Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 275, 8 September 1891 — THOSE SMUGOLED GEMS. [ARTICLE]

THOSE SMUGOLED GEMS.

We leam from the inspired BulUtin that the have eompoun<Jed with the gentlemān from 1 Jowry,J who recently smuggled iato \ this kingdem a la*ge quantity of i <liamonds. The value of the snmggled gems has, we bclieve, been placed at about $13,000 by a loeal i but that estimate, though jprobably too low, referred toaply «juch of tbe smuggled go©ds as weae «captured. There are rumors «afloat of facts whieh would suggest 5530,000 as being nearer the value -of the goods smnggled, and in this «connection we rccail the Buūdin'& -assertion that, when the 3mse 1> was announced, the Marshal fwae another $9,000 «f cwamond smuggled by | *the sam® *enterpnsing . dealer. It! 5s dpclare4. by the BvMetin tbat fi fine of $$,000 has been imposed npon the Bmuggler, in lieu of,the «tatut<jry fine, imprisonment and «!oBEsea&on. : We beg to offer our objection to I this ministerial programme. Itis, wethink, uuwise, entirely too lenient to crime. and open to miaeon*jtruction:df- so serious a nature as to entirely compromise the repota*4ion of miniBters, and especially of Minister of Finance. for corrcct deaUng. Id the first plaee, we deem the -reported compromise aa being in <excess of the ministerial authority -whieh is found in section 689 of the •Civil Code. There the Minister of is authori2ed to in his 4is--cretion, ( 'mitigate or remit any eueh ine forfeiture or penaltyj ; as may iave been imposed upon or incurred "by a emuggler. But wo fipd in £ection 655, that the punisbment for smuggling may be a fine ef not Jess than $50, nor more tbaw#2,ooo, «>r itnprifionment at hard labor, not <xceeding two yeara, as tho court ehall determino. In additiou, the entire invoice or importation of goods affected by the smuggling transaction ehall be forfeited to and sold by the government. While we do not dispute the min» isterial power to remit a fine, or a #i seßalty" or forfeiture whieh akall have been judicially proncv,nced er;ja% engaged in the smuggling t we 4eny that the|>ower U> direct the <diaddßtinuanee of - a-. ttgainst a smuggler extends toa rf«ae«rhere,the Braug£ler bafl/ h&m may be sentenced to porsonal 3mprisonment, That is not fhe of wliieh ttte nain--sāter may remit. 0&ly penaltiee Operating upon the thi*p, as th« e»Uggled artide t or the amuggling as dißtinguished from those Ofirating upon thei p.-rson of the ia||prl f H —as a condemnation to per60nal imprisonment,—ean be remit* t®d by the minister. Any different OWastruction. would plaee a most! U»rea»onable, unprecedented and | dangerous power in the hands of eneman. The Legislatnre never| intended the Minister ef Finance! 1$ exercise sucb vast and abitrary

I B\jt \et xm Buppoße, foi&he n#noe, ihit tbe mifusterial |>owdr ia ple to do what has been done. St*ll 'we iDMst, aueh leniency to deliberfctecrime is ill advified, i» thosei wb® should -be the exemplarB, as well as the gipaixlians of the pus»lie ixK>rate* ' Then, there are *li&yfg thoee whose euepieioua mindd|pr ill o)ature will prompt theai td 6Us*est eoUu&ion and bribery befcween the pulprit whohae incuired enonnoue penalties for hi&- crimes, and the good naturod ;mmister who ex[tract» him from hie pilikia, &tifles further investigation, paralyzes, pending prosecutions, a»dbidstke press to d&& a muzzle, under pain of proBecntion fbr libel, —and all for the contiideration of the -payment | to- the ;government, by the smug-. fler, of an insign:figant pex:centage &the vaiue of hia sratiggl6d and •cai>tuxed gooda. īn potitlcB, aa in tbe days of Lear and Hamlet, the |jnotto6 may hold — if Thy truth, be thy dowry."- u Though tbou )>e chaste a& ioe, a&pure as snow, ! thou shall not escape calumny/' — | Is it nQt, then, indiscreet, to use no harsher term, for the • Minieter. of Finance, (who, we may aesume, is ācting herein by the -advico of his colleagues,) to lay himself open >to the of suspicion that Something more and othcr than a conacientious official regard for the 4»e execution of the laws may have exerted an inAuenee in the decieion of thi« eaee. People wūl been made eiiminal, in this eountry, to draw an inference. especially when eueh ü brilliant >> grounds exist therefor, as aome people think they see in the present case. It ie espeeiaUy unfortunate. too, that the character of the goods smuggled, captured, and now about to be released, ia eueh as to commend them to tbe cupidity of the human

raco in general, and we all know, from rcading history, that, from [ the earHest times, nothing more potent than blazing jewels has been known, as a meane of corrupting either Kings, Ladies, Court« or Councils. Ali in aIL we think the Finance Ministsr and his advisers have placed tnein9elves in » most unenviable position, This is Bomewhat intenßified by the generālly repnted fact that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and an official higher tban he, werc ih treaty with the 6mcggler for tho purchase of some of these same goods, before their eapture, ahd. again unfortunately, when tUd4>ubUp recQllect the gular, and unexplained omission of avvital *erd. % fro|rvth< a |egal document, drawa ipL ; tho J>ifcce of the present Attorney C-Ter»eral, bv whieh a valuable ship probably escap?d cjnfiseatk>n for Ulicitly hringiiig bpi W to Bea ahore, their oonfidence in the wisdom and pnulenee i of the reported u compromise" i«! not. increaeed. j