The Hawaiian gazette., 1901-11-05
SIX MONTHS
TIME IS Up
Fire Court Will
Continue to
Sit.
(From Saturdays daiiy)

sioners would have been abolished by
time limitation yesterday. Fortunately
the specific intention of the legislature
in this respect was omitted from the
act, and the court will no doubt sit un-
til its labors are completed. depending
upon the legislature to reimburse them
at its next session.
The fire court has far from completed
its labors and will not do so for several
months. Hardly more than three-fifths
of the number of claims filed, aggregat-
ing over 5000, have been heard and far
from that number have been adjudi-
Gated.
The act to provide for the ascertain
ment and payment of all claims which
may be made by persons whose prop
erty was destroyed by fire in the years
\. D. 1899 and 1900 under orders OF
the Board of Health fixes the time of
the service of said court by implication
only.
There is no specific reference in the
law to the term for which the said com
missioners should be appointed, but in
providing salaries for but six months,
it is generally considered that it was
the intention to limit the court to such
length of time.
! ne act WAS SISntu ny 'oNti hoi
Dole, and became a law on the 3Oth
day of April. 1901. and on the first of
May following the Governor issued COM
missions to the present five members of
the court. Consequently if the law had
limited the court to six months their
time of service must have ended yes
,erday. BY emitting this provision from
the statute the commission is still en-
abled to act, and will undoubtedly now
work until every claim has been heard
and adjudicated even though 1t takes
them until January or February of next
wears. With the matter of expenses to
keep the commission running through
that time some other method must be
adopted.
The appropriation for the commission
provided the following sums for ex-
penses:
Commissioners at $40 per diem
while in session .................S9 5000
Counsel for Territory at $3.50 per
month NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 1,5OO
Clerk of Commission at $50 per
month ..................... 9OO
Stenographer at 1926 per month";. $50
Interpreters at $40 per dem. 1,sOO
Eailiff at s15 Der month... $50
Government witnesses .......... 1000
The total appropriation for expenses
of the commission was $11,40O as noted
in the figures given above. While the
commissioners were appointed six
months ago, their actual sessions did
not begin until the middle of May and
the clerk, stenographer, bailiff, etc, did
not begin their duties until that day.
CONSEQUENTLY no eli hS
actually expire until the middle of the
present month, and as the court has not
been in session every day, there is still
considerable of the appropriation I'M
spent. 1t is estimated that of the $4,000
set apart for the pay of the five COM
misSioners there is an uneXpended
balance sufficient to keep the court run
ming for nearly two months. With the
clerk, stenographer and bailiT it is diff
ferent, as those officials were to receive
"a fixed salary each month, which will
have been absorbed before the end of
November. The money for expenses
after that time must be secured from
some other source. There is some pos
siblity of having an additional amount
turned over from some other fund for
the use of the court, and If this canno,
be legal! done, the court will continue
its sess. ons and trust to the next'leg;s.
lature 20 reimburse it for expenses ana
moneys paid out. The fund set asid,.
fur government witnesses has not been
very heavily drawn upon, and may fur
nish some relief.
In order to facilitate the work of the
commission the court has been divided
irtc two sections. Only a majority OF
tn" con mlssioners is needed to near