Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-09-14

p! pointed on this commission what were
! you doing, practicing law still?
A. / was still practicing law at
| that time.
@. That commission investigated
what class Of subjects? -.
| Tells Of Land Law Commission. -
A. Wen, it was general-with re-
! ceiyed appointments to study into the
| land law conditions, to make reports
for any needed legislation and to gen.
! orally investigate the subject OF ad.
| ministration OF the land laws. You
! might say that that commission was
one very short in life, that is, We re-
ceived our appointment about the mid
die of the year-
O. What year? ~: >. ~ ~
A. 1903. And we reported in the
second week in November. We had
seven members In the commission.
I @. Who were they? - . s'a
/ A. W. A. Kinney; A. w. Carter
I s. M Kanakanuf w. b. Thomas, y. r.
! Cooke and myself. x
Fisher: Who are they? ~
Lewis: w. A. Kinney, A. w. Car
/, ter, s. M. Kanakanti, w b. Thomas,
j.. p. Cooke, Carl Smith and myself
| that makes seven believe. ts,i5S.ts
Fisher: / had copy OF that report
but it seems it has not been brought
down here.
tMr. Fisher is handed al copy of the
Commissions report by Mr.. Hemen-
way).
Fisher: Did the Commission unite
In these recommendations?
Lewis. They did not With these
seven members. as members, as you
will notice in the opening paragraph,
il was an extremely difficult matter to
get these men tngetheir. ~ 81
Fisher: You mean physically?
Lewis: Physically, yes. One OF
the members was on the mainland try
ing case; at that time; and I doubt
very much whether he ever attended
hearing Other members of the Com
mission were also away Mr.. Carl
Smith was in Hilb; but we had the
benefit of his advice in Honolulu; he
was a very consistent worker and as
sisted us materially. AIS far as that
Commission was concerned, We made
every endeavor to give everybody an
opportunity of presenting their views
on the situation. We advertised in
all the papers that the Commission
would receive suggestions as to- how
the law should be changed. In order
that we might reach the people on the
other islands, we advertised notices OF
hearings of the commission in the diff
Z ielo nc No hold
sion In Hilo for the island of Hawaii;
we held session at Lihue for the Is
land of Kauai we held a session at
Wailuku for the Island of Maui, and
held a session in the Legislative
? Chamber here for sOahu. To begin
with, the hearings were not very large
ly attended, in fact their attendance
was very sparse. .1@z$.a
! Further, to carry out the scheme
to get as much light as we could or
the subjective addressed persona
letters to different organizations ant
different people making a persona
appeal to them to give US the benefi
Of any advice or suggestions which
4 they might have to offer in connec
ton with the system. AS a result d
that We received the usual com
, plants. There were very few con
structive schemes outlined. and ii
fact we did not derive a great dea
Of benefit from them. However, a:
a result of these hearings and the
communications which we received
the Commission came to the conclu
ri4 hok fhn c,,hin0t n
administration than of laws. AS re
suit of our deliberations. we PLACED
the land generally in two sub-divi
sicns: that is. of undeveloped lant
, of the Territory and the developed
land of the Territory; and decided
that the two needed entirely differ
lent and distinct treatment. We als(
had the benefit of our personal &C
quaintance about the Islanders here
in connection with the character O
the lands, conditions under which i
was held; and as result we came t.
the conclusion that the proper admin
istration Of the lands was to give tt
the Executive a broad discretion; anC
to have him fit the individual case
under an elastic system. 1t wa!
thought advisable, in case of eX
changes Of land, that there should bt
some sort of check.
Discretion NuIIified.
Now, if you will allow ME to brins
this up today, our ideas under these
conditions have not worked out a:
we had anticipated. The discretion
we recommended for the Executive
has, to my mind, been very largely
| might say to some eXtent-nullified
The Organic Act states. TO begin with
that leases of agricultural land!
should not be made for longer per
iod than five years; an amendment t.