Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 160, 15 February 1893 — Untitled [ARTICLE]

The folli>wing three sentences are from Mr. Thur-ton’.- sUitement to the Examinfr. “» new con?titution —a conatitution that wou!<l have placed the white- *nd their property at the roercy of the native? “If the g >vernment is re«lored to the natives we shail s:mply have to leave the islan<ls." “We do not desire the l nited f?tate? to »99time a protectorate. We ask that it shall take tx>ssession and stand behind the loeal government in order tl»at its -stability mny l)e assure<L “We are not particular h<>wever so long as your government stands at the haek ot the intelligence, character and property of ihe islanda.” The above extract- fairly prefeent the views whieh the Coramis»ioners of the Provi9ional Government »eek to persuade the Ameriean nation represent the true situation here. The first presents the traditional an<l bogu? bug-l>ear whieh the Thurston pafty has always eonJure<l into existence for campaign purj>oses. lt ha.s so far only been treated as an ordinary campaign lie and no attention paid to it, but the time has perhap» now arrived where some light shoui<l be thrown on the <}Uestion of the Hawaiian constitution. The constitution of 18S? contam virtually only four changes in the constitution of 1865. The only change in it whieh was objection- ’ able to the Hawaiians was the «eelione relating to the franchise. Everybody who at the time of the revolution in 1887, was in the country, Weame entitled to a vote if he would swear to uphokl the constitution an oath, whieh in no way interfered with the allegiance to any other government. From th»s rule asiatics were excluded while tbe reading and writmg <}Ualificati<m always to be found in the franchise laws of other eountries was even dropped. The right to vote was granted by this constitution to every alien who wished to avail himself of the privilege. Men who perhaps only had been twentv-four hours in the country were given a vote in the governing of the state. We remember distinctly that two Americ,an tourista stopping at the Hotel went to the t>olls and voted —just k for the fun of it. That the Hawaiiana resented such a franchise ean hardly be a surprise. The propertv qualification necessary to vote for Nobles was the next objectionab!e measure. The qualirication was placed so high that it deprived a very large majority of Hawaiian» from voting while it gave the right to a nutnber of irresponsible f->reignere intellectually more unfil lo exercise the franchi»e thau many native9. For instance a Hawaiian who lived as a sm«ll farmer on his own land cultivating hia iwuaou, and taro, and raising pigs, and poultrr, would be deprived of a vot« 6>r uobles if his Iittle farm wu oot asseesed at a value of $3,000, while any foreign haekman or laborer, who wouW swear tbat hie ineome wts $50.00 a month woold be »llow«d to vot«, In the way in whieh the number of nohlea wer«

proportioned over the Islands and tbe wav in whieh the voling was done enab!ed the $50.00 a montb foreigner sav on Oahu to vote for ten members ot the Legislature while the native farmer with his $2,500 farm was only entitled to v te f> *r one representative. C’an anvbodv l-'.ame the natives for kicking? The new constitution for whieh ! over 9,(*»0 Hawaiians have j>etitionetl in writing wasonly inten<led to remedv this unju-r franchtse. If.Mr. Thurston kn«ws the eon- | tents *>f the new constilution whieh the Hui Kalaiaina presented to theQueen, he ioust have seen it }>reviously; whieh g;\» colur to the rumor that eenain missionary lawyers have ha<i a ringer m the makiug up of ihe constitution and in encouraging the foolish move. That the Queen should givesome consideration to a i>etition and prayer of her whole people seems not unreasonable. The sensational description of what transpired in the palaee after the prorogation of the Legislature might be very amusing for the youngster who enjoys reading blood-and thunder novels. That there isn’t a partieal of truth in those yarns is wellknown to the sensible portion of the community. That the Queen regretted uot to be ahle to grant the wish of her }>eople is quite natural. Why should she not have wished for a change? Have the members of the Reform Party been so very delicate in regard to oaths taken and broken by them. Haven’t most of thera sworn ullegianee to every new farm of government whieh has been institute«l here and broken their oaths and • are ready to break it again to-mor-row? Did not every member of the Legislature including Messrs. Young, William O. Smith, L. A. Thurston. C. Brown, Marsden etc., swear before God and a Supreme Court Judge to uphold the oonstitution. and have not every one of them. Judge and all. broken that oath and taken a new one. A polilioal oatb is a raatter of expediency and nothing else, besides whieh the Queen did not break her oath, even if she regretted tbat circumstances prevented her from doing it. Let it also be remembered that the Browu Cabinet laid dow$i the remarkable theory and were supporte<l in ii by an opinion of the Supreme Court that the Legislatare has right to change ihe eonstitutioo witbout the sovereign a})]>ruving of such cbange. That simply meant that the rights of the sovereign as grauted and afllrmed in the constitution could be eliminated al the aweet will of any Legislature. Could any sovereign consisteutly submit to such eonstruction and abandon all nghts • belonging to the monarch of the couutry? The Queeo w sety showed her oppositiou to such constructiou of her rights by refusing to sign tbe Chinese Labor Act whieh was dependeut on toe amendment to tbe constituiioa whieh had been de- • clared in foroe witbout haviug : received her signature. Aa tbe provieions in the Act were good the Queeu prudenUy made no use I? Ofher powcr of veto, bui aimply i atlow*d tbe ūme given under the t coD8titutk>a for the veto to be I exereised to Upae, and the Act be-

