The Hawaiian gazette., 1911-09-01
SAY CASE is TOO
QUICK N ACTION
officials Can Not See How Natl
Homesteaders Have
Any Kick.
lFtom Thar.aa, !. AdyeflI.et. }

tFtom Thursday's Adyvriiser
Opinions expressed by legal and de.
partment officials or the Territory
favor the cofnweli estate and Arthur
Brown IN regard 70 the Maui land
trouble, the homosteaders being con.
sidered 20 have not much Of leg TO
stand on while tho county attorney is
spoken Of as interfering in matter
outside Of his Jurisdiction.
Further than this the question has
developed, Are the estate and Arthur
Brown cutting timber or merely al
garoba trees, which the supreme court
of the Territory declares do not con.
stitute timberi
While the land board will probably
discuss the matter today it Is not ex.
peeted to take any action as it is con.
sidered it has. nothing to do with the
lprOposition. The board only recon-
mends for leases and homesteading and
there its functions cease. The board
recommended that the Maui lands be
put up for homestead purposes, some
time ago, and they were put up. The
n after is now in the hands of the
commissioner of public lands and he
will discuss it with the attorney gem
eral.
1t was particularly pointed out in
the land office yesterday that the
Pamphlets and advertisements regard
ing the demonstrating of these lands
drew attention TO the fact that posses
] sion could not be given until the ex-
piration of the lease
On this subject Attorney G eneral
Lindsay remarked that the facts
seemed to be as follows;
How the Matter Stands.
"The Cornwell ranch people have a
lease OF the property which does not
expire until November l. The home
steaders can not get their homesteads
until the lease expires. A lot of the
makai land is covered with a heavy
growth of algaroba tres. For the last
ten or twelve years the Cornwell ranch
has been cutting at about the rate
of forty cords a month and selling.
Now that the lease is expiring the
Cornwel estate has increased its FIRE
wood cutting activities and is getting
off from ninety to one hundred cords a
month.
Its lease states that it shall not
commit waste in cutting timber trees
but 1T has been held by the supreme
court that an afgaroba tree is not tim.
4 Der; 1t is only useful for firewood''
The homesteaders will get the land
On 999-year leases and the statement
has been made that some of them in
tend to cut the frewOod off and abans
don the leases.
No Damage, Says BrOwna !,
Arthur Brown, part owner in the
Cornwell ranch, stated yesterday that
the estate is not malieiously DESTROYING
timber. lit is doing nothing of the
kind, he remarked. SIT is not likely
4 1T would go in there and expend labor
destroying the property. 1t is simply
taking frewood out in accordance with
the terms of the lease"
Maui Side of 1t.
! tMail Special to The Advertiser.)
WAILUKU, August 29.-The long
expected trouble between the Kihei
homesteaders and the Waiohuli rancl
manager, Pia Cockett. has broken Out
at last. Yesterday Mrs Z. Wilcox who
had taken Lot No. ., of the Waiohuli
Keokea beach lot tract in the recent
land drawing swOre out warrant
against Pia Cockett and four japanese
woodcutters who had disregarded hel
warning against cutting and destroying
trees growing on her homestead lot
charging Cockett and his men will
malicious injury. The parties were ar
rested yesterday evening. the four Jap
anese being required to put up S10t
apiece bail for appearance before tn,
district magistrate of Wailuku. Mr.
. Cockett was served with a penal sum
mons only, which did not require hi
putting up any bail at all.
History of the Case.
The history of the mixup dates owe
a year back During the month of May
, 1910, Arthur NJ. Brown applied to tn,
land commissioner for lease of tn,
ahupuaas of Waiohuli and Keokea, ant
the sale of the lease was duly adver
: tised at the time. Some twenty-fv,
, Hawaiians and few Portuguese
, promptly fled request that the beacl
end of these two lands be opened foi
hOmesteads, and the notice was with
drawn; but an undercurrent in Opposi
tion to the homesteading of this por
ton of the two lands seemed to exist
and their petition was twice refused
And not until twenty-five individual
affidavits and applications, duly sworl
to before Land Agent Aiken and pre-
scented TO the land commissioner, woul'
J he give his consent to the opening o
said lands.
Parties opposing the homesteader
carried the matter before the newt,
constituted land board in the hope pei
5 haps that the land board would turl
down the land commissioner, and sew
eral silly charges were presented TO tina
dignifed body as a cause for blocking
the land opening prayed for. A hear
= ing was had December of last year an
the ease in favor of the homesteader
again carried the dav
Threatened to Destroy.
l Immediately thereafter stories bega
10 be circulated that the manager Q
the Waiohuli Ranch. Pia Crockett, il
| | tended 10 destroy (Oi napal the kiaW