The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-10-02
LAND LAW OPINIONS
FROM THEIR ISLANDS

, took up thirteen acres Of government
land, got his title to IL in 1897, and
sold It in 1899. He was specially inter
ested in the lease with right of pur-
case. He objected TO the law that
makes it obligatory upon the settler to
maintain his home ON the land contin-
uously after the termination of one
year. He should not be compelled to
live on it continuously until the expiry
+, of FIVE years. These were the condi.
tions in the new lease introduced by
Governor Frear, and he quite approved
of them. That was the only way in
which poor man cvald get settled on
the land Instead of a residence clause
during the first five years, there should
be an Improvement or cultivation
clause, 80 that there would be evidence
of bona fide intention to live on the
land.
The Chairman What is your idea
about the time that should elapse be-
fore man can finally prove upl The
intention now is to compel man to be
on the land for ten years.
/ think ten years is bit too long
for man at my time of life. Six
ears would be about right have
no Obiec tiOn 10 ten or twenty years,
but six would be about right. The auc-
/ ton clause IN the new agreement is
Objectionable. The government should
not act as a money making institution,
but should act on paternal principles.
The auction clause gives an advantage
to the rich man. l would like to see
the principal of "first come frst serv-
ed' adopted, as was done in Minnesota
n few weeks ago. / can speak for ten
or twelve settlers at 0laa, who have
no objection whatever to the lease with
right of purchase. In reply to the
chairman, he said that the ballot prin-
ciple of allotting lands would be all
right. He added that in what he had
said about the time of non. compulsory
residence, he referred to land with tim
Der or underground on it, requiring
clearing. If the land was ready for
cultivation, occupation could be insisted
upon from the time of taking posses.
sion, that is, one year after taking
it up.
q. H. Wears Gives His Views.
G. II. Wears, as secretary to the Hilo
Board of Trade, attended in response to
invitation of the Commission, and stat
ed that in 1904 the Board of Trade was
asked to give its opinion on the land
laws of the Territory. There had been
some question of the Interpretation of
the terms of the right of purchase lease.
| Circular letters were sent out to the
homesteaders, and number of cues
tions were asked relating to the home
stead law. A committee of the Board
of Trade, which comprised DR.. Hayes
and ]. e. Ray, compiled the report.
He had pleasure in handing in the
original report and in giving the Com
mission the privilege of making a copy
of it.
Being asked to give his opinion of
the law, Mr.. Wears said one thing that
4 impressed him more than anything else
was that the residence clause of the
homestead law was not half strict
enough. The object of this law wa:
to get farmers on the soil and max,
, it produce something of value. He die
not think it was intended that clerks
and others in town should be able tc
take up country land and speculate
with it. The only way to prevent such
speculation is to make the residence
clauses more strict than they are. Peo
, pie in Hilo have been able to home
: stead on lands seven or eight miles
away. They live continuously in Hilo
and only visit the land on Sundays anG
/ holidays. A number of them, after
, they have got their patent, turn it ovel
to corporation.
! The Chairman Would you allow {
. resident of town to take up land an(
hold it without residence conditions TO
: three years, and then make continuou
3 residence compulsory all the time, o
4. for six months of the year7
; Wears: That would not bring an,
y more white farmers to the Territory
/ would have the residence claus,
L stricter than that. / think it would b,
well for the government to give lands
, to settlers, and charge no rent or inter
est for a few years. If not that, ther
the settlers should be charged only {
nominal sum for the first two years.
G.. H. Williams States Facts and opin
ions.
!. G. II. Williams prefaced his remarks
by saying that he presumed that thu
desire was to do away with speculation
in government lands. In his opinion
the mainstay of speculation is allowing
a man to homestead, without living OF
the land. If you allow a man to taxi
up more than one homestead, you ar
robbing posterity. Some people hav
repeated four or five times.
Mr.. Williams gave illustrations of tn
methods of repeaters. He went on t
say that the question of appraisemen
is rather complicated one; the land
vary so much in quality that no Axe
rule can apply. He considered that tn
law as to settlement associations wa
the most un-American of the land law
The associations choose their own lane
and neither the government nor tn
Land Commissioner has any say in tn
matter. After the land has been hand
ed over. the association takes no re
sponsibility whatever for the fulfillin
of the conditions. Some of the settler
may comply with their agreements, bu
others do not even begin, and the GOV
eminent is powerless to compel thei
or TO cancel the association. 1t ca
only cancel individual agreements. II
thought it unfair that six person
should have the power to pick out Ian