Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 232, 30 May 1893 — Untitled [ARTICLE]

The financial statement«< preeente<i bv the Minist--r of Pinanoe every w<-ek lo the Councils are getting tii< re and more incomprehensihle to ordinary mortals. The statement present<d on the 2iUh of May, ehowa correctly enongh that the cash on hami on May 2 th. \vas $33.260.55, and it further show>». that the expenditures for the week. ann»unted to $6,605.46 whieh leaves $29,655.99 to whieh sum is to be added a totaI of revenue reueived amounting to $27,285.79 making the casb ou hand on May 27th, $56,941.78 — This looks very niee, but what puzzles us is a sum of $18,50<), whieh appeared on thestatement of May 20th, as notices of withdrawals due P. G. B. deposit<>rs maturing that dnte. H<>w is it that that sum was not paid,or, if it was paid, how is it t'nat it does not appear anyin the 8tatement. If we understand the Minister of Einanee rightīy, he meant that on the 20th day of May, the sum of$18, 500, wouid have to be paid lo depo8ilor8 who had given notice of their intention to withdraw that sum on that day as prescribed in the P. S. B. law —We alao find that while the 8iim of $18,500 has vanished a!together a further sum of $5,628, has been placed as becoraing due to depositors on May 27. but we never see anything abont tfie payment or otherwise of these amounie. It cannot be that there are sufficient depo8ita coming into the hank wherewith to pay the withdrawals. becausethe total deposits for the whole month of May are only estimated at $15,000, while there is alway» a aum carried out as representing the excess of withdrawals over depo*its. Another thing wecannot understand ia the amount claime<l to be receipts from geueral revenue for the week. Last week the amounl under that Peading was $13.899.23, and tiiis week it is $22.285,79. Now what are the souroes from whieh these mounla are drawn. W'e have bn>ked over the report of the Collect r-General whieh certuinly does not show that aueh figures have l>een reached in the Cu8tomHouse. During the best tiuie8, the Custora Houae mav receive a weekly revenue of about $7,000, but we do not believe that that tisure is ever re«ched at the preseut time. The taxts are not coming in at prcsent and we are at a loss to understand how the government gets such heavy receipts and why the minister d >es not dpecify them iu hia staleinent8. We find no arrangenieuts mentioned in the statemenl providing for the payment of the $30.000 for the half-yearly interesl due’English boud-holder8. nor do we understand how the sale of $.5,tKX) worth of bonds ean be plaeeil as receipl8 to be ustd to meet running expenees. Thebond8 whieh the government ie authorised to 8ell under the last loan act are for epecifio purp.i8ea, and the xnonev derived from such sal« ean certainly not be used to pay ualaries. or feed the miiitary forces with. lf that ie done in spite of the provisions of the law the country will 8imply h*ve a repetilion of the Postal Savinga Bank afifair, and be saddled with another beavy debt for whieh there will be abeolateiv nothing to ahow—not even a Punehhowl road, or a Vol-

