The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-03-07
FIRE CLAIMS AGAIN.
We have received the following inter-
esting letter:


Japanese claimants do not object to the
| appointment of a commission to examine
! and to adjudcate their Claims 1t Is IN
regard to the methods to be adopted ny
the proposed commission that the claim
! ants are Directing. They fully realize
it is nothing but right that before their
claims will be paid, reliable and COM
petent court or commission must be APP
pointed by the Governor or the Leg1s-
/ la ture to examine and pass upon them.
| The sufferers were given assurances
that as soon as the Legislature conven-
ed their claims would be promptly ad-
| Indicated and the necessary appropria-
| lions made to settle them. And now
comes bill introduced in the House en-
titled, AN Act to Provide for a Com
mission to Take Evidence Concerning
Injuries to Property Caused by the Ac-
ton of the Board of Health in Connec-
ton with the Suppression of the Bubonic
Plague in Honolulu and Elsewhere in
This Territory, and by the Confiagratlon
in Honolulu on January 70 1900, and TO
Report Thereon" The bill as it reads
merely provides for a commission to ex-
anime and report thereon to the Govern
or, but no provision is made to determine
! and to provide means for paying the
ella inns. According to the proposed bill,
it looks as if the matter of determining
and making appropriations will be left
] in the hands of the next Legislature,
which means two years hence The suf-
! ferers have waited patiently for over
year-and through no fault of theirs
! The sufferingS and hardshipS they have
gone through need no further remarks.
They are still fresh in our minds. Why
punish and make these innocent people
suffer any longer when the opportunity
has arrived to bring about solution of
the affair? In justice to the claimants.
/ request that you will be kind enough
to not PREJUDICE their claims. AS to the
/ frau do atr ha
for the commission to find these out.
Perhaps it would be better to mention
as to the methods pursued by the jap
anese claimants in making out their
/ claims. Since the confiagration, a gener
al committee was elected from among
4 the Japanese community who, with the
assistance of the Consul have worked
J necessarily to guide the sufferers and
to aid them in making out their claims
properly. They have taken great pains
to prevent any frauds, and I feel con-
WINGED that the committee aided by the
Japanese Consul, have been sincere In
their efforts to do what is just and rea-
sonable. AS to "a coolie who owned a
red blanket and a pipe, etc." l wish TO
bear upon the fact that 1T Is one of the
| characteristics of the Japanese race to
be in possession of quite an accumula-
ton of clothing. People who have visit
ed Japan will no doubt notice this strik-
ing feature. l hope you will excuse lie
for interfering in your article. I have
done so not with the purpose of enter
ing into controversy and to gain noto-
rety, but / have done so with the hopes
! of correcting some misstatement of facts.
Yours very truly,
SMALL MARSH"
a Japanese Who Demands Justice and
Fair Play.
Honolulu, March 5, 1901.
1. The sufferers were given assur-
ances that as soon as the Legislature
convened their claims would be
promptly adjudicated and the neces-
sary appropriations made to settle
them"
Who gave these assurances? Ger
tainly they did not come from the tax
payers who would have to pay the
bills.
H. The bill (before the Legislature)
merely provides for a commission to
examine and report thereon to the Gov
Iernor. but no provision is made to de-
ternine and to provide means for pay
ing the claims"
How can the Legislature appropriate
before it knows how much money the
settlement of the claims would re-
quire?
III. THE sufferers have waited pa
tiently for over year and through no
fault of theirs. The sufferings and
hardships they have gone through need
no further remarks. Why punish and
make these innocent people suffer any
longer when the opportunity has ar
rived to bring about a solution of the
, AFFAIR.""
The opportunity is being taken in
the bill providing for an investigation
tn hot ala i i
not be paid and what proportion of the
claimants are innocent of the .prac-
tees which brought on the plague and
compelled the remedy of fire. So far
as waiting a year is concerned that is
nothing unusual. Estates are some
times left unsettled for years; lawsuits
extend over similar period, and there
are perfectly valid claims before Con
gress, such as that of the widow of
Gen. Fremont, for property unjustly
taken from her, which have fingered
in committee rooms for half century
w. "As to a coolie who owned a
red blanket and a pipe I wish to bear
upon the fact that it is one of the
characteristics of the Japanese race to
be in possession of quite an accumula-
ton of clothing. People who have Wis
. tied Japan will no doubt notice this
striking feature"
How much property does the average
japanese yard boy or cook bring with
him to the house where he goes to
work? Does he usually have $25 worth,
including his trunk? AS to observa-
j, tions in Japan, the writer has made
them over considerable period and he
retains an impression Of dire poverty
among the common people-a view
that also prevails here among lockers
. on who have seen imported plantation
hands disembark from the steamer.
t Y. i hope you will excuse me for
) interfering with your article"
: certainly. Accept the assurance of
our distinguished consideration.
5 -<-
Y we are still waiting, but without
nope for the Gear organs to print the
names of the citizens who connose the