The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-08-23
GOVERNMENT AND UTILITIES.

The objects which our valued con-
tributor, Mrs. lanes, seeks in city
government are for the advantage
of Honolulu but they may be had as
easily and without the expense OF mu-
nicipal officers from the Territorial
government. This government as It
stands is a municipal system with en-
Iarged powers. 1t looks after streets.
bridges, sewers, police, health, fires,
sanitation and the like and does 1t eff
GENTLY and honestly; and amenable as
at is to the terms of Legislative appro-
priation, II. becomes the attentive SER
vitor of every town and district in the
Hawaiian group. Unless taxes are to
be raised to a dangerous hight it can,
in it's broadly paternal way, provide
more public utilities for the islands
than could be had from local taxation
under city and county systems, the
reason being that it has to deduct from
tie aggregate revenue only enough TO
support one set of officials while under
the more complex government enough
money would have to be taken out TO
support three sets. The job chasers
who have the municipal movement in
hand would not consent to take less.
out of the Treasury the less money will
remain for improvements; on the other
hand the more limited the personnel
and the simpler the methods of the ISL
and government the larger the sums
available for public works.
Mrs. Eames writes: THE first great
crying need of this iridescent dream Is
a clean city; and with this is mex
tricably involved the question of street
and building Improvement, because the
population is -congested, and there can
be no intelligent move toward better
sanitary conditions until the people are
constrained by building and health reg
ulations to proper houses, on proper
sized lots, in proper streets"
The Territorial Government keeps
7 Honolulu cleaner than is any other
/ large city in the tropics except possibly
Singapore and not excepting the mill
tary bailiwicks of Havana and Santa
go. Street improvements are all the
! time being made, though the public
has not asked to have the picturesque
ness of our thoroughfares destroyed for
I the purpose of making Partisan boule-
wards. Building laws, and quite as
suitable ones as the Hawaiian climax re
requires, are enforced by the Board of
/ Health. AS a rule we have proper
/ houses on proper sized streets" at any
rate we should not be likely to do Bet
/ ter in those respects if Honolulu had
an administrative system of it's own.
| The statement that the health OF
Paris improved when the city was CIV
en- the most advanced utilities may be
accepted without forcing the conclu-
sion, which an amusing contemporary
reaches, that such utilities must come
from the hand of municipality or lose
their sanitary worth. Streets may be
kept as clean by the Territorial gov
eminent as by city government ant
health regulations enforced to as goot
advantage. The auspices do not mat
ter, hygienically, so long as the worl
is done; but they matter very mucf
economically. The Territorial govern
ment as 1t stands gives much for little
but the average American municipal
ity, which soon develops boss and ;
ring of favored contractors, gives littl
for much. We venture the opinion tina
Hawaii, If it keeps it's present system
of Government for ten years to come
will have better and more public i'm
provements and will get them at les
cost, than would be possible unde
county and city administrations. w
think Mrs. Eames would agree witt
the Advertiser on that point If she wer
to analyze the present electorate.