Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1903-01-15

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dent. and to have The same authority
as is exercised by the surveyor gonor
al OF New Mexico.
The Lease Abuse
Attention is called O. lease 10 one
individual Tor 1880 acres, a. the an.
nual rental OF So for term OF ten
years. During the fast year l3 gen.
eral leases were executed covering 49,.
$50 acres. aggregatinr an annual rent.
al Of sl7 Acc, or a little over 9 cents per
acre per annum. M'ny Of these lands
are estimated TO be worth hundreds Of
dollars an acre, yet some tracts are be.
ing leased for as low as three and one.
third mills per acre per annum. The
committees investigation shows some
most astounding fats and illustrates
i'm the most forcible manner the press.
ing necessity for calling sudden halt
in the system OF leasing the public do.
main. There is Row no limit to the
plumber Of acres that may be included
in any one lease ~ any one man or
corporation, the only limit being as TO
time. In contrast With the wholesale
leasing Of immense tracts at merely
annual rentals, the records shoy that
lands sold to settlers urder other pro.
visions of the Territorial land act are
rated and sold at enormously and un.
reasonably high prces Some lands
requiring the expenditure of 800 an
acre to clear, are sold at from SO to sl2
an acre. and on this lard the settlers
have to pay per cen. annual interest
until purchases are effected The com.
mittee received nuinerously signed pc
/ titions from various pcrts Of tn Isl
ands, favoring the adoption Of the
! homestead system for Hawaii, allow.
| ing the settlement ~ 40.acre tracts Of
the better lands and 90 acres Of the in
ferior grade.
Extravaganza in Salaries.
a tabulated statement Of receipts
and expenditures Of the Office of the
Commissioner of Pub'ic Lands and the
Territorial surveyor general shows
that in q single year the gross reve'
nue. from all sources amounted to Sll7..
lGl. while the expenses largely sala.
ries, amounted to $40 'l3 or more tran
~ per cent of the entire receipts. At.
tention is also called to the Office Of
the surveyor general where s33,500
was expended in a single year, with re-
ceipts of the office amounting to but
seas. leaving a deficit Of s33,2G2.
I.eprosy.
The committee re recommends that the
control and management OF the lepers
at the leper settlement on the Island
NJ Molokai be transferred from the 10
cal Territorial Government to the Gov
eminent of the United States, to be in
Immediate charge OF the Marine He's.
pital Service The committee believes
the island of Molokai is in every respect
most admirably adapted as a location
tor a national leprosaria, to which
might be transferred all lepers now IN
the United States.
A Change Not Popular.
The committee was much surprised
to find that Notwithstanding the large
expense charged up eacn year TO the
Territorial Government in connNstioD
with the care OF these unfortunate PEG
pie. the principal Territorial officials,
including the Governor, Secretary OF
Territory, Board of Health, Attorney
General, and, in fact the heads of sv'
cry one of the departments, were In /,
sistent upon retaining the management
and control of the leper settlemce.t by
the Territory. The people OF the isl.
ands hold different views U0 the leper
question to what a.e evidently enter
taiend by the members of the subcom.
mittee and apparently much of the op.
position to the traGsfer comes from
the fact that a change Of administra'
lion is not desired.
A Threatening Seource
According to testimony before the
committee, one out Of about every $50
OF the whole population OF Hawaiian
Islands Is today afflicted with leprosy
and confined at the Ieper settlement.
II is believed, however that there are
very many hundred more lepers in the
islands than are row at the settlement,
perhaps being the average TO one leper
to every 100 OF the population. This
I
Jury, as the frst recognized case OF
the disease in the Islands vas reported
IN 1858. There are today nearly 1000
known lepers in the Territory. There
are in the United States 27s lepers,
most Of them at large who should, In
the opinion OF the committee, be sent
to the leper colony.
Further Preeaution Urged.
The government of the United States
should be admonished by the history
OF other nations, says the committee,
and be prompted to take immediate
and decisive steps 10 stay the progress
of and eradicate this loathsome dis
ease in the Territory of Hawaii. The
very highest and most advanced sci
entific skill at no matter what cost,
should be invoked without further de-
lay, for the purpose OF discovering, II
possible, the cause OF this disease, ami
the remedy, If any, TO be had for its
1 mn.