Message from the President of the United States, Transmitting the Report of the Hawaiian Commission

PREFACE.

The first written laws of Hawaii were published in 1823, and the first compilation was published in 1842 in a small volume now known as the "Blue Book." This was followed by the Session Laws of 1843, and by the comprehensive acts to organize the Government, enacted in 1845– 1847 and published together. A penal code was enacted 1850. Session Laws were then published yearly until 1859, when the laws, not already embodied in the Penal Code were codified into a "Civil Code," divided into chapters with sections numbered consecutively through the volume. This code was enacted by the legislature.

Following this were the Session Laws, passed every even year from 1860 to 1882, inclusive. In 1869 a new "Penal Code" was published, comprising the portions of the Penal Code of 1850 still in force and the penal statutes enacted subsequently. This code was enacted by the legislature. In 1884 the "Compiled Laws" were published. This comprised the portions of the Civil Code of 1859 still in force and the statutes enacted subsequently and not already included in the Penal Code of 1869. The orignal numbering of the Civil Code was retained and new matter was placed either near similar subjects or at the end of the volume.

After this the following laws were passed: Session Laws of 1884, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1890, 1892; Acts of the Provisional Government (1893), Constitution and Laws of the Republic (1894-1895), Session Laws of 1895-1896. In 1897 all the laws were compiled by Sidney M. Ballou and published by authority in two volumes known as the "Civil Laws" and the "Penal Laws."

The compiled laws of 1884 were taken as the basis of the civil laws, but the parts were rearranged and the sections renumbered, and all laws of a penal nature were transferred to the "penal laws." The basis of the penal laws was the Penal Code of 1869, the chapters of which, so far as still in force, were retained with their original numbering, and new matter was added as new chapters. In this compilation many changes were made in pursuance of general statutes or the provisions of the constitution of the Republic, e. g., the substitution of "Republic" for "Kingdom," "President" for "King," etc. Notes were added at the end of each chapter, with references to the original statutes and to decisions of the supreme court. Following this compilation were the session laws of 1898.

The present volume comprises the Civil Laws and the Penal Laws compiled and published in 1897 and the Session Laws of 1898, modified in conformity with the recommendations of the commission of five members appointed by the President of the United States to recommend legislation concerning the Hawaiian Islands, under the provisions of the joint resolution of Congress approved July 7, 1898. The original numbering of chapters and sections has been retained. The numbers of those chapters and sections the text of which is omitted are inclosed in brackets. These include the chapters and sections which the commission recommend to be repealed; also those of a temporary nature and no longer in force, and those, especially in the Session Laws of 1898, which were merely amendatory of previous laws, and which have been inserted in place of the laws to which they were amendatory. Many changes have been made in the text, in pursuance of the general recommendations of the commission, e. g., "Republic" has been changed to "Territory" or "Government," "president" to 66 governor,' ""minister of finance" to "treasurer,' ""minister of the interior" to "superintendent of public works," or otherwise, as the case might be, etc. The notes also have been changed to conform to

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