The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-04-03
HIT CARTER
PRETTY HARD
Hilo Board of Trade
Men are Stirred to
Wrath.

Inc ftltO 1eIdlu fiihto 1AC OOAiS
spondence between the Governor. and
the Hilo Board of trade, and it is some
what spicy. In this correspondence the
Governor charges the Hilo men with
acting in bad faith, and in return the
Hiloites say that the Governor insulted
them. 1t rests there, for the present.
The first letter read was dated De-
eember 10, last, and was from the Gov
ernor, evidently in reply to one that
had been sent him. In that he said he
had learned from a conversation with
Mr.. Mason, first ce-president of the
board, that inquiries had been sent out
by the board to the homesteaders and
complained that the administration had
not been given these replies and re-
quested that the replies be sent down.
On December % the board wrote TO
the Governor that it could not keep
faith with the homesteaders and send
the information to the Governor. 1t
had been given out to the homesteaders
that the replies would be treated con-
fidentially and for that reason only it
would not forward them.
This was the communication that
seemed to jar the Executive quite d
little, for Immediately afterward, un-
der date of December %, last, he ex-
pressed what he called ''disappolnt-
ment'' He said that he was not in
hearty accord with the action of the
Board of Trade at first, but if it was
public spirited enough to take up the
matter, he decided, after conference
with the Commissioner of Lands, that
he could afford to wait for such infor-
nation.
He saws: 81 cannot conceive how
your organization could conclude that
replies, obtained under cover of Sc
crecy, could be of any value. Were
those answers from wouldbe settlers,
who were deliberately cheating the gov
eminent and willing to admit it to you,
and you willing to receive the intorma-
tion under promise of secrecy? Is your
board,' he asks, composed of public
spirited citizens, willing to counter
ance defrauding the government in any
way2 Are the standards of its mem
bers SO low that they would enter into
any such agreement?''
The board replied at some length to
this letter. con October 6th,' it's
secretary writes by order, 'this body
requested you to suspend action IN
ejectment of settlers pending an in
vestigation which we had undertaken.
In your reply of October 18th you re-
fused, and subsequent to your inter
view with our vice president you con-
tinued to issue instructions to the sub
agent of public lands, as he Informed
us, to proceed against certain settlers.
The letter continues: cit was well
known fact before the investigation be-
gan that there were a number of in
stances in which it was impossible for
the settler to live up to the residence
clause and it was the desire of the
board to learn why. From the very
nature of the case, then, it is impossi-
BILE that we should place our informa-
ton thus obtained at the disposal of
the government, for had it been known
beforehand that we proposed to do sc
our questions would not have been an
swered and the whole investigation
would have failed, while to do so now
would be to betray those who cooper
ated with us in good faith. This, we
are sure, upon second thought, the ad
ministration viii not ask. Nor can we
permit the administration to suppose
that in refusing to divulge this con
fidential information the Board OF
/ Trade is compromising a felony, fol
while nearly all those replying to oul
inquiries acknowledged that they haC
not compled with the residence clause
as interpreted by the Attorney Gen
eral, they had complied with it as il
was interpreted by the government of
fcials at the time the land was takeI
| up
Regarding the charge by the settler
! that ''officials of the government were
| acting arbitrarily and the failure of thu
| board to either condemn or vindicat'
| them,' the letter states that the cas-
chad not been referred to it for set
Element, nor was the administration OF
| trial. - In closing the board says
"However. we are of the opinion tina
| even the acts of a Governor are opel
at all times to criticism. Nor does i
! happen that YOUR Office carries with i
the right to insult with impunity mem
bers of regularly organized commercial
! bodies. The Board of Trade of Hill
has no Uout,cal Ispr at ems. On tn
| contrary, it is sInerl-' c. /" or, apiza
ton with an eve single toward the up
lifting of the town and district o
HiIo and placing it where its geograph
zeal position and the intelligence o
the people indicate that it shoul
stand. -
The letter concludes: ''The Boar
of Trade # Hilo viii always aid yo
in your administration Of affairs o
this island when your actions seem t
us to be for public good. On the othe
hand, the views expressed by US ar
entitled to that courteous considers
ton from the Governor which is du
any body of American citizens, Will
an insult to us, such as is contained i
your letter, is an insult to the con
munity we represent