Hawaii will remember first governor as decent, progressive

THE ISSUE William F. Quinn, Hawaii's last territorial governor and first elected governor, died yesterday at the age of 87.

STATEHOOD got off to a good start under William Francis Quinn, Hawaii's last territorial governor and its first elected governor. Quinn, who died yesterday at age 87, will be remembered as a progressive Republican governor whose positive influence will be felt in the state for years to come.

A World War II veteran, Quinn arrived in Hawaii after graduating from Harvard Law School in 1947 to work for a major law firm. He lost a territorial senate race in 1956 but was appointed by President Eisenhower as the territory's governor in 1957. He was elected governor after statehood in 1959 on a platform that could have been written by a Democrat: no taxes for basic foods, income tax exemptions and extending unemployment compensation.

At the top of Quinn's agenda was land reform, specifically selling state parcels at low prices to citizens on the basis of need, including Hawaiians who would prefer urban home lots rather than the mostly rural lots available under the Hawaiian Home Lands Commission. Nearly a half century later, the commission is making great strides in making land exchanges that allow that to happen.

Quinn was quoted in his biography, "No Ordinary Man," by Mary C. Kahulumana Richards, as saying his worst political mistake was calling his land reform proposal the "second mahele." The first mahele in 1848 was not the most popular idea among Hawaiians, since it enabled whites who were akamai to the private property system to take over lands from Hawaiians who were not.

He was important for all that comes from being Hawaii's first governor, allowing him to make more than 500 appointments and nominate all judges and members of boards and commissions. He was immensely popular with voters, receiving a 71 percent approval rating in a 1958 opinion poll.

"The disarray caused by power grabs" from his lieutenant governor and Senate Democrats and "Quinn's inability to master them led to his defeat for re-election in 1962," the Star-Bulletin's late A.A. Smyser recalled in a column eight years ago. Smyser wrote a post-defeat commentary headlined, "A Good Governor But No Politician."

"Quinn was more honorable than a lot of the Democrats who concertedly rebuked just about everything he did," Smyser recalled. "Aided by this tactic they took over the state lock, stock and barrel in 1962 and have pretty well held onto it since." (Governor Lingle became only the second Republican to be elected governor of Hawaii two years after Smyser wrote those words.)

Quinn lost to Democrat John Burns in that election and returned to his private law practice. He became president of Dole Co. two years later and returned to lawyering in 1972. He retired in 1976 but remained an active and valuable asset to the community.