The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-10-19
PROPOSED BILL
IS GIVEN OUT.
Continued From Page One.)
To raise legislators pay;

DlSHu4dA
To give more latitude in redeeming
bonds;
To discontinue high sheriff's Office
by legislature if desirable;
To disqualify judges in certain eases
under certain circumstances;
To regulate intertransfer of terri
torial and federal land;
To raise salaries of federal officers;
To ratify circuit court naturalizations
previous to 1906, and
To amend the existing land laws as
follows:
Prevent repeating in demonstrating;
Allowing only one homestead right
to husband and wife;
Preventing aliens homesteading;
Preventing transference of home.
stead;
Providing forfeiture on failure to
comply with laws;
Providing disposition of homesteads
by drawing;
Providing preferences to improvers of
public lands;
Providing church sites from public
lands;
Limiting sales or exchanges by Terri
tory, and
Putting all public lands under one
department.
Amendments Announced.
The conferences held daily in the Of
fee of Governor Frear, with the
amendment of the Organic Act as their
aim and purpose, have practically fin
ished their task and the bill to amend
that aetsis now in type and ready for
criticism before being presented to
congress to be passed upon by the law
makers of the Nation. Both the bill
and the explanations drawn up by the
conference in regard to it are printed
on page nine of this issue of The Ad-
vertiser.
Nine years of government have
shown the officials intrusted with the
management of the affairs of the Ter
ritory and the citizens for whose ben
eft the Organic Act was drawn up the
weak points in the act and the chances
for Improvements. And, although the
Organic Act was drawn up when the
needs and future of Hawaii were I'M
known to its draughters, compare
lively few sections have been found
wanting by the conference that sug-
gests the amendments.
Prominent in the bill is an amend
ment giving the present land laws
| thorough and radical revision, revi-
sion which will place the present I'M
| satisfactory laws on sane and prac-
| teal footing.
The principal clause in the land law
revisions regulates an evil too promi-
| nent in the present homestead laws and
| does away with the right of home
steader to repeat. Providing the bill
passes congress, each homesteader will
| be allowed to take up but one home
stead, and this only providing that the
wife or husband does not already own
| or occupy homestead and owns less
| than eighty acres of land in the Ter
| ritory.
This will wipe out one method by
which the plantations have acquired so
| much land, as there will be no more
| wholesale homesteading for the sake
of acquiring title to sell the land to
The corporations.
The amendments do not forbid the
acquiring of more land by private pur-
chase after the homestead has been
| taken up, and another clause allows
those who have. or whose predecessors
IN1 10 nd
and resided on it for ten years or more,
to buy reasonable amount of ad-
| Joining land from the government at
price to be decided upon by q com
mission of three disinterested persons
appointed by the Governor at first and
ultimately by the legislature.
The Territory will also be prohibited
from selling or exchanging more than
| forty acres of land or lots of grazing
| land of more than $4,000 in value for
other than homestead purposes unless
the approval of two-thirds of boald
as provided for in the amendments is
| obtained. Other clauses regulate the
drawing up of land patents for
| churches and other religious organiza
| tions.
Under the amendments regulating
| t6ILitOlIdl lhuOpbtduSScs tuS
will not be permitted to incur in one
year more than one per centum of the
assessed value of property in the Ter
ritory. The Territory may hereafter,
still providing that the bill meets with
the approval of congress, build the
roads, wharves, penal and charitable
institutions, etc, with loans authorized
! by the territorial legislature.
The amendment regulating the dis
tinctions between territorial lands and
lands held by the federal government
provides for a less complex method Of
transferring them from one to the
other than at present.
Other clauses regulate less important
territorial matters, and incidentally in
crease the salaries of many officials and
members of the judiciary The Gov
ernors salary is fixed at $4,000 per
annum, and $4,000 is allowed for his
private secretary. Other United States
officials also will receive substantial in
creases.
The conference that finally decided
on the amending bill as at present
drafted was the sixth meeting between
, Governor Frear and the representatives
{ of various official. commercial and in
| 1iyi6uaI iptares+s Tho Cov-arpor cd