The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-04-02
JUDICIAL EXTRAvAGANCE.


Court to exhaust the judicial appropri-
alton still goes on. Lately the judges
made up their minds that the cham
bers they officially occupy ought to be
refurnisbed in ducal style and they
have had the nerve to say that they
viii draw upon the public funds at
their disposal to buy carpets. rugs.
easy chairs and couches-particula
touches. OF course these things. If
bought. will be the most costly wares
OF the kind i'm the market; and when
paid for out OF money wrung in taxa
ton from people who. for a year and
more past. have felt the need OF strict
economy. will make a wide gap in the
depleted appropriation for the support
and maintenance OF our courts of JUS
tice throughout the Territory.
Last December this paper showed. in
figures copied from the official records.
how far the judicial spending conspir-
acy had then gone. Tt appeared that
for the ive months OF the current fiscal
year the total expense of the judiciary
department, aside from specific sala-
ries. was over $4,000. The total ap-
preparation for the twenty-four months
of the biennial period was but $4,000.
Two-thirds OF the amount had been
paid out ON the order OF either Hum
phreys or Gear. AT that time the First
Circuit Court. mainly engaged betimes
In setting criminals free. had used up
more OF the appropriation than the
four o,ner circuits and the Supreme
Court combined. During the most of
was sitting on the local circuit bench;
and business had not been pressing
enough to preclude long judicial vaca-
tons.
To put the extravaganza of the pres
ent regime into clearer relief. it is nee
essary to make comparisons with for
mer years The entire appropriation
for the expenses of the judiciary de-
partment for the years 1898 and 1899
was $4,000 and but $26,s13.67 was
drawn, leaving a balance unused OF
$s,1S633. Not so much was then ex-
pended in one year of the biennial pc
Rod as Humphreys and Gear caused to
be spent in five months.
In 1900 for the six months ending
June 18th the total expense account
amounted to but s46s4.7s. Judge Hum
phreys was appointed July 5, 1900. The
six months following. the expense or
the entire judiciary department rose
to $S9S5.42 In the next six months the
drafts of the judiciary department,
with Humphreys as the active agent
OF disbursement, aggregated s13.674.31.
In the effort to make the peoples
money go the faster. juries have been
kept on the pay roll for two weeks do
ing nothing; and now comes the
scheme. redolent of judicial indecency.
to turn the chambers OF the court into
costly drawing rooms. 1t should be
added that, since the period of five
months mentioned above. the scale of
ing ratio.
The object of all this extravaganza
is to force the Governor to call an ex-
ira session OF the Home Rule Legisla-
ture. The political judges want that
calamity to visit the taxpayers so as
to secure for themselves and their
heeIers such leverage OF patronage as
would foiloy the erection of city and
county governments. If the treasury
can be depleted they believe that the
Governor will have to ask the Legisla-
ture to provide more money; and If
that body comes together, it can be
manipulated. as ii was before. by the
political court. Happily for the we'll
being of Hawaii, Governor Dole will
not yield a single inch. though it is a
misfortune that he cannot go further
and compel the circuit judges to OBJ
serve the spirit OF their oaths.