The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-12-24
USUAL ROW IS
GETTING CLOSER
Continued from Page One.)

Continued from Page One.)
over the location would not be proper,
according to innumerable preeedents. It
appears that Honolulu is not to escape.
The suggestion of Governor Frear,
who has worked hard in the matter
Of securing the Carnegie donation, is
TO have the building placed in the Capt.
toll grounds where the national guard
headquarters are at present, the site
of the bungalow that heard many Of
the states secrets of the KaIakaua re-
gime. The Governor thinks that the
library would balance the archives
building and improve the look of the
public grounds, being at the same time
close to the center of the city.
The opposition to this is not that the
location is not a good one but from
the fact that the land is inalienable
public property. The opposers are of
the opinion that the whole territorial
library stunt is going to fzzle out
within a few short years and that the
present library board will have to step
in and run the affair again on the lines
of the present library, or that the city
viii have to take the library over and
support it as a public library for Ho-
nolulu.
1.-The idea Of territorial library is
unwise,' said a prominent citizen yes
terday, man who is member of the
present library board Of trustees. 1.-The
legislature voted money to keep up the
library on the conditions that it be
territorial library and that the books
be circulated throughout the other is
lands. The scheme is unavoidable The
library will be supposed to purchase
enough copies of the current novels
to supply the country demand, while
the valuable books viii have to be
shipped around the country to every
town and hamlet, in all kinds of wealth
err conditions Tt cannot be done.
"What viii be the consequence Mr..
Brown of Lihue and Mr.. White of XII
kuihaeIe and Mr.. Green of some place
in Kau viii all want books. They will
have to wait their turns and there
will be complaints of favoritism and
neglect. When the Legislature meets
there viii be burning words of wisdom
from the country members and perhaps
the appropriation win be continued and
perhaps it will not.
"The legislature has given and the
legislature can take away. Blessed be
the name of the legislature-nit. f"
Question of Title.
While negotiations between the trus-
tees of the Y NJ. C. A. and the trus-
tees of the library association have
been progressing, for the sale of the
library lot and building to the associa-
ton, the title of the library to the
land has been looked up, and it has
been found that an apparent flaw
exists.
The lots in the rear of the library
building are the property of the trus-
tees, having been purchased in the
regular way. The land on which the
library itself stands was given the
board by the Hawaiian government in
the dim and distant past, and the gift
was hedged about with the proviso
that the right to the land should last
only during the time it was used for
library purposes. If the Y. NJ. C. A.
secures it, some appear to think, there
is nothing to prevent any taxpayer
from bringing the question up and IN
sisting that the land revert to the gov
eminent
For some time the library board has
been trying to get the government to
issue clear and unconditional title
to the property. The matter was
brought up only in the last legisla-
ture, but it was sidetracked.
At that time, Governor Frear gave
it as his opinion that such action was
unnecessary and that the commissioner
of public lands could issue deed TO
the property at any time, without the
legislature having to sanction the
transaction, while a recent opinion of
the attorney general is to the effect
that the title to the property is clear
and that sale can legally be made,
although the strings on the original
gift viii still apply to any money real
lied from the sale.
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