Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 195, 18 May 1891 — DE REPUBLICA. [ARTICLE]
DE REPUBLICA.
There must be eoaae very serious trouble t» drive the Hawaii*fi people from their allegianco to their chief. īt ean be or4inary jtolitical dissatisfaction that drlv«i them to the verge of so that they deeife establish a republican fbrm of government, 01* even to give up their independen6e as a nation in order to secūfe some inllueneo in the management of the affairs of their own country. The causes, Bufficient to explain this condition are numerous and well-known. We have no reaort tō generalities or invective; we have only t® enumerate facts.
Te begin at the head, the people were sorely disappointed by our new Queen. This lady haa alwaje posed as a devoted and courageous fri*nd of her people. The decision of the Supreme Court gave her a grand opportunitj to make a right beginning. She appointed three white men and one native wh« was known to be in the leading etringB ef a banking house here in town. In a word, she has fallen an easj and unresisting victini to the wiles of the experienced intriguerg who who have alwaya surrounded the throne. No reforim had been accomplished. Only a few tardy and re!uctant changes have been made, where a radical renovation is needed. Now, Her Majesty is ofiP junc« keting with her attorney*geaeral. The cabinet who have despotic sway over the f«rtunes of the eountry are conspicuous fbr laek of all ability and right principles. The Premier says he' meine well enough and we hope he does; but if he has any education or fitnes§ for the position he occupies h» devolpe«l it irt c«urse of dissipaiing a fortune whieh he inherited. The appointment of consuls at Washington, San Francisco and japan were deliberate inBults to the people he was supp«sed to represent and in antagonism to tht true interests of the co«ntry.
The Minister of Interior the most offenBive and objectionable of the Oummina' cabinet, wai retained for eome very msyteriouB cause, who sitB in his office and industriously obstr*ctB any and all things. He 18 a rancher that few ever heard of be&rt hia »p--pointm«nt. The Department of In* teri«r ie run by BubĀrdinateB, no any important poaition. The Attorney General ia a man uaknown te poliliea, heretofore noted only for lfeis capacity—literally. Why an ebscure lawyer who neyer did anything for the country #hq»ld be app«iiited to this iwportants position ean not be eiplained on a euppo§ition favor*ble to ihe appointing powee. His department does contaik a fiingl« natiye in any considerable position. Ths Bheriffs and their d«puties are noere tpola &r the planters and the outrages cdmoiittee by them āre one of the most irritating of the grievamceB that the peoplo bare to bear. The Finance Department ia in no better cendition. The cellecters and their a6sistanti are «J1 u *bite" and owe allegiance to u agentB' ? in ' Henolulu. Widenann wa» acol4ptg and ranting in the la«t legiclature about what bught to be done; but he t l+fee the rest, does nethiag. The bre*th 4*f influea<s b\e% upoa him } and be waB dumb.
Kvery department is fiil«d w?th ''whiie" sycophants af the rich men ofthe commercial concerns ? who *re allowed to be cormpt ad libitum in returrt for S«rricoB rendered, The Supreme Co*rt is wholly composed •f foreigners The circut Judges with #ne v ' exception are white, as are the majority of tk€|, inferjor 3ustice». W» ii|rai* fr#*j comments en the d«*p of the supreme court for the eimple re*Bon that the gentlemen of the bench do not look leniently on freedom of gpeech and we d« not have time t» languish in Jail: There is a shuffling of things about the business of the court that is unworthy of the dignity «f a supreme trihunal. e. g.., the cbanging the order of trial in the Wileei ease« the delay in publishing the deci•īon in the Japanese case, and the concealment of tht name of the diēgentingjudgei* the «abinet case. Such things would be called trickery in a J«ss august body.
We hare frequentTy.: ehown up the mi»deeds v of ofscjale, The truth has aot been halfto|dJ)ecaa»9 the publication of truth is unlawful in thi» Paradise of the Pacific ifit happeas t# bring redienle er diegrace on any wrongdoer. What we have jiitntioßed is a sufficient eauee of di»content with the gevernaient and its eAieew. Th«re are other and more serious coneurrent diBorders; —Incr?asing •poverty, the land tied up and idle, the flood of Asiatics, and the ftt-ting-greund at Kalaupapa.