Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 144, 23 January 1893 — Untitled [ARTICLE]

We ar>- pleased to leara that the Resr 'tr ir of Pubhc Aceounts. Mr. George S’nithie-- who has beeu seriously iil is so mueh improved as to be able t*> resume his dutie# in lh- Treasury. The Advertiser calls the Martial Law a necessity and promisee that it w ll be rtscinded as s«oon as possib!e. The paper d >es not state whv this very abnormai and undesirable me«sure ie a necessity, and why the free citizens and taxpayers sh uld be suhject to the arbitrary treatment of the irrespon?’ble hire!ings whom the provisional g >vernment has furnished with »rms and allowed to parade the atreets. There is absolute!y no necessity f r the eontinuance of tbe Martial Law. There is not the very remotest idea on the part of anybody of cre.iting a disturbance or opposing the provisionaI g<>vernaient and the "good citizens”to whom the Advertiaer appeai disapprove in unmistakeabie language orthe inconvenience whieh arises from the enforcement of the law. The dragging to the poliee station of unsuspecting peaceful passengers from the Inter Islands Steamers, heeauae these steamers arrive in port before ō o’eioek in U>e morning is making the aituation too mueh like an opera boutfe. To arre»t a well-known citizen of high •tanding such as Mr. Valdenwir Knudsen of Kauai, aud drag him to theStation houseasa felon may only •eem au i ic>>nvenience to the military editor of the Advertiser, but to others it seems an unpardonahle blui>der. If the proviaional governroent wiehea to retain th« respyct whieh we admit all classes feel f>r its members individually, it shou!d drop without delay a measure #•> objectionable aud foreign t» every Anglo-S >xon and avoid stTting the “new era” of freedom and bberty 1u au autocratic manuer on the Hussian or Turkisb plan. We are l>eing pestered d.iily with rep»rts fr>>m citizens relating to actions of the guards whieh patrol the tcwn dunng the night- As we have no access to the headquarters | of the Pr<>visional Governmeut, we T | are uuahie P> ei;quire into the , truth of such statements or to ; receive a j.»erhiips plausibie explanalion, and we th**ref.<re hesit »te in giving pub!icrty to these reports without heariug the other side. The provisioual govern.uent is evidently a law-making b>Kiy and if it keeps on as it has stirted we may expect a large addition to the aire«dy numerous srssion laws of 1892. The provisioual government we hope tbough will restric itaelf to j>assing only sucb iaws as are necessary t*> the ch»nge in the form of g >vernment and to tbe immediate wants of the •ituation. It ' would be very mueh contrary to the »pir t of the fin de eieele for • | noo-elected body to p«as Uws in the Bupponed intoreet of the oom- . monweaUh witboat «nj «lectoral Mthoritj boring hoen ea»rotoed. : Tbe now tr«moo-Uw whieh m ■imiUr to that of th* Uottod 8tatea ( m a good Uw and poaaihl/ an un- 1

