The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1914-03-24
AGREE TO PASS FEDERAL
BUILDING SITE QUESTION UP
TO TREASURY DEPARTMENT.
Representative Meeting Agrees That
Honolulu Never Can Agree and
Pledges Itself to Let Washington Cut
Gordian Knot.

UP bi9hop htTteb eNJenhlOHs MT. Ieck
dwclt on the, moral obligation Of the
goyefnment TO proceed with the erection
Of the federal building on the original
plans, based upon which and relying
upon WHICH and relying upon the good
iaith Of the government, adjacent prop
erty had been purehased as building
sites by business men. The First Ma
tional Bank had purchased such site,
and there had been others. He stated
that the iden Of the government want
irg to displace the Fort street property
owners had never been dreamed Of
when the question first came ZIP, and
i that phase Of the question has never
yet been consiaefed Ia any public meet
ing or BY any Representatives orgnnlzar
ton Of Honolulu. st
Lcok to the Future.
j George ~ Davies spoke as an advo-
cate OF the Irwin site. He said that
what had gone before was not the ques-
ton, which was what Is to come. The
government has, apparently turned
against the MhhuEA site and il is Homo
lulu's part now to forget the past and
move up to date. lie referred to the
wastefulness Of pulling down the spleen
did Fort street buildings to make d
suitable site and the folly of disrup.
ting established institutions when a
site was available that would cost less,
be better and advance the city nearer
to the Honolulu Beautiful so much de-
sired. The Irwin site is cheaper, bet
ter, easier acquired, practically as con.
tehient and admitting Of more attia-
tic building than. the Mahuka site
" Now is the time to. make or mar the
Civic Center idea, IL there be nnything
in that idea, he said. The irwin site
will not always be available, nor will
there be again the opportunity to utilize
| il so adyautageously. ..f y.
/ Referring to the Allen site, as
l"betwixt and between eorfipfomise, y
Mr.. Davies said that 10 had nose Of
the disadvantages of the MahukAi site
and none of the Advantages of the IL
win site. The Sprecke1s site he con.
sidered the worst of all, having all
disadsantaees.Ahd no 'adSahtagess 81
i The Legal Aspect. ~ ~
i ID III WithingtofiI reviewed theeTeeal
asbectSl6f the matter, pdihtihg out that
there is no available appropriation for
any new site and no authority for the
treasury department to either dispose Of
the site acquired or purchase a new one
The whole matter would have to 90 to
congress and under the circumstances
that was a dangerous proceeding TO ad.
vocate. Honolulu had only two courses
to pursue-either 60 after an approprja
ton to secure the extension to the Ma,
hukh site or stick to the site In hand
@. II. Olsen, of Holmes, Stanley q
Olson, who had represented a majority
of the owners in the condemnation
suits, referred to the less-thhh-value
price at which the Mahuka site had
been sold to the government by those
whose adjoining property would bene
= fit by the use of the site He stated
that the government was In honor
bound to sell back the property to the
5, original vendors at the Original price,
provided the size were, abandoned.
. Morals have very important bear,
|, ing in this NATTER he said. &-
II Two Building Plan. n"
Mr. Peck at this time presented a
new idea to the meeting, suggesting
chat the Mahuka site be used for the
customs house and post Office and that
The amount of the awards for the Ma
huka extension be used to buy the
Irwin site and to erect on it the fed
eral court houses This would oblige
the business men, prove agreeable to
the lawyers and the judges, play fair
with those who had bought property
IarOund the Mahuka site aud also salts,
fy the aesthetic desire of the city bean
tifiers. This suggestion was applauded.
For Convenience and Beauty
\ Judge Clemens, speaking as an adj
yocate Of the Irwin Site, pointed out
the fact that Honolulu has changed
considerably since the question Of a
federal building had hrst been mooted
and already the original plans were
5insufiicient. More room was demanded.
/ The postofIice had been planned in the
new building on basis Of 10000
square feet. Already the business
done demands accommodation OF s00,-
i 600 square feet, and that makes no
provision for future growth. The
courts demand better accommodations
than the Mahuka site can provide.
! The noise in the temporary quarters il
such that valuable. time is lost repeat.
ing questions and instructions. The
Irwin site also offers the opportunity
of combining the law Libraries Of the
federal and territorial courts and thus
! giving an adequate library.
!. The speaker said that he had looked
into prices and found that while the
extension to the Mahuka site called
, for $450,000 and the Spreckels site of
held at 100000, the irwin site can
be obtained today fos 100000, being
thus cheaper as well as better than
any other site, v
UP Into the Air. &
John A, MeCsndless then presented
a resolution, advocating the immediate
use Of the original Mahuka site and
the dropping Of the extension plans,
I'.I believe in going up into the air,
said Mr.. McCendless, his meaning be,
! ing literal aud not fguratiye, What
! he wanted is a slsyseraper, because the