The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1908-07-03

of the States. Territories, and the Dis
trict of Columbia, with such observa-
lions thereon as he may deem neces- !
sary for the information of Congress-
In aid of the provisions of that Act, !
statutes have been passed by various
States and Territories setting forth
what persons shall compose the milf
tia of the State or Territory as the
case may be. and providing amongst
other things that it shall be the duty
of the assessors of taxes and other Of
ficers named to prepare and revise
roll of the persons available in the
State or Territory for military duty in
accordance with the provisions of the
Act of Congress. 1t is the obvious
duty OF this Territory to adopt similar
provisions and to make it obligatory
upon some officer in a reasonable po-
sition to do so to provide the Adju-
tant-General of the National Guard OF
the Territory with a roll of persons
subject to militia duty The Commits
sion recommends the passage of an
act requiring of the tax assessor the
preparation of the militia roll (See
Exhibit 30, pages .., sections -.
GOVERNMENT ASSETS, INVEN-
TORIES OF.
! II has been suggested to the Com
mission that a new duty be imposed
on the tax assessors, namely that OF
| listing and placing a value, but not
for taxation purposes, on all govern
ment property, whether actually in use
by the Territory or not, and whether
used by a county or any other politi-
cal subdivision While this matter
may not come particularly within the
jurisdiction of this Commission as it
does not strictly refer to the revenues,
it does relate to the duties of the as
SCISSOR. 1t concerns the taxpayers be-
cause at the present time there is nc
machinery for listing and vaiuing the
property owned by the government
The information which would be fur
nished by such listing and record is
sought for by the purchasers of gov
eminent bonds. If it were annually
compiled and the territory or politica
subdivision desired to place bonds OF
the market the data would show no
only the tangible assets of the govern
ment, but also that the Territory o
, County was running its affairs in {
business-like fashion. Another reason
why the information should be made
available is this. The people of this
Territory have provided in the laws
strict accountability of their servants
, for the care and expenditure of money
There is no such accountability re
B. quired of them by the law or by public
opinion as TO the other government
property in their charge. 1t is no
reasonable to expect that the ideas o
the people will change in this regart
: without a process of education. Tn
first step in this education undoubteu
: ly is to ascertain what the people own
: then, and only then can the public Off
> GERS in whose charge the propert
rests be asked questions concerning
their trusteeship Numerous instance
!, might be mentioned where property O
y the government has not been used o
.. has been lost, dissipated or forgotten
y all unnecessarily and to the detrimen
g of the taxpayer.
: For the above reasons the Commits
i sion recommends that the heads of tn
> various departments of the Territor
u be required to annually make return t
= the various assessors of the Govern
ment property in their charge, at it
y. lull cash value, and that the valuation
II placed on each item be subject to al
> teratiOn by the tax assessor for tn
purpose of such inventories and tina
. these inventories be forwarded by tn
L various assessors to the treasurer.
Because of the delicate relation be
. tween the Territory and the variou
,; Counties, and the fact that the coun
u ties are many of them in the posses
. sion of and enjoying the use of tel
ritorial property, the Commission rec
- ommends that this same duty of pre-
pairing a return with valuations,
> placed on the chairman Of the Boar
u of Supervisors in each county. AS tn
u Territory is accountable to the Unite
p States for the public lands, the publ
y buildings and other real property use
- by the counties should be listed an
u their value ascertained, lest this a,
u, countability be forgotten. The tai
d payer ought to know what the value
II of the roads and other public worl
s. which his money is constructor
" There has been no inventory made
s. the public lands since annexation.
10 is believed that the adoption of Il
y above suggestion will cure the preset
Is lack of information about the LAM
~ and their capacity and their valu
Sc Other reasons might be advanced
p the Commission why this suggestiC
Is should be adopted, but the Commi
~ sion feels that the above are sufficier
r and therefore recommend the form
Id