Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 228, 24 May 1893 — Untitled [ARTICLE]

The Advcrti*er is alw;iva telling us tbat the finances of the government. are on a most healthy and *ati«factory haeie. and tbat any doubt entertained in regard to the lruth nf guch etatement is eimply the reeult of the vile concocted lies of the roy,iliBts. Now every time that we read these aaaunnee» from ihe AdvcrtiBer. we feel happy and pleasrd, heeauae we eincerelv wish to eee the country extricated from all financial difiiculties and embarrasmeut and iho ta«-payers not called on lo pay the piper through extra taxation, «ven if eueh measure is to be adopted for the payment of the 8harj)6hooter8 whom theGeheime Militair-Committee-Kath says we muet prepare in peaee to be ready for somemy8teriously expectod war. But all our happiness and pleasure dieappear, and we feel dejected and low-spirited when we read Mr. Porter’e weekly financial statement. If the Advertiser ia right in ita assertion8, Mr. Porter'8 figures muflt be wrong, but if, a* we presume, Mr. Porter knowa what he is talking about, then our hearts get filled with doubt as to the correctne88 of the postulatea of the P. C. A. and the treasury •eeme to ua to be far from healthy, but rather one of the sickest thing around. The last financial etatement pre8ented tothe eouneili ehowa the etatus of the trea«ury on the 20th day of May. The eaah on hand on that date amounted to 136,260 55 besides an amounl on hand in the Savings Bank of $1,696.94 or a total of 137,957.49. That i8 all the available money that the government po8sessetl on the 20th of this raonth. The general revenue for last week waa $13 ,899.23 and the general ex- I penses for the same period was $9,364.33 or an excess of the ineome over the expenditure of $4.534.90. Presuming th.it the proportion between the revenue and expenditure3 f>r the Coming week will be about tlie same as it was. the government will, in addition lo the cash on hand >f $37 957.49, have the aum of $4,534 90 or a total of $42,492.39 in the treaeurv at the end of the month. \Vith this aom, they are lo meet the montluy ei[>en3es of the government for salaries and incidentals, and besides be ready to meet the amounle whieh c»n be called on at any time and whieh are figured by Mr. Porter as follows; Outetanding indebtednesss $206.000 Overdue indcbtedness $l3t*.000 Due depositors Savingfl 1 Bauk on the 2t.ith of May> $18 500 throueh notices matured ) Outstanding bills $47.000 ToUl $410.50 1 ’’ Allowing that the goverment will not be prefls<-d to pay any of these elaime at th« end of tbis month there ?till is the interest on the F.nglish loan of about $60,000 whieh fall8 due on Juue lst &ud whieh muet be paid at all bsr irds. How mueh juggimg the Adverti»er or any otber defeuder of the P. G. may do with the»e figuree,we doubt tbat tbey ean show that tbe aasertione made against the financial et«bility of tbe proviaional government «re only royalislic malieiooa

canards, and thal the government j ia absoIutely s>jlvent. and its fiuaueea in a healthv and satisfactory •tate of aifairs. # \Vith $42,492.39, no manean payover half a million. If the Adverl'ser ean.we want to borrow its recipe just as bad ag the government wants to borrow Claus Spreckels stieckels. After writing the above, we ’.eam that Mr. Purter has resigned his position as Minister of Pinanee, and considenng the f.icts we have already stated. we cannot hlame him. But it does look remarkable lhat an\*body ehould resign an office as a minister of the state to return to the drudgery <>f an ordinary clerkflhip, when he has tbe assurances of ihe Star, of the Advertiser. and of the Annexation Club. tiiat hecould hold his office for four, eight or twelve years. lt is evident that Mr. Porter conBiders the words of the mentioned factors not of sufficient value to plaee any implieil faith in them, and that he prefers to sacrifice bis bucuing patriotism and rabid annexation sentiment8 ou the altar of Ciaus Spreckels’ anti-aunexation dollars. Mr. Porter hns made a very good minister of finance. considering the difficu»ties he has worked under, and we must eomplimenl him upon his last graceful act in removing the obnoxious Brown from the tax-office whieh that sharpshooting hero began to believe that he had a monopoly on. lt is characteristic of the stability and solidity of the P. G. that it has changed rainister of finance three times during its short existence. Mr. Jones resigued on the alleged ground of ill health —and was §hortly after mentioned as a possibility for the Pustmaster-general-flhip, and Mr. Porter resigos on aecount of pressing private basinefls. The truth is of course that none of the gentlemen feit ahle to eipe with the situation or in a position to stop the ruinous extravagance ofthe government on theone hand, and bucking Claus Spreckels at the same time. It is mraored that Mr. S. Damon will aeeepl the vacant office. and we are of the opinion that he is the only man who ean tide the government over its pilikia. The Australia took away from thes8 shores to-day the man who by his unheard abuse of his power has flhown himself as the worst enemy of Hawaiiandthe Hawaiian nalion. the man whose name will be funnd on tlie blackest page of the Hawaiian bistory, John L. Stevens. A failurs in every plaee in whieh he has served as a diplumat, this raisguided and deluded man furthcr emphazised by his career in Havvaii his incorapeteucy, and his misappreheusion of hie duties »s the representative of a friendly nation. His laek of diplomalie lael was conspicuous to the Iast when he, in spite of the rebuke received from his own government, 9tili indulged m polilieal speeches directed against the policy and rction of President Cleveland and hifl administration. He Iearefl, despised and execraled by every Hawaiian. and everyone wbo befriends the Hawaiiane. and he will spend the rest of hi« life in the obscurity to whieh be flhould have been relegated agenefation ago. Only tfaree obecure Hawaiiane partook m tfae reception giveo to him Iast night by the anneiaiion club and none of the Hawaiiana whomhe bas met officially or socially tendcred him the uaual court«iea. Th« promised

