Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-03-30
REPORT or THE CHAMBER or
COMMERCE COMMITTEE ON
PUBLIC FINANCE, TAXATION
AND INSURANCE. L .5E5r .lss5 !!

/ AND INSURANCE. 4 5E5ss, s&5z5 Il
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To the Officers and Members OF the
IIcnoIuIu Chamber of Commerce,
Honolulu. T. II. .tSr..*. Is r.: ,fs =
Gentlemen: in submitting a re-
pdrt of The activities of this commit
tee for the year. past, we will simply
: outline work which has been under
taken and refer to the individual re-
ports made TO the directors from time
to time,
/ Insurance. ...' .~.. ~.@ g..
Upon the declaration Of war in Eu-
rope, the question of condition an
ability OF foreign insurance compan'
les, who were doing business in this
Territory, to meet their obligations
and responsibilities in case of a gen
erai confederation or other disaster,
, was submitted to this committee.
/ We ascertained that, with the ex-
ception OF two companies, all of the
FIRE insurance companies have. United
States branches, and have assets with
in the United States. which may be
levied upon for the protection of local
or mainland policy holders. Under the
state laws Of the several states a de-
pcsit or invested reserve fund, under
the control Of the insurance commits
sioners. is required as a guarantee OF
tile Insurance company's ability to
meet all OF its obligations under any
Of the policies which are written. Up
b. the present time we find no occa-
sion for alarm or, do We recommend
any change relative to the placing OF
insurance. - - "
PGblic Finanee. .s..-.,.s .,< z
Particular attention has been given
by your committee to the. matter. of,
public finance and the system of &C
counting relative thereto. Early in
the year a joint committee was
formed, made up Of members of a
special committee from the Honolulu
Ad Club, and the members of the
Chamber of Commerce Committee on
Public Finance, Taxation and Insur-
ance. Our procedure has been con-
Quoted with the cooperation of the
Governor of the Territory of Hawaii,
Who has elaborated with US on all
matters which have been presented
for consideration. Mr. H. Gooding
FIELD, who was q member of the spe-
cial committee from the Ad Club, gave
most Of his time, without compensa
ZION, for several months prior to the
close OF 1914, to the work which our
research required and the conclusions
set forth iii the monthly reports have
been based largely on his findings. ]
During January and February further
expert services we're required OF Mr.
Field. In order to obtain certain spe-
1tiai information which Governor Pink,
ham and the joint committee wished
10 Obtain; and, under authortzat ton by
the directors Of the Chamber OF Com
lnerce, Mr., Field was regularly EN-
Bloyed for the first two months OF
this year, to February q, 1915.
In order that we might offer sugges-
lions which would lead to the better:
llent Of conditions, it was decided TO
take up the three primary classes Of
transactions In government affairs,
namely, assets and liabilities, rev
enues; and OUTLAWS and expenses.
Referring to Mr.. Fields report, dat.
ed October %, 1914, the manner Of
collecting government revenues In the
honolulu tax Office was first consid-
cred. An examination was made OF
the automobile registration and taxes
collected and it was found that due
either to dereliction in Office. or to
stated conflict In authority, consider
Able sums, of money due the govern
ment had not been and were not being
collected. tSee interim report tax
Office, October %, 1919
We are now advised that the collec-
tion of automobile taxes is we'll In
hand We would respectfully refer
you to The report Of our committee OF
December o. 1914, which outlined the
conditions as we then found them, and
would say that our attitude in the
premises has been heartily supported
by unanimous vote Of the directors.
fSee report of December 8. 1914-sub-
mitted herewith
The very important matter of inven-
tories of government assets has had
our attention and it was found that
the law as, set forth in Act II of the
Session Laws Of 1909 had not been
enforced. This act makes it compul-
sorry, under severe penalty. in case of
failure on the part of any government
official to comply Herewith, that all
government property be inventoried
by the first of July of each year. and
reported by the several tax assessors
to the territorial auditor This law,
however. is not far reaching enough
and amendments thereto have been
offered which will make the enforce
ment more effective II is imperative
that proper accounting OF the asset
values be made Id the government
books. as it Is of the first Importance
that We establish control over the
public finances. With the exception of
the year 1903 the first year the Law
went into effect1 VERY few of the in
ventories have been made or fled. It
was found that no property accounts
had been. opened in the books of the
territorial auditor and that, in fact.
the Law as to inventories had not