The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1890-06-21

anything we expected, and we ask
the Legislature to seriously con
slider any bill which may be brought
before them in regard to the repeal |
ing or amendment OF the present
law. You have, Mr.. Editor, in
commenting upon our former cor
respondence on this subject, eX-
pressed yourself to the effect that
Road Boards were desirable as
beginning to establish self-govcrn-
ment in the different districts. We
fail TO see where we are asked 10
partake in governing the roads and
road taxes. The Minister of In.
terror appoints the Road Boards
we do not elect them. The Road
boards, or rather the chairmen, are
rot responsible 10 anybody, as far
us we can see, and as above men,
toned in some districts ignore the
taxpayers totally. We much pre-
fer Road Supervisor-in-chiet di-
rectly under the Minister ot lii
terror and responsible to him. Let
the road-money remain a special
deposit in the treasury, and let the
Minister draw on this deposit for the
uses suggested and proposed by
the chief. What has the Board
done in WaiIuku? The Board has
leased u piece of land for 20 years,
has erected . stable, imported
mules, drays and carts, and ordered
an expensive steel bridge for the
Waikiki river. For all these items
the taxpayers have to pay without
being asked if they approve OF the
investments or not, and to Judge
from the Auditor-General's report
the Board owe nobody an explana.
tion for their actions, and present
their vouchers ID months after The
money is drawn. Is that self-gov-
ernmcnt!
Now let us imagine that the
Legislature abolish the Road Boards,
to whom do the mules, carts, stable,
lease, etc., belong? 10 the Govern.
ment: In such case the Minister
of Interior will suddenly be posses
sed of lot OF Government pro-
perty, for which no Legislature ever
voted one cent on an Appropriation
Bill, and the Government will own
q 20 years lease perhaps perfectly
useless to il. If the Government i:
not the owner Of the said property,
may be it belongs to the taxpayers
in Wailuku, bat they may refuse to
pay rent on the lease or TO feed the
mules, and then so much of ,heil
money is thrown away instead Of
being spent on the roads, for which
purpose it was intended. The Board
is not corporation, we do not sec
that it has any standing in law rs 6
board the Government seems not
to be responsible for its actions. Tc
whom have then eventual creditor;
say tie lessor OF the land-tc
look for their money? Wa suppose
to the individual members Of Tho
Board, bat, as has been the case al
over the country, the members o.
the Boards are changed so frequent
", that il is difficult to know if tn,
man you do business with to-day i
still in tomorrow, or. as is the cast
in Wailuku, the members may bt
men without property and impossible
to recover claim from. The trutl
is we can never expect any gOo'
work without paying the men VIII
do 1t. TO any complaints or rchnke
the Boards simply answer we do no
give darn, nothing in it for us
find somebody else to do the work
We hope that when the Minister
, get through washing their dirt.
, linen before the public, aud III
House settles down 10 business, ts,o
the road bill 10 be introduced vi
be treated in q manner s0tisfactor
! fn all TANuAyIng