The Hawaiian gazette., 1905-03-07
THE AFRICAN
COMING OUT

And now the African In the County
Bill comes a little more prominently
into the high light. Indeed, II may yet
be that the coon will be altogether Nm
covered before the joint committee Of
the two houses Of the Legislature gets
the fence entirely torn down.
Mr.. Stewart did not consult me
about any changes in the County Act.
yesterday nor at any time subsequent
to the handing OF the bill to the Gov
ernor.' said Chairman Cooper OF the
County Act Commission yesterday.
After the bill went to the Governor.
did not understand that anybody had
any right to make any changes in 1t.
Before we submitted our final draft
to the Governor, Mr.. Stewart and my
self were authorized to nuke some
changes in the interest of Uniformity,
but when We did submit the finN draft,
II passed out of our bands.
MIR. Stewart did consult with me in
reference to a financial bill which 1t
was intended to prepare"
And that raises the direct question of
veracity between the two County Act
Commissioners. Stewart said at tho
committee meeting on Thursday night,
in answer to question by Commit
teeman Carl Smith of Hilo. that he had
changed the County Bill after II had
passed through the hands OF the Gov
cnor-and of the two Houses OF the
Legislature. for that matter, who gave
It to their Joint committeeman he said
that he had consulted with Mr.. Cooper
In reference to the changes made in "a
general way" adding that he would
see him again tomorrow"-that is oh
Friday.
Mr.. Cooper says, distinctly, that he
was not consulted with reference to any
changes In the County Act subsequent
ly to the time that the completed draft
was signed and given to the Governor,
either on Thursday or at any other
time, And so n bill that has been
submitted to the Governor and Us In
process of consideration by the duly
elected lawmakers of the Territory has
been permitted to be tempered with by
an outsider. sNsl 81 lS,N slAxm
Did you ever see anything to beat
that" said Senator Dowsett. himself u
member of the County Act Joint Com
mission made before the committee
meeting by the Commissioner. Il dis
covered. In looking over the county n
nancial bill introduced in the Senate
by Senator Achi, that 1t did not ac-
cord with the county bill as II came
from the commission. And when the
question came up in the committee
meeting Thursday night, Stewart was
forced to admit that he made the
change.
'The Commissions County bin con-
talns no provision whatever for raising
revenue"
The change that was made In the
county bill by the Commissioner and
read to the committee by Chairman
Holstein, who had the type written
copy while the committeeman, following
him on their printed copies, were puZ-
Zled at the reading, was very material.
The section as reported to the Legisa-
ture by the County Act Commits ion is
as follows:
Sec. 11S. The Tax Assessor and Tax
Collector shall, within the County for
which he shall have been elected, per-
form such duties as are required to be
lectors under the laws OF the Territory
and by this Act; and such other duties
as are required by this Act"
AS amended 1t reads as follows (after
the word elected" read)
ASSESS and and collect all taxes I'M
der any law relating to taxation which
may be hereafter passed by the Legis-
lature."
1t was said by the Commissioner who
admitted that he made the change, that
this referred to Senate BIZ 81, which
was drawn by Senator Achi and the
Commissioner. Senate Bill SO is a most
elaborate measure, filled with figures.
and almost as large as "A good sized
book. 1t is a bill that could not have
been drawn In time much short of a
month. and must, therefore. have been
in course of preparation, 1t would seem,
while the County Act was being pre-
pared. And yet no mention was made
of this financial bill, 20 far as anybody
has yet been able to find out, until it
was introduced in the Senate on Thurs
day-and on Thursday night the dis
covery was made that the County Act,
after II had been introduced and print
Gu W tut
been changed. 1t would be interesting
to know, IL 1t were essential that the
two measures should conform, why the
County Commissioners were all not
taken into confidence with reference
to the financial bill, and why the two
were not made to conform before the
County Act passed out OF the hands OF
the Commission and into the hands of
the duly elected representatives Of the
people?
The County Act, when 1t was intro
duced into the Legislature. became a
public document-at all stages a part
OF the public record. Only certain per-
sons are authorized by law to change
public records, and the changes must
be made In the duly legal manner.
The county act Joint Committee did
| had