The Hawaiian gazette., 1912-05-07
BUSINESS LACK
IS POINTED OUT
COMMISSIONER LEWIS FINDS
FUNNY Bills M Bfa
ISLAND BUSCH
lus,l spseialw rbe Ad,ertisstl

HlLO. Aprl SD When JONES ID.
Lewis secretary Of the beli road com
mission. was m Honolulu recently Do
looked into the matter Of the finances
u Tie commission lle states that be-
found some Irregularities iu the matter
Of the approval Of the demands, which
he will bring UP when the commission
holds its next meeting.
Lewis makes nu charges He does
not say that there has been any abso-
lutte extravaganza INDUCED in. He says,
however, that the finances Of the cont
mission are being handled in haPhaz
ard and uubusinesslike manner. He
says, also. that his attention was called
to this, not only by creditors who want
ed their bills against the belt road
commission paid at the end of the
month in which they had been incurred,
but also by no less person than Terri
torial Auditor Fisher, through whose
department all the bills incurred by
the belt road commission must 60 for
approval.
Lewis will insist that the commission
adopt a better system for handling its
finances. Also, that the commission
take up its financial problems as a part
of its regular meetings.
3" Before / left for Honolulu certain
people who had money coming to them
from the commission, complained to me
that they could not get their pay at
| the end of the month, said Lewis
Ilast week. During my stay in Homo
| lulu ! called ON Auditor Fisher, ! did
not 20 there, however, in connection
with this matter, but to transact GER
tain business in connection with other
contracts.
Bills Held Up,
"'The auditor himself brought up the
question Of the belt road finances. lie
told me that he had held up bills
against the commission for two months
past, amounting to something like $l4,'
600, and that he would continue to
hold them up until these had been regu'
larly approved by the board
:" My interview with Fisher was ON
| Wednesday, and the following day
met some other members of the com
mission, and at last it was decided to
have IA meeting on Thursday, but this
did not come off. The following day
a meeting was held. l was late, and
when / came ! found that the other
commissioners had already approved
the bills which had been held back by
Fisher,
"cNow, what ] want is to have the
commission for this island conduct III
financial business as do the commits
sions on the other islands, at theil
regular meetings and by the entir'
membership of the commission, or, a
least by committee thereof. AuditO
Fisher told me that of the three bel
road commissions on the other islands
two have all their members go through
and sign their bills, while the other,
forget which one it is, has its bill
approved and signed by three of it
members. / think it only proper tina
the Hawaii commission should follow
such system, which is, as matte
of fact, similar to that used by tn
board of supervisors, where first tn
finance committee and then the entir
board approves the bills.
Questionable Bills.
~ think that is the only proper wa,
VI HhuullHR lHb NulllllAbloH
affairs, and the public should have Al
opportunity to know where its none
goes. make no charges, but ] Nigh
mention the fact that Fisher called al
tention to several items marked 'ea
tras and nothing else, and sewers
other items, including the passage frol
New York of the wife of one of th
engineers, which he questioned, Flu
thermore, saw among the demand
one for salary for $4,000 mont
whereas the board passed a resolutio
making it only 5000 n month, TIL
resolution has never been reconsidere
and as the secretary Of tho commi
sion should certainly know If it ha
been-nor has any new resolution {
motion changing this salary passed (
Z any meeting.
Q "Things like that make me thin
that the commission 3 finances shoul
be brought before the meetings, an