eano road, or a dilapidated fisbraarket. Tbe Advertiser tellā us that Mr. £preckel3 has demanded $95.000 whieh are due 'nim. and that he will be promptly paid. Wouldn’t it be about time for tbe minister of finauce tocome forward and state how he projx>ses to p?y it. or whether the amountof $95,000 is to disappear inst«ntly from the financial statement>, unexplained and unnoticed like the P. S. B. withdrawal9 —By rousing and gatbering its friends the governraent ean undoubteb!y raise sufficient ; monev to pay Mr. Spreckels, but it will be on the plan of borrowing from Paul to pay Peter —or even worse. Because the manner i\i whieh the governmenf will be assisted will be bv getting advances on taxes. whieh, by rights, don’t fall due before November- Such a policy is about the most dangerou8 whieh any government ean adopt. because it will simply mean that wheu the time comes when the taxes should eome in, the tax-asses-sor will, instead of money, receive a government I. O. U. in lieu of his tix-receipts—the money having been paid and spent months previonsly. Then there will be another scrambling for cash and that is thetime when the government will be unahle to raise money, under any circumstances. It is to be hoped that minister Damon will inaugurate a new polie}', and freely and frankly show the country and the taxpayers exactly what the finaneial status of the country ie and not be satisfied by throwing out a weekly iucomprehensible statement whieh only is adapted to creaie d<>ubts and suspicions. We understand tbat Marshal Hiloheoek every morning is being served for breakfast with a batch of rumors of so-called r.iyalist raeetings and conspiracie8, and that he is supposed to digest them during the day. The informants, we suppose. are promptly paid for the valuable information furnished by them, and it is to be presumed that the astute chief of the poliee department feels highly satisfied bv knowing wnat ie g>ing on, or rather what is ne going on. Now, we have no objectioa to see the poor devils, who act as spies, being able to get their ohe or two dollars a day for inventing reports whieh niay make the Marshal feel important and burdened with care, but we wish to warn the authorities against relying too mueh on these reports, becanse, if the Attor-ney-General as per Star should act upon them, the P. G. may be led iuto taking steps whieh uudoubtedly will result iu such claims for damages against the government as would be detriraental both for th« couutry and the tax-oayers — because paymentmight be enforoed by the representatives of the injured parlies. We understand that there are at least two claims for dam ages against the P. G. at the presem time, resulting from over-offi-ciousness on the oart of the poliee department whieh are being pushed by the representative of a /oreigu power, and whieh may lead to diaagreeable complications. It ls all well «nd gix»d for the government to refer such claimauts to courts. bat ihe que«tion arises if such rcference will be satisfactory to the official representatives of tao«e elaim&nia. Within the last few weeks the attitude of the executive as well as of the judiciary branch«s of ihe government has given good cause for hesitation in adopting their act:ons aa above criticidm and suspicion. The out1 rageoas treatment of oor editor

Mr. Kenyon, the ?earching of the hou«e of Mr. Gardner, the reIuctance in arresting Mr. \N alker the disappearance of Mr. Stone seems m'»re and more to indicate that there are wheels wilhin wheeis and that a blind reliance on the Iairness and justice of the governraent in its different departraents raight well be considered misplaced. If the heads oi ihe prov;sional government do not turn a new Ieat and try to bring things back into grooves whieh, if they did at times cause criticisra, at least created confideuce, ihe resuit will be lhat the foreiguers h-rre will request aud cause au interference iu the carrying out of the j \diciary business of the country whieh will be more than ruinous to the credit and presperity of Hawaii. There is a subject whieh is general!y considered tnbu among the people, whieh ia never criticised, and whieh it is supposed for manv reasons should be left alone, and that is the secret societies whieh play a considerable rolein alleommunities, but, as it seems, very so mueh in this. Tiie secret societ’es, be they called Knigh*s of Pythias, or Freemasons, or Oddfellows, or Ancient Foresters, or .vhatever their names may be, exist all over the world and are respected and supported as long as they eonfine themselves strictly to the objects for whieh they originated and for whieh they are supposed to work. But if these societies should branch out aud take upon themselves the ro!e of protectors oreven abettors of merabers who eome in, contlict with the laws of the land or should they interfere in the politics and world!y matters of the country whieh grants them an asylum, it is tirae to eall a haU and lift a warning voiee. W’hile we deride the chinese secret societies, while our magistrates put down the crushing weight of the law to stamp them out, no voice is ever against the secret societies of the foreigners, but still we hear all over town that so aiul so was helped toescapethrough the Knights of Pythias, ani thai so and so has been snccessfully in hidingthrough the freemasons, or that so and so was preferred to an olliee from being an Oddfellow. Now we do not for a minute say that such statements are true or have auy foundation whatever—but they are made all the same and a large number of people give credence to them. We mention this fact to point out the danger to lhejustifiable existence aud good work of such societies if it ever should be confirmed in the minds of the citizens that they are usmg their privileged position f»r illegitimate purposes reacbing be}'ond their charter.