The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1886-08-25

of Smith street, of 33 feet and a
frontage on New Smith street just
mouka of Hotel street of Ill feet
having total area of----square
feet.
The history of the title of the
land is rs follows: 1st Kamehameha
Ill. executed deed July 23, 1889,
as follows: ~ Kameha-
meha III. hereby give and transfer
to the Government of France q GER
tain piece of land in Honolulu, and in
that part of it called by the people
Kalanikahua. Said piece of land is
1872 feet long and Ill broad and is
designated by four stakes" etc.,
(giving description) "said land to
be site for church at their
pleasure TO be administered by q
priest of the French nation. i fur
thermore givea portion of ground
for a road from said site to the
street, and said road shall be thirty
three feet wide and at the point of
the house towards the sea. But if
ever the time should arrive that the
ground shall cease to be occupied
for that purpose it shall not then be
sold, but shall again revert to the
Sandwich Islands Government"
I'd. Land Commission Award
Number 40 dated 18th May 1S47
reads as follows: "We confirm to
the use of the Roman Catholic
Church of the Hawaiian Islands
n the following pieces of land
to be used in the service of
said church and religion viz:-* n
a certain piece of land in Honolulu
called Kalapikahua" (giving some
description as contained in above
deed).
"The condition upon which this
site was originally granted and upon
which it is now confirmed, was, and
is--That there be erected thereon a
church to be administered by a
priest of the French nation.
But the express
converse condition of this grant was,
that if ever the time should arrive
when the ground ceases to be occu-
pied for the purposes of the church,
it was not to be sold, but to revert
to the Hawaiian Government. AL
though this concession was originally
made by the King on July %, 1889,
it does not appear that it has ever
been used for the purpose intended
to this day. No specific
time is however named in this grant
written which the lot should he built
upon, and for this reason, although
period of eight years non-use
would seem in equity to have re-
verted the land; yet, this Board is
disposed to fix definite time for
the use prospective; and accords to
the Roman Catholic Church five
years more from the delivery of this
confirmation within which to build
upon said lot, and put it to the uses
originally intended in the Kings
grant, within which period if it be
not so occupied, the claimants will
be deemed to have abandoned it,
and it shall revert to the Minister of
the Interior for the use of the Ha-
waiian Government.
Since the date of the land award,
May 10, 1S47, it is not claimed that
the condition of the grant, viz: the
building of a church, has been COM
IN hn =.
specifically admitted that the claim
ants have no legal claims to the
land, and it was upon an opinion OF
the eX-Attorney- General Mr.. Neu.
mann, to this effect, that the claim.
ants have submitted their claim tc
this Assembly.
The title of this land is then
vested in, and it belongs to the Ha-
waiian Government.
The question submitted to the
committee then, is, shall the Ha-
waiian Government make q gift to
the Catholic Mission of the land in
question.
The. reason given for making the
grant is contained in the preamble
to the bill, as follows, viz: "Whereas
the Catholic Mission of the Hawaiian
Islands has held and occupied sale
premises since said time (the gram
by Kamehameha) as an asylum fol
aged and intirm Hawaiians of thu
Roman Catholic faith" Therefore
ETC."
Your committee are of opinion
that the fact that the claimants hav
had the free use of the premises TO
so many years does not give then
any equitable right to the land
Since the lapse of the five year
allowed by the land commission
which expired in 1852, the claimant
have been simply tenants on suffer
ance' under the Government, an
the generosity of the latter in allow
ing free use of the premises shoul
not establish an equitable title o
the claimants any more than it doe
legal one.
The object for which the land
desired does not seem to your con
mittee to justify the giving up c
this piece of land. 1t is situated i
business centre, is needed fc
: business purposes and would brin
quite an amount to the treasury