The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1892-08-17
THE LEGISLATURE.
SIXTY SEVENTH DAY.
WEDNESDAY, Aug. II.
Morni,,u Caeeiop

Assembly heard prayer by Chap
lain at 10. Minutes of previous
meeting were read at 1912 by the
Clerk and Interpreter and approved,
as usual.
Noble Baldwin from the Finance
Committee presented report on
Bill SIS, "To abolish the office of Tax
Assessor-in- Chief and to provide for
the discharge of duties now per
formed by said Assessor-in- Chief
also on Bill ia, entitled can Act to
abolish the Office of Assessor" to
the following effect:
Hon. j. S. WALKER, President Legis-
lative Assembly:
S1R,-Your Committee on Finance,
to whom was referred Bill No. So,
entitled Gan Act to abolish the Office
of Tax Assessor-in- Chief, and to pro-
vide for the discharge of duties now
performed by said Assessor-in-C Chief"
also Bill No. ia entitled can Act to
abolish the office of Assessor" beg
leave to report that we have had the
above Bills under careful considera-
ton.
Bill No. So provides that the duties
now performed by the Assessors-in
Chief, shall be performed by the
Governors of each Gubernatorial
District.
Bill No. ia provides that the Office
of Assessor-in-Chief be abolished,
and that the labor heretofore per
formed by the "Assessor" should be
performed by the Minister of FL
nance.
Your Committee does not believe
it wise to abolish the Office of Asses
sor- in Chief, and in support of this
belief would give the following
reasons:
When the Governors had the
supervision of the Taxes of their
separate Islands, the onl y work done
was the making out of the Assess.
ment Books by the Assessors, and
the collecting and accounting by the
Collector of the money to the Gov,
ernor, and so far as we can learn o.
the system, the collection books were
never checked over either by the
Governor, his clerk or the Registrar
of Public Accounts, so that it wa!
never known whether all the money
collected was turned into the Gov
eminent Treasury or not.
In the Assessment Books at tina
time a person owning two or NOR
pieces of land would make a return
of same in lump sum under TIN
head of Land and House, no roya
patent or land commissioners aware
number was given, so when referrin:
to the Tax Books you could not tel
what property was owned by the TIA
payer.
Since the establishment of tn
present system, the Assessors ant
their deputies have been busy get
ting a correct list of all pieces @
land owned by each tax payer, an
making record in the Assessment
Books of same by Royal Patent an
Land Commissioners Award, tn
number, the area, what the land
used for, and if leased for how mucl
The Assessors have found in SON
{ cases where tax payer was assesse
for one sum or item only, that the
owned seven or eight pieces of Ian
and did not pay more than half sal
lands were worth.
Under the present law and sy
tenn, maps in detail are furnished b
the Survey Department, as far ;
= they have them, and when piece {
, land is returned by l.. G. A. awaI
l the number of said land is checko
on the map, in this way the Assesso
find out the lands that are not take
: and as soon as the owner is found
p is assessed to him, and thus new a
! sessments are continually beil
"a made, and these assessments are pc
: manent, the value only changing
f the value of the land changes.
n Enough extra or new taxes ha'
n been collected since the present sy
# tenn was established to partly pi
the running expenses of the T.
Bureau.
+ There is also kept in the he
IT Office of each division a set Of boo
L. where each page represents La
rs Commissioners Award, showing
q location, area, present owner or I
10 payer and other remarks. The
L books in time as they are complet
y will become valuable records for t
1t Government and Tax Bureau.
~ Under This system records ara "a