Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 304, 19 October 1891 — Decentralization of Power. [ARTICLE]

Decentralization of Power.

Through the disruptiqn of tlie plans, o( the four .sggtS&men whowere eiippoee tolsfthe popular p*eseia&ifciveB of t%peoke, chcmr ;0&e it leaked out that m$OĒ o/ik ē&, eentr»lization of was first gifen out and voc»ted, there was an ing*nad%to restrict d the peoplei a sa6riffce jrigpendenee bfthe goveffefiaent t& iM» 4Sfy- ihe greedandfcsof a hanasl of antoc*|ss Jor power [feā€arry oot thwr Behameß of mak|iiig tfc£ sobjeet to th«k will, and nndfribe pretēction qf a powep who benfe anwittinglj drawn in to paHicipateiß the attempt te bū pj»Wtfc£f£eedom ©f this peop&, ā po#£rttw§ prides hergelf api the foremogt withoutexceptiofl in tbe World to shield the rigfsts of freemen. The hydra-headed osui*per ap- i

peare<i in the ehape of a nondescript beast« with four horns on his heswi. and rtfty or sixty mi&Bionary sugar baron& dangling at the other extreme, to whip and ward off ali intruders, and to cooperate with the head of the b£&st as embraced in

the four emblematic divisions—representing the four ministers. But aa-ua&aal witli fallible human efforts, the ambition infused into one of tbe horns, caused tbe exposure of the baselessness of the whole fabric, This little horn grew exalted. and spoke big things, and undertook to subdue the. head of the beast, and to pluek out its cotemporary lwrns and thrust themaside, and even heeauie so exalted in K* ideas as to tum upon • the reserve or support dangling at the opposite end of the animal — the barons.

This attempt on the part of those who had lead and created a revolution against the usurpation of just rightB by a sovereign and by his ministers, oaused a split in the eabinet. There was at least one man in the Reform adminietration, who had some honor, and wHo tppk part hi the action of 188? on pnric|ples. \\Tien he eaw by the aeiien of ,his ' three colleagues, that the veryprinciples they had struggled for and risked their life to obtain, were not being carried out, but on the eontrary, a greater evil was being j>erpetrated. PopUiar ri£fits were ignored. Four tyrants were substituted for the one dethroned by the revolution. The King, tlie tyrant. the intolerable >r?urper, was to be mada re?poī-siblo for the tyranny and usurpation, of four 'inen who were the tools of an oligārchy eomposed of men who Totee i»to the country poor tftid had %ddenjl.f grpwn riiui tfite?®nivended kmdiicss of a fnet)dīy nHtton f6\rards tlie aborigineoB ofthfe eountry. A gifled obtain by £ sovereign whom the ob"g;:rchy were endeavor ,ing to tind fault with and or<;ate an ' xcuso to make a punpei to further advanco their i-ntcre!st nml make tii»ir nuthonty i>erpetual in the laitd. This in &nbst-aucē \vas the re«l obieo< of the revolution, not pri»eii>i s, r.ot Jccentraliaation of power, exct pt among iho masseg, anfl a few Itadins; men, iho histury of the

Ee£orm < admisiBtraficm , anmly showe, th&t those who wete the ieaderß and real supporters of the movemflnt were aiming to cod* cenfcrat£āad to osurp, aoi only Uie t)»t also to limit tbe of the people. WSth §§ a&|«iferatiorL ready to coerce tfae asd elective qnaJifieation th«6 eoocentrated the po#er in the KantdB of the foreign element that gaVethem (had they heen at ali %oil9a&i|ii their prdmiees to the ele•rii6nt "who ljālp theia to Becare these advantages) the control of the Lea»d with whose sympar Jihie3 and whose intereetB were allied the oligarcs % the people woeld have beep in a state ci bondage j*ilder the tyi»nny of a 9ehgfemf' $cfventurers and fortune wh'o, like the on horse-backv knew ndt how to act 4 under tbeir good fortune.

The sudden elevation frona peinary to wealth, was too mueh for the weak and selfiBh minds of the real supporters and advocateB of the movement. The desire to perpetuate the means of ooiitro]]ing the wealth of the country; aroused the ambition of the wealtby men, who was at the bottom of 4>he movemolit of 1887, to secure by all meane the authority, and in order to do so. no means, was left untried no matter how mueh it may stoltify these men in the mind honest| and fa,irminded.

The principles for whieh the re-J vo]ut3on -was undertaken, and whieh ■was intende,d to be established, was decentra'i£ation of nowei'. This was forgotten;. entirely set aside as soon as the King. had been clipped of his prerogatieß<andmade<submis* sive to the dictation ofa new and more tyranny. The attempt by the Reform Part.y leaders to coerce the King and Nation to cede the of theirgovernment to another and a far more powerful. government, by treaty, showed these ehampiona of- universal rights in their true light. As they felt themselves growing in power, and as they tbought, would be perpetuated in authority over King and s peopie, with the force of the XJnited States, they began to turu upon those who had been instrumental in placing them wher» they were. But the plans of tUe. most subtle minds wbo attempt to ride into power, by deception, afe eoonrfrustrated; p,nd it was so in this instance.

A vnore ScHish and dastardlv ati icmpt. by people wbo eame to thisr counfry to preach charHy, and others who eame to seek their fortunes, after j!eecing the original land-owner-?! of their lands, bv allurernents, inand other means, nevr wus>ttemDted in aiiy other country, ns was in liiis. And never perhaps, was a more ignoble jitt«inpt to defrnud a penero\w a/id cantfding peoiile j of ilisir frus<}rated and «tterlv defr«trd th»t trird t>y the UoformP»*y Ifa<\e]V, who >ni principaliv of members of our reli<*ious l>odiee, ( Moro mahope!)