The communication was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Promotion.

At 3:00 o'clock p. m., upon motion by Senator Pacheco, seconded by Senator Desha, the Senate adjourned to 1:00 o'clock p. m., Thursday, March 29, 1917.

Approved by the Senate:

1. Loures

Clerk of the Senate.

The thing auth

President of the Senate.

THIRTY-FIRST DAY

Thursday, March 29, 1917.

The Senate met at 1:00 o'clock p. m. pursuant to adjournment.

After prayer by the Chaplain the roll was called showing all Senators present with the exception of Senator Mikaele, excused by the President.

The Journal of the Thirtieth Day was read by the Clerk and upon motion by Senator Pacheco, seconded by Senator Cooke, was approved. A communication from the Secretary of the Territory (Dept. Com. No. 33) informing the Senate that the Governor had signed House Bills Nos. 153, 165, 185, 250 and 298 as Acts 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34, respectively, was read by the Clerk, as follows:

Honolulu, March 26, 1917.

Hon. Chas. F. Chillingworth,

President of the Senate,

Honolulu.

Dear Sir:-I beg to inform your Honorable Body that the Governor signed the following Bills on March 24th:

House Bill No. 153, as Act 30, entitled: "An Act making special appropriations for the payment of certain claims against the Territory of Hawaii incurred prior to June 30, 1915."

House Bill No. 165, as Act 31, entitled: "An Act to add a new sec tion to Chapter 173 of the Revised Laws of Hawaii, 1915, to be numbered Section 3059A, relating to sales by guardians of real estate of value not exceeding one thousand dollars."'

House Bill No. 185, as Act 32, entitled: "An Act to amen Section 4173 of the Revised Laws of Hawaii, 1915, relating to gambling."

House Bill No. 250, as Act 33, entitled: "An Act to appropriate the additional sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) for compiling, printing, binding and publishing a dictionary of the Hawaiian language."

House Bill No. 298, as Act 34, entitled: "An Act to provide for the appropriation of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) to be immediately available for the purchasing of law books for the use of the circuit court of the third judicial circuit.''

Yours very truly,

WADE WARREN THAYER,
Secretary of Hawaii.

A communication from the Governor (Dept. Com. No. 34) transmitting reports of the Industrial Accident Boards of the several counties and of the city and county, was read by the Clerk as follows:

March 29, 1917.

To the Legislature:

In conformity with Act 221, Session Laws 1915, I transmit herewith reports of the Industrial Accident Boards of the several Counties and City and County for the period July 1, 1915, to December 31st, 1916.

Honorable Sir:-In accordance with the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act, Section 58, we beg to offer you the report of the results of the operation of the law for the six months from July first, up to and including the thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred fifteen, briefly incorporating therein such information as we hope may prove of interest to you as Governor of the Territory and to the Legislature of the Territory.

Organization.

The Board held its first meeting at the offices of the Henry Waterhouse Trust Company, Ltd., on Wednesday, June ninth, nineteen hundred fifteen. There were present at this meeting Messrs. A. J. Campbell, F. E. Steere, R. B. Booth and F. O. Boyer. Mr. S. S. Paxson's absence from the city prevented his attendance at this meeting.

Mr. A. J. Campbell was elected Chairman of the Board.

On July first quarters were secured in the McCandless Building, arrangements having been made with the Hawaiian Engineering Association for the use of their room, No. 202, in that building.

The services of a secretary were secured, to whom was relegated the task of putting the office of the new Commission under the Workmen's Compensation Act into condition, and preparing for the proper conduct of the general details of the work to be accomplished.

Without loss of time, the necessary furnishings and the methods of operation were arranged and the routine work established.

Securities Filed.

During these six months, there were filed with this Commission, by one thousand and seventy-nine employers, security for the payment of compensation to their employees, in some one of the four ways provided under Section 46 of the Act.

Where application to carry their own insurance was made to the Board, careful and exhaustive consideration was given to the various possible conditions that might arise creating responsibility in the employer for a continuous period and making him liable for amounts bearing seriously upon his financial resources.

These applications to carry their own insurance were comparatively few, the number of such requests not exceeding seventy-five. Where

the financial exhibits, in the judgment of the Board, did not warrant the assuming on the part of the applicant the liability for the payment of the compensation possibly involved these applications were denied and the employers instructed to provide security in some one of the other methods indicated under Section 46.

In several instances, subsequent to the approval and Order of Acceptance by the Board of this Exhibit under Schedule "A," the parties granted the privilege of carrying their own insurance have protected their liability under the Act by filing a policy of insurance with the Board.

