between the ages of 20 and 60 pay a personal tax of $5, viz:
Poll tax, $1; road tax, $2; school tax, $2. Land pays a tax of one per
cent. on the cash value, and personal property a similar rate. Carts pay
$2, brakes $3, carriages $5, dogs $1, female dogs $3. From the above it
will be seen that the taxes are not heavy as compared with other
countries; moreover, there are no local taxes of any kind.
METHOD OF ACQUIRING LAND.
Land can be obtained from the Government by two methods, viz.; The cash
freehold system, and the right of purchase leases. Under the first
system the land is sold at auction. The purchaser pays one-quarter in
cash and the rest in equal installments of one, two and three years,
interest being charged at the rate of six per cent. upon the unpaid
balance. Under this system the purchaser is bound to maintain a home on
the land from the commencement of the second year to the end of the
third. The right of purchase leases are drawn for twenty-one years at a
rental of eight per cent. on the appraised value of the land. The lessee
has the privilege of purchasing the land, after the third year, _at the
original appraised value_, provided 25 per cent. of the land is reduced
to cultivation, and other conditions of the lease filled. In this case a
home must be maintained from the end of the first year to the end of the
fifth year. The limit of first-class agricultural land obtainable is 100
acres. This amount is increased on lands of inferior quality. Under the
above conditions the applicant must be 18 years of age and obtain
special letters of denization. Land can also be obtained from the
various land and investment companies, and from private parties. The
full land law will be treated of in Chapter VI. of this pamphlet.
[Illustration: EXECUTIVE BUILDING.]
[Illustration: JUDICIARY BUILDING.]
JUDICIARY, POLICE, ETC.
There is a thoroughly efficient judiciary consisting of a Supreme Court,
five Circuit Courts in which trials by jury are conducted, and District
Courts in every district. The higher courts are presided over by well
trained, educated men. There is an efficient police force in every part
of the group. The inhabitants are law-abiding and crimes of violence are
very rare. There is very little petty theft, and even in Honolulu, the
greatest center of population and a seaport town, many of the houses are
left with doors unlocked at night.
SCHOOLS.
There is an excellent system of free
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