Hawaii Holomua, Volume II, Number 32, 7 February 1894 Edition 02 — And Still an Oligarchy. [ARTICLE]

And Still an Oligarchy.

Seve?.aL of tbe latepapers have contaioēd corre«jM>ndence8 from ' Hawaii wherein something aj> j ears whieh is claimed—on the ver>’ best Hothurity of course —to Le the new constitution for the iutended ne» Huwaiian Kepnb- * lie. Tlie docmnent i« ven* likely gennine; it is at least sufficiently ontrageon?rseifish, andidiotic to make a “miahionan' paternity'‘ extromely j>robable. We shall giv«- Kome of the most j>romiuent j>oints in this “stHte-d<M‘amēnt” eKpecially for the l>onfcfit of the Huwaiiane who then eau see for themselves the consideration whieh the revolutiouaiy governiijcut lias for their civil rights anil «lso how “Western civdization nud«rstands repnblican institutions, e<[r.al rights, and government by Ihe |>eoj)Ie. The {>roj)Osed rej>ub!ic is to have a legislative body cousisting of an uj>per Hou.se, aud a lo\ver Honae sittiug ajiart. Qualified to vote for represeutativea to tho lower Houae are overybody who eau speak aml write Enyli*h, aud have j'iiid their ta\es. Nothing is mentioned in n-gard to citizenshij> or tcrra of residence, aiul we aro justified in believing that the iutcntion is to allow ali aliens a vote, ther« bv contiuuing the abuormal condition heretofore cxisting, that any foreigner ean reccive the riglits j)ertaiuiug to citizcnship, \vithout assumingtho responsibilities or burdens, and ean, wbenever it suits him, eall ujx>u souie foreign government, to whieh he o\vesallegiance, for j>rotection and interference, if his citizenshi]> iu Hawaii sbould heeome disagreeable. Uuder tho electoral qunlifications for the lower House the Japanese will receive a vote, wheu qoalifi* ed bnt nothing is said about tho C’hiuese. There are u largo nnm. ber of Chinese who ean read aml write Englisb, nnd we snj)pose that they will also be admitted to a vote. We huve virtuallv noth ing against llie reodiug and \vritiug q<ialification, althougli we mnst say, thut it gives a j>eculiar iIlustratiou of Bepnblicnn ideas, to «lemaiul that a man in his orrn country shnll be j>roficient in a foreign languago before he reccives civil rights. But let thnt go. The lower Honse, elected iu the manner doscnbed, has no jK>wer whatever. The raeiubers may atuuse themselves by passing acts, but if those acts don’t suit the high and iuighty geutlemen iu the uj>j\or House. they go iu the waste-basket and the uj>j>er Honsc makos la\vs whieh are enforced. witboat everbeing snbmitted to the lower House or to the j)Coj>le. The upj>er Honse does not work as a eheek on the j>eoj)le’s rej>resentatives nierely, but it assumes all the legislative jK>\ver. and the lower House is simplv allowed to modestly suggest measures. If the snggestions suit. well aud good, the measures decided on by the j\eoj>le’s rej>resentatives become laws. if not. they are ignored. There are not lo bo nny coufereuces bet\veen the two Hoases. There are no j>rovi>ious fc>r over-ridiug the eveutual veto of the executive or tbe uj>j>er House. Tbe rights veste\l in the rej'n*sentatives of Uie j>eople are siroply nil. If such a programrae is not the 1 most barefaced. the most impu ; dent fraud aud au iusuitiug at- I tempt to bliud and bamboozle | the j>eople. we dou’t know what : it is. The j\eoj>le cr>' for bread j —the missionary capitalists give | them a stoue. Dut, thank the i Lord, the j>eopIe are sufficiently | civilized to kuow the dilferenoe between the bread and tbe stoue. The high and migbty npj>er House—Senate we suppose—is constituted of men belonging to that wealthy aud bigbly inteiii* gent class now represented by stateswan Dole, Emmelulh and one W. N. Armstrong. To be < qu«lifi«d U> voU ior th«se giMt i

