The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1884-05-10


CONFUSION appears to exist in the
minds of good many people as To the
distinction between Crown Lands and
Government Lands. When Kane
hameha III. in 1913. made over in fee
simple to those who were at the time
holding them on sort of feudal ten
ure, the major portion of the lands Of
the Kingdom, he reserved certain es-
tates ''as his own private property"
These are what are now known "a
Grown Lands" At the same time
he made a gift of a large number of
lands to the people, not to individuals
but to the nation as whole. These
are the Government Lands-such of
them rs remain we ought to say, for
through what will, We think, be ever
hereafter characterized "a an error of
policy some OF the most valuable of
them have been sold and the proceeds
passed into the treasury and spent as
ordinary revenue. The revenue de-
rived from leasing those that are left
goes to defray ordinary expenses of
Government-the lands are in fact an
endowment OF the Government, land il
would be well if they were strictly
tied up as such, and rendered inaliena-
bic as the Crown Lands are. These, be
it noted, are the lands about which one
of our contemporaries has discoursed
Iearnedly under the delusion that he
was talking about Crown Lands.
The Crown Lands are in different
category. They are that portion Of his
estate which Kamehameha reserved
as his own private property. In the
solemn deed by which he made his
memorable distribution he reserved
them "to himself, his heirs and sue
cessors forever as "private lands"
and in the Act of the Legislature by
which his distribution was confirmed
the words we have quoted are repeat
ed with the addition that "said lands
be regulated and disposed Of ac-
cording TO his royal will and pleasure
subject only to the rights of tenants"
The words "heirs and SUCCESSORS" in
the documents referred to are puz-
zlng. Is a King elected by the Leg
isIature, in accordance with the Con
stitution, heir to these lands ? This
point might have caused an infinite
amount of litigation, but it has happi-
ly been settled. We need not repeat
the history of the matter. King Ka-
lakaua now holds these lands as "suc-
cessorn to the throne, and the heirs Of
tho L(oOo "a Vnaba aS n wa ,eiyau nm anx,
claim they might have had for certain
considerations. During former reign
the Legislature when making certain
provisions for paying the Kings debts
declared these lands to be inalienable
and the sovereign assented to the Act.
1t was wise and prudent thing
to do, but it was a surrender Of con
troll, over what was absolutely pri-
vate property at the time, which
naturally encourages the Legislature
to believe that it has certain rights in
regard to the administration Of the
Crown Lands. The Legislature of to-
day has acted on these assumed rights
and has passed a resolution requiring
the Commissioners who administer
the Crown Lands to report within
certain time what the annual income
from them may be What the rights
and powers Of the Legislature may be
in this matter, it is not for laymen to
define. We fancy few more puzzling
questions could be put before our
Judges. But under any circumstances
we think the Legislature has gone the
wrong way about its work. The
Crown Land Commissioners are but
the Kings stewards and are not the
proper parties to whom request for
the information desired ought 20 have
been addressed. An address TO His
Majesty praying that he will COM
mand the Commissioners to commu-
nicate to the House the information it