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A REPORT ON THE SHIPPER'S WHARF COMMITTEE TRUST CHRONOLOGY In 1904, a group of businessmen in the City of Hilo decided that a voluntary tax contribution of 10~ per ton should be collected on incoming merchandise to the port of Hilo to be used principally for sanitary purposes. Historical evidence showed that creation of a committee was prompted by severe epidemics of bubonic plague and cholera suffered by the Territory. Approximately 18 contributors were represented on the Committee. From 1904 to 1939, the Committee had spent $127,022 on various projects, including the trapping, poisoning and control of rats, the immunization of children for diphtheria, and supporting Puumaile Home (a tuberculosis sanitarium). As of June 30, 1940, accumulations amounting to $161,415 had been set aside by the Committee.l In 1941 in response to a complaint filed by six individuals, the Court found that all expenditures were within the discretion of the Committee and were proper. The Court declared that the funds were impressed with a trust for the benefit of the public to be used on the Island of Hawaii "in accordance with the declared purposes of said trust, namely, public health and safety;" the trust is in the nature of a charitable trust in which the attorney general has an interest; and the administrators of the trust were its trustees. The Court ordered that the corpus and the income from the trust may be used within the discretion of the trustees (1) to safeguard public health and improve public sanitation; (2) to prevent the spread of and remove the possible causes of epidemics and diseases dangerous to public welfare, such as bubonic plague, cholera, diptheria, small pox and other communicable diseases; (3) to relieve distress which may be occasioned by great public disaster or destruction on a wide scale, such as lava flows, tidal waves and earthquakes; and (4) to promote public safety.2 Shipper's Wharf Committee, an eleemosynary corporation, was incorporated and became the qualified successor in trust.3 In 1953, the Shipper's Wharf Committee was legally dissolved, and the Court ordered the transfer of all Shipper's Wharf Committee Trust Fund assets to the Territory of Hawaii, to be administered by the Governor of the Territory of Hawaii or the Governor of the State of Hawai i. The Court also found that the attorney general of the Territory of Hawaii was the proper party to represent the Territory and the public at large in their interest in the assets.9 The original principal or corpus of the fund received by the Governor on December 30, 1953 was $173,861.49: $104,861.49 (certified check) and $69,000 (Hilo Electric Light Co., Ltd. bonds).5 The funds were not placed in a 'special fund' nor appropriated by the legislature. Notably, Section 37-62, HRS, (State Financial Administration) defines "'special funds' as funds which are dedicated or set aside by ~ Fourth Circuit Court DECISION dated January 9, 1941; Fourth Circuit Court DECREE dated January 9, 1941; Fourth Circuit Court AMENDED DECISION dated January 11, 1941; Fourth Circuit Court AMENDED DECREE dated February 27, 1941; STIPULATION dated February 26, 1941. ' Ibid. s Third Circuit Court ORDER dated December 22, 1953. Ibid. ` Ibid. 1