The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-12-20
INSANE ASYLUM
CONTRACT MUST
BE CARRIED OUT
Contractors Refuse to Arbitrate and the Matter
Is Now Up to the Officials OF the
Territory.

and Construction Company has refused
the proposition made in behalf of Su-
nerintendent of Public Works Holloway
to submit its grievances in the matter
of the Insane Asylum contract to arbi-
tration.
The case. therefore, comes back to
Mr.. Holloway to make the next move.
1T will be in the form of an order to be-
gin work at once on the contract to
construct the main building OF the asy-
lum under penalty of declared forfeit
ure of contract and the resulting suit
on the bond given by the contracting
concern. There seems, under the law,
no other course open to the officers of
the Government.
The refusal of the contracting COM
pany to submit its claims to arbitra-
tion came in the form of a letter ad-
dressed to Governor Carter yesterday.
Tn reply he wrote that he conld do
nothing further in the matter and
would therefore refer the whole case
back to superintendent Holloway, with
a recommendation to proceed according
TO the advice of Attorney General An
sdrews.
The Insane Asylum contract has been
pending now before the Department of
Public Works for number of months
past. Only a few weeks since, becom-
ing impatient that work had not been
begun under the contract, Mr.. Hollo-
way wrote to the contractors ordering
them to begin work forthwith, and in
forming them that if this were not done
he would take the next step under the
law. Mr.. Holloway had already con-
suited the Attorney General upon the
matter and had been informed that it
was entirely within his power to can
Gel the contract and proceed for re-
covery on the bond. In answer to his
letter the contracting company repre-
sented that in its view he had made an
impossible specification in the contract,
and asked for time to hear from it's
representative in San Francisco, Mr..
Amweg, relative to the merits of sew
eraI machines for making concrete
blocks as nearly as possible like those
called for in the contract.
The contractors were granted until
the coming of the next mail from the
coast by Mr. Holloway, and. in the
meantime, carried their case before
Governor Carter. presenting a long
statement of what was claimed to be
facts from the contractors side. They
were given full hearing by Governor
Carter and the chief executive has gone
into the case with the utmost thorough
ness, gathering testimony from all the
parties at interest, or who have ever
had even remote connection with the
asylum contract.
1t was Immediately following the
hearing of the representatives of the
contractors on last Thursday afternoon
InaIs the CSoNeTHOE SODlllltCo ~ NAO
representatives of the company Mr..
Holloway's proposition to submit to ar
bitration the only point left by the
American-Hawaiian people in doubt
upon their own representation to the
Governor That was the point as to
whether. in the drawn specifications for
the Insane Asylum that clause which |
provided for the kind of concrete bricks |
to be used in the walls was ambiguous.
Mr.. Holloway agreed to leave the de-
termination of this point to any two
competent men in the Territory of Ha-
wall. Upon this statement being made
to the representa- tives of the contract
ing company they expressed their will |
ingness 10 have the matter so decided, |
but left the Governor with the impress |
sion that the hitch was in the choice |
of arbitrators They were given until
Saturday afternoon to cable Mr.. Am
veg upon this point, the Governor TAX |
ing upon himself the responsibility for
this forty-eight hours of delay.
Instead of naming their arbitrators
the representatives of the contracting