The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-06-19

the policy OF the law COntemplates
measure OF public good and not Of pri-
vate advantage, and His Excellency Mr. /
Gulick most properly declined to make I
partial use Of a general measure.
What he has done il set forth in his +
own report, page 3, and in the compre- /
hensiye report Of the Surveyor General, /
Appendix F. Mr.. Gulick says; "The /
Legislature Of 1884 passed law known
as the Homestead Act, which conteIn-
plated the disposal Of the remaining
Government lands suitable for the pur-
pose, in small holdings, to actual settlers.
A brief examination of all records Of
Government lands within reach revealed
the fact that while a vast amount OF in
formation relating to them was con-
/ tanned in various records in the Interior,
Land and Survey Offices, it was wholly
without arrangement; and that a great
/ deal Of intelligent, patient and careful
/ labor was necessary to collect, record
and index the information already to be
( found in the several offices. This work
/ could be done to advantage only by
those familiar with our system OF divid
ing, awarding and surveying lands. 1t
was also found that large amount OF
field work was still necessary to a COM
prehensive and correct knowledge OF
what lands now remain to the Govern
ment" In pursuance of these consider
atoms Mr.. J. F. Brown was specially APP
pointed to do this work, and the result
is to be found embodied in the Surveyor
Generals report above referred to. 1t
is beyond comparison the most valuable
work of the kind ever before attempted
in this Kingdom, and reduces to system
what previously had been in state of
bewildering confusion.
The result has been to make a discov
was supposed to exist. Some of this
land is held by adverse possession, and
the question Of. title will probably come
before the Courts. There is now EN-
bodied in proper volumes in the Survey
Office complete list of all the lands to
which the Government could lay claim,
the area sold from such lands, area re4
manning unsold, and reference to the
plan of same in the Survey Department !;
, also the record OF the lease or leases ex-
listing on the land itself. These vol
umes, we are told, contain by far the
largest and most valuable portions OF the
Government lands, and furnish close
approximation to an exact statement.
A complete and properly indexed alb
stract of conveyances to or from the Ha-
waiian Government has been prepared
; by Mr.. Brown; also a careful index OF
conveyances to or from the Kameha-
mehas. The extreme value OF this
work will be apparent to any one who
may have had occasion to hunt for in
formation in cases of land title in the
Survey and Government Departments
and if the Homestead Act resulted only
in having accomplished this, it will
have conferred a great benefit upon the
country.
We doubt very much, however
whether this law is likely to be of any i'm
mediate practical value, however it may
be amended. Mr.. j. F. Brown puts
this point conclusively in his report tC
the Surveyor General. He says: 81
submit a schedule of all Government
i tracts OF which l have present knowl
edge, showing the leased and Unbiased
portions, etc. These tracts are desig
= mated by the names that seemed mos
descriptive of them, but contain in many
i [ nf IifFarant aIininiT,f
Government lands, which there coulC
be no object in surveying separately
/ Although the total area of Government
land is still large, a great proportion
thereof is waste and barren land of linn
= tied value even for pasturage. Anothe
u large portion consists of mountain anC
forest land, rugged valleys, etc, princi
palIy valuable as a source of water sup
ply to lands below. OF the remaining
= portions which are valuable either 10
agricultural or grazing purposes, tn
most desirable sections have alread,
been leased for terms of five, ten or ever
: more wears, the absence of a lease gen
y orally indicating inferiOrity of land, dis
lance from some agricultural center, o
? some kindred drawback. In brief,
L may be said that the remaining unlease
land does not, as a rule, offer much in
" ducement to settlement or cultivation
= although possessed of a steadily increas
" ing value l append to the schedule c
~ Government tracts a summary of un
Il leased lands for the various districts.
/ 4 reference to the schedule prepared b
Mr.. Brown shows that the Government
lie is not now in position to give effect t
n the Homestead law as a cOlonizin
1t measure. Their predecessors in Offic
n. effectuaIly tied up or sold the Govern
2. ment domain, and upon them rests tn
lie responsibility for any failure of the in
n migration policy of this Administrative
g. through lack OF land for settlement
ID Were good working law upon tn
It Statute book. however, it might he pc,
= sible to do something TO encourage sma
If farm colonization from time to time a
q leases fall in; but at present the idea {
demonstrating the country is chimerici
as a measure OF practical colonization.
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