the
sacredness of the marriage relation than our
selves, but we know well the social habits of the
people, and no amount of sophistical or sentiment
tai argument can disprove the fact that there are
a great many cases in which a legal separation
would really be a blessing to the parties them
selves, and tend to elevate the standard of public
morality. With these views, we have heretofore
held that the needed remedy for evils which are
too notorious for denial should not be so ham
pered with restrictions of time and costs as to
make the relief sought unattainable. The
amendments to the Act of 1870 have removed
some of the unnecessary distractions which have
operated in many cases as a complete denial of
relief. Section 4 of the new law, which amends
Section 8 of the old, is one of the best of the
amendments, as it gives the Court power to
make the decree of divorce absolute, thus freeing
the parties from the six months { conditional
suspense, and the poor from the additional ex-
pense ola six weeks publication in two newspa-
papers of an 90 attested copy of the order" If it
be that circumstances arise in the lives of a mar
ried couple that demand a severance of that reIa-
ton between them, we unhesitatingly say that a
sound public policy requires that the legal re-
s~trictions and distractions to such severance
should be as few and as light as the great i'm
portance of the subject will admit.
Another important Act is that regulating the
carrying of passengers and freight, and the letting
of carriages. etc., in the district of Honolulu.
Sections l and 2 place the authority to grant
licenses for the purposes specified, in the
hands of the Minister of the Interior; and
fix the duration, price, etc., of such licenses.
Section 3 constitutes the Marshal, or his deputy,
inspector of the carriages and vehicles licensed,
and makes it his duty to prosecute all violations
of the Act. Section Z clothes the Minister of
Interior with power to make, from time to time,
rules and regulations to be observed by the
licensed parties, copies of which are to be fur
nished them, and also copies of any changes that
may be made in such regulations. These rules,
and subsequent changes, are to be published IN
some public newspaper, and will have the force
Of law. The budding together of the express
carriages in favorite enthusiastically near the
bank and p~ostofice - sometimes assumes the
dimensions Of a public nuisance, rendering the
street nearly impossible, and the propriety of
placing their stands at points where they will not
interfere with public convenience will be admit
ted. In regulating this matter, we are sure fair
ness will be shown to all parties. By Section 8,
the Police Justice of Honolulu takes cognizance
of all cases arising under this Act, and has power
to revoke licenses, for just cause, in his discre-
ton.
The Act to regulate the landing of passengers
arriving at different ports in this Kingdom is one
that will commend itself to ali, for good and SUBJ
stantial reasons. We are in the direct pathway
of steam communication between China and
Peru; a steam line has been inaugurated, and
there will soon be a large passenger traffic be-
tween those countries. A moments reflection
will show the danger of the introduction of some
dread epidemic or contagion-small-p ox, cholera,
or feyer-which a little precaution against the
indiscriminate landing of passengers will prevent.
Section l provides that ships from China, or any
Asiatic port, calling at ports in this Kingdom,
shall not disembark passengers without first OBJ
tanning the assent in writing of the Governor, or
Collector of the Port. Section , requires the
commander of the ship to furnish a duplicate list
of the passengers he desires to land, one oF which
shall be signed by the Governor or Collector and
returned to him. Section 8 provides that if pas
sengers are allowed to be landed without such
permission, the commander shall be liable to a
fine of $50 for each passenger so landed. Our
readers will recall the case of the GlennSanor,
which touched at this port nine or ten years ago
from China to Central America, and the habeas
corpus case in the Supreme Court attending her
visit. This Act was apparently drawn with a
view TO prevent the occurrence of any similar
case in the future. The law was approved Aug.
LIST, and takes effect ten days after publication.
By Section 4 of the Civil Code. all laws, unless
otherwise provided, take effect on the Island of
Oahu ten days after PRONUNCIATION, and on each
of the other Islands thirty days after such pro-
mitigation.