Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1902-04-06

SuuYUlCHt dSSO'bNhS'J'
The foregoing is the conclusion of
the unanimous opinion of the Su.
preme Court upon the submission with.
out action of william W. Harris VS..
Henry f. Cooper, Secretary of the
Territory of Hawaii. Robertson &
Wilder for w. w. Harris; II. L. Cooper
in person; Kinney, Ballou & McClan
ahan for the nominators of August
Dreier.
BY the syllabus of opinion the law
OF the case is thus laid down:
Under the provisions of the cleo
ton law that candidates shall be
nominated by writing signed by not
less than twenty-five qualified electors
of the district and deposited together
with twenty-five dollars with the Sec.
rotary of the Territory not less than a
prescribed time before the election,
and that the ballots shall contain the
names of all candidates so nominated
and no other name, the Secretary can.
not lawfully inquire into and pass up.
on the qualifications Of a candidate or
decline to place his name upon the
ballots II he is duly nominated, even
though he, the Secretary, may believe
him to be disqualified, nor can the
courts compel him to do so, al.
though the Secretary may inquire in.
to and pass upon the question of due
nomination and omit from the ballots
the name of a candidate If the law
prescribing the requirements Of a due
nomination has not been complied with
and may be compelled by the courts 20
perform his duty in that respect"
Chief Justice Frear is the writer OF
the opinion. Justices Galbraith and
Perry signing it with him. The body
of the opinion is as follows:
Introductory.
This is submission on agreed facts
under Civil Laws. Section 1855, as
amended by the Laws of 1898, Act IS,
The practical question for our deter
mination is whether under the election
law the Secretary of the Territory, who
has charge of the printing of ballots,
should omit therefrom the name Of a
candidate forrepresentative who though
duly nominated is not eligible. Moro
broadly stated, the question Is wheth-
er the Secretary can go behind the
question of due nomination and inquire
into and pass upon the question of the
qualifications of the candidate.
Agreed Facts.
The facts agreed on are in substance
as follows: A special election was call.
ed for April ., 1902, to fill vacancy
caused by the death of a member OF the
House of Representatives. The plain.
till was duly nominated and Is quail
fed to be a representative. One August
Dreier was also duly nominated but
Is not qualified to be elected On
April /, 1902, the plaintiff filed a pro-
test with the Secretary against placing
Mr.. Dreier's name upon the ballot. On
the next day the Secretary overruled
the protest and notified the plaintiff Of
his, the Secretary's determination IA
place Mr.. Dreier's name upon the bal
lots. The Secretary Is now causing this
ballots to be prepared and printed
with Mr.. Dreier's as well as the plain.
tits name upon them. The Score.
tarys sole reason for overruling the
plaintiffs protest and determining t.
place Mr.. Dreier's name on the ballots
Is his belief that he is without author
ty to inquire into and pass upon the
qualifications Of duly nominated can.
didate.
How Disqualified.
The ground stated for MIR. Dreier's
disqualification Is his failure to meet
the requirement OF Section 40 of the
Organic Act, that in order to be eligi-
BILE to be a member Of the House OF
Representatives a person shall, at the
time OF election" besides possessinh
other enumerated qualifications, be
qualified to vote for representatives In
the district from which he is elected"
The reason why he is not qualified Ia
vote for representatives in that dis
trict is not stated, though we under
stand It to be that he is not registered
voter in that district as required
among other qualifications, by Section
~ of the same Act, in order to be
qualified to vote for representatives. "
The fact being undisputed for the
purposes of this case that Mr.. DreieI
Is not eligible to be representative
the sole question is whether the Secre-
tary should omit his name from the
official ballot, or rather whether this
court should compel him to do so. The
statutory provisions involved are Sec
tons SO and SO of the election rules
Civil Laws, PIP. SO4, S15, as amended By
Section GA of the Organic Act. These
read as follows:
Conditions OF Candidacy.
Section So. No person shall be per.
mitted to stand as candidate for cleo
ton to the legislature unless he shall
be nominated and so requested in writ
ing, signed by not less than twenty-iy,
duly qualified electors of the district IL
which an election is ordered and IL
which he is requested to be a candidate
Such nomination shall, except as here
matter provided, be deposited with tn
Secretary of the Territory not less thar
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