The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-09-22
SENATORS SEE
HAWAIIAN SIGHTS
Continued from Page u

interests. He also referred to forest re-
serves which prevented the settlers
from securing lands which were capa-
! Die of the highest cultivation.
He attacked the settlement associa-
| ton openings, the refusal to open GER
tain reserves, the permitting of public
officials to speculate in lands, holding
back of patents after payment the
| sending to Washington of the Commits
sioner and the concealment of the true
| character of lands under right of pur
! chase leases. Mr.. Loebenstein talked
of olfgarchy and octopus and suggested
that Sec. 2410, Revised Statutes, could
be made applicable here. Opposition to
new laws he said was due to desire
| to hold on to a good thing.
He claimed Hawaii offered an oppor-
tunity for diversified industries and
advocated the opening of the lands to
the axe and plowshare. He
said the American land laws
would permit the opening of
great tracts and would allow an
other industry to spring up. He sug-
gested that the lands held by planta-
lions under lease be divided among the
people as soon as possible, and called
er. because much of the land is held by
! the Waiakea Mill Company and can
not be purchased He urged the aboli-
ton of the lease system, saying the
| government had been in the landlord
business long enough.
Senator Mitchell took up the exam
ination, saying that the memorial was
| a criticism of the administration, not
| toned Loebenstein at length and drew
out some statements Of interest. He
detailed the method of procedure TAX
| ing the case of a 999 acre tract in Puma,
he said the matter was advertised as
Sec. /, Oneloa at fifty cents an acre,
! d right of purchase lease. Ten days
before the advertised time parties fell
in line here and held place, to the num-
Der of twenty, comprising Japs, Porto
Ricans and Hawaiians. The land went
to man in line, not the one who orig
inally applied but one who kept men
there to hold his place, a man who
could not carry out the provisions of
the land act, who got the land for some
| one else.
| To Senator Burton Loebenstein said
| there was strong sentiment here for
| American homesteads and he favored
! forty acres as the maximum Burton
asked if twenty acres would not be bet
| ter, and was told that some places
that would be sufficient and others not.
| Loebenstein said he favored the nation
| al government having control of lands
and not the local authorities. He said
charges of favoritism were such that
any legislation which would afford a
solution to the problem would be eager
" welcomed.
Senator Mitchell wanted TO know
| what homesteaderS would do with
| lands, and Loebenstein responded that
small fruits and food products would
be cultivated to a great extent.
To Senator Burton Loebenstein said
| the people favored city and county
government and that the reason why
there was no proper bill passed last
year was that the centralized form of
government, finding its power waning,
| used it's most strenuous efforts to pre-
vent it.
E. ST. Boyd took up the examination
| and wanted Loebenstein to tell some
one who was not qualified who had Sc
cured lands. Loebenstein said one
| settlement association was headed by
John T. Baker, who received a tract
of six or seven thousand acres at q
nominal rental which yielded high
| rental to him, and if a due degree of
caution had been exercised this appl-
cation would have been thrown away.
| Another tract was on the Olaa road, an
association headed by Thomas E.
| Cooke and others, some friends of the
Commissioner and others in the local
| land Office, they getting the land at $l2
an acre, whereas it was worth 800 to
$3.50 an acre. At another point, twenty
nine miles an association of rich men
got 400 acres and they had never
maintained residence. Other instances
were cited. He said not a single set
tlement association had complied with
the law, but admitted there could be no
title until the conditions had been COM
piled with exactly.
4 E. s. Boyd said that settlement assoc
Citations could apply for lands and
! there had never been any complaints of
/ favoritism and none had been shown.
/ Senator Burton took up the question,
saying that an application signed by
I an attorney was an evasion and that
| ! Bakers case Seemed one of these and
the Hilo folks thinking this a point
| scored against the administration, APP
| plauded. Boyd denied that anything
was withheld from the public. AS tc
the 999 acre lease the government TOOK
the matter UP to permit an experiment
in dairy farming. No preference was
II given.
II Loebenstein was grilled a bit upor
his statement as to why Boyd went t
Il Washington ard in return Boyd go
| back by saying he had to wait in the
! capital. Again Boyd said he was op
! posed to any change IN the land law.
II Loebenstein cut into the ditch mattel
! to contradict the statement that 15
miles of trails had been cut, saying tina
there could not have been more thai
one-tenth that amount.
Mr.. Philip Peck, the banker, thel
read the memorial in which the opin
ions of Hilo are united. Passing from
the history he took up the breakwate
and exploited that proposition fully
He then favored a new Federal build
ing and a quarantine station, asked 70
consideration Of land matters and pro
| lection for coffee