! moosler demon?tration laat nigbt fell nat. Only about i:JO men turn ed out in a orocession. Nobody could be induced to make an addrees to the departmg hem, a!though there were ealla for Doctor MoGrew and others. The band playe»l a few tanes. Some roman candles were burned. Som« hoodlums (of the gentleman!y clubl yelled some insulting remarii» against Mr. Nordhoff ar d fired some roman candles into his cottage and all was over, and Mr. John L. Stevens was left alone to answer to his conscience for the crime whieh he has committed agamst this peaceful and unoffendmg people. The Advertiser says that ihe Attorney-general is going to have Mr. Nordhoff pulled up bef>re the Supreme court for criminal 1 ibeI. If the attorney-general contemplates such aolion he must be more obtuse then even we have ever imagined. If the Hawaiian government cannot understand Minister Blount’s friendly hints and realize that they have got to leave Nordhoff alone, thev deserve the fate whieh undoubted!y will overtake them if they persist in monkeying witb the representative of the United States. The bigheadedness whieh seems to have heeome a chronic disease with some of our little statesmen will prove fatal one of these days. Take a doctor’s advice, gentlemen, not Doctor McGrew's, though,and take your medicine like little men. It ie always good to remember the proverbs of the wise and thie is what the Spaniard of old says: “ Pues no podemos harbor aquello que querevu)S, queramos aqueUo que podremos ” whieh translated for the epeeial benefit of the Rev. Mr. Emmelulh reads; “Since we cannot get what we like, let us like what we ean get. ” When the “intelligent'’ and •*beBt” Hawaiian. the reverend Kauhane went horaeby the “Hall,” he left Honolulu in all his gtory as a leading annexationist. He had been several times exhibited to Minister Blount as a specimen of Hawaiian intelligence, aud he had been furnished with a beautiful blue annexation badge, and an exquisite American flag button. The exuberant spirit of this clerical annexationist began to eool ofi' when he saw ifonolulu disappearing behind him in the horizon, and be glanced nervously in the direction of his home, and then at his annexation decorations. Seasickness and qualras of conscience made his nerves more and more unstrung, and ns the hours glided by, and the steamer made its way towards the shores of Kau, his heart began to sink into his boots, and disagreeab!e visions of an irale and disapproving congregation and of a tate. similar to losepa’s and Pah s,whose annexation heads rolled so recently in the dust of tbeir cburches began |o float like a disturbing nightmare before this “intelligent” and *‘be«t’ Hawaiian. At last he could not bear the stram on his nerves. There was nobody to back him, Sereno’s and Alaoaki’s voicet were not supporting his guilty eonaeienee. and he foreswore bis mentors and tempteri of Honolnlu. and took off nis ribbon and his button. He gave them a parting glance, and then he handed them to an acqnaintance on board tbe ste*mer, saying that he thought it waajnst as well for him not to ■port the sign of treason among the loyal people of Kau, and &sking bis

acquaintance to keep them as a hiatorical memeatfli of an incident whieh made the reverend Kauhane masqueradeasan hīred annezation- . ist in Houoiulu. The button and ribbon are now in possession of a prominent royalist who, some day wili donate them to the Kamehameha Museum as a prooi that all the s<>phistry and bribesof the aunexation Ieaders eaunol eonlamin- ; *te to the core the loyal heart cf i anv ffawaiian, even if the hab:l ol • 7 j tv>wards the chief pastora; incubator and false promises may lead them astray temporarily. Onee u{H>n a time ihe present Attorney-General was a member of the Legisiatare representmg Lihue aud Koloa Kauai. This waa Iong ago, long before the war. lu facl four months have goue by sinee he was “ prorogued. ” \et what he did and said in his capacitv of a legislator is still fresh in the mind of «ome of our oldest citizens. One of these tells us with quavering voice that when ihe item providing for incidentils for the Poliea Department was under discussion, Mr. 8aiith spoke with his usual eloquence and his wellknown play of logic against an increase in the figure asked for. Mr. Cecil Brown was the Attorney-General. He agreed with Mr 8mith that we raust be «eouomieal. but feare«i that the amount proposed by 3raith was hardly suflicient. Smith claimed it was and said that with a proper attorney-gener-al (presumably meaning himself) there were no reasons why any more mone}’ should be exf>ended than the amount propose«i by him. Such ia the aneienl history. Now the milleoium has arrived. The proper AttorneyGeneral Mr.W. O. Smith hokls the reins of that departraent. but what do we see ? We see a law passcd by Mr. Smith’s present legislature in whieh a further su:nol’ $5,000 has heen voted for incidentals. This seems to indicate that the original amount proposed and supported by Smith’s eloqueuce and logic have been spent,and lhat the vcry proper Attorney-Gentral now wants ancther 15,000 to spend in addition to tbe original sum. Another illustration that an object f more espeoially a ministerial portfolio) looks very different if looked on from below bv the outs ”or from above by the “ ins. ” How very improper! Mr. proper Smith!!