The Hawaiian gazette., 1913-01-10
HILO LAND CASE
AGAIN CROPS UP
Rumors OF Dissatisfaction With
Selection Of HOmesites
In Waiakea.

II the people OF IIilo are dissatisfied
with the selection Of the proposed
homcstcads in waiakoa they have ex'
poricnced change of heart, according
to Governor Frcar, who was informed
hy The Advertiser of the condition OF
affairs at llilo whom no arrived at his
Office Tuesday.
81 do not know what has takcn place
in this WaiRkea matter since my de-
parturc,'i said the Governor. "Some
time ago visited Iiilo, called mass
meeting and met the people personally.
A map of the land which we hoped 20
secure from tho Waiakea Mill Company
was shown At that time they ex.
pressed themselves as well pleased with
the selection.
.'Since thon tho work has been in
charge of Land Commissioner Tucker.
have not learned what portion of the
land he secured or its exact location.
Therefore / am not in u position to
state what merit is in the protest Of
the llilo residents. "
News of the dissatisfaction among
the people of Hilo over the selection
made by the government has been re-
ceived from The Advertiser correspond
ent at that place 1t follows:
No Use For the Land.
cit is probable that those who have
been looking forward to securing homo
lots in Waiakea, on the strength of the
recent release by the Waiakea Mill
Company Of ZIG acres, win be grievous'
~ disappointed when they find out Just
what land has been released. As a
matter of fact, il is likely that not ono
of them win take lot of the tract in
question, even as "A gift, for it seems
as if the government had managed to
secure about the most worthless pos
sible patch of tract of which the best
is none too splendid.
Gland Commissioner Tucker was
asked last week just where the tract,
which had been secured by the govern
ment, is. He showed on the map Il
tract of land situated at considerable
distance mauka of the Keaukaha road
and also considerable distance away
from the Waiakea village
cit was pointed out to Tucker that
what the people wanted, and what they
had asked for, was the tract of land
on both sides of the John Brown resi-.
denco, land lying on both the mauka
and tho makai side of the road, with
the exception of the large tract near
tho wharf, which would be quite suifi.
cient for warehouse district.
'Tuckcr answered that all the land
makai of TIE road was to be reserved
for warehouse purposes. He promised
to secure the release of the land lying
between the tract already secured and
the Waiakea village.
"Tucker added that the Waiakea
Mill Company had granted the release
for a consideration of, not one. dollar
an acre, but one dollar for the whole
tract, the release being thus a gift.
While il is VIGOROUSLY bad taste to
look n gift horse in the mouth, one
cannot help suggesting that when the
goovInment secured n gift, it might
have been well for it to have secured
one which was worth something, rather
than the goldbrick of which it managed
to get hold.
Where the Blame Should Be.
"That the Waiakea Mill Company
acted in good faith is shown by state
ment made by G. G. Kennedy, who says
| that the Territory got exactly what it
asked for, so, if the tract is of no use,
! the fault lies with the officials.
! "If the officials asked for the tract
in question, it was not the fault of the
people of Hilo who were backing the
| proposition, for it has been learned
from some of them, who accompanied
the Governor on his trip over the lands,
/ that they pointed out to him that the
lands which were wanted ranged from
the railroad company's holdings, ON
/ both the Wailoa and the Lokoaka side,
and from the Waiakea village proper,
including land on both the town and
the Lokoaka side of the Brown place,
| and on both the makai and the maukn
side of the road.
"Tucker stated that the survey of
| the tract which had been secured. would
be begun as soon as the survey of the
| homestead tract on the Waimea plains
had been completed. This is being
surveyed by Surveyor Sam Kanakanui.
| 1t is the intention of the Territory 30
cut up the Waiakea tract in large lots,
though neither the size thereof nUr the
conditions under which they will be Of
fored have been determined upon. On
the other hand, if it develops that the
tract is actually a worthless one far
| from the road, the village and, in fact,
everything, neither the conditions nor
the price will probably be of much in.
terest TO any one.n
| Land Commissioner Tucker left for
Kauai Tuesday and could not be seen.
lie will be absent for several days on
Kauai. 1T was learned that he plans
to leave for Hilo, January 90. At
that time, it il believed, he will make
an investigation of the complaint made
by the residents of that place and at
tempt to secure more acceptable site,
if possible.
II was apparently surprise for those
In the land Office to learn that dissatis.
faction has arisen over the site selected
by the government. A resident of
lilo visited the land office several days
ago, il is said aud examined the map
showing the site. He expressed him
self AS satisfied and said there would
be no dissatisfaetion over the selection.
/ II is said that tho land selected,
Z thOu0h goutetvbat isoIatad ,,,,, ,,.,I.. A.