The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1901-08-31

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Tez-igorx C HsxAii. OEes q the A,
tCTEsy Gezsr1I H6zoizlu. h Z
AzEx 5sth. 1871
-Eoacr4ale Esnry Z Cooper. Actin !
Govern. Territory q Hawaii
Sir have she hc8or Aerszith 70
report the following reformation touch
ing the progress Ezde By the FIrs
Gains Comm sion heretofore zp-
pointed pursuant 10 Act Xv. os the
Legislature OF this Tsrrisozy. approved
April sath 1901 Since the appoint
Eent Of said Commission e.eSz claims
have been Sled for adjudication. en-
bTzcinE 207 Chinese claims. As jar
zness claims. $ Hawaiian claims and
Is Caucasian claims. These claims
vary greatly IN amount. ranging from
s. TO SG7-iRs-TS. some OF them sre
simple. while others are exceedingly
cenplex; and some OF them carry With
Them the impression OF honesty. while
others suggest fadirectiou. The prog
ress made by the Commission in the
past can scsrceiy be regarded as any
criterion BY which 20 Judge their anti
cfpated progress. because. as in all in
veStigations OF this character. the pre-
hminary progress Is necessarily SLOW.
The Commission has now q fairly firm
grasp Of the situation and It's condf-
tons. and Il may reasonably be ex-
pected that the claims viii be disposed
OF with much greater rapidity than
heretofore. Indeed. when Il is con
sidered that the range OF Investigation
IS broad. including. for example. such
items as the character Of the fire it.
self. the quantity OF property saved.
the value OF the property involved.
the condition OF the property involv-
ed. taxes. insurance the items in bust
ness books the general characteristics
Of the claimants business. his monthly
sales, his capital invested. his stock
on hand his OCCUPATION. his inventor
les his balance sheet OF assets and
liabilities and his invoices. custom
house or otherwise-when it Is con-
: dered. saw, that the range OF inves- |
iigation Is broad enough TO include |
these and other subjects. but little
surprise can be manifested at the ap |
moderate progress made in |
his business.
The Chinese and Japanese claims |
1aev been. in a manner, supervised by |
he respective consuls: and while, of |
course, this does not ascertain at all |
events the validity of the claim, yet /
{ raises presumption favorable to |
he claimant. It Is to be regretted |
hat the Hawaiian ana Caucasian |
as -. -sr-s3
of some character before pre-
sentation to the Commission: such a
course would have placed those claim
ants on a better footing.
The Commission deserves the high
est praise for the faithfuiness and
Of its investigations. for
the constant endeavor to do justice to
all concerned and for the precautions
to which it continually resorts to pre-
vent fraud and imposition upon the
and regard it es a mat
ter CT congratulation that this Com
is composed of the gentlemen
who act upon it. Among the precau-
tons which they take to protect the
government against litigation in the
future. is one to which refer because
VI It's BEiliE a AAEtFAEtll NdhSC lOt
The Commission seeks u protect the
rights of the owners in fee in cases
where building constructed by ten
ants have been destroyed by fire. Pre-
sumptively. such buildings would be
come fixtures; and the Commission
has steadfastly refused to make any
award for such buildings until the
claimant shall have presented an as
signment from the owner in fee.
mention this as an illustration Of the
difficulties which the Commission has
to encounter, and also to throw some
light upon the degree OF care which
they are exercising in the premises.
II make no attempt TO go greatly in
to detail, as such detail would simply
be an amplification of what is here
stated. On the whole, I feel that fair
and careful progress has been made.
and expect that as time goes on the
disposition of claims will become
swifter I cannot help regretting
however. that the efficient life of the
Commission should be limited to six
months, as this period of time would
seem to be inadequate.
Very respectfully.