The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-10-19
THE olAA LEASES
Important Decision Of the
Supreme Court.
Which VIII Affect Many LsSsees OF
Crown Lands on the IsIan1
of Hawaii.

the CHIEF Justice. handed down de-
cision in the case OF =. \. Koran
against Sanford Il. Dole as President.
J. \. King as Minister OF the Interior
and J. 7. Brown as agent Of Public
Lands. CT the Republic Of Hawaii In
view o: the Importance OF the case and
the number OF people affected by II.
the decision is printed in fun.
The syllabus &C The decision reads:
Section 10 Of the Land Act. 1885. which
permits 4 holder OF an Olaa crown
land lease covering less than zoo
acres TO obtain a patent for that and
additional land, in all not exceeding
200 acres, upon the Improvement of
80 acres thereof and other cCndi
tons, does not permit one who has
obtained 4 patent for the entire area
covered by his lease to- obtain a pat
ent for additional land after the ter
minatiOn OF his lease and in ConSe-
qusncs of improvements made there
on after the termination OF his lease
and his acquisition OF the fee.
The opinion OF the court is by Jus
tics Frsar. ard Is as follows:
This is a submission upon an agreed
statement Of facts under sections 1855
1858 OF the Civil Laws.
The material facts agreed upon are
these: The plaintiff +. \. Koran. at
the date of the enactment OF the Land
Act. 1895, was the holder of a lease
from the Commissioner OF Crown
Lands of lot PSI. containing 47.25 acres.
in the Ahupuaa of Olaa, District oi
Puma, Island of Hawaii: in 1896. I'M
der the provisions of Part IN III the
Land Act, he applied for the said lot
in fee, representing that he hau IL per
cent OF the lot under cultivation with
coffee, fruit, field or garden crops and
had improvements of house and extra
cultivation thereon Of the value oi
$500 in addition tn the said Is per
cent; the Sub-Agent of Public Lands
for the district found that there were
about ten acres under cultivation and
that the house was of the value al
$50: the application was accepted and
in due time 4 patent was issued "a
Koran for the lot; Koran has contin-
ued 10 live on the lot to- the present
time, and now has the entire area un-
der cultivation and has improvements
thereon valued at $1,000 and has ex-
pended thereon $4,000; he has now ap-
piled for an additional $50 acres. name
ly. lots 107. 10S and 109. in the new
Olaa survey, but his application has
been denied by the defendants. lie
contends that he has 4 right under
said Part TX of the Land Act to- pur-
chase these additional lots ut their ap-
praised value and asks that the de
PENDANTS tie ordered To issue to- him a
patent for the same on receipt OF the
appraised value.
The decision uf the case depends
upon the construction of section as oi
the said Land Act (Ciy. l.. Sec. 260)
the portion of which material tn this
case is as follows:
Section 76. Any person holding
land individually or in conjunction
with others, situate IN the Ahupuaa oi
Olaa. District &c Puma, on the Island
OF Hawaii. under lease from the
Commissioners OF Crown Lands Cnot
reserving rent FOR the first three oil
| five years Of such leasel. shall ut any
| time after the first payment of rent
which * hereby reduced for such lease:
| TO one dollar per acre annually In tn,
| case of all leases reserving a largel
amcart. rpcn the Improvement of no
| less than % Per cent OF the area OF tn,
| land 70 80 patented, 20 the satisfaction
1
ments shall include the bona fide cul
tivaticn of ccffee or fruit, field or gar
| den crOJs. ~. all or AIRY 90 such crops
| and payment 20 the Commissioners a
| the uuiiuproved value of the premise
| TO be patented according to- the ap
| ppa.ssmsnt stated in section 20. be en-
titled 20 receive from the Government
| a land patent for any portion of hi
leased premises II one parcel vithi
eco acres ia extent and including sue
| improved portion, IL al the condition
OF such lease TO Zee performed by sue
/ lessee - TO sl.ch time, shall have, bee
subs atiai'J performed.
=. .Tit,s1, however. that condition
OF such lease for the purpose OF max
ing such lease good. shall be deeme
10 have been substantially perfoTme
when improvements or cultivatiu
shall have been made on such prem
ises 10 the aggregate value OF $500. y
, land patent. however. shall be issue
for any portion OF said premises unit
improvements or cultivation to- the 81
tent Of $500 in addition to the - ~
cent above named shall have bee
shown 20 have been made.
Amy such person as aforesaid who,
lease covers less than 200 acres OF lar
] and Who mas improved not less tins
, thirty acres thereof, shall upon fulfil
ing the above mentioned requirement
have the privilege OF purchasing Z
additional area according to- the a
! praissmsnt stated in section ~. pr
| vidsd the aggregate acreage of h
, holding shall not exceed zoo acres.
This section provides for. ~
classes &C cases: IN 4 person holdiI
an Olaa crown land lease OF whatev
area MAJ obtain n patent for su
{ portion Of the same land. as shG
have 10 more than an area OF WIFI
the cultivated part is Is per cent. b
, which shall not exceed GOO acres IA a
J ana t2) any such person whose lea
. covers less than zoo acres may ohta
\ patent for the same and addition
, land, in all not To exceed GOO aCT'
provided he has improved not u