Editorials
Tuesday, May 28, 1996
Ruling could energize
homestead program
THE Hawaiian Homes program faces a fundamental policy change in the wake of the Hawaii Supreme Court's decision that the subleasing of homestead lands is illegal. This practice has been common for decades, particularly on Molokai. Statewide, 4,350 acres or 11 percent of agricultural and ranch lands for Hawaiian homesteading are leased to other parties, according to a 1994 survey by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
The Hawaiian Homes Commission Act prohibits homesteaders from subleasing, but the commission had approved 23 third-party arrangements on Molokai that the court said were essentially subleases. Similar arrangements exist on other islands.
The court's decision, reversing a ruling by then-Circuit Judge Richard Komo, strengthens the homestead program's adherence to its original purpose - to put Hawaiians on the land. Some Hawaiians had protested the subleases, saying they had difficulty competing against non-Hawaiians who leased homestead parcels. Some of the 10,000 on the waiting list for farm and pasture lots say those who cannot work the land themselves should surrender it.
On the other side are homestead recipients who sublease their land because they are too old or sick to farm, and the workers who are employed by non-Hawaiians who are now subleasing the land. Farmer Larry Jefts, who subleases 400 acres from homesteaders for diversified agriculture, said 12 to 36 of his employees may be laid off if he is forced to give up homestead land.
These subleasing arrangements may have made sense when there was less interest among Hawaiians in farming. Today, with the so-called Hawaiian renaissance flourishing, there is strong interest among some Hawaiians in working the land.
The court's ruling could provide more opportunities to do so. But the commission may have to face the need to find a way to reconcile the interests of the Hawaiians who are now prohibited from subleasing and those who are waiting for land.
Other editorials in brief:
Crackdown in Burma
AUNG San Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous fight to restore democracy to Burma. She has not been resting on her laurels since. Released from house arrest last July after six years, she still finds the military regime restricting her activities.
Last weekend the generals unwittingly thrust her into the headlines by arresting more than 200 supporters in advance of an opposition meeting at Aung San Suu Kyi's home in Rangoon. She commented that the arrests "have very much helped our cause, but I'm afraid it has not been easy for those who have been arrested."
In addition to the government's repressive policies, Burma is the world's largest producer of opium and heroin. A ban on new American investment has been proposed in Congress. Because the government is trying to attract foreign investment, such a ban might compel the regime to ease the restrictions on Suu Kyi and her followers.
Democrats convene
Hawaii Democrats demonstrated again that they are the party of tax and spend. At their biennial convention, they supported raising the income tax for couples earning more than $40,000 and individuals earning $20,000. This in a state with one of the heaviest state and local tax burdens in the country. Amy Agbayani, elected to the Democratic National Committee, credited her victory to support from public employees, who run the Democratic Party. The rest of us have to accept what they decide in this one-party state.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor