The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-11-29
THAT EXTRA SESSION.

The opposition to the Governor has
given up the cry that the Governor is
incompetent to carry on the business
of the Territory, having found him
very competent indeed, and it now re-
sorts to the extra session fake and the
cry of un-American as a means for
keeping together an opposition which
is disintegrating as surely as SHOWS
melts off dyke" according to the
Scotch phrase.
The Legislature certainly would not
inspire the Governor or any conserva-
tive man with confidence. 1t wasted
its time, it quarreled constantly, it did
its best to insult the Governor, it in
weighed against the entire business
community, it delayed important bills,
it passed ridiculous and frivilous bills,
and it failed to provide means for the
future. The latter course it took be-
cause the dominant party in the Legis-
ture thought that it could bulldoze the
Governor into an extra session. AS the
Governor can not be bulldozed, there is
pain and grief in the opposition camp.
That this should be so is not to be
wondered at. The legislative session
was a good mich COW. The two sessions
cost the Territory over 100000, higher
price than had ever been paid before,
and one must say the results were con-
siderably worse than they had been be-
fore in the history of the Islands. 1t
was a heavy price paid for very in
ferior article. The sessions enabled
members to make more than their sala-
ries, and by multiplying posts enabled
them to provide literally for hangers
on Moreover certain kinds of business
could be thrown into partizan hands.
1t was a halcyon time, and the pity OF
it, from the home ruler point of view,
was that it could not last all through
the biennial period. Withholding nee
essary funds was the club which the
Legislature used to continue this state
of things, which was by no means
pleasing to the taxpayers, however
pleasing it might be to the Home Rul-
ers and their hangers-on.
If there was one thing which dis
appointed the Home Rulers more than
another it was the results of the in
come tax. There were the widest
hopes in their ranks that it would not
be paid or else that it would be so tied
up by litigation that it would be diff
cult and well nigh impossible to collect.
These hopes proved fallacious. Though
at first the tax was fought, it eventu-
ally was pronounced constitutional and
it proved the easiest tax to collect that
we have had. 1t was a terrible blow
to the Home Rulers when the funds
rolled in. They had not said so much
about an extra session just before the
collection of the tax, but the moment
they knew it was successful, or was
certain to be successful the howl about
the extra session resounded dismally
through the air.
The Legislature appropriated certain
sums of money for various public
works, and for salaries. When the
Legislature closed it had managed by
its own extravaganza to make big
hole in the Treasury, and till November
the Treasury was crippled, but it could
manage to get along by putting off
certain number of payments, and by
borrowing under the law, till the taxes
came in. This tided over the main
difficulty for the time, and it will now
be smooth sailing for a time. The eX-
penditures which have been made are
those authorized by the Legislature.
There has been no expenditure made
not authorized by the Legislature.
The case of the Fire Claims Commit
tee, to which allusion is so constantly
made, is a peculiar one. The work was
nearly done, and very small amount
would finish it. If the work were not
finished it would require probably
new set of men to complete it, and the
present staff had the experience which
a future staff would not have. 1t was
10 the interest of the business COM
munity that the question of fire claims
should be settled, it was to the interest
of many poor people that they should
be settled. The sum in question was
81. 600 What extra session fakirs de-
sired is that that session should be
called at an expense of some $4,000, to |
vote that $4,000.
The taxpayers of the country the |
men and women who supply the main |
sinews of the finances do not want any |
extra session. The Governor is within |
his legal rights in refusing an extra
session. Under these circumstances 1t
is not likely that the Home Rulers Will
carry their point. Noisy gas blowing
does not win political points.