I ligbts, it is necessary to be a | i)roj>erty cwner—prc-samably of nDencDmbered real estate—and forther rorre to possess eeiiain edncational qnalifications, ye God and very little fishes! may we ask to the parents of tbis proposed constitntion. what edccational .qnabfic»tions they | desire to find among these select | ed fnv rites, and who are to constitate themsfc!ves jndges of these desired edncaticnal qualitiesi' Heading and writing was enongh for a voter for the lower Ilna>e, bot to be a voter for senators, it is necessaiy to pass an examination. But in wbat, we repeat? Is it neoessary to know how to make ont a mortgage (and esj>e- i ’ cially how to fnreclose it)? Is it to l>e provon that a man ean “shave” a Cbinese note or sell goods at 100 j>er cent. ad vauce? Or must the voter show. that he ean read the doxology backwards. and |>reach withoot j>ractising Christianity, or that he is familiar with the creed of , Abrabam, Mos»-s and Ephraim? Or is it dip!omatic aml jx>litical . knoalcdge whieh is necessaiy: say to know, how to betray one’s , countrv, to conspire, commit [ trensou, break sacred oaths, bite ; the liands that fed him, excell in t ingratitude, hypocrisy, aml general scoundrelism? if so, we know } who will have the majority at tlie polls' But if the educational r qualifioatious niean that the voter , must be an “ediic.itfcd” man as j we understand the tenn—why , there will be niore seuators than . voters, aml it will be ruost diffij * cu!t to find an“exainining board.” And \vhere then will all the great ~ | snj)porters of the P. G. be? The , ' tneu, whom Mr. Dole recognizes 3 as the ouly earthly authority? j Where will Mr. Mu!ligan be? 3 \\ here the League? Where the 3 | Club? Where the Councillors? j Yes, \vhere our ministers, 1 and our courts. Barred from >.i votir>g for laek of educational - ! qualificatious'.I s i The constitution furtherrnore 1 provides for an executive body r headed by a President. This r body is to be electe«l by the b I Senate, the people not being - ' heanl in tlie matter. And that 3 is what is called government by . tlie j>eoj>le! Tliis is how these 1 exj>atriated Americans who uow ? howl to aml cringe before the > ; American j,>eoj)le proj>ose to show tlieir American j>rinciples of - liberty. This is what the ? I Hawaiian nation and all the r I civilized mon are offi*red bv the ; oligarchs who overthrew the monarchy in the name of liberty i «ud who blnster, aml roar about having freed us from tyrar.ny, ; (toars) freed us from the yoke of i roy*lty (tears and cheers) and i given to every man the nnestima- ; ble, invaluable j>rivelege of equal « rights,of 8elf-govornmeut. indeed , of government of, by, and for the , j>eojile! We comj>liment the pareuts of tho production of tiieir effi)its and onr symj>athies are in i ordcr because, tho product is deformed, cripj>lGii and in fact , simply a misearri*ge. Try again. I TheM seems to be a sj>ecial bureau att*ched to the Xew York 1 Sun attending to Hawaiiau affairs. All jnivate letteis froro private j>eople in Honolulu of all ages aud sexes favoring annexai tion and abusing the Queen, nddreased to j>rivate j>ersons in all ; j>arts of the States find their way | to the columns of the S«». We wonder if it is not asingle mau hir ' ed by the P. G. who does all the writiugof these'private’letters. We notice oue eommuniealiou from a **ten-year oid” whieh is deserv- 1 ing of beiug read bec*use the ; i meutal capacity and edncation of j the raiss»i>nary clique in Hono- i j lulu is well represente\I by any- i , thiug a teu vear old eau write or I say. Axd now it is seen tbat Mr. Dole | in spite of the blostering and | bombast of bis organ aud his suj>porters has humbly and quiet Iy furuished, Micister Willis the specifications, explanatious and, accordiug to tfae Ianguage used, with an aj>ology and a promise to apologize some more. Mr. Dole’s outrageoos letter— «nd we beliere that is was written in Honolulu—contained a namber of ohargee and inainuaUooa agmin«t th«

