The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1882-03-22

ltzess That Bfisons lsave Rad tlfat the would
be assassin's bullet was. harmless, and we
feel sure that the community here viii
Join them in that feeling of thankfulness,
and will Also join in saying long may
Victoria be spared to reign over the
co1E3Ez ~ she has 80 admirably ruled
IN rena.lia of cur neiighbor the saur-
dad Pfsss. npon The assessment Of those
owning dr leasing properly on Queen
street are sound in the main. There is no
doubt that as the law wqeads. it was never
Y Intended That tllesassessment should be
for the whole Of the expense, but dis
timely says part Howeyersthe Press
is wrong with regard to the law when ii
saws : that there is difference between
iopening new road and the widening OF
one already established and it is a cues
ton whether or not such Law can be
50 construed as 10 apply In this case''
The government has no need TO try and
rqHarys the lawof 1870 all il requires is
10 appeal . the session laws OF 1872
Chap. XXXJI. in which the widening on
altering of old roads, highways and
streets, is distinctly provided for Section
4 enacts that 'ail provisions of the Act
entitled An Act 70 provide for the
assessmsnt of a part OF the expense of
constructing roads upon estates benefited
thereby approved the Sth day of July,
1870, shall be deemed and taken as appli-
cable to the ,cideHing or aferiHg of any
road;sfreet OF highway, as IN the -previ-
Gus sections OF the Act in question set
forth and provided As to the manner
in,which the assessment has been made. as
to apparent unfair1ess Of some of the
awards, as to the liability of the govern
ment to pay Mr. Lucas 81 100 for moving
a foundation which, would not have been
commenced upon, had the government
made upsSteir minds a little more quickly.
there is ample room for discussion and
for fault finding, but as to the law under
which they were acting, as to whether
they had any right to assess for widening
an old street. there can be no doubt For
a layman il IS a ticklish matter writing
tupon law; the amendments to the Civil
Code have been numerous, and unless a
man has made a thorough study of the
Civil Code and It's amendments, it is per
haps as well to consult some legal luminary
before quoting from the statute book,
and writing upeR the matter "a rsszV.
~
Soar chang ts.the manner of assessing
growing crops should be made At the
present time the method Of assessment is
manifestly unfair On the high lands,
where the cane takes long time to ma
trTe, the growing crop is assessed twice,
while on. low lands, where the growth is
rapid. taxes are only paid upon one crop
In assessing rice, the disproportion be
tween the taxes paid by plantations Oh high
and low lands is ever greater. At some
favored spots on the Islands, so say the
planters, no less than three crops can be
taken off in 1.-THE course of a year, while in
Others, only. one can be. obtained. The
consequence is that that the upland planter
pays a very much larger proportion Of tax
for his returns than the loWland man.
Again the assessments vary in different
district In some the valuations on the
growing crops are very much too high, in
otheEi they arg certainly too low. Prob
ally The fairest way to draw revenue from
these two products, would be to levy on
the returns. A sugar planter who was
planting on land which only. produced
crop once n 1S.oI$20 months would not
! then have 10 pay his taxes twice over, and
the rice planter, under Similar circum-
stances would not have to pay three times
as much tax in proportion to his returns.
as his more favored brother
Moreover land in some cases does not
| produce as much as Il Is expected TO do.
Ehile ln Others, the returns are exception
My great. FieIds side by side. NAV pro-
| duce the one six or eight tons. the other
only three or four. If these crops. instead
of being assessed while growing, were as
sessed after tie crDp had been gathered.
the Government would not be doing. as it
often now does either an injustice to itself
IN .getting less than IT ought from the
lucky Planter, or an injusticeto the planter.
whep his crop falls short There ought
also 10 be some scale agreed upon. which
would be applicable TO the plantations
throughout the group. What Govern
ment desires in collecting revenue, must
be TO be thoroughly fair in the amounts it
leyies upon It's subjects, and as the assess
ments are now made, it certainly is not
Here is room for lsgislatien, and jt is to be
hoped that those having the interests of
the planting interests in their hands, will
bring the matter prominently before the
houses -
FoE more than. eighteen months. the
subject of Planters Association has been
before the public; it has been written
about, talked about, and finally it has
taken dsiipits shape under the hands of
the most capable men in the community.
The air OF the meeting meant l,,e;naee
the gentlemen who came together evi-
dently intended no ciild's play; the pro
ceedings were very dignifed, and the
words of the opening address, delivered
10y Judge Hartwell srang out true note,
clear, full seuLdinR> aaput the tone of
Nhieh there ee<.9 ~ 3lp mistske The
dszEEEE has zlzls 3sll sbre that 8hesmo-