The actual number of employers at present, in fact, taking advantage of the privilege permitted under item four, Section forty-six of the Act, totals fifty-three, this total representing six individuals and forty-seven corporations. Bonds have been filed by three corporations. Delinquencies.

Probably the number of returns quoted does not represent more than fifty per cent of the employers of the City and County of Honolulu subject to the Act. Only recently, on account of the organization and the detail that the Board has had to inaugurate, has it been able to seriously consider the matter of delinquents.

It is a fact that, so far, the only method adopted by the Board in the matter of delinquents has been to give a list of delinquents to the County Attorney's Office, it being understood by the Board that this was all that was necessary to institute legal proceedings against such delinquents.

However, the County Attorney's Office has taken the attitude that while it recognizes the Act intended it should prosecute cases referred to it by the Industrial Accident Board, it maintains that the Board should furnish the necessary data to institute the suits.

This Board understands from the County Attorney's Office that the procuring of this data would practically take one man's time, and that it has neither the extra man nor the funds with which to hire one.

The apportionment for our Board is limited, and it does not feel that it can add another employee with the funds at its disposal. The County Attorney's Office has suggested that the powers given to the Board will enable it to call before the Board, at its meetings, the delinquents and obtain data in that way. In the opinion of this Board, the Act did not contemplate that its time should be taken up in this manner, as the vital questions continually coming before the Board for adjustment take all the time that its members, who have their own business to attend to, can reasonably be expected to give.

Unless the Executive Department can furnish more funds, or the Attorney General's office help in the prosecution, the Board will have to make the matter of delinquency a secondary consideration, trusting that the next legislature will place at its disposal money enough for it to employ an inspector for this work.

Accidents.

Accidents, to the number of six hundred and eighty-nine were reported for this same period, the majority of the accidents resulting in minor injuries where the medical and hospital costs paid by the employer, or the insurance carrier, were considerably less than the maximum amount stipulated by the law, the injured employee recovering from the disability and returning to work prior to the expiration of the fourteen-day period.

One hundred and fifty-one of these accidents created disabilities extending over a compensation period longer than one week. Five hundred and eighty-two of the total number of cases were closed during the six

months through the voluntary adjustment of the compensation due the injured employee, by the employer or his insurance carrier, subject to the approval, and sometimes the preliminary advice or instruction of the Board.

One hundred and two cases are still under compensation.

Claims Presented to the Board.

Twenty-three claims were presented to the Board, on the part of employees, where, from the employee's point of view, a voluntary and satisfactory compensation had not been offered by the employer.

Three of these cases were dismissed; the facts disclosing in one case that the employer had fully complied with the law in affording the claimant proper medical care and all due compensation; in the other two cases dismissed, the Board had no jurisdiction in the premises, one accident ante-dating the first of July, nineteen hundred fifteen, the other on account of the non-residency of the employer.

Two awards were made by the Board for continued payments of compensation for the maximum periods provided under the Act the beneficiary under one of these awards remaining for the present under the supervision of the Board.

Five of the accidents reported to the Board and coming under their jurisdiction, resulted in death. In one instance there were no dependents, the wife and children living in China and having never been residents of the Territory or of the United States, were aliens and not entitled to compensation under the law.

Of the three other death cases, all coming under the provisions of the Act, two are still pending, the third is about to be closed by a settlement award for the continued payment of compensation for the full period of three hundred and twelve weeks, in compliance with the provisions of the Act pertaining to the case.

Board Meetings.

Forty-two meetings of the Board have been held.

Full and explicit minutes of each meeting are on record. Persistent effort has been made to secure accurate and detailed data in connection with all matters brought before the Board and in reference to every accident reported, all data being preserved on file.

The clerical work required has been necessarily great, and the secretary, combining the duties of secretary, stenographer and clerk, has found that efficient service demands responsibility, initiative, vigilant, alertness and infinite patience.

The Honorable Royal Meeker, U. S. Commissioner of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor, Washington, D. C., was present at the evening meeting of September second, nineteen hundred fifteen. He discussed with the members of the Board matters of general interest in compensation law and its operation in the States, and offered suggestions in regard to the method of preparing statistical reports, and the arranging of data along lines tending to secure accuracy and intelligent classification of matter submitted to such reports.

The work of these initial six months has been necessarily formative and educational. As a rule, cordial coöperation on the part of the general public has marked the response to the unavoidable demands of the Board in connection with inducing compliance with the law throughout the City and County of Honolulu. A great amount of the administrative work has been accomplished through personal interviews, an increasing number of the inquiring public visiting the Board room daily, seeking a clearer interpretation of the law; information concerning special