The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-04-01

| the receipt of your letter of Sd ultimo.
, lncloslng and commenting to favora BILE
consideration copy of q communication
! addressed 10 YOU by the Secretary of
! the Territory OF Hawaii. presenting rea-
sons why certain land al Honolulu. des-
ignated as the barracks lot. and resery-
ed by Executive order for the use of
this Department. should be returned to
its original condition as unreserved
/ public land. in order that it may be
used by the Territory for armorv pur-
poses. in connection with the mainten-
ance of its militia.
Replying thereto, / beg to inform
You that this matter was carefully con-
sldered IN November last, when the
Chief of Staff reported that the lot
could not well be transferred at that
time, nor until we have definitely To-
Gated troops that are to be stationed in
the vicinity of Honolulu; also the pro-
posed defenses at Pearl Harbor He
also called attention to the fact that
the lot will be useful, and utilized bv
the government during the period of
construction of barracks and quarters
for two companies of coast artillery,
which were then under way, or about
to be begun, on the military reserva-
ton about two miles from Honolulu.
General Macarthur. commanding the
Pacific division, also reported strongly
against the REIMBURSEMENT of the prop
erty.
In transmitting the views of the mil !
itary authorities to Governor Carter, in
reply to his letter, similar to that of
Secretary Atkinson, I took occasion to
express the opinion that the condition
of things required that there should be
no action taken at that time, but that,
from personal observation, it was nv
opinion that the land could properly
be given up for armory purposes, as re
Quested. as soon as other arrangements
were made for the housing of govern |
ment troops.
1t may be added that the Quarter |
master General of the Army, to whom |
your letter was referred, has Just sub
mltted report, as follows:
The land herein referred to has
been occupied by the Quartermaster'
Department for various military pur-
poses since the date of cession of the
Republic of Hawaii to the United
States, and is now used as station for
the depot quartermaster at Honolulu A
number of buildings have been erected
on the land, which are used by the
Quartermaster s Department for stor-
age of supplies and offices.
fThe area of land owned or controlled
by the War Department in the city of
Honolulu is far from sufficient for it's
needs in ease of any important military
movements. During the period of ac-
tive movements of troops incident to
the instruction in the Philippine Is
lands in 1899 and 1900, it frequently
became necessary to land troops arriv-
ing in transports while the ships were /
undergoing repairs or renovation, and
the barrack lot was the only place, ex-
cept the pubnc streets and parks of the
city, where they could be assembled l.
and held until returned to their ships,
unless private grounds were leased for
the purpose. This is only one of many
uses for which the lot referred to has
been and may be made available.
Under the circumstances, this office
is of the opinion that it is of the great
est Importance to the military service
of the United States that possession
and control of the barrack lot should
not be relinquished by the War De-
partment.
And the Chief of Staff now adds:
''In the opinion of the Chief of Staff I
the barrack square referred to may be .
to its original condition as {
unreserved public land on completion !
of the post near the city, which is now
under construction, the date of compile
ton being estimated by the Chief of
Staff to be June 80, 1906
Very respectfully,
VIM. II. TAFT,
Secretary of War. !
The Honorable, the Secretary of the