The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-04-17


large proportion Of the food sup
plies, as we'll as clothing and building
! material. is brought from the main
land, notice from a report of the
Department of Commerce and Labor
that breadstuffs to the amount Of ST.
100000 in value were imported into.
Hawaii from the mainland during
seven months in 1907. other items ara
as follows: Eggs, $4,000; fish. S117ooOs|
hay. $12l.00O: poultry. $4,000; butter.|
$4,000: meat. and dairy fmportations.
1878, 600: vegetables. $4,000, and pm
Der. s556,O0O. All of these were for al
seven months period only.
The result is that II costs very much
more TO live in Hawaii than on the
mainland, and | think that that should
be a factor in considering this prob
lem. The salaries OF some officials arel
small, beyong all reason. notably thosel
OF the judges Of the circuit court
They have very important duties.
They have In charge the entire nisil
prfus business. They have iarlsdictsonl
of all the chancery cases and also an
the probate cases
The Chairman. You have no prof.
| bate court?
|
court: that is, no court solely OF prob-l
ate jurisdiction. The circuit judgeaN
throughout the islands perform the1
duties of probate judges.
! Mr.. Higgins. What Is the white pnp~A
ulation of Hawaii?
Mr. Hatch. I should say that tnel
white population OF Hawaii IL 10000
exclusive of the Portuguese. There arag
$4,000 Portuguese.
| Mr.. Higgins What part OF that 1s. 4.
600 white people own their own homes z.
| Mr.. Hatch. / could say that larEof
proportion of those peop,e own theirH
own homes
( The Chairman. How many Of themsb
exclusive of the Portuguese. own theirH
own homes?
1 Mr. Hatch. A large proportion. TheN
white population. including the Pcrt-N
ugdese. are the class of people whof
own their own homes The Asiatics{
do not own their own homes.
| Mr. Higgins. There are about 60.o00H
Asiatics
Mr. Hatch. Something like that.
The Chairman. When you come toI
revise your remarks, you might insert'
those figures, so as to give us that inTN
formation as fully as YOU can
| Mr.. Hatch. do not understand how
these circuit court judges can live onf
salary of $4,000 year.
The secretary Of the Territory alad.
is an unpaid official. He gives hiaE
whole time to the duties of his ofiicel
and acts as governor in the. absence:
of the governor, which occurs at timeAM
Mr.. Higgins. do not suppose thereE
! is governor In any one OF the Statea.
of the United States who begins, "a
| live within the limits of his salaryN
and yet they are not extravagant. Tho
State of Connecticut pays its governoLH
salary of $4,000. and the term Is fou
two years. / have no doubt ths3
costs many times that amount TO main-
tain his office. I think that Is truei
of almost every State in the Union.
Mr.. Hatch. With us conditions ard
different We have no large class OF:
men of independent means which car
be drawn upon to fill the offices. IN
/ Hawaii they have to be taken from tho
men who are earning a living; the3.
have TO give up their business TO ac'%
cept Office, ana after expiration Of ths
term they are at a disadvantage III
resumfng their former business.
Mr.. Higgins. is it not true. that III
the islands of Hawaii the people ara
eithor very rich or very poor?
I Mr.. Hatch. I do not think that tina
is the case. We have only very few
rich people there. Their wealth is SINAI
In proportion 10 the wealth Of rich Deo
pie on the mainland.
The supreme court is a tribuna4
which has always occupied a position
of very great Importance in Hawafik
In the old days, under the monarchyM
the supreme court was a very Import
ant branch Of the Government. Dur
! ing those days, II had an international
recognition The Judges were then ap&
+ PORTED for life Foreign consulal&
courts were never imposed upon Ha
wall in consequence Of the high stand q
ing Of the Hawaiian tribunals. We
4 in Hawaii, are anxious that the big
standard Of her courts should be main
tanned and that reasonable salarie
should be allowed, as one means Of az
tanning this.
/ The United States Federal judge 8
much overworked and has a very im
/ portant Jurisdiction. / have here, fror
the district attorney Of the United
/ States. a statement that at the presen
term the entire term will be taken U
/ with criminal business alone. The adj
4
duties of this court. =
! Mr. Higgins. I had an idea thai
there was no very high proportion 4
| crime in Hawaii.
! Mr. Hatch There Is quite consld
! cradle number of criminal cases In TN
court. ranging from murder on shipf&
board to violations Of the internal
revenue laws.
/ Mr.. Higgins. ! am surprised to heaW
/ that the business is taken up by thEx
/ criminal cases, because ! thought the#
were a very peaceable people. That
I the conclusion had reached.
/ Mr.. Hatch. The natives are yer
! peaceable and law-abiding. The Grim
! inal element Is found chiefly among I'll
! foreign born.
I The Chairman. I would suggest tha'
Mr. Hatch and Mr.. Mcclellan enlargl
upon this in the record and give VI
such information as they can upon til
subject for our use when II is take
up before the full committee.
Thereupon the committee adjourned