The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1912-08-02
HAS A KICK FOR
SECRETARY FISHER
Honokaa to Complain Of Opening
of Public Lands, to Cabinet
Officer.

mail Special to The Advertiser.)
HILo, July 29.--when Secretary
Fisher comes from Washington to Ha-
wall to look into the Kuhio charges
against Governor Frear. no will have
presented to him an entirely new kick
from Honokaa. The subject matter viii,
as usual, be the opening of public lands
for settlement, and in several phases
the trouble resembles the famous Waio-
him fight between the homesteaders
and Hutchinson plantation, into which
the government has been dragged
George Kaiser, the well known Ha-
makua man, came to Hilo last week.
He made the statement that unfair
means were being used to prevent the
opening of the Kaao lands, at Honokaa
for the benefit of the people. lhis
tract includes some 10l5 acres of valu-
able land, situated on the south side of
the village, and lying on both sides of
the government road. The lease there.
on expired in July, 1911.
According to Kaiser, the frst appl.
cation for the opening of this tract of
land for homesteads was made in 1911,
when twenty-five applicants filed their
petition in legal form. He added that
tho matter of presenting this appiica-
tion was placed, by the applicants, IN
the hands of n certain HonokaI attor-
ney, who, however, found It profitable
to hinder rather than to help tn, APP
plication.
The matter ran along for some time
until finally the applicants found chat
the government was negotiating with
the Honoknn plantation for making an
exchange of land, acquiring in exchange
a tract of much inferior character.
This business held up the proposition
to open the land, and in the meantime
the would-be settlers became inpatient.
Finally, ON the evening of June 90,
q meeting of the applicants and others
interested was held at Kaiser s house,
| in Honokaa, where resolution was
| finally passed to the effect that it was
\ the sense of the meeting that no ex-
change should be made with the Ho-
nolSaa Sugar Company, that the part
of the tract lying between the boun-
Diary of the old road and the thirteen
hundred foot level, and the part lying
between the school house and the seven
hundred foot level, be offered to the
public rs house lots, having an area Of
about two acres each; and that the rest
of the land be offered for settlement in
homestead tracts, having minimum
area of ten acre each and n maximum
OF twelve acres.
This resolution was signed by forty
Ave citizens. The matter was taken up
with Land Commissioner Tucker, who
promised that he would take it up
when Governor Frear returned from
| the mainland.
Kaiser IS main fight was, however, ON
the point of the methods which he al
legged had been used in order to pre-
vent men from signing the petition.
He claims that men had been compel
led to take their names OFF the docu-
ment, having been threatened with the
loss of their employment unless they
did so, and also that others, who re-
fused TO be frightened by such threats,
were actually discharged.
These matters, added Kaiser, had al
ready been placed in the hands of H.
H. Holstein, and it was further, the
intention to bring the whole affair, to
the attention of Secretary Fisher, when
he comes to HIlo.