The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-01-08
MAYOR MEETS
WITH BOARD
Confined from Page One.)

now lie Iitu tu@d-EG t4F TIC Sdi1 Stil17
mittee are at work and thereby obllga-
tons are aecruing to large amount
against the City and County, involving
the expenditure OF large amounts Of
money; and all this action has been
taken outside of the power of veto or
approval by the Mayor. If Mr.. Quinn
and his associates can create q legal
liability to pay one dollar in that way
independent Of the Mayor | do not see
why they cannot. create the liability
to pay one hundred thousand dollars
in the same way. It is true that an
Appropriation Bill for a quarter of a
million dollars mas been introduced into
the Board of Supervisors, and from the
fact that notice If this Appropriation
! Bill has been published in the news
| papers, I should infer that finally this
| Appropriation Bill will be submitted
TO me for my approval or veto, but
! that approval or veto cannot, il the
position Of the Board of Supervisors IS
| correct. reach the question whether I'M
| der the law | have right to pass up
| on the creating of obligations and liza
! bilities in the first instance, and Wheth-
| er | have the veto check upon such
action by the Board of Supervisors or
not That is the main point in ques-
/ ton.
"When this Appropriation Bill
comes before me, if it does, it will be
largely a question simply whether L
shall agree to the paying of bills here
| tofore incurred by the committee Of
| the Board of Supervisors where L have
| had neither voice nor say as to wheth-
| er these liabilities in the first instance
! should be incurred or not. Anyone
who read the rules voted through by
the Board of Supervisors at their first
meeting could see at once what those
rules meant. They went far wide of
the question Of who should be officers
or who should not, or who should APP
! point them or who should remove them,
] and. believing as | do that | have,
under the law. the right to pass upon
! and approve or veto any proposed ex-
penditure of public money before the
| obligation has been incurred, upon the
direct issue of whether the same shall
be incurred or not, and believing also
that this right is d vital one to the
public interests, | have been compelled
TO enter a consistent protest against
all action involving expenditures in
this way. from the beginning. Now,
how is that issue to be settled? If
compromised, compromised IN what
wav? I do not consider that | have
any authority to waive such a right,
anyhow If the court holds practically
that my veto does not reach the ques-
ton Of mourning obligations, but only
comes in after the obligations have
been incurred on the question Of pay
ing existing obligations, well and good;
but it is clearly a matter that can not
| be compromised on the side by anyone;
the courts have got to decide that
issue
u stated in my inaugural address,
and have repeated since, that | wish
the matter settled before the courts,
and that Is still my desire and [ am
more than willing, and have always
been 50, TO have the matter settled
promptly in court. Not single per-
son has approached me from the other
side suggesting a. suit or any com
promise. other than the one to divide
up offices, as already stated. The
Board of Supervisors is absolutely in
the hands Of the Republicans, the
courts have been open to them from
the very uISl. anu 4 Cci1I iot uhbCI
stand Mr. Smith s almost threatening
letter addressed to me this morning, If
he desires the matter settled before
the courts. and l now suggest to him
that he take hand and have the mat
ter settled promptly before the court,
assuring him that [ will meet him
more than half way in that matter,
and telling him also that | have never
been advised to do otherwise by any
one, counsel or anyone else. More
over, | suggest that whatever my in
tentions, I have had little opportunity
to obstruct anything; / have entered
my protest in the only way open to me
at the time, which has been promptly
overridden by the Board of Supervisors.
Perhaps even protests under the cir
cumstances are an offense to Mr..
Smith. or perhaps he is not fairly in
formed as to all the facts and issues
involved.
cit has been suggested that the real
time for intervention by the courts
will be when an attempt is actually
made to pay out and deliver money
from the City and County Treasurer
to the employees created and controlled
by the committees of the Board of Su-
pervisors; however, Mr.. Smith NAV be
able to suggest some prompter and
more complete settlement of these is
sues-if so, well and good. Meanwhile,
in the due course of business I felt it
only right TO call upon the City and
County Attorney for his opinion, not
withstanding the fact that the Board
of Supervisors seemed unquestionably
to be acting under his guidance and
informal advice from the start. We
now have my letter raising the issues
that | want settled before the court
and his reply made thereto, so that the
issues are defined, in writing. that
should be submitted to the court.
While | admit that I have not as much
confidence in the opinion of the City
and County Attorney as [ might have
had if he had occupied a wholly neu-
trail and on-committal position until
he was appealed to, I nevertheless dis
claim that I still desire to 60 to the
courts on that account. | am ad-
vised that the matter is too important.
the Municipal Act too uncertain in its
provisions and the expenditures, the
legality of which is involved too large
for me even with the most impartial
advice not to have the matter first set