The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-07-19
JARED SMITH IN TROUBLE OVER
LAND.
Boundary Changed-Governor Cooper
Says If 1t Was an Error He Would
Have Corrected If Notified Of.

United States Agricultural Commits
sioner Jared Smith has a kick coming
and has written to Washington because
he has found that the new buildings
he has erected on Tantalus are on prop
erty belonging to the Territory. Smith
says that in the proclamation issued
by the Acting Governor on June 10, the
governor reserved from the land trans
ferred to the United States, some land
which he had been promised, and on
which he had put up buildings. Cooper
however has a kick coming himself be-
cause Smith did not notify him about
it, and the Acting Governor says that
if it is true that the Territory has
taken some of the land needed and sup
posed to be used by Smith, the action
was due to a mistake in the survey de-
partment which will be rectified at
once.
When the Commissioner arrived here
he visited Tantalus with Surveyor
Wall and Assistant Superintendent of
Public Works Marston Campbell. After
looking over the ground, the officials
settled upon an approximate boundary
| between the land to be transferred to
| the federal government and that to re-
main the property of the territory, and
Smith proceeded to put up his resi-
dence, stable buildings and other sta
up Tantalus and found, he declares,
that the boundary settled upon had not
| been followed and that the territory
has reserved ten acres in the middle of
/ his land. and held the title to ground
on which some of his buildings were.
II found that the proposed quarry,
! for which land was reserved, was
within hundred feet of my home" "
| said Smith, land certainly it is not
! q or tn Iix-ito o1n
as that to a quarry where BLASTING is
| being done. The land transferred by
the governor by proclamation is not the
land it was agreed that I should have
ana l have written to Washington for
instructions in the matter
Il do not know what can be done
The federal government might bring
suit to condemn the land that is need
ed, or it might order the buildings
torn down and erected somewhere else
Smith was of the opinion that he had
not been treated with very much cour-
tesy in not being informed of the
change in the boundary, before he put
up his buildings "The only thing foI
me to do was to ask headquarters
for instructions" said Jared Smith
land have done so.'
Acting Governor Cooper says thai
| Smith is entirely wrong in supposine
boundary of his land, or that the Ter
ritory wants any of the land he Is u.s.
ing. The Acting Governor says that
all Smith needed to do to settle the
trouble was to come and tell his trou-
bles when the proclamation transfer.
ring the land would have been prompt.
ly amended if necessary.
\ "If Mr.. Smith had come to me about
it instead of making complaints the
. WO116 nj w aH.
justed, said the Acting Governor. 90
have only just now heard that there
was any trouble at all. If the procla.
nation reserves to the Territory some
land that Mr.. Smith is using it wa:
through an error in the surveyors de-
partment. There was no intention tt
do so, and if find now that it was
done l shall at once amend the pro
clamation.
II do not see why I was not advised
of the difficulty on Tantalus. if there /!
one. If Mr.. Smith had informed me
that the Territory had not given hin
what was promised, I should have in
vestigated the matter and set thing:
right at once, as I shall do now.
II sent for the surveyor this morn
ing, as soon as I heard of the reported
trouble. The Experiment station viii
be given the land az once. if I find tha
the error has actually been made"
The proclamation was issued on june
TO- 1t transferred to the United States
222 acres of Tantalus land, reserving t
the Territory several patches. Among
them was the Kewalo quarry. ten acres
and it is this ten acre lot which Smitl
says intrudes on his premises. Th'
matter will be settled by an amend
ment of the governors proclamation
without awaiting any reply from
Washington.