The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1909-02-17

of this department has been Office work,
mainly advisory of the other repart-
ments, and yet large amount of court
work also has been done. The depart
ment has handled 466 criminal cases,
having done most of the work before
: the grand juries in all the circuits and
, much of the work before trial juries in
circuits other htan the first. 1t has
appeared also in 474 civil cases. Its
, work has included in part 13 cases in
the United States Supreme Court, 2 in
T the United States Circuit Court of APP
peals, Z in the United States District
Court sc in the Territorial Supreme
Court 80 in the circuit courts, 45 In
the land court, SO in tax appeal courts
and numerous others in district courts.
In these cases large amounts have been
! recovered or secured to the govern
ment, titles of lands have been settled
and many other questions of import
ance decided.
1t is planned during the coming pc
riod that this department, while con-
tinuing it's advisory and other Office
work as it's main feature, shall engage
less in the conduct of criminal cases,
leaving that more to county attorneys
and shall devote increased attention to
civil cases, largely for enforcement OF
territorial claims, the settlement OF
boundaries and titles, and other lines
of work for the purpose of settling and
securing what justly belongs or is Ow-
ing to the government. For the pu--
poses of economy and by curtailing
work in criminal cases, it is beieved
that one of the attorneys in the depart
ment may be dispensed with notwith-
standing the plans for much additional
work in other directions.
Appeals in Criminal Cases. recon-
mend that provision be made, substan-
TALLY as was done recently by Act of
Congress for Federal cases, permitting
appeals to be taken on points of law
by the prosecution under certain cir
cumstances in criminal cases.
Prisons advance has been
made in Hawaii for nearly century
past in the treatment of prisoners and
for half a century at least the treat
ment has been such as to evoke COM
mendation from distinguished penolo-
gists. Strict attention has been given
to sanitation, the prisoners have been
well housed and as rule kept at en-
ployment, principally out of doors;
humanity, directed, however, by com
mon sense rather than sentimentality,
has been the guiding principle.
In this age it is hardly necessary 10
saw that the motive of punishment
should not be revenge. 1t hould De
protection Criminals should be re-
garded as abnormal or diseased. me
aim in the treatment of moral as well
as physical disease should be protec-
tion by prevention and cure through
scientific methods, not the mere metihs
out of arbitrary amounts oil sunerlhs
for various specific acts. invite your
careful consideration to the following
Juvenile Courts.-This subject talls
ndluTdlly
son than of judicial reform. In lo'o
district magistrates were authorized "
commit to industrial schools children
under Is years of age, but this appneu
only TO cases in which the prescribed
imnrisonment did not exceed two years
and the commitment could not eAceeu
the prescribed term. In 1905 the Ju-
risdiction was extended to circuit
courts and judges, thereby permitting
commitments in all cases tried before
them irrespective OF the prescribed term
of punishment, but the terms of COM
mitment were limited to those pres
cribed as punishment for the respective
offenses. In 1905 these courts and ma
gistrates were made practically juve-
nile courts with the usual powers of
placing children under probation Off
GERS instead of committing them to
prison or to the industrial school, the
age limit was raised to 16 years, the
trials were to be separate from the
trials of older offenders and the chill
dren were to be kept apart from older
offenders at other times, but the juris-
diction was confined to cases for
which the prescribed term was not
more than two years and to so-called
delinquents, and adequate provision
was not made for the separation of the
children from older offenders. In 1907
the age limit was increased to IS years
and the term for which the children
, might be committed to the industrial
school was extended to any period dur
|; ing minority irrespective OF the term
} prescribed by statute for the particu-
; lar offense. These industrial schools
, are among the best training schools in
the Territory and serve to some extent
, as models towards which the public
schools should be brought so as to af-
> ford normal chi1dran thp ADVANTAGES