The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1904-06-07
ASTOUNDING
DISCOVERIES
hiIo Land Office Reeks
With ScandaIous
Management.
(From Saturdays Advertiser)

With the return of Assistant Attor.
ney General Prosser from Hawaii come.
story of shortages and defalcations ir
the land office that equals the methods
of personal graft disclosed in the Homo.
lulu Investigations. The money of Por.
tuguese and others who have attempted
to take up lands has been deliberately
misapplied, held on the personal securi-
ty of the land agents and finally dis
appeared. Indictment by the Grand
Jury wound up in a hung jury, but
proof has since been collected that will
send a warrant post haste after one
offender, who is apparently the chief
robber, though he hides his own blame
! upon an absentee.
MY Investigations into the accounts
of Mr. e. d. Baldwin," said Mr. Pros
ser yesterday morning, Showed that
no books had been kept showing the
| cash transactions of the office. Re-
| ceipts were given from ordinary blank
| books and the stubs of these were miss
ing.
"A native or other person applying to
the land agent for "a patent put up the
| entire amount of purchase money ac-
cording to valuation. Twenty-Five per
| cent of this was forwarded to the Ho-
| nolulu office by Baldwin and the rest
received and held as a personal deposit
until the patent was issued.
'These moneys were held oftens for
four years, during which time no rents
or interests We're charged and the les
sees fondly imagined they owned the
patents. l made thorough investiga-
tinn poinp nj ha IN ha h1t
tom and looking up all those who had
applied for or paid for patents. We
found some thirty, all of whom believed
that they had paid the money in to
government official who had accepted it
on behalf of the government None
of them had any understanding that
their money was being held as a per-
sonal deposit by Baldwin and all
thought they had secured their patents.
1T was on just this point, however,
that the Grand Jury, very creditable
body of thirteen men, failed to indict
Baldwin, holding that the moneys paid
did not belong to the government until
the patents We're. approved and that
consequently there had been no defal-
cation of government funds.
Besides this Baldwin held a letter
from Boyd at the head of his depart
ment authorizing him to hold such |
moneys as personal credits"
In contradistinction to this, another
land agent held letter from Boyd tell |
ing him not to so accept and hold |
money, and the tale goes of how this |
land agent finally, against instructions, |
accepted in full the payment of an i'm
Fortunate Japanese, giving what the
latter thought was a receipt in return.
When the Japanese however, later
tried to sell his land and produced the
receipt it turned out TO be merely a
promissory note from the land agent
who claimed he had been loaned the
w. X. Ragsdale, who collected rents
from landholders and appropriated the
same, was indicted and brought before
a jury of eight Hawaiians and four
white men, the result being a mistrial.
1t Is said that the jury would not have
hung had Baldwin been indicted, but
that the natives We're furious at the
white man going free while Ragsdale,
the part native, was indicted.
Since the lack of indictment against
Baldwin, however, fresh proof of de-
falcation has come to the hands of the
Attorney Generals department which
Will result in fresh action against him.
Auditor Fisher now holds papers and i.
receipts personally signed by Baldwin
as land agent which show the handling
Of $l,O42.90 paid in on purchase leases.
The books credit Baldwin with s26072
Of this amount, but $7S21S is still un-
accounted for.
Baldwin acknowledges the fact that ,,
the money is missing but says that a =,
clerk named Reese, who left for parts
unknown in 1901 and who had charge
of all the monies off the office, was in
structed by him to return this money
to those who had paid it in when the S
leases We're declared cancelled by the
office.
Cross-examined by Mr.. Prosser
Baldwin said that this was the first c
hat he knew of the shortage, that he c
lid not know where the money had
gone but Reese must have taken it, c
That he did not count his cash or keep
| cash book. He thought Reese was c
al right and he did not check him up !
when he left in 1901. This was the i
irst he knew of the shortage, which a
le supposed he would now have TO I
make good"
I'VE know whore Reese is" said Mr.. Y
'rosser, "and We are going TO get him q
lack here" h
According 10 the statements OF y
heaS short cash land agents added D
IIlorney General Andrews The gov "
lnmenl must have appointed a set ~
dwelling idiots, They kept no cash y
'ooh they lost their receipt stubs, they =
90 another man handle tho rash ana u
"a him lpaNe tho country without apr q
counting fnr lha money thfy Nera
lulilnH on trust
Baldwin saiiN lrnsspf resumed d
.ihHl When iirpaa cams ip hm ffpm a
innplplu ~ "a ppfh hr hallRlH. NaH n
a nnfi HnlNNRinF lhHl he eHfr heeEp h
hNlf fhHlHn Nc WpnfA ana Nri} n
MHe NWu hnh GNN in 1904 hs a
.AfN Ual ~ NhNl uNHhi in DH nn |ll