The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-11-22
OWNERSHIP
Of ROADS
Government Must Take
Means to Acquire
Fee Simple.

! Judge P. L. weaver rendered a
decision yesterday in the Court of
Land Registration on the petition of
| Augusta c. Lansing. Some of the
boundaries given are corrected and the
decision sustains the claim of L. L..
McCandless to possession of a lease
of part of the property. 1t does not
sustain the Territory of Hawaii in its
pied by highways. Following are some
of the findings in the decision:
! The petitioner is owner in fee simple
of a tract of land called the iii of
Onouli, in the ahupuaa Of Waiahole,
District of Koolaupoko, Island of Ca
hu, subject to a lease made by Patrick
Gleason, a former owner. to L. L. Nc
Candless of Honolulu, dated Feb. %,
1901, which covers the iii of Onouli and
also 290 acres of land in a royal pa
tent to Papahu situated in Waikane.
There is a reservation to the lessor of
five acres of kula land in the lease
mentioned. The lease is for a term
of Is years from Jan. 5, 1904, at an an
nual rental of $500.
The court does not think that the
contention of the government-that
the fee simple passes upon five years
user by the public without acts of
ownership performed by the owners
sustained by the authorities or by rea-
son applied to this case. Even if con-
stitutional,'' the court says, when
construed as contended for, 1 do not
think that the Legislature intended the
Act to apply to cases of abandonment,
so that the fee simple should pass. The
Legislature intended to specify what
title should be taken by the Territory
by deed or upon condemnation proceed
ings, and to set the title for which
compensation should be paid"
Again: This taking over roads does
not interfere with the taking over of
public easement unsurveyed when
the same has been abandoned to the
public, as in this case If a greater |
title than the easement be required the
statute provides means by which to |
acquire the fee simple and gives au-
thority to take the fee simple if the
authorities desire to exercise their au-
thority.''
AS occasion for going into the road
question at great length, as 1t does, |
the court says the case is a typical
one of many that have come before it, |
and the title to about all the public
highways in the Territory and most
lands are affected by the contention OF
the Territory.
A decree is promised in accordance
with the decision when the petitioner
amends her map and description in ac-
cordance with the boundaries indicat-
ed in the decision, with approval by
the court surveyor and submission to
the court for it's approval.
Costs are awarded equally against
the petitioner and the contestant, Nc
Candless
Castle & Wilmington appeared for
the petitioner, A. G.. NJ. Robertson for
McCandless and F. w. Milverton for
the Territory. The land in question
has an area of about sixty-five acres.
OPINION ON DEEDS.
Judge Weaver yesterday rendered an
ex parte decision, answering inquiries
of Registrar Merriam relative to two
certain deeds, which were drawn in
such a manner as to occasion some
doubt in his mind regarding his right
to accept them for registration. The
deeds are found all right. Full name
or names if more than one," the deci-
sion says, treferS to the unusual con-
dition here that certain persons like
the Chinese have more than one
name, each one consisting of more
than one member