Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 303, 16 October 1891 — Decentralization of Power. [ARTICLE]

Decentralization of Power.

Having shown that the real movement against the King and his government in onr issue of Oct. 13 was only Ihe result 6f arbitrary use of patror»age and power, and waB the principle ca«se that led the workingmen to follow the lead of those who were actuatedbyother motives. to.revolt against a state of Coesarie?n), or oentrnlization of power, we turn our sttention to tha atattac,ks and criticisnis made byour English contemporaries upon <>ur views and ndvocitoy of the v£ry principles whieh four yrars ago were the excuses given by thcm for the revolution againet the government. Everv attempt oti our part to adTaneo the cause of liberal aōd progressive goverruaent havē beeo met by sotne unreasonab]e argument by either of our daily Engliah contemporaries, by an attempt to eneer us into silettoe when uniihle to openly oppoee ub and their own heretofore avo«red vi©wo oa fcuad&noeatal prmoiiiles ef governt&eist. We are accused 2%our ād*oo&of of the electivo systeto of oboo®io({ government officwof to inculcate repuUkmu ide«a or aa* nexation to the « Paitod at&te9 <lf Ajnaric*. • w

On this poi«t we do oot at present propose to argue. Suffice it to say that until specifio reference ean be shown to prove the oīt repeated from wehave writlfiti, that we arē advocating repuhlieaniem or ann£xa£ion, we will not np that tr£n of the subject now. # . Our that ihe principlfes of deoeixkalization of jK)wer, is, nnāee that kead, all that the tfational Liberal Earty hāve tried to catry out in the past, and by v th6ir daclaration. as pablished in Ka Leq, are advocating to-day, oureelf &cluded, as part of their political plat&rm ,for the >ming election campaign. We are satisfied that we have already proven that this was %c main object ofthe revolutiotn; a»d was ,ever after set up as |>art of the main plea in pa~ liation for the subversion of established authority in 1887, by the Reform Party and by their advocate, , the P. C. Advertiser. The attempt was feebly made to carry out this principie, in our present constitution, by taking away froni the Chief Executive his prerogatives, and passing it over to four other irresponsible representatives of the same Executive, and thus in a measure pacifying the demands of the revoiution for decehtraliza"tion of power, and a restoration > of popular and just rule for the governanee of the af£ura of the country and the welfare of the people.This deyifie .$r deceptio n, practiced upun tha masses, as a hona fide act to.do away with Coesaristta, and to establish a ljbera{ government by the will of the people, was soon discovered to be only a eloak to transfer the hydra - headed beast from one man to four other fallible of God's creatures. This delusioir soon wore away. Starting in with a mentaj lie in reserve, the Reform Party. through have eome to grief. The honest-minded who took part in the refopm movement, seeing tbeir error have withdrawn from that Party, and have turned against the remnant, i composed of the sugar barons, sugar | agents, capitalists, aiid the parasitic j followersof ttye vultures who feasfc upon and devour the profits oi t.heir unfortuiiate fellow laborers. As is always the oase with all fictitious attempts to d d right, the 4iscovery *which sooner or later is bound to overtake the fiction, has brought | about a very natural reaction against the promoters of the pretence to estahlish popular government, but whieh was in reality a mpvement to make it a Ccesarism by the favored few. Our government was run for about three years by these pretenders to a prineiple, univesally aeknowledge to be correct. whieh are by them adversely criticisea an& •copdemned to day through the medium of their newspaper; exposii?g theraselves, however, as beitig without prinwple,and even re4dy to ifcdvooate or sell a pnneiple whiehever it pays best. To make matters wone for those who h*ve eet up a 6t&ndard, whldi we agree is Uaed 011 &>undameotal pnoeiple^—the right ol tbegovera« ed in ihe excwase of the selectkm of the powers | that ai« to them, etc., inother words» d«oentrali»atk)u of authority to rub — &nd whieh th«y uodertook to<mrry oat h9|mmQg of their oaw v waß Ow utta* ->.< op ia - v v v

4|e melmmen*, ealM mi Oieaal* t«tion» by £he tfa«mselves of that The (mi tepreseutkig tkedocentralized power heeame themselves ao axbLtmrf t that they were not eyen satisfied to aet fev«rtly, bot abtoally todk the stump openly, ānd went abont do* ing just exaetly what they had ēh&%edttie King, admfr£. isti*atioti of cpnWry fojaw; and, further, they jbad &sddd forces ready to exēß?ise mAuenee to imtimoate the ' thft peoplp- fiftd worf* rmTy I fi*om so doing, thrdngh the rem<mstrance and intimation of the Diplomatic Representati\s©s here that they would in that case be ©bliged to interfere. More. aeon.