Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1898-08-25
THE LADD & co. CLAIMS.
Heirs in California viii Try to Obtain
Hawaiian Lands.
viii Seek Redress Before Commission Col.
Vim. G. Little Of San Francisco
Talks About II.

Ine uaWall8n commissioners,
when they meet in Honolulu
to adjust the government of the
islands, will find some thorns in
the pathway of their Investigations
says the s. f. Chronicle of Aug.
II.
Probably the most important
matter with which they will have
to deal is that of land titles. BY
annexation the United States has
become possessed of large tracts
of land which will be added to the
public domain. Of these the
crown lands are a part. 1t will be
the duty of the joint commission
to ascertain what title the United
States can give to intending set
tiers in this new territory. d."
Former Queen Liliuokalani has
gone home for the purpose of
pushing her alleged claim to the
crown lands, probably on the
strength of the act of July 3, 1865,
which after providing for the or
ganization of the Grown Lands
Commission to manage the crown
estates, declares in unequivocal
terms that these lands are inal-
ienable and guarantees the in
come from them to the crown for
all time. n.'.Etr
A fargraver complication awaits
the action of the Commission in
the historical Ladd d Co. claim.
This contract and the Belgian
contract are among the most in
teresting incidents of Hawaiian
history. The running of the
house of Ladd & Co. through in
fuence brought to bear by the
Government of that time was per-
haps greater scandal even than
can be laid at the door of any of
the numerous Gibson govern
ments. ...
Prior to the date of what is
known as the "Mahele" { (l848) all
the land in the Hawaiian Islands
was the property of the reigning
King. Those occupying or culti-
waiting lands, whether natives or
whites, were only tenants at will
of the King. During the decade
from 1888 to l843 this very unsat-
lsfactory method of land tenure
was the cause of serious Difficult
ties and foreign complications.
Unscrupulous foreigners often
made this the pretext for asking
the Intervention of their govern.
ments. ....
The firm of Ladd & Co. was at
the time the largest and most in
fiuential business concern in the
islands. They were the first to
embark in the sugar business and
were instrumental in emancipst-
ing the natives from serf-
dom by setting the example of
paying wages to their laborers. In
1885 the first lease ever made in
the Hawaiian islands was given
Ladd & Co. by the King, to the
lands of Koloa, Kauai, for a period
of fifty years, on the condition
that they will be cultivated by the
lessee to sugar, coffee and other
products.
AS foreign complications be-
came more and more threatening
King Kamehameha III. thought
to relieve himself of all difficulties
by leasing all of the unoccupied
lands (the bone of contention) to
the American house of Ladd &
Co., on condition that they would
secure from the United States,
England and France his recogni.
tion as an independent sovereign.
Consequently, in 1S41, the famous
contract was entered into between
Kamehameha LII. and Ladd &
Co., granting the latter the posses
sion of all OF the then unoccupied
lands in the Kingdom for 100
years.
1t was principally through the
influence of Ladd a. Co. that the
recognition of the independence