The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-04-12
HOUSE HAS BITTER
QUARREL OVER MAT TER
Of TYPEWR|T|NC WORK
Speaker Talks of Graft
andthe Stenographer
Wants to Resign
Trouble Not Over.

designations were thick in the air
in the morning session of the House
Saturday. Stenographer Lloyd sent
two letters of resignation to the Speak
er, neither one being accepted; the
Speaker himself talked of resigning;
Representative Cohen stated that he
was considering resigning from the FL
nance Committee; Representative Rice
handed in his resignation as member
Representative Douthitt has issued
warning that he will not only resign
as chairman of the Judiciary Commit
tee. but will likewise resign his posi-
tion as member of the House it the
unanimous reports of his committee are
to be rejected by the House majority.
There was also talk of ssgraft and
Gntimations both on the floor of the
House during debate and in the lob
bies afterwards that much more could
be told than had been told. The stem
ographey announced that If he wanted
to he could a tale unfold, while the
Speaker states that the stenographer is
incompetent The members from the
Fourth are by majority declaring
that the Speaker is a tyrant and that
the House Rules gag is used altogether
too much, while the Speaker is em-
phatie IN declaring that so far as he
is concerned the money in the public
treasury is there as a trust and not to
be squandered by the House for the
sake Of paying political debts.
The whole thing arose out of the
same thing that made trouble last ses.
sion-the extras of the stenographer.
For several days there has been trouble
brewing. The stenographer and those
who had him appointed have consider
ed that he was not getting his share
of the piekings. Early in the session
he was ordered by the Speaker to pre-
pare transcripts of the dolngs of the
House. as noted in his stenographic re-
port, and have these ready to use as
the minutes of the proceedings. He
prepared vouchers for this, deeming it
extra work, but the vouchers Were dis
allowed and his friends state that now
he has to sit at one side and see the
clerks of the Journal Committee using
his minutes and getting paid for type
writing them. while all the time he re-
members what a fine thing the stenog-
rapher of the House in the last session
had, trebling his ten-dollar day
salary.
Then there are typewriting jobs be-
ing given out to the stenographers of
the various departments-jobs that
heretofore had come mostly in the way
of the official stenographer. This was
too bad, especially when the Secre-
tary of the Territory refused what
few vouchers he could manage to get
past the eagle eye of the Speaker and
the scrutiny of the chairman of the
Committee on Expenditures and Ac-
counts.
Things elimaxed Saturday, when At
fonso presented a resolution on the sub
Ject which allowed the stenographer
extra pay for preparing the minutes
of the House, and dated the time when
the payment should begin from the
first day OF the session. The resolu-
ton, which had been passed around
among number of the members for
the past several days, came as a sur
prise TO the Speaker, and stirred his
ire considerably. 1t was:
Resolution.
"Be it Resolved, by the House of
Representatives of the Territory of Ha-
waii of the Fifth Legislature:
''That the stenographer of the House
of Representatives be and is hereby al
lowed the following compensation fol-
services rendered:
Fifteen cents per folio for tran
script and draft of official daily min.
utes;
Five cents per page for carbon
copies of the same delivered to the
Journal Committee;
Five cents per page for carbon
copy of the same delivered to the See
rotary of the Territory of Hawaii.
'Be it further Resolved, That the
Committee on Accounts and Public Elk
penditures shall honor all claims fol
the above services beginning with the
first and ending with the last day 81
the present session.
Experience With Graft.
The Speaker made a long statement
concerning the matter as soon as Gas
tro moved to table the resolution a:
Continued on Page Two.)