Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-04-04
irregularities
POINTED OUT in
PROBERS' PROBE
Confined from page onej

the commission We find that. after the
first part Of August, 1913. the same
have not been signed by the secre-
tary Of the commission or by any
other officer Of the commission. These
minutes have not been regularly kept
and in scne instances the minutes OF
several meetings have been entered
as one record.
/ t2D AS to whether the expenditures
of the Hawaii county investigating
committee were legally or properly
made and incurred, and whether the
money so expended by them has been
economically and judiciously expended,
your committee is CT the opinion that
government commissions do not as
rule exercise that care and economy
IN the transaction OF public business
that would be exercised in the trans
action of other individual affairs, and
; that the Hawaii county investigation
commission has proved no exception
/ to the rule.
| Acting under the authority confer
red on us by said resolution and said
appointment, we have mad2 a care
full examination of all of the accounts
and vouchers Of the said Hawaii In
vestigation Commission showing the
amount and nature OF the eXpendi-
lures made and expense incurred by
! the said commission and while We do
not believe it comes within the sphere
of our duties to render legal opin
ion On the legality of certain OF the
said expenditures there are certain
suggestions regarding The same which
we desire to make leaving it to the
board of supervisors to consult with
d, their legal advisers regarding the
countys liability to reimburse the
territory for these certain expendi-
lures. In this connec ion we will,
as far as possible, refer to each
I voucher by number, copies Of the
same being attached hereto and
made a part Of this report.
! Warrant 2o19 in the Sum Of $579.5o.
| This appears to be a payment to
; Mr.. BreckonS for services rendered
prior to the act creating this COM
mission and prior 20 the appointment
: of the commission itself 1t appears
. that these services were rendered by
Mr.. Breckons under the authority
or at the request of the attorney
general and the senate hoId-oy2r
committee and while these services
were undoubtedly rendered and wera
undoubtedly valuable in assisting in
the uncovering of the first proofs Of
graft in the county departments yet
this charge does not seem to 10
legal charge against the fund appro-
priated under the provisions Of Act
10 of the session laws of 1918. We
were informed by Mr.. Fisher that he
had grave doubts about the legality
of this claim and finally consented to
pay the same only upon the assurance
of the attorney general and Governor
Frear that this was a legal claim
against this fund This claim was
certified by the disbursing agent of
, The commission upon the written ad
vice of the encouragement of the
territory.
Warrant .2o7s, in the Sum of $339.5o.
This claim is for services rendered
by Mr.. Graham of the Audit Com
pany of Hawaii, who was employed
by the senate hold-over committee
prior to the creation of the commits
sion and for the reasons stated in the
preceding paragraph seems to be
an illegal claim against this fund and
should not have been paid out of this
fund. 1t was, however, paid under
the instruction and on the advice of
the attorney-general.
Re Salaries Of Commissioners.
In examining the warrants issued in
1F icC 10,
we find tina, in all. the commission
ers were paid for A Sundays and
holidays making total payment of
$4,000 on this account for Sundays
and holidays. These claims for sal
aries for Sundays and holidays were
allowed by the disbursing officer of
the commission acting upon the writ
ten opinion of the Encouragement.
The members of this special commit
tee have grave doubts as to he legal
ity Of these payments. The crimi-
nal statutes of this territory forbid
work and labor of all kinds on Sun
days and the statute which created
this commission and fixed its pay
provided, "the members of his COM
mission shall receive the sum of $1,000
per diem for each day occupied in
their duties" We have examined
the minutes of the meeting of the
commission and we can find no re-
cord Of their having met on Sunday
or on holidays but on the contrary We
find a memorandum in the minutes
under date Of May 20, which reads
as follows: Tomorrow being a le-
gal holiday, the commission adjourned
at 4:30 p. m, to meet at 10 o'clock
on Saturday MAY the 31st). We sug-
gest that you consult your legal ad-
visers upon the liability Of the county
to reimburse the territory for these
payments.
Travelling Expenses.
There seems to have been consid. !
cradle money expended by the COM
mission for the travelling expenses
of the commission and of Mr. Brock
ons, some of which expenditures do