ARTICLE I.  Of the Government Lands and other Property.

 

§39.  The Minister of the Interior shall have the charge, custody, and supervision of all the lands surrendered and forever made over unto the chiefs and people by His late Majesty, Kamehameha III., the surrender and conveyance of which was solemnly accepted, and confirmed by an Act of the Legislature, passed on the 7^th day of June, A.D. 1848; and also of all other government lands, buildings, vessels, and property whatsoever not expressly placed in the charge of some other officer.

 

§40.  The said Minister shall be accountable for the preservation and safe keeping of the government property, and it shall be his duty to prosecute any person injuring, trespassing upon, or wrongfully taking the same, such as land, timber, streams, ponds, springs, water-courses, reservoirs, water-works, reefs, harbors, channels, wharves, lights, buoys, beacons, highways, bridges, markets, buildings, vessels, and other government property of whatsoever kind or nature.

 

§41.  The said Minister, under the direction and with the approval of the King in Cabinet Council, shall have power to purchase lots upon which to erect public buildings, and other lands for the use of harbors, highways, wharves, water-works, and other internal improvements; also any other property necessary for the public service; and to pay for the same in such manner as the King in Cabinet Council shall direct; provided always, that the whole amount of existing debt incurred for the purchase of such lands or property, shall at no time exceed the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars; and provided further, that no moneys specifically appropriated by the Legislature for any other object, shall be applied to the discharge of the debt incurred as hereinbefore provided.

 

§42.  The said Minister, by and with the authority of the King in Cabinet Council, shall have power to lease, sell or otherwise dispose of the public lands, and other property, in such manner as he may deem best for the protection of agriculture, and the general welfare of the Kingdom, subject however, to such restrictions as may, from time to time, be expressly provided by law.  And provided that no sale of one land or lot exceeding five thousand dollars in value shall be made without the consent of the King and a majority of the Privy Council.

 

To Require the Sale and Leases of Government

Lands to be made at Public Auction

 

            Section 1.  All sales or leases of Government lands shall be made at public auction, after not less than thirty days’ notice by advertisement in two or more newspapers published in Honolulu, in both the Hawaiian and English languages, excepting lands and portions of lands of less than three hundred dollars in value.  All such sales shall be made at the door of the Government House, at Honolulu, and shall be cried by the Minister of Interior, or by one of his clerks, under his direction, who shall perform this service without extra compensation.

            Notice of sale herein above required to be made, shall contain a full description of the land to be sold, as to locality, area and quality, with a reference to the survey, which shall in all cases be kept in the office of the Minister, open to inspection of any one who may desire to examine the same.

            In case application has been made for purchase of a Government land, and a price has been offered for same, the price offered shall be published in the notice of sale as the upset price for which the land should be offered at public auction.

            Section 2.  The provisions of this Act shall not extend or apply to cases where the Government shall by quit-claim, or otherwise, dispose of its rights in any land by way of compromise or equitable settlements of the rights of claimants, nor to cases of exchange, or sales of Government lands in return for parcels of land required for roads, sites of Government buildings, or other Government purposes.

 

§43.  A Royal Patent, signed by the King, and countersigned by (the Kuhina Nui and*) the Minister of Interior, shall issue under the great Seal of the kingdom to the purchaser in fee-simple of any Government land or other real estate; and also to any holder of an award from the Board of Commissioners to quiet land titles for any land which he may have commuted the Government rights.

 

§44.  All Royal Patents, leases, grants or other conveyances of any Government land or real estate, shall be prepared by, and issued from, the Department of the Interior; and it shall be the duty of the Minister of the Interior to keep a full and faithful record of all such patents, leases, grants, and other conveyances.  Said record shall be open to public inspection, and he shall furnish a certified copy, under his official seal, of any instrument therein recorded, to any person applying therefore, upon being paid at the rate of fifty cents for every one hundred words.  Every such certified copy shall be received as evidence in any judicial court of the kingdom, the same as the original instrument itself.

 

§45.  It shall be the duty of the Minister of Interior to cause such surveys, maps, and plans of the Government lands, harbors, and internal improvements to be made as the public interests may require; which surveys, maps and plans shall be kept in his office for public inspection and reference.

 

§46.  The Minister of the Interior may appoint suitable agents throughout the kingdom, for the management and sale of Government lands, which agents shall be paid a reasonable compensation for their services, in the discretion of the said Minister, out of the proceeds of their sales or other avails arising from such lands.  It shall be the duty of such agents to report to the Minister of the Interior all trespasses committed by any person upon the Government lands in their charge.

 

§47.  Every such agent shall procure the lands sold by him to be correctly surveyed; and he shall not forward any such survey to the Minister of the Interior to obtain a Royal Patent to be executed for the land sold, until the purchaser shall have first deposited in the hands of such agent the purchase money of said land, and the costs of the survey.

 

§48.  The Minister of the Interior is prohibited from selling the water-ponds, springs and streams belonging to the Government near Honolulu; that is to say, the pond of Kunawai, in the Ili of Kunawai; and the ponds of Kumuhahane and Kalaupalolo, in the Ili of Alewa, and all other Government water-ponds, springs and streams, wherever situated, which may be valuable for public use; and any sale in contravention of this section shall be absolutely null and void.

 

 

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