Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 158, 10 February 1893 — Untitled [ARTICLE]

The Maru>"'.i brir‘tr- the new« that the Ciandtne »rriv«rti at 8nn Francisc>. and thit the Pruvi?ional Governmeut r C*>mrnir'i'»ners proled to W»shington. The California new- pap* r-* eonīain so remarkaMe a ruixture of cuntradiction «?nsationaI, stateraeu te», and romancing that it i? difficult t > fi id exactly how the situati<m is. One thing seems evideut from a!l the papers that au irapressiun ]>rtvails in the States that ther- is an unanimous desire for annexation among tiie people of Hawaii, and we presurae that such an impression so far has heen strengthened by expressions of the Provisional Coraraission. The true facte will by this time have heen given to the American puhlie, and the reaction natural u;wtn the hetiring of the other side will then set in. Such expression as “Hawaii needs fear no interference from Great I>ritain’’ shows plainly that the late revolution and annexation raove is judged as a popular move, and that by annexing the lslands, the States mean siraply to grant the Hawaiians their wishes. The annexatiou scheme meanwhile will undoubtedly be favor* ably considered in the States, and if it has to be accoraplished, it is for Hawaii to make the best bargain of the transaction. We have the goods to sell, and it is certainly proper that we fix the price for them. If the United States on!y offer us a prf)tectorate, and leave us to the tender mercy of the present self constituted government the bargain is uot worth entertaining. We raust insiBt in having the popuiar rights recognised and re*pected, and those who should make an attempt to sell out without obtaining equal rights with other parts of the States. or full polnieal rights for the whole natiou, are acting traitorously to the country and the people. If we are to be annexed to the States it raust be as a territory with prost>ecls of becoming a state and wtih all ihe rights belonging to any other territorv or state in the Union. If the States will not grant us that, let us see if we cannot make a better bargain with Great Britain or some other great power—they areall willing to buy. Snggestions iu the California press tend to show that the intended annexation scherae will be submitted to a plebiscite. A step whieh the Examiner considers it unfortunate was not taken previous to the departure of the commission. The resull of a plebiscite would prubably be a stuj>endous surpris« to Araerica, but the result of a plebiscite ean be made in favor of anaexation if it is sh«wn beyond doubt that tbe Slates will agree to the just demands of Hawaii for equality and ]K>pul«r government. If we see tbat annexation is a fbregone eoneluaion the sanction of tbe peop’e ean be obtaīned on such terms and in nn way eiae. The following notic« has beea poeted in tbe entrance of the Court Room: “ In the Sopreme Court of the Hawaiian Is!ands. Notice. In

order lhat ca-cs pending in the Supreme Courl may be decided with- : out further delay, the members of the bar are hereby invited to sign tbe following agreement, and also to pr»cure the signatures of their respective clients to the same. giving the date of signature in eaeh , cause : “Agreement —We. the underslgned counse! and parties in the i heiow meutioned cases. hereby respectivelv agree that the Hon. S. B. I)ole may file his written opiniona in the causes n hieh were pending before him, and that he may join in the opinions of the C»>urt in haneo as of a date prior to his resignation aa Justice of theSupreme Court, and thal judgment may hp eutered therein accordingly. providing that this agreement shall not be binding in any given case after thirty days from the signing of the agreeraent.” We would like to know who the joker is who has fathered the above most uniqne annouucement to the membersofthe Honolulu Bar. It cannot possib!y have been done by the consent of Mr. Dole whose eommon sense and strong inelination to enjoy a dolce far niente would have prevented him from participating in the little joke. It looks m> re to us as if it originatevl from the C. J. who objects to Mr. Dole retiring from the Supreme Bench without cleaning up his office behind him, and who evidently is withont sympathy for the president, whom we should suppose has sufficient work and troubles with his provisional haby, without being made to wade through a lot of tiresomeand uninteresting cases. Seriously. we have never heard of so outrageous a proposition that the head of the Executive Goverument should suddenly re-appear as a jadge on the Supreme Bench and decide cases for or against men to whom he. through polhieal eventa, have heeome either an enemy or a parti»an under moral obligations. We doubt that any member of the Bar will entertain the proposition for a minute. and we should certainly advise the clients to refuse to attach their signatures to the mild request. Why is not auother judge appointed in Mr. Dole’s plaee? If it happens that the government’s candidate for the position at present is on a polilieal junketing expedition to Washington, he could be appointed anyhow and cases held over till his return. If it is that the govermnent in the heat of the revolution has pr*>mised the office lo s >me ]>erson —perhaps a stranger of no legal standiug—and that it regrets to have made such promise aud fears to break it. let it make a move one way or other and swallow the pill so the evil may be cured; but let it stop hanging haek as at present. to the detnmeut of the process of law aud juptic« all over the country. It is c.>mmonly reported that the P. G. is or has heen in eommuniealiun with the Underwriters in Honolulu in regard to «stablisbing a paid Fire De]<artment. There ean be no prop«r and acceptahle grounds for cbangmg tbe very efficient volunteer department into a paid one. Such a step would c*use a beavy !ncrease in the approprit ation now a!lowed. and would be ; very unpopular with the 400 boys who now perform th« Bervic*e. It is said that the underwriters have heen invited to pay part of thc ex-

penses of snoh paid department, and we shou!d be very surprised indeed to hear that they have agreed to do *>. ll' the city has not got an edicie.it fire-service the Underwriters will simply in*’rea.-e the rates of insurance. and the puhhe at large will be the j jtt‘erers, but to expei t that the Insuran«.-e C<>mpanies shoukl }iay oul of their owa tKx kets f.ra department, when fnr i years and years the volunteers i havedonethe work in th* m<>st sat..-fact >ry maaner. is simply absurd. The l’. G. might have been in- i j duct>d to entertain the idea with i the view of giving employmeot to a number of its Dutoh supj>orters, but we eannol believe that it honestly ean inteud to turn the | State into a gigantic workhouse or a general providing institution for the improvident. Leave the Fire Liddies alone as they are. If other branches of the goverument will always do their duty as faithfully as the volunteers have done, the country ean consider itself luoky. It seems as if certain supporters of the P. Ct. are losing confidence in its ability to transact the business of the government. We hearat least that someblatant asses are circulating petitions praying for the disraissal of certain government ofticials—raostly those holdiug the fat billets —and we expect ttiat such petitions will befol!owed by others praying for the appoinlment to the oftices of the patriots from whom the petitions originate. We do not hear that the petitioners are raeeting with mueh success. whieh is a healthy sign that there is still some sense left in the heads of Honoluln citizens. The friends of the Provisional Government have sufticient faith in its ability to dismiss and appoint, wherever it shall be deeme<i for the good of the community, without being instructed or petitioned by any Tom, Dick, or Harrv, or Lineoln, whoin their small narrow minds consider themselves far abler and roore entitled to oftice than all the members of the Advisory Oouneil put together. The P. G. will very properlv put those who sign the petitions down as fools whose opinion is worthless and mischievous, and relegate the petitions to their speci»lly adapted plaee—the waste-basket. (From Emerson’s Gospel revised —Marshai's ofl5ce copy) : For John commander-in-chief-with-the-rank-of-culonel eame neither eating nor drinkine, and they say he hath a devil. The son of Tahiti eame eating and drinking, and they say behold a man gluttonous and a winebibber. a friend of pubhcans &ud sinners. But wisdom is justified of herchildren. For Lo ! doth not the P. G. put in one of the same kiud. and Cunha says he hasn’t lost anything bv the change.