provement on ihe I&w touching the •ame subject oa our 3t&tutes. The *cte regul&ting the internal ruling of the provisionaI government are perhaps nece-ieiry and «eem apparentlv sensible and moderate. Furms of warrants and other offieial d<>cuinent3 have alao been rtgulated whieh wil! prevent such a peculiar err >r as eame to our uotice on a warrant the other day. Ii read: We the proviaional government of the Hawaiian Ialands Queen, etc, ele , and rather puzzled the party ou whom it was served. ♦ The hnaneial atatua of the eountry must have improved in a tniraculous way sinee the new era opene«i. At least we hear or see no more of the retrenchment whieh a few weeks ago wj» s«> vital to the country. Last Saturday the government paid about for extra services to the fire department. besides 1500 f>r food for the “volunteers ” The commission to \Vashington took between 14.000 and $5,000 with them and will undoubtedly draw for more. A new army at au estimated exi>ense of $100.000 for the bienmal period has been established (where, Oh, where ie t>e Committee of ways and meana.) and we understand ! that the expectcd increased revenue ito be derived from the opium ■ licenses aud lotterv will be abandoned and the treasury be so mueh more depleted. If the provisional government urder the present circumstance8 ean borrow the $750,000 authorized by the session of 1892, it will be very fortunate indeed, but the ehaneea are against such probability. We ehould therefure think that the government wou!d inaugurate the most vigorous economy in all branches, and we must say that the establishing of a costly standing army (1) is a luxury whieh has heen so often denounced iu the Advertiser'8 editoria! columns that we shall avoid further comment, but refer to our morning contemporary for an outspokeu inteiligent opinion on the subject. Political sermons were delivered both m the Central Uuion Church and Kawaiahao. Mrs. Leavilt who spoke m the latter piaee evidently did not suit her audieace and several prominent Hawaiians left befure the end >«f the service. We aiways regret to sce a sacred i plaee used f«r the discussion of mundane matters, and '.Ve ihink it extremely bad tact to refer to the receut events in a Hawaiian Church where the congregation gather to pray and to rest their j minds from wondly affairs and not jto politic.il agitation. There are ; enough politics outside the 1 Cburches, God knows and >t is to be hop«-d that the all-abs «rbmg. but tm-soaie subject at least will be bau'8iied froui tiie plaee <>f w rship and the Sund>»y-»chool class. We understand that a committ«r€ of the leading Hawaiian membera of the Kawaiahao church wiii eall on their pistor to-day and «>bject j to furlher political iectures or abuse of the Qneen by Mrs. Leavitt or other strangers. It seems that there exists between the ProTisionaI Governo»ent and tbe Honolulu Fire Department a iaek of cordiality and co-operation whieh ii to be deplored. The Hooolulu Fire Dep*rtment haa for ycmn done aueh ezcellect serrice to th« dty and ia ot »och imporUoce ' tbat it woold bo a di»a*ter to tho

I '*otnmunity if any =t<?p<? should be ! laken whieh wou!d Iead to the dishandment of the volunteers or iu any way impair the aervice of ihe Department. lt has been rumored that the Fire Polioe would be di«banded. but we ho{.*e no soch measure is c->ntemplated. Ditferenee in po itical opinion between the Government and the Departmenl shouid n»>t intertVre in the execution of duty aiui any small di«agreement «h»uld be settled in an amieahle manner. All Government officials will have to swear allegiance to the Provisional Government. This is perfectly proper, and we advise all officers t > c >mply with the order without delay. The Provisional Government is the de faeto government of tbe country and it is for the gtx>d of all interests that it be supuorted and obeytd. Theg >vernment machinery eau not be bnt must run on never mind who the chief engineer may be and every assistant must do his duty. The Circuit Court wi.l hold its Jury-term in ihe Arion Hall to the great inconvenience of the Court and Bar. There are .10 earthly reasons why the ueual Courtroora shou!d n»t be cleared of the military forces and (after proper furinigation) be turned into its proper u«e. The ehanee seems to indicate that the Government intends to eoniinue the armed f>rces around the Goveroment Building and the passiK>rt syitein. If eneh raeasure arise out of anxiety for the treasury the heavy railitary exuens«s will socn allay all fear on that subject as the treasury will be empty. Hon. C. W. Asbford hasa8sumed the Edit»rship of the English columns of the Libaral, while Hon. H. W. Wilcox wi'.l continue as editor of the Hawaiian part and on!y be responsible for what appears in th«t p>sition of the paper. The Advertiser says that Mr. Asbf>rd wili give the provisional g<>vt-rnment an indepeni dent supp*>rt whieh we are inclined ' to believe will mean that he will “damn them with faint praise. ? ’ It is generally rumored that thi-re :s a sp!it ;n tho provisiona! g»vernraent cafis-d by dissen8ion in 3electing a n**w f>rtn of government- It d»e8n’t geem so very plain saili g after all to overturn and make g >vernments a« b >me of the newly bnd led statesmen seem to have im >g ned. i