Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 348, 18 December 1891 — The Election of Officers. [ARTICLE]

The Election of Officers.

I The P. C. Advertiser evideatly ! find it hard to kiek againat the pricks, wheii endeavoring to shield the old system of app»intmeht and patronage in the disiribuUon of public offices. In its labored efforts ia an editorial of the 16 inst r ii advoeates tbe principle of e!ection by th6 people as good v then qualifies it as no good bv §aying 'that the carrying out of the principle of election by the will of tbe people do'es noi\ ne'cessanly" do' eo," and consequetiUy it is to be ean effe£t Immediately following this equivocal poāikion, it | says in a second paragraph.- that ,4 there are two adVantages to bel dērived r from the plan otdirect election, one is that it will involve an e«l*ension of loeal Belf-governns&t. The other, that it will decr patronage oi the E*©cutive" 1 oirfy of suffici«sit advantage, 80 > āttfiB the writer, to limie its applii cati<m %o certain officere. To a i «ertain extent, we coincide wifch our cofcemporaryv but not ijn the rē* » commendātious' whieh ho offers as to whfch office shall or shall aot be elected. The highly educated writer of the P. C. Advertiser reviews and enuiierates the Bituation, by-Gom-menbing with the subordinate3, aueh as polieemen, and other unimportant and minor ©fficere withoqt direet extēnted eon trol or fe£©onsibility; njembers of the Bosrd of HLeallh without any salary, and feo forth. Naturally the P. C. Advertiser, the ehampion of plutocrats v single6 out the irresponsible subordmates as proper subjects to advance and starts an argument upon, it as to the feasibility or not of applying the election system in the ehoiee of ■ puhlie servants, and by that means msinuates and ioveighß agrinst ihe piineiple. bv advancing that part or maQhinery of KOvernment least ii» thaealeulaiion of tlie advocates j of tlje elective systoni or as \till | operate the least in curing tiie j efft»cts of the appointinjr system. | The difiiculty aimed at for cor- | rection is the abuses of .aujKnnt- ! nients to office. and the only jiwit | (iit*l proper way to make the triul j on the plan of election by the Wil | of Uie people should be by niakhig j the heads of appointments, of [ bureaus, and of every other olliceof j responsibility elective; to havethēni | fcel that their ehoiee is dtie to merit and \vorth, :n<l that thc ehoiee : an<l in their conduct of thvir depar|ments must t j rily requ fhat supervm:on atid «eleeiipn as will mee* thn popu-

m. ;i !■ ■ 'ni ii 11 ■i. i It probably nevfr 4?ame fnto; the mmds of any of t>ie advocati *jf the eiective pnneiple fōt ehoiee of public servants to start with irresponēihle polieemen, Wdiers, cantoniers, etc Tbey differ unq«estionably v in this respect, from the veiled ehampioneel ©f the old svstem, our friends of the P. C. Advertiser. Tōmakfe the trial, the svstem, Bhould he-started v eeoiiomiealty and fairly, and every well wisher should 'giv§ bis aid to assist Ihe test. It should begin, not with the offioes first enumerated in the leading article of e ooxucotemporary. but with the two piineiple departments >of governmēnt, Bimply mentioned iq thesaid article, without comme»t — the Cabinet and Judiciary, To be Continired. -