The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1892-08-24
THE LEGISLATURE.
SEVENTY SECOND DAY.
TUESDAY, Aug. ODD, 1892.
Afternoon Session.

continued.
Noble j. NJ. Horner was opposed
to the adoption of the majority re-
port which favored the tabling of
the bill. In brief he said that
he regarded the assessors-in-chief
as the fifth wheel to coach.
Their work was supertluous and
could Just as we'll be performed by
the deputies. His experiences in
early days in California had enabled
him to form this opinion. He men
toned that an extra expenditure of
100000 per year was entailed and
unnecessarily so. He did not doubt
that the assessors worked and it |
might be that they could be elimin-
ated two years from now.
Rep. Ashford had thought well OF
the bill appointing assessors when it
passed and he still thought we'll of
it. There was a symmetric system
required in taxation and that is what
the country was obtaining tn" bene
fit of now. The bill of 1883 is now
working itself into the favor of the
community. The argument of Noble
Horner that the aSsessorS had work
ed so we'll that their labors could
now be accomplished by the depu-
ties was not sound. Would he (No-
bic Homer) contend that a planta-
ton manager who had brought or
der out of chaos, made profits come
instead of loss, should he discharg
ed2 He the speaker was elected on
platform to discountenance the
continuance of useless offices and
the creation of such. If the office
of Governor was discovered to be
useless in the past it was so now.
He favored the majority report of
the committee that the bills be
tabled.
Rep. Nawahi thought that the as
sessment books were better kept un-
der the Governors than now. For
merly had a Governor at 81 500
salary TO perform the duties, now
had an Assessor at $1,000. Under the
present system he knew of land at
Eva that extended from the noun
tain to the sea, had valuable fishing
j, rights attached, yet the Assessor-in
Chief of Oahu, to whom it belonged,
only paid SIG a year taxes. Natives
in that district, who only owned
three acres, had to pay $50 per year
taxes. That was the way the assess
ments were made under the present
system.
Minister Widemann was opposed
to the bills, he thought they were, to
say the least, incomplete; he favored
the adoption of the majority report.
Noble Thurston said that when he
came in he found the member from
Hilo (Nawah) clinching his fist and
saying that the Assessor int Chief of
Oahu was rascal and a scoundrel
in that he only paid SIG per year
taxes on his land at Eva He had
in the meantime gone across to the
tax office and found that the Asses
sor paid taxes of S74l.l0. This would
show how near the member from
Hilo came to facts in his arguments.
The taxes were never so well assessed
as now, there was a business man in
charge who had introduced business
methods. Formerly there was no
system, each new man simply went
over the list of his predecessor and
followed it. Now there is inquiry
made. The present Assessors are
not paragons but they pulled up the
tax returns wonderfully.
At 2:46 the debate ended and on
motion the majority report was ap
proved and the Bills tabled.
President Walker said that there
was nothing more to act on now but
there was large amount of matter
in the hands of Committees Com
plant had been made to him that il
was hard to get Committees together
He would therefore suggest that a
the Assembly was now likely to adj
journ members of the various com
mittees should stay and transac
some business.
Under suspension of the rule
Noble Thurston, from the Commit
tee on Public Lands, presented a re
port on Bill 129 to amend the fir
law so that detached buildings ma,
be exempted from the provision il
the existing fire law requiring fir
wall to be erected three feet higl
above the junction of the wall ant
the caves of the house. The com
mittee say that the requirement il
the present law does not appear t.
be general elsewhere, and it inter
feres with all attempts at architect