eame law over the «ignalure of the pre«ident of the Leci«!ature. The Re«i«tration Act a!so cloeely r**lated to the constitulioru»l amendraeut treate<l in the same | logioal raanuer, but *s ihe Legislature pn>rogue«l before the lapse *»f time to reliirn bill« to the House, lhij> Act <liil n«»t heeomelaw. That both the Q«een aiul the nation at large have hul ample reas>n to wi?h f*r a nuTe equitable conetitution is beyon»l fjuesti»n. »nd we «ee no c.u>< t> malee |»Iitical I cap ; tal out ot an exj*re5-ion t * that eflcet. Theremarks *>f 'lr. Thur?t n in reganl to the i\iture of the country are easily dispose«l »fl*. The Queen the natives aud the f»reigners here do not look to any European power for protection or suppon or any relations of any krnd. All eonsider the l*nited States both for natural reasons and bv tradition as rhe countrv to whoni we iook, but we do believe that the majority of this nalion should be allowed the right to deeide for themselves upon what form of government shall be in force in theirown eountry. The people will have no objection to an American Protectorate. if the raonarchy is restored and will be continued uuder such protectorate. We do not wish this countrv to become a field for the contention offoreign powers, nor do we wish it to be a field for politieal and financial intrigues aud revolts by adventurers, and where couid we heeome safer from such evils than under the pr»tecting wings of the American Eagle. Mr. Thurston says, that if the native regime is instituted again, he and the other foreigner wiil have to leave. He lies 1 aiul he knows it. The laws of Hawaii made by the foreigners themselves are a sufficient protection for life and property of any stranger who niakes this fair land his home. The Hawaiians are the moat law abiding people in the world and crimes are foreigrfto their nature. Thurstons for four generhtions have Iived peaceably and safely underthe Hawaiian Iaws and they ean continue to do so for the next four generatio.is. but if he means that the country ean not auv longer be used as a milking eow for hini and his party to fill their coffers at the expense of the natives ihen he is nght. Then Kawaii is no mure the plaee for him because Hawaii nei shall be for the people. and ils goverument bv the people and of ihe people. If Mr. Thurston only calls upon the United States to endorse his mortgages and get him out of his financial embarrassments. the natives will cry halt and use all means to hloek his gime, but if he simply invites the Great Republic to keeptheother nations bff aud to give the country stabilitv and thereby encouragement to eapilal «nd settlers to eome here, the natives will heartil\" join in the invitation and say U>America —Take all we have got, but leave us our Queen and our »elfgovernment. If under such circumstaneea, Mr. Thurston »nd Comp*ny will leave our shores we will have to stand the gfeat loss—and live in the hope that they aome day (not distant eitber) will follow the example of, eome of tbeir clique and reiurn to th« flesh-pots of Hawaii —«fter a lHtle eepenenee witb Califi>rnia ratl e«Ute agenta or Boeton deat cons.

A new and exce!lent S»ature in the present burlcs>iue is the opium seixure on the “Haweiian chartered navy Claudine" as tbe *Kxaitiner' styles the Inter Island -teamer. Even the lo!ty mission of Thurston f a Co.. even the c»mi» -ilion of inI ■ caroate honesty >.'.<1 -uienialun»! virtue in the members of the Provisional Governmeot, hsve n t l*een sufficient rer.s»n f>r theopiumnng t * keep their hands ofl‘. an*i al>st.»iti ftom pv>lluting *he in»ra - of the W'-e! whieh reeeive»l the high huDonr of carrving Thurston’s viifeg»r. aml M.»rs*len’s beer c»ntainer over the sea. Such >iepravity is shocking, and it :s alm»-t t > l>e regretted that the guards ot the oid g»vernment di*i n»t sustain their A«lvertiser reputati«*n of oorrupti«>n, an«l all*>we«l the «lope t«» pass instead <>f seizing it. an«l filling the coraiuunity wiih sust>i«‘ions ot a lerrible and unrae!>ti»nable nature. Can arybody tell us v»ho a oolone! Bullock is who, in spil M of his nanie, makes an unrait gate>l ass of himself hy saying that the Aineriean citizens in Honolulu stan«l ready to prevent by f>rce the landing of English tr«»ps iu Honoluiu. The only Ameneana whom we have seen showing wil!ingness to shouUler muskets were n«>t Amerieans, but drei hundre«ls. whatever nationa!ity that may be. aml tb**y did il for bread and t>0 acres «>f laml—to get. Marsden calls himsell'—i>r g-ts one of the other commissioners t«> eall him —one of the niost inAuential and prorainent EngHshmen in Hawaii. We heartily sympathixe with the British Colony here on being the object of this slamler. The most plausible explanati«>n is that Mr. Marsden has fallen back to his oircus days and done the lightning change act before arriving at San Francisco. It was dark night. The electnc light sh«*ne dimly outside the Govemmenl Building lightening the classic features of Kamehaiueha the First on wliose lips a half astonished, half scornful smile appeared whenever the brave voluuteers at the foot of the statae passed to and fro on tbeir lonely vigil. I)eep silence reigned over the town occasiona!ly interrupted by rifi*»ahots, signifying that another gun had gone wrung and a son ot a gun had tried to ki’.l his own shadow. Under the Statue of Kamehameha were t.»o sentinels guarding the sleep of Sop**r—one waa known iu private life as Henry the PhiIosopher, aml his trade was to evaporate his deep thoughts tbrough printer’s ink in verse and prose in the colurans of the P(revaricating), C(ollapsed), A(nneiationist), while his eomrade was known to the Punchbowl goats, aad the Representative from the ord Ward as Jesus. Mari». C«xifisbc<», P«>rtvinho, whieh was all hīa oeeupalion. Henry was (>ondering with Hegel. how to assert ihe subjectivity of his famiiy in its re!ation to the objectivity of annexation when suddenly a shad *w fell between him and Codfishco. It *pproacbed listlesslv and filled tbe bearte of the brave« witb terror. The rattling in Henry’a mouth of Ander»on and Lundy’s new #100 set . could be heard at headquarters. and threw all the eomH»andert*-in-chiefs into a oold pertpiration. The shadow stopped. So did the heart of Codfisbco. A plaintive unearth!y howl aroee foliowed by

