The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-01-14
THE COUNTY ACT IS KNOCKED OUT.

out by counsel as being, according tc
their contention, void or Ineffective III
whole or in part for one reason or an
other. Without protesting on the one
hand to enumerate fully or ON the other
to confne ourselves strictly to the pro-
reasons advanced by them in each in
stance, the general line of thought on
| this branch of the case may be illus
trated by the following statement OF
arguments: That certain provisions are
kxoid or ineffective in whole or in part
because they are made to depend upon
! laws which were assumed to be still III
! force but which had in fact been re-
| pealed Gas, for instance, Sections ASA,
| ASS, relating to contested elections, as
shown by In re Election Contest, dnte) /;
/ or because they purport to transfer to
certain county or Territorial officers
!, powers and duties which were assumed
/ to have been in certain other officers
whose offices, however, had been abolish
ed by the Organic Act or whose duties
had been transferred either by the Or
ganic Act or by our own laws to other
| officers Gas, for instance, Sections 365,
/ 3o4, which purport to transfer to other
| officers the powers and duties of the
| Minister of the Interior relating to
medicine, surgery, pharmacy, dentistry
and prisons) ;~or becaue they relate to
! purely Territorial matters in contraven-
ton of the provision of the Organic
i Act that each law shall embrace but one
| subject which shall be expressed in its
! title, Gas, for instance, Sections $50
| 3oI, 483-487, 4o4, relating to the Ter
ritorial Board of Public Institutions, as
/ shown insDole VS.. Cooper, ante) or be-.
} Al.
i reasons (as, for instance, Sections 3o5-
! 4oI. 4o5, 400 sol, which place the Ter
ritorial penitentiary in the control of
the Territorial Board of Public Institu-
tons and provide for a transfer of
powers and duties from the Minister of
the Interior-not to go into the question
whether the subject of a Territorial
penitentiary itself could properly be in
Guided in the Act or how far the mat
ters of prisons, criminal procedure, sell
fences, etc, in general might be affected
by the failure of the provisions in ques-
tion) or because they purport to alter
laws that cannot be altered at all by the
Territorial Legislature, the power to
alter which IS reserved exclusively to
Congress by the Organic Act Gas, for
instance, Sections I7I-I72, 45o-45I, re-
lating to the settlement of boundaries
and the returns, canvass and certificates
of election in the case of Territorial
Senators and presentatives-not to
consider whether the latter subject could
properly be included in county act at
all); or because they violate provisions
of the Organic Act or other Acts of
Congress relating to the Territories pro-
hibiting special legislation in regard to
counties, as, for instance. the proviso
of Section I relating to the County of /
Kalawao, and Section II relating to the
Supervisors of the County of Oahu.
But we will assume for the purposes
of this case either that all such pro- /
visions are valid and effective, except SO ]
or else, that, if invalid or
ineffective, they may, important though
some of them are, all fall without caus- .
ing the Act as a whole to fall
There is, however, one subject that, :
in our opinion, is improperly included in
the Act, without the provisions in re-
gard TO which it cannot be presumed
that the Legislature would have passed
the rest of the Act. That is the subject
of Territorial taxation-the very means
upon which the Territorial government
depends for its life We will assume
that the Territorial Board of Equaliza-
ton might properly be constituted as it
is in terms by this Act. notwithstanding
the provisions of Section 80 of the Or
ganic Act Still the subject of Terri
torial taxation is one that, like the sub
lect of the Territorial Board of Public
Institutions, cannot be included in the
Act, IN view of the provisions of Section
IS of the Organic Act relating to titles
Of laws.
The Act makes radical changes in the
system of Territorial taxation. 1t may
almost be said to provide new system.
Among other things, it provides for the
equalization of valuations of real prop
erty among the several counties, as far
IS regards the Territorial tax, by
purely Territorial Board. This board
also is required to determine the rate
If the Territorial tax upon both real and
personal property. and in case of its
failure to do so, the rate is fixed at
i've mills on the dollar. Sections I86, ,
III, 22z.