The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-04-30
JOINT REPORT ON i
| LABOR MEASURE
PASSES SENATE
*. ~
Metzger's Minority Opinion, With
Amendment, Too Late
For Action
hlL0 RAILWAY WINS u
FREEDOM FROM TAX
|tEl :.
Sugar Memorial To Congress
Under Consideration Z BY r.
~ Committee Chiefs
(From Wednesday, Advertiser)


With Senators Metzger, Baldwin
and Baker voting in the negative, the,
report of the conference committee Of
members Of both branches Of the legis-
iature, on senate bill 2, Castle 8 work;
men, compensation act, twas adopted
in the senate yesterday, Afternoon.
Metzger, after discussion as. 10
the regularity Of the proceeding, in.
troduced q minority committee report
through which he sought to have the
bill amended. In this regard he
stated that one of the members of the
house committee of cOnferees would
have signed the minority report with
him, IL he had insisted. The member,
whom he did not name, had stated TO
him that he knew practically nothing
about the workmen's compensation
bill and he was therefore going 10
vote the way the chairman Of the
house committee voted. With a little
persuasion, however, said Metzger, he
could have secured another name to
! his report.
Not Pair To Better-Paid workmen
/ 4hNte6Niy IOuuu
possible to endorse the recommends
ton of the committe in the matter of
fixing a limit of liability at $4,000, as
recommended by the conference com.
mittee report, where, under other terms
Of the bill, an injured employe or his
dependents would be entitled TO nearly
$1,000. This feature of the commit
tee report Disseminated against the
class Of employees who are paid wages
of more than $2647 a week, or $4.4l
q day. Metzger thought it would be
a great injustice to enact a law com.
pelling an employee whose rate OF
wages was So a day to come under
terms which provided compensation on
exactly the same basis as an employs
receiving only $4.4l a day, and to
remedy this and "make the proposed
law Just and equitable, at the sans
time leaving the maximum payment az
$4,000; Metzger offered an amendmen,
limiting the application Of the act. to
employes receiving $50 d week 6r
less, with the earnest hope and recon.
mendation that Il be adopted. r -
The amendment was lost and the
| conference committees report was
adopted, the sense of the ma jofity be.
ing that any further delay at this
late stage in the session might mean
the death of the bill. l-E
Hilo Railway Is Exempted .
House bill 345, exempting the HiIc
railway extension from taxation fel
FIVE years, which carries the exemption
till 1923, was passed on third reading
by q vote Of 10 to 8. The three mega
tives were Metzger, Robinson ant
Coke; Desha and Quinn, were absent
Communications were read from the
committees of the 1901 and 1909 bond
holders of the Hilo Railway to the
effect that the extension of the tax
alton exemption was most important
In view of the reorganization. Metz
ger remarked that the communicate
were signed by pretty powerful lisl
of names. He could see that the pass
age Of the bill would be of advantag,
10 the bondholders; anything in tn,
way of charity that the legislator,
wished to bestow would no doubt b,
appreciated, but there was another
side to the matter, namely that tn,
county of Hawaii would be losing the
taxes and not the Territory. Bakel
Raid that the added values of land
through which the railroad did bust
moss would more than make up event
ually, for the loss, in taxes. Cok'
wanted to know what was the objec
ton to letting the next legislator,
handle the matter, since the present
exemption period did not expire until
1918. He thought the Legislature,
of money and be done with it, instea!
90 - -,
Coke's idea, thought Rice, WIN didn
he introduce bill to that effectf
"Grandstand Play" Tabled
House concurrent resolution 27. rec
ommending and petitioning congress
to pension relatives of the lost crew Of
the submarine F-4, was tabled in thu
senate. Metzger stated that he did
not favor the resolution: he did mo-
intend to further any grandstan(
plays of the speaker of the house. il
congress was not aware of what hai
happened TO the F.4 the Navy depart
ment could probably furnish the infor
nation. This was something not re
curing any action on the part of thu
Hawaiian legislature. He character
lied the resolution as a means Of
playing up to the public. The meas
ure was tabled without dissenting
hand.
Cutting Out Persecution
The Judiciary committee reported on
house bill 263, which aims to prohibit
the buying up of debts for "nominal
sums for the purpose of the "puI
chaser suing in his own name. Tn,
judiciary committee was unable Il
agree and recommended that the bill
go to the committee of the whole. The
committee of the whole recommends,
passage on second reading, it being un
derstood that the bill might be amended
when 1t comes up for Third reading to
day. Coke said the passage of the bill
would eliminate one or two persons
'iven to tn" practise Of securing evi
dences Of debt at nominal figures anC
Suing in their own names; it would dc