Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 183, 8 August 1894 — CITIZENS AND DENIZENS. [ARTICLE]

CITIZENS AND DENIZENS.

We poiuteil out iu a recent , issno, how frnitlesa it is for the ■ goverument orgaus to advocate registration. We had ho[>ed that tho A'h\iiiser, wonld hnve given au eiplauaiiou of how it is pos- . sible for auybody, who was not 1 natura)i7.cd prcvious to the 17tb of Jauuaiy. 181*3, to become a * voter under tho present constitu- 1 tiou. The Adrer(i9er, is as dumb j 1 as the proverbial oyster, and eou- 1 fioes itself to exhort the people 1 in general terms to register aml * vote. Let us for the sake of ' argument iraagiue that a unmber * of kamaainas here, who noverbe- ! 1 fore were citizens, should now desire to take the oath of allegi- 1 anee to the Kepnhlie, aud be-1 1 eome voteis. How are they go- t ing to do it ? How ean anybody I at preseut heeome uaturalized ? ® According to the constitution, » the mauner in whieh citizenship i v ean l>e granted shall be regulated t by the Legislature. Nothing has r so far beeu done. Accorvling to » the constitution. tbe issuing of * nataralization papers are wbolly 0

wiUiin tbe jarisdiction of tbe Supreme Coort. The Jndges »re not bere and uobodv ean perform tbeir duties. It is. therefore,impoii8ible for any tax-payer, aItbougb, otberwise qualibed to j become a citizen of Uawaii. and entitled to represeutation. If tbe Advtrti*er ean interpret (be situation dirierently, we sball be pleased to bear it. The fact la, that tbe government do©a uot want any fore>guers, wbo are opposed to it to vote. Tbe Hawaiians are al~

! rigfaL If tbe natives registered. tbe govermnent woold make a : big displtty of its numeneal. «nd there wcnld l>e no reason for the Un i tod St«tcs. or anv otlier eoantry, to refa<« to rec«gni*e tbe r«*public cf Hawaii. Of coarse. tbe foreigners who are in tbe pay of tbe republic. have l>eeu attou ied t » and ean becorae voters on special eertificates, even if they ouly have stranded on tbis l>eacb a few montbs ago, and never paid a cent t«xes. or. have tbt* sligbtest intention of remaining longer tban tbeir governraent job Usts, or, nntil they Lavesaved enongb to get ont of tbe countiy. Letters of deuizition are arranged for tbe niee peo; le, wbo sympatbize witb tbe revolutionary government; bnt, wbo lacked courage or iuclination to assi.>t in tbe original movement, aud consequently canoot get tbe “epeeial'’ certificato. When tbe question uf Ietters of denization was before a »committee of tbe Convention, tbere was some inclination to abandon tbe system altogetber. It was beld tbat, if tbe country was good euougb to live in eojoying all lbe rigbts and pri\ileges of a citizen, it w*as good euougb to swear allegiance to. In tbe debate, several promincnt tax-payers were meutioned, whom it would be eKpeeiall}’ desirable to grant letlers of denization. as tbey \vere frieudly to the goverumeut, bat unwilling to foreswcar tbeir allegiance to tbeir native countries. We noticed, tnat one of tbese putriots for wbose benefit tbe denizen clause was inserted in tbo constitutiou was not patriotic enougb to send for his letters pateut of deniza- i tiou and serve as a juror at tbis term. It will be seen, tben, that tbe government bas provided for tbe coming electiou, in sucb a mauner, tbat only its piouonuced Mupporters will be able to vote. But, any goverumeut whieh is afraid of opposilion is bound to fnil, and a republic, whieh fears a popnlar vote, is nn anornaly and a Jrand. j