The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1905-08-08
PAYROLL Law
AND some FACTS

There was some adverse comment
yesterday upon the fact that County
Treasurer Trent had stopped asking
the men who came UP to get their
warrants cashed whether they were
paid more than they had been in the
habit of getting, but, as matter of
fact, Treasurer Trent is not an in
vestigating officer. He discovered
though it may be explained amply, and
called the attention of the Supervisors
to it. He could not avoid doing that,
under the law. In fact, he would have
been negligent himself if he had not
done it.
And, as to the facts, he did question
many of the men, and although he
mentions the name of but one man in
his letter to the Supervisors, that one
being his concrete instance" he men
tions the fact that thirty-three MEN
altogether noticed the discrepancy.
The Territorial law under which the
payroll warrant of any department
may be given to the head of the de-
partment for disbursement among la
borers is Section 1898, Revised Laws
of Hawaii, and is as follows:
Warrants for payrolls of mechanics
and laborers, or others temporarily
employed. may be drawn in advance
and before the wages as shown by said
payroIls shall have been receipted for
| by said mechanics, laborers and
| others, but in every such case such
payrolls shall have endorsed thereon
the approval of the officer in whose de.
pjartment the liability or expense has
been incurred, and also the appropria-
| ton to which it is chargeable, and it
shall also be specially certified to by
the officer directly mourning the ex-
pense, that the services charged for
have been faithfully performed; and,
further, the auditor shall take re-
ceipt from the disbursing officer in
whose favor such warrant for said pay
rolls has been drawn, and shall re-
tain said receipt until said payrolls
shall have been properly receipted and
returned to him, and under no cir
cumstances shall the auditor hold more
| than one such receipt from the same
disbursng officer for payrolls under
the same item of appropriation"
| Now. while all the officials unite in
| disbelief of the statement of the la
borer who said that the men had sign
ed the. payrolls before they were
| filled out, the fact remains that it
would he entirely possible for men,
ignorant, crowded, pushed through on
pay day in a great hurry, to sign for
amounts that they had not received.
In other words, the man would be apt
to take his money, and not scrutinize
4, the payroll very thoroughly. merely
,, putting his name where he was told
| to put 1t. And, as the payrols OF rec
ord show no discrepancies, the only
! testimony as to whether this practice
was INDUCED in would be the testi-
mony OF the men. They would know
how much they had been paid. If their
| knowledge tailed with the payrolls.
then the suspicion Of graft would fall
to the ground.
Still another difficulty that will con-
front the Investigator is in the point
| as to whether, in working shifts of
men, some of the men worked more
than half month, and some of the
men worked less, AS Acting Governor
Atkinson suggests, 1t is always posi-
BILE for a man to have worked over.
time. Ard the only thing TO take for
that is the payroll.
And one more point. Were men car
ried on the payroll for political pur-
poses who did not work at all? The
payroll would still be straight. II that
were done. although wrong was being
lperpetrated.
Altogether, Supervisor Moore, the
only Democrat on the board, has now
become the man of the hour 1t is up
TO him. The public will watch with a
great deal of interest for the result Of
his investigation.