Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-12-10
Opinion Expressed That Terri
tory Loses Large Sums BY
an Inadequate System

4
merce Of Honolulu recommend to the
governor that action be taken in the
next legislature to secure more thor
ough method Of public accounting for
the territory and for the city and coun-
ty Of Honolulu"
The foregoing resolution, verbally
offered by E. l. Spalding, was unani-
mously adopted by the d. ectOrs Of the
Chamber Of Commerce a. a meeting
At 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon, fol-
lowing the reading of a report Of the
committee on public finances, taxation
and insurance, which pointed out that,
| probably through the lack of efficiency
and looseness OF methods, or the in
adequacy of the present system of pub
lie accounting, large sums of money
which are due the territory each year,
remain uncollected, and that the terri
tory. as we'll as the city and county
| Of Honolulu, is bereft Of the use of
much actual cash, the greater part of
/ which Is destined for the building and
maintenance of roads.
In accepting the report of the COM
mittee as presented, outlining the work
of the past two months, and in taking
action, it was the concensus of opinion
/ OF the directors present that the mat
| ter of providing a more complete and
adequate public accounting system
should be put up directly to Governor
Pinkham, and not to legislative COM
mittees and that the recommendations
in the report be carried out 1t was
recommended that the public finance
committee of the chamber continue the
work which yesterday resulted in the
presentation of a report, and to CO.
operate with the governor in securing
| results. There was some talk as to
the advisability of urging the appoint
ment of an expert statistician to con-
troll the public accounting of the ter
ritory and of the city and county.
of Honolulu. This matter, owever, will
be left to the consideration of the
governor, and probably will be put up
to him by the chamber committee.
The report of the public finance
committee, which has been working in
cooperation with similar committee
of the AID Club, was backed up by a
report from II. Gooding Field, a mem
Der of the latter body, who, at the
request of the joint committee, re-
Gently completed thorough probe of
the system of public accounting. In
reading the chamber committees re-
port, E. II. Paris, the chairman, re-
ferred now and then to Mr.. Fields
report, quoting findings here and there
which went to show that the govern
ment annually is losing thousands OF
dollars through collection of taxes
and other moneys, due either to the
a comprehensive system.
In his report, Mr.. Field pointed out
that, through the collection of au-.
tomobile taxes alone. the territory has
lost $3S,525.75 This covers period
beginning with the registration of au-I
tomobiles up until December 81, 1913.
Mr.. Field, in his second report, points
out an inadequacy in the full cash
value" method of assessing property.
It further was pointed out that there
is no standardization of tax values In
the city and county of Honolulu.
In the report of the AID Club com
mittee, composed of John Guild, chair.
man; j. T. Warren and John Effinger,
1t Is pointed out that, in the belief
of the committee, the loss OF revenue
may be laid largely at the door of con-
flict in governmental authority. This
point is brought out in the report as
follows:
"a careful reading of these reports
land every public-spirited citizen
should study them closeIy-will show
that one of our greatest public ills is
/ the financial waste which has been al
lowed to exist and still Is going on I'M
checked"
For instance, out of every 500 of.
our collectable automobile taxes a
comparatively small source OF public
trevenue-S37.5 so is uncolIected. In
other words, for the period from 1906
/ to 1918, the sum of more than $3Y, 00GI
from this source of revenue only still
| is outstanding We can have some
idea from this item alone of the dis.
astrous results of the present conflict
1 in governmental authority which make
such conditions possible. We are, at
the present time, losing more than
$1,000 per month of this revenue
through red tape
Again, we have no standardization
of property values in the territory. 1t
is bad enough to have waste in ex-
Ipenditures, but, If possible, it is worse
when the community does not even get
income that should and could be col
lected. Our methods Of assessments
are not only unreliable but antiquated,
and it is hopeless to expect our tax
assessors to make equitable assess
ments under existing conditions of val
uation of property"
Mr.. Paris, as chairman of the cham
Der committee, outlined the work
which has been done by his committee
and a similar committee of the AID
Club. aided by H. Gooding Field, the
statistical expert, and mentioned that
the joint committee had received every
assistance from the governor. In full,
the report follows:
"Your committee has been quite ac-
| tive in looking into matters which We
believe to be important in connection
with municipal finance. We have en-