The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1905-04-04
HIT CARTER
PRETTY HARD.

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-
cember 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 conversation with
Mr.. Mason, first vice-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-
auested 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 1T
would not forward them.
This was the communication that
seemed to jar the Executive quite II
little, for Immediately afterward, un-
der date of December 2S, last, he ex-
pressed what he called " "disappoint-
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 a conference
with the Commissioner of Lands, that
he could afford to wait for such infor-
nation.
He says; 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 would-be settlers,
who were deliberately cheating the gov
ernment and willing to admit it to you,
and you willing to receive the intorma-
tion under promise of secrecyf Is your
board,' he asks, composed Of public
spirited citizens, willing to counten-
ance defrauding the government in any
wayi Are the standards of its mem-
bers so low that they would enter into
any such agreementP
The board replied at some length to
this letter. ''O9 October 6th," its
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: "It was a 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-
tion thus obtained at the disposal of
the government, for had it been known
beforehand that we proposed to do so
our questions would not have been an
swered and the whole investigation
would have failed, while to do so now
would he to betray those who. cooper
ated with us in good faith. This, we
are sure, upon second thought, the ad'
ministration will not ask. Nor can we
permit the administration to suppose
that in refusing to divulge this con-
fidential information the Board of
Trade is compounding a felony, for
while nearly all those replying to our
inquiries acknowledged that they had
not computed with the residence clause,
as interpreted by the Attorney Gen
eral, they had complied with it as it
was interpreted by the government Of
ficials at the time the land was taken
up"
Regarding the charge by the settlers
that "officials of the government were
acting arbitrarily and the failure of the
board to either condemn or vindicata
them," the letter states that the case
chad not been referred to it for set
tlement, nor was the administration on
trial" In closing the board says:
" However, we are of the opinion that
even the acts of n Governor are open
dt All tunes 10 CRITICISM. NOT does IL
happen that your Office carries with it
the right to insult with impunity mem
bers of regularly organized commercial
bodies. The Board of Trade of Hilo
has no poul,cal ispi at Cns. On the
contrary, it is sl"pl-' civic or .iu;za-
ton with an eye single toward the up
lifting of the town and district of
Hilo and placing it where it's geograph.
ical position and the intelligence of
the people indicate that it should
stand. -
The letter concludes: "The Boa-d
of Trade If IIilo will always aid you
in your administration of affairs on
this island when your actions seem to
us to be for public good. On the other
hand, the views expressed by us are
entitled to that courteous considera-
tion from the Governor which is due
any body of American citizens, while
an insult to us, such as is contained in
your letter, is an insult to the COM
munity we represent"
YOU RUN NO RISK.
You need not hesitate to buy Cham
berlain's Cough Remedy. II you are
anA