The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-06-07
NJ kEnNA
ON LOWREY CASE
Supreme Court Opinion in Re
Suit Against the
Territory.

+ba Snnreme Court of Hawaii to re
| cover from the Territory the sum o
s15 600 as an alternative Of the re
| conveyance of certain property convey
| Cd nv the American Board of Commits
sioners of Foreign Missions IN l549 tc
| the Hawaiian government, for the non
| fuIflment of conditions upon which tht
propertv was conveyed, Justice Mcken
| ma rendered the following opinion OF
the court sustaining Lowrey. Castle &
Wilmington were Lowrey's attorneys:
The contentious of the parties are
sharply in opposition as to the agree
men1 and the necessity AMI comDe"
tencv of extrinsic evidence to explain
it. Appellee contends that we are con-
fined to the letter of the agreement
and so confined it's conditions have
been fulfilled. In other words, that
sound literature and solid science"
are still cultivated, and that no rel1-
gious tenet or doctrine contrary TO
those heretofore inculcated by the Mis-
sion IS tduSnl. vi, " SApiC liz 49,
tention in language other than that OF
the agreement, that a school devoted
to one subject of secular science and
which excludes all religious teachlnS
was contemplated by or is permitted
by the agreement. Opposing these
views, appellants contend that a mere
technical school does not fulfill the
agreement; that the terms of the
a agreement require the 'inculcation of
general learning and knowledge ac-
companied with religious instruction in
accordance with the confession of faith
submitted to the Hawaiian govern
ment And, it is insisted, that If there
is anything doubtful in the agreement,
it may be interpreted by the circum-
stances which preceded it and the I'M
mediate and long-continued practise
under it. If we may resort to those
and that practise there
cannot be a shade of doubt as to the
intention of the parties 1t is insisted,
however, by the appellee that the
agreement is clear and unambiguous
and that it does not present a case for
the resort to extrinsic evidence. We
cannot concur with this view. There
Is quite d range Vi III SAAN
words Sound literature and solid
science To interpret or specialize
them and make definite application of
them would certainly receive aid from
the practise of the parties. 1t is con-
tended by appellant that there was
close connection between them and the
definite system of doctrine" which
was the central purpose of the Mis-
SION We, however. need not dwell
further upon this contention, though g.
plausible argument has been advanced
to sustain it, and we pass to the next
contention. The words of
the agreement are that the government
shall not teach or allow to be taught
any religious tenet or doctrine con-
trary to those heretofore inculcated by
the Mission. a summary of which Will
be found in the confession of faith
herewith enclosed - Were these
words all there was of prohibition and
purpose as to religion? May we be-
lieve that it became suddenly the pur-
pose to change an institution which
had had its impulse and foundation in
religious zeal to convert the Hawai-
ians to Christianity and to educate
young men to be teachers of religion"
to one simply literary and scientific
and nonsectarian? Had the belief of
the Mission in its form of Christian
faith become so Indifferent that it
would transfer seminary instituted
for the propagation of that faith with
no other condition than that contrary
tenets should not be taught? There is
not a syllable in this record to justify
u,
oered that we are considering a trans
action which occurred in the Hawaiian
Islands in 1S49, and by the conditions
Of that time were the acts of the par
ties induced. Besides, the agreement
Is not in formally executed paper. It
is found in correspondence, and is
and explained by the whole
Of the correspondence. And taking the
whole of it, there is very little aid from
extrinsic evidence needed to demon
strate its meaning and purpose.
The Mission reminds the Ministe, OF
Public Instruction that the seminary
was established in 1881, ito promote the
diffusion of enlightened literature and
throughout the islands,"
and that 1t had been increasingly
over, cherished and cared for
by the Mission, and that $4,000 had
been expended for its benefit. It was
stated that in consequence of debts in
Cured lin the prosecution of its labor
Of benevolence and mercy" the Amer
lean Board of Commissioners of For
e1gn Missions was compelled to
diminish its grants to each of the
Missions under its care, including the
Hawaiian mission, and that the latter
for that reason would be unable to
carry forward it's operati ms with the
vigor to be desired in all of its depart
ments of labor" In view of these facts,
1t was stated and believed that under
the circumstances the transfer of the
institution ''to the fostering care and
patronage of the government would
promote the highest interest of the
Hawaiian people" An offer was then
made to transfer the seminary with
the conditions which we have referred
to. A confession of faith was enclosed.
The government modified the proposal
by reserving the right to pay $4,000
as an alternative to the reversion Of the
property to the Mission If the govern
ment should not fulfill the conditions
of the grant. The modification was ac-
copied, and in a subsequent commune
cation new confession of faith was