The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1910-09-16
MORE POLITICS
ON LAND BOARD
SkiIIfuI Exhibition of Sidestepping
and Low and Lofty
TumbIng.

night, after two hours of drowsv
droning that resulted in nothing, by
the most adroit exhibition of political
sidestePping and low and lofty tum-
bling that it has been the misfortune
Of ANYBODY in Honolulu to witness.
Il. II. Trent, probable Democratic
candidate for the county treasurership,
was the performer, and though he won
no applause for his tricks he neverthe-
less commanded the unwilling admira-
tion of the rest of the board for the
effective manner in which he prevented
any action and headed off any PROPOSE.
ton that might not gain him Portu-
guese or Hawaiian votes.
The proposition on which the exhibit
ton of political acrobatics was given
was that to lease some ten thousand
acres of government land in Kula,
Maui. to the Cornwen Estate. Mr..
Trent and the other members of the
board had before this successfully
lodged the Kapaa matter again, and
it is a safe bet that nothing VIII be
done on this until after election-un
less one of the two absent members
returns before that interesting biennial
event.
The land now under lease to the
Cornwell Estate contains a considera-
BILE acreage of corn land and some al
garoba land along the coast, but this
is taken out in the proposed new lease.
The estate offers to pay rental of
ten cents an acre for the rest of the
land. the same that it is now paying
with the valuable corn and algaroba
lands included.
There was no protest on file against
the leasing of the land, which has been
advertised for sixty days, but there
was a letter from a Peter Joseph, ex-
saloonkeeper of Maui, suggesting that
instead of leasing the entire ten thou
sand acres to one person or corporation,
it be broken up into ten one-thousand-
acre tracts and leased to ten persons.
There was also letter from E. G.
Correa stating that he and some other
Portuguese had signed a petition ask
ing for the cutting up of the tract
into smaller parcels, and asking the
land commissioner if this petition had
been received from Lawyer Tavares, ,
whom it had been entrusted.
Commissioner Campbell stated that
he had received no petition and was
inclined to think that the Joseph letter
was what the writer referred to as a
petition.
Up to this point the members of the
bo clio ND Tho =
ers had been rubbing their eyes and en-
deavoring to keep awake through the
| tiresome and fruitless proceedings. But
| Trent saw his chance and he aroused
himself-and incidentally the rest of
the huge assemblage of nine persons.
In his opinion this man Tavares
might have pigeonholed the petition
with a view to discouraging his coun
| trymen on Maui Either that. or Com
missioner Campbell had actually re-
ceived the petition and refrained from
delivering it to the board.
| This statement brought Andrade into
action He knew Tavares personally
and was sure that he would not be
| guilty of any underhanded work.
Just the same, Trent refused to vote
for Andrade' motion to approve the
| lease Of land. He refused on three
| grounds-one that he would vote for nc
| lease of twenty-one years; the second
| that the rental offered was only ten
cents an acre, for which he would not
stand. and the third. that certain Por
| tuguese had apparently had an idea OF
applying for the lease of the lands and
even if their petition had not been re
| ceived-and he expressed grave doubts
as to that-the board ought to wait and
see if one would not be sent in.
| Then the board chewed the rag
monotonously for three-quarrers of an
hour. at the end Of which time Andrade
suggested that Tavares was in town
and might be brought before the board
| and asked what he knew about the mat
| ter.
This alarmed Trent and he vigorously
| opposed the motion, on the ground that
there was no communication from Tava
res before the board and therefore Ia
wares had no business appearing before
the board. Even if Tavares were tC
appear, he would refuse to believe hin
unless his statements We're, corroborateC
by other evidence.
Dwight woke up and sided Will
| Trent, ana the TWO OF lHem SuudbDltt
with Andrade for a long time, nobody
getting anywhere.
Finally a motion was made that ac
ton be deferred to another meeting
Andrade wanted to amend SC as to in
clule an invitation to Tavares to b.
present. but Trent woulln' 4 stand TO
this, and as his vote was essential, hi
idea prevailed.
Nevertheless. it is probable that Mr.
Tavares viii be present at the mex
meeting. to be held on Monday after
noon. for after the board had adiournet
and Trent had gone. the other member
held a sort Of Indignation meeting an'
Andrade stated that he would hav'
Tavares present, if possible, and asl
him to state his position, which. An
drade said, he has & right, as a citize1
and resident of the Territory, to dc
no matter what anybody else says.