■ Amer:cftn A<lministration whieh | *i!*tnr*nv were rery iraproper and j offeīisive to the American repre- : <ent*tive bere. The Hawaiian ; minisfer of fore*Rn aff*irs now | him.«e]f by saving that he I bnilded an<l base«l al! his accnsa- ■ *ions on news-items appearing in j c<»rtain American papers. Bravo’ I Hr. Dole we are proud of seeing ! ! the bigh res?«nl in whieh yon j evidently hohl the power of tbe | press’ Anytbine whieh waapub- ! i lished in the 3V»r Vork H*rald ■ ippoare<l to Mr. Dole as official I an<l he imme<liatelv hel«l the Amenean Minister in Honolnlu. ; who most litely never ha<l rea<l i the papers. responsifclean<l accused him of creating bad feelings and anxietv and provoting insur reotion and war. Mr. DoIe’s letter was a blnnder—Mr. Dole’s specifications are a still worse blunder. T!ie whole business 1 shows the absolnte unfitness of the present goverument to meet , any <liplomatic complication with j foreign powers becanse its mem- | bers laek tiie verv fiist rudiraeufcs I of diplomatic knowledge and the j tact necessary to transact any delicate business. 1{ Mr. Willis j and his governraent are satisfied witb ilr. Dole’s “specifications” we shall be pleased to kuow it. We | eannol conceive anvtbing more disastroas to Hawaii-uei tuan an open tupture betweeu our country and the Vnited States. To that end, we hope tbat the next “specifications” will be a littie i iuore “specific’’ and that Mr. Dola iu tlie futnre will not take j everything for gospel whieh ap pear in a newspaper—the Holomua, of cour.se, alwuys excepted. Wno is the new port pbysi eian? It is impossible to suppose tbut there isn't a j doctor of standing and of long resideuce here who could fill that important and highly paid oflice, without it becoming necessary to import “ Presidont" W.O. Siuilt>L as a-pecnliar way in , whieh he shows his love for kamaainas. He reserves all his ( Iove to theoretical expressions . from the platform of the League. , and sbows his practical hatred • from his desk in the oflice of tbe ■ ' Board of Health. > | • - The appoiutraent of Mr. Atwater to a clerkship in the . custom house must be very pleasing and encouraging to the league and to the ciub. Mr. Atwater is another of the species who shook the dust and departed from Hawaii onl_v to turn np | when boodle was in sight. Is tbere no good inan left among those wbo shouIdered a gun, laid down their lives, and performed various other heroic acts, eompetent to fill the clerkship or in need of a job? By tte way, is Mr. Atwater anv conntsction of the I miuister of tinauce? ; ‘ Therefoke we mnst show i them that Araericaa ideas pre- ! dominate. We shoi!d preserve | in our declaration tbat the native , Hawaiiane shall never suffer by 1 the change of governuent.” W. | y. Arnu*iron<j. Woaldn’t His 1 ex-Excellency be kial enough to 1 | tell us what he onderstands bv | the word “American kieas.” Do i they include “One man, one i vote.” taxatiou withont rei presentation,” “GovBrument by : the people, of the poiiple and for ; the people??” i We are sorry to notioe tbat Mr. ) ' W. N. Armstrong in hfc address j > to tbe secret league last Monday ! evening, stated that Lorrin A. i Tharston in 1892 went to Wash- j i ington in the interest of «nnexa- ! ; tion. As Mr. Tbnrsto& emphaii ! ' cally bas denied ever to have ; dreamed of annexa|on, leave alone favoring or furth»ring such : . aeheme on the fl<xr of the I \ Legislative Hall in <892 aftrr 1 1 hia retnrn from W*hiugton, ' i there mnst be a lie s<jnewhere. | i It is dae to Mr. Aritttn.>ng to j i say that sabseqaent evmts h«ve 1 severeiy impaired th< pahlie’a • faith in Tharstnn’s veacity — if i he ever possessed anjj of that t aiiiele. \ i I “Coxgbe8S vas then e|thosiastic for annex«tion. The o!oads f of eontinenUl tW fc J' brok*anjr. * t

Tbis depsrtcre wts divided witb , admiratton f<>r onr eourage, onr olnek and vtllingoess to fighfc” | W. X. Ann»trvnjr. Who ean tell ns when dcriog the late “anpleasantness’' tbe ! * Hawaiian ex-Attorney General i * displayed his “conrage. plaek and wiilingness to figbt<" We ' 1 ‘honght that he airived here ! 'ufter the fight was over" and T tb;»t l»is e-ip;icity in that line !' alwavs had be*-n confined to a , • I bealthv coropetition. with a now • i < I Jeceastd gentleman, to see who j ' could g«-t the most out of Kala- ( , kaoa. be it in the line of inffū 1 < enee.eoin or—say gm. . The Star devotes spaee to • publish a letter from something. < whieh ciaims to be a s«ilor in the ! British navy, at preseut serving j ■ on board H. M. S. Chainpion. n»e fellow is evidentlv very ; familiar with tbe ordinary mnde i of puuishing offenders in the British uavy. If bv ehanee »nvbody shou!d waste sympathy ! on the Star’8 correspondent they should reraember, that any < soldier, or sailor in any army, or navy in the world who pnblicly parades his little grievances iu newspapers, and by his whining sullies the nniforra whieh honoi- < hiui bv covering his c;<rcass, ean i surely be fonnd amoug the j verv poorest, inefficient and | coutemptible specimeus to be fouud in any service. What is the matter between “President” Ernme!uth and “Editor” Suiith both of the Star ? The latter is scoring the first uutnercifully and tbe first actual!y talks back in “Chinese” to the latter. When the crib is eropty the borses bite.