Kuokoa Home Rula, Volume VII, Number 3, 15 Ianuali 1909 — The Voter, The Law And The Lawyer. [ARTICLE]

The Voter, The Law And The Lawyer.

Whsn The MUwicipal Act Takes Effect. Voter to the Law—Wh.en did the munieipal Act take effect?' Law— <{ This Act shall take effect from and after th« date of its approval—Section 152 of Act 118. Vcter—When was that? L&w—" 1 hat * * * all bills passed by īhe legislatura shaJl, *n ofder to be valid, be signed by the governor." —Organic Act, Sec. 48. Voter—l understand now, that it must take effect !i*om and nfter the date, oi it being approyed, or īn other vdrds. signed by the governor; but, what I want to know, was tLat ? , Lav—"The Act or The Munieipal Act" was *oprovtd on the 30th. day of Apiil, A. D. 1907. Sigoed by Governor Carter on that same day. Voter—Do you mean to tell me, that the " Munieipal Act," known also as Act 118 of the Session Lav/s'of 1907, heeame obligatory on the 30th. day e! Apnl 1907, when it was signed by the Govemcr. Law " No \vritten lav shall be obligatory without bptng first printed and made public.Chapter 2, Section 3, Revised Law of Hawan. ' " shail the duty of ihe Secretary of the Territory Hawaii to promulgate" every law enacted by the legislature by publishing the same in newspapers publĪ3hed in Heiolulu m the English and Hawaiian languages, as soon a practicable a£ter its enactment.—Chap. 2, Sec. 1 R. L. " AJI laws, unless otherwise specially provided, shall toke efFect on the island of Oahu ten dayā after thepromul*ation of the same Chap. 2, Sec. 4. R. K. Voter You may be right after a«; but, don't you thmk that the mumeipal act or Act 118, is one thing, and a Charter is a very—very different thing altogether from Act Munieipal or munieipal Act or Act 118 of the Sess-on Laws of 1907 ? ■ L * w__What 1S a Charter? All unabridged dictionaries give all most same definition oi that word as follows: * ( Chart6r An act, of a legislature incorporating a munieipahty, company, institution, or the like, and speci fying the purp ose and priviliges thereof." Dr. Webster says, that a Charter is £, an act of incorporation." The titleof Act 113 lenown as "the munieipal Act," reads as foliows: " An Act incorporating- the City of and County of 'Honolulu " "Thje is no difference between a Charter incorporatraß the City and County of Honolulu, and The Act or An Act incorporating the City and County oi Hoterms are identical. thp " Voter to the (County) Lawyer—Utider th« prov:s-

ions of iaw as ēxpressed "by the law itsel£, as above mentioned, when did the Ch?rter provided for in the -munieipal act incorporatirg the City anel County of Honolulu take effect ? Law3'er —"īn my opimon, under the Munieipal Aqt, the Charter of the City and County of Honolulu took cfFcct at noon on the 4th dav of Januaryj 1909, and was notm cfi"ect in the month of December, 1908/' Vota to ihe (County) Lawyer—lf that is true, let me ask you one morc question and I am pau , Under what } provisions of law, or act did I vote for you (County Lawyer) for the Mayoi, Eor thc mcmbers of the Board of Supervisors, City and County Clerk, et cctera, īi the Munieipal Act, as you say, did not take effect or in other words was not obligatori or operative until 12 oeloek noan on the 4th. day of January, 190? ?