the ;h!irp rep«>rt of a rifle. The ••hail-'w w*< a oat —the "Aine ftom the iua of Mr. A' itori * c»>nstituent. Fumblinc nervou#iy in hi; > ■ <• et . Henry suco?eded in ing a ri»sk frooi whiih he a vigorous nerve rest >rvr aiu! ihen handed it to Codtishco who recovemi 9ufliciently to emplv it in oue deep draught. But out ot Henry's poekel !ell a pieee of whieh the wary Portuguese unseen took poe>sessioa of believing U t<» be a provision*l pr.*mi*~iry note for sixty acres of l.»n>l. He took it home wondering what it eoula eonlain. «od fe*rin>i to t*art with it. But when he heard thal Henry was pai>l for his «ervices in tii;hting cats at the rate ot [H>r nipht while he was on!y tendered ll.lw, hi- gall revolte»l and he handed the precious doeument to the Hol mi a K-litor who found that it was no prou»iscH)ry note for sixty aeres of land, but simply ihe new jubilee «ong -ledicated to l)ole, to aueeeeil Hawaii Ponoi as the nalional authem. And tbis i- what Henry the Philosopher and Poet I.ow Kate slng>: I'm ~i iii^iiiii a song of a !*eaut.ful ihina. Comtnjr to t>less i!iis lan«l >-> frae, Time will Hy when rule«i by our Iv.. With g--Uien feet to :ts minstrelsy. Ila|>pvaii<l wealthy gay aini free, Joyi.U8 theti will every one he Sever a thonght ->f poverty. Annexation now’attie game f>>r me. Cabes’twill br ng with railn>u«U snrn >nu-l us, An<l shij)8 in tieets w;ll tie in >>ur port. Froeperity lr8ting will thea tir.ve f >uml us, ¥ From Touri»ts arriving <>f every »>>rt. Newsy ami bright will <>ur j>a;>erst>e liollam ilun« at -xir feet we’ll »ee. Everyone roI! iu Droeperity, Anm-sation now’a the «ame for me. Gol<len onr street8 and silver the pavin«, Ch«mj>agne our dnnk fn>tn “dry hondred“ to lH>le. Work will be t)ani8h«d whieh all are eraving), In th- happie«t Iand frotn pole to pole. Sin«in« 80 gaīly Iight8>>me and free. Wealthy then will ereryone be, Luning he ji«id wuh eelerity, Annexation now'a tlie game for oie. Prate not of ruin and carpet t*a«gera, Now yet of re8ulting >liehon«»ty, Thoee are but lie«—roy«liat 8waggeri. To try to keep us in poverty. l’wne then my friend8 ami jotn m the Ring, While <»ur hreath hold» this song we’ii sing. Boodl« imeienae eaeh w->rker ’ll see Annexation now'j ia the game for me. When enc<»red (Ky Kditor HoloMl’A.) You uuty swe»r away. Henry, by «II tb«t 1» h>>ly, Whatever the shaj>e Unele .Sam gi\e8 to we. State, I>i8trict, Territory, Protec’orat>' solely, That your gang'8 not m it, an-l tiiat yonTl see. The Eagle will >« ream an-l we’U vote 90 freely, One man one vote, and that'« not f)>r yon, Annexation will hring <>n« g>x>l thiog realiy. 'Twill nd aa foreverof ihe oii«8ion«ry crew.