The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-03-02
MAYOR SCORES
COURT VICTORY
The Supervisors Appointments
Are Held to Be
Illegal.

Chief Justice Hartwel and coneurred
in by Associate Justices Ballou and
Wilder, the Supreme Court yeserday
decided that Charles Coster was not
to be included in that Hclass of en-
ployes employed by de facto officer
holding a legal Office with power of
appointment and that his employment
was without authority of law and that
he has no legal claim to his wages. .,
In brief, the decision of the Su-
preme Court holds that the appoint.
ments made by the committees of the
Board of Supervisors are not legal,
but the decision does not declare spe-
officially where the appointive power
does lie under the proper interpreta.
ton of the charter.
Chief Justice Hartwell admitted
that there is considerable difficulty in
constituting the charter, for he spoke
as follows when the decision was hand
ed down yesterday morning:
whether the act requires that the
Board of Supervisors, when organized
and qualified to act, shall pass upon
appointments made by the Mayor-eleet
is a question which can not be de-
clded unless presented by some appre-
pirate proceeding.
"The municipal act appears to con-
sist of the San Francisco charter. after
eliminating many of it's important pro-
visions which are connected with and
explanatory of those which remain.
changing the names and adding a few
simple provisions. To construe such
an act. it is evident, has presented no
little difficulty
Case Summed Up.
The case is summed up in the opin-
ion of Chief Justice Hartwell, as fol
lows:
''This is an appeal by the defend
ant Getty and County Treasurer r. Fl.
TRENT from an order of the circuit
judge for peremptory writ of man.
damus and from the writ commanding
the defendant to pay to the plaintiff
the sum of $3G.15 upon a warrant in
his favor issued by the Auditor of the
City and County of Honolulu
payable out of the appropriation made
by the Board of Supervisors for main
tenance of roads, Honolulu district
payroll, and being plaintiff IS wages at
$85 a month, fixed by the Board of
Supervisors for his service as fore
man of the Fourth District stables.
maintained by the city in connection
with the care of and maintenance of
its public roads. The plaintiff was en-
ployed by Supervisors Quinn, Aylett
and Kane, the board s committee on
roads. bridges, garbage, parks and
public improvements. The defendant s
objection to paying the warrant was
that the plaintiff was not lawfully en-
ployed by the committee of the board.
HThe pleadings and briefs are volu-
minous, continues the decision, Gre
citing the proceedings of the board
of supervisors, an opinion of the CITY
Attorney and letter or message to |
the board by the Mayor giving his |
version of the law, but when every
thing possible is written and said on |
the subject, the controversy comes |
down to the question whether, under !
the municipal act, the Board of SUI
pervisors has power TO select and en-
gage employees, as well as to fix their
wages, for public service in connection
with the care and maintenance of the
public highways, for if it has not this
power it can not delegate it nor can
the power be evolved from or based
upon any legislative act, ordinance,
rule of procedure or resolution of the
board whatsoever
Interprets Act.