The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1914-05-15
PROBE REPORT
PROMISES TO'
. Be RADICAL
Hearings Of Commissioners at Hilo
Indicate That Recommendations
Of Investigators win Urge Elk
tension-of the Principle Of Local
Self Government.
(MaiI special 70 The Advertiser. J

mail Special TO The Adycrtiser.)
lllLo, May 9.--The graft commits
sion 5 recommendation as far as they
can be forecasted from the oxamina.
tons Of witnesses in the hearings re.
sumed last week, arc likely to be quite
different from those Of Auditor Cooling
Ffold, and they will be radical and will
apply not only to the county Of Hawaii
but to every. other county and TO the
Territorial government as we'll Gener-
ally speaking, the commissioners seem
80 think that the auditor Is Offices, terri
torial and all, should be cut out alto.
gethcr, and that the principle Of local
self government should be extended so
that the various districts Of a county,
or at least Hawaii county, would be able
10 manage their own local work.
In the resumed sessions OF the com.
mission former District Attorney Breck-
ons led off as exumincr OF the witnesses,
and there was nothing at all mild about
. the manner in which he examined them,
Oub ntn ibtNt inc
various TRANSACTIONS revealed at FORMER
hearings. a lot of this examination Is
based upon the Gooding Field reports,
which the commission seems to be at
tempting 10 verify before incorporating
them in its own report
After BreckoDs got through with the
witnesses, Chairman Elliot and Messrs.
Williamson and Long questioned. them,
Doctor Elliot Is questions in most cases
being directed to getting tho opinions
Of the witnesses as to the advisabiity
of emitting ont the auditor s ofiice, and
creating local boards to handle public
Improvements in the different, districts.
Ills. proposal is TO make the treasurer
the discussing officer, with all direct
responsibility, and have no warrants at
ell. Claims duly authorized would be
laid directly by the treasurer Of the
county, or Territory under this system,
without being passed upon by an audit
department at all This Is in part, the
Field proposal,
Fisher Withholds Opinion.
Nearly all the witnesses thought this
a good plan. Auditor Fisher hesitated
about expressing himself, saying the
rdea was new one to him and he
didn I want to answer offhand. Super
visor Kauhane, chairman of the finance
committed of tho present board, APP
proved IL. a@ E NJ.
Kauhane, after bit Of cross ques.
tioning by Breckons, made the extraor-
binary statement that the members Of
the board really knew nothing about
six-sevenths of the business they were
voting on. He said that the custom was
70 meet one another and discuss dis
trrct matters, each member speaking for
his own district. II was impossible for
the member in Hlo, for example. to
know anything about the affairs
brought TO the attention of the board
by the member from Kohala. The other
members took his word as TO Kealoha q
needs and voted accordingly.
''Then as a matter of fact you don't
know anything about six.seyenths Of
the business you act uponl9 asked
l}reckons. E$f pb
Eyes, that's about it." said the wit,
ness. Tx 81. =.
Would subdivide County.
Attorney Carl II. CarIsmith, after get,
ting through as a witness with regard
TO the matters concerning which Good
ing Field criticized him. and being call.
ed upon to answer questions as to what
should be done, came forward with the
idea that the island of Hawaii should
be three counties, if not more. He said
he had always favored the two.eounty
plan when the county act was being
formed. Comparing Hawaii TO the
state of Connecticut, to which it is
about equal in area, he said that in
Hawaii one sheriff was covering terri.
tory covered by about thirty.fve sher-
ifs in the State mentioned, though OF
course the amount of population was
very different. The same was true OF
the county attorneys department. The
separate county system might be bit
more expensive, but the Increased eff |
cheney would be worth IL, he said.
Garlsmith not only favored division
Of the island into more counties, but |
thought that Ililo should be separate |
organization, intimating his view that |
Hilo rs city should be Incorporated |
and allowed to run her affairs separate |
w from those Of the outside districts
He was emphatically in favor, he said,
m answer to a direct question from
Doctor Elliot Of decentralization rather
than Capitalization, of the government
Functions. T}T
Doctor Elliot asked the question AS
l9 whether the attorney considered that |
there was at present any responsible
head of tLc government of the county
Of Hawaii.
There is abaolutely none